A rare roman magical mottled chalcedony intaglio. Hecate.

2nd - 3rd century A.D.

11 x 14 x 3 mm.

Hekate flanked by two dogs. This depiction shows a very rare combination of the goddess with dogs. Her worship was widespread in all the graeco-roman world, especially in the regions of Caria, Lydia, Phrygia and Thrace. For her complex personality and function, referred to both the earthly and celestial scope, the goddess mainly acquires a role of mediator between the world of the living and the world of the dead, intermediary in human events, trivium divinity and protective of roads and crossroads. Especially linked to the infernal sphere, she is a guide for restless spirits and demons from the afterlife; she is represented holding torches in order to dissipate darkness, and followed by a band of dogs. The back of the setting shows a rut on the edge (presumably afterwards it was converted into a talisman pendant). The particular choice of the kind of stone is related to its precise protective effects. Light chippings on the field.

Parallels: Attilio Mastrocinque, Sylloge gemmarum gnosticarum, parte I (Bollettino di numismatica- monografia) IPZS pp. 344-346.

Provenance: UK private collection.