This is an extract from: Byzantine Magic edited by Henry Maguire published by Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection Washington, D.C. © 1995 Dumbarton Oaks Trustees for Harvard University Washington, D.C. Printed in the United States of America www.doaks.org/etexts.html 2 The Archaeological Context of Magic in the Early Byzantine Period JAMES RUSSELL Theobservanttravelerfamiliarwiththebywaysofsouthem Turkeywill occa- sionallyencountersmalltrees withtheirbranchesfestoonedwithwhitepieces ofcloth. A typicalexamplemay be seen nearthelip ofthe Corycian Cave, a siteofprimeval numen, believedin antiquity tobethe homeofTyphon(Fig. 1).’ On therareoccasionsthat Ihaveseenpeopleactuallytyingragstobushes such asthese, they were usually elderly women either alone or accompanied by young girls. Since the social constraints of Turkishrural society preclude me fromserious discussion withthe individuals engagedin the activity, 1 de- pendforan explanationofthecustomontheremarks ofmalevillagers whose scornfor thepracticeis barely disguised. Therecan belittle doubt, however, that thecustomoftyingragstobushesisveryancientandsurvivesfromatime whenmostpeopleinthisregionofTurkeywerestill nomads oratleastnotyet fullysedentary.Thepurposeofthosewhoengageinthepracticeisnotinques- tion. Theyarehopingtherebyto securesome desiredobjective, thecureofan ailmentortheabilitytoconceiveachildonthepartofarelative.Thereismuch less certaintyabouttheprecisemagicalpropertiesofthe treeitselfandtherag, orofthe siteselectedfortheritualandtheprocessesbywhichthedesiredends willbe achieved. The outsider can onlyacknowledge the truth oftheopinion withwhich J. P. Roux concludes his discussionof thisparticular custom: “il a faut seresigner, dans le monde des nomades anatoliens, ne pas expliquer d’unemaniare satisfaisante des faits qu’ils ontconserves sans bien connaftre Strabo, 14.5.5; Pomponius Mela, 1.13. TS.MacKay, “The MajorSanctuaries 1 ofPamphyliaandCilicia ANRW II.18.3(Berlin, 1990), 2103—10. 35 36 JamesRussell leursignification etque,poursatisfaireleurbesoin decomprendre,ilsjustifient 2 commeilspeuvent.” This example of magic in practice in the contemporary setting ofrural Turkey servesto illustrate the difficulties that confrontthe scholarwho seeks to comprehend magical beliefsamong simplepeople. Even with the obvious advantageofautopsyandtheopportunityto communicatewiththosefamiliar withthecustom,muchstill defiesexplanation. Bycontrast,studentsofancient magicmustrelyexclusivelyon thetextsofspells andcharmsandthe instruc- tions foreffectingthemcontainedinpapyri andonwhatsurvivesoftheactual instrumenta employed to exercise magic, such as amulets, engraved gem- stones, bracelets, andphylacteries. These materials are no substitute for the livingpractitioners ofmagicasprimaryevidence, andtheirstudybegsabroad range ofquestions. Since the magical papyri are predominantly from Egypt, howvalid are theircontents forthe Roman andByzantineworld as a whole? The material apparatus of magic such as amulets, on the other hand, even allowingfortheuncertaintyofprovenance,isclearlydrawnfromafarbroader geographicalrange,andespecially AsiaMinor, Syria, andPalestine. Thissug- gestsahomogeneity ofpracticeandbeliefin magic, especiallyevidentin the iconographyofdevicesto wardofftheevil eye. How may we account, there- fore, for such uniformity, in the absence of any known organizing force or common statement ofbeliefsuch as theChristian churchemployed inits un- successfulefforts to maintain unity ofdoctrine? Another vexing question is whethertheexcessiverelianceofmodernscholarship onthe writtentext gives adistorted impressionofmagicalpracticeswhich, ifcontemporaryMediterra- nean societies are any guide, probably required little if any literacy on the part of those employing them. In short, is there not a risk of missing the markwhen weallow theancientcommentators on Byzantine magic, whether sympathetic, as in the case of those who wrote treatises on the subject, or hostile, as in the case of the church fathers, to stand between us and the largely poor and illiterate inhabitants of small towns, villages, andcountry- sidewho actually wore the amulets and uttered the spells and perhaps even tied white rags onbushes? Myinterestinthesematters originatedwithagroupofobjectsfounddur- J.P. Roux,Lestraditions desnomadesdelaTurquiemeridionale, Bibliotheque 2 archeologiqueet historique de 1’Institut Francaisd’Archeologie d’Istanbul 24 (Paris, 1970),208—12. Archaeological ContextofMagic 37 ing excavations at the small town of Anemurium on the coast of Isauria3 Though unfamiliar at the time of their discovery, it soon became clear that these objects were devices intendedto protecttheir ownersfrom the evil eye inthecourseoftheirdailylives.Italsobecame apparentthattheybelongedto atimeinthecommunity’s lifewhen itscreativeenergies wereconcentratedon theChristianreligion,afactreflectedinboththeproliferationofchurchbuild- ings in the city andits surrounding choraand in thewide rangeof personal 4 Inthis respectAnemuriumwas benefactionsrecordedintheirmosaic floors. doubtless no different from most other communities throughout the eastem Mediterranean in the early Byzantineperiod. Underlyingthis devotion to the newfaith, however, there clearly remaineda deeply engrainedattachment to practicesinherited fromsometimelesspastinvolving variousformsofmagic. Ofthesenonecommandedmorewidespreadadherencefromthegeneralpopu- lationthanthebeliefinthebewitchingglanceofthe evil eye,knownvariously asphthonos, baskania, baskosyne, baskanosophthalmos, or, inLatin, invidia or invidiosus oculus. This unseen force could maim livestock, blight crops, renderwomen barren, strike down children, ordestroythehome, wealth, and healthofthe unknowingvictim ofits attention.5Examplesofitsinfluence and the measures taken to counter it were, andindeed remain, at least in rural society,ubiquitous throughouttheeastern Mediterranean in numerousforms. In antiquity, householders inscribed apotropaic formulae to accompany the Forsummariesofthehistoryandantiquitiesofthesiteonthebasisoffieldwork, 3 seeJ.Russell, ‘Anemurium—eineromische KleinstadtinKleinasien,”AntikeWelt7.4 (1976), 2—20; and Anemurium: The Changing Face ofa Roman City,”Archaeology 33.5 (1980), 31—40. Interimreports offieldworkin progress haveappeared regularly since 1966inTurkArkDerg. in“RecentArchaeologicalResearchinTurkey”inAnatSt, andinM. J.Mellink,“ArchaeologyinAsiaMinor”inAJA. Alloftheobjectsdiscussed arehousedinthe AnamurMuseum. SeeespeciallyJ.Russell, TheMosaicInscriptionsofAnemurium, Erganzungs- 4 bandzudenTituliAsiaeMinoris 13,DenkWien,phil-hist. Kl. 190(Vienna, 1987). Thebasic study ofthe evil eye inantiquityremains 0. Jahn, UberdenAber- 3 glaubendesbosenBlicksbeidenAlten, BerichteuberdieVerhandl.derK.sachsischen Gesellsch. derWissensch. zu Leipzig,phil.-hist. Kl. 7 (Leipzig, 1855), 28—110. For morerecentdiscussions,J.Engemann,“ZurVerbreitungmagischerUbelabwehrinder nichtchristlichenundchrisflichenSpatantike JbAChr18 (1975),22—48 andK.M. D. DunbabinandM.WDickie,“Invidarumpanturpectora:TheIconographyofPhthonos- InvidiaInGraeco-RomanArt JbAChr26(1983), 7—37. 38 JamesRussell 6 uttered special prayers to avert the danger, sometimes cross on their doors, evenwith ecclesiasticalauthority,7 and addressedtheirfriends ornamed their children Abascantos: “Immune fromthe Evil Above all, peoplewore 8 amulets, rings,andotherprotectivedevicesinscribedwithpotentsymbols and formulaeto avertthe bewitchingglanceoftheenvious.8 As a rule suchbeliefs were frownedon by the authorities,both secular and religious, as is evident from the writings of the church fathers, which abound with strictures against the superstitious fear of the evil eye and the amulets associatedwith it.’8 No amount ofpreaching, however, noreven the occasional impositionofpenalties ontheiruse by bothcivil andreligious au- thorities, seems to havehad much effecton the useofamuletsby thepeasant andthe artisan.11 Justhow widespreadtheirusewas maybededucedfromthe archaeological context of the objects under consideration, which provides a moreobjective recordofhow ordinarypeoplecopedwith theevil eyein their daily livesthan theprejudicedtestimonyofmostliterarytexts. Thecommonestformulaeemployedarethetrisagion,kuri boethiorsomevan- 6 ant, Eistheos monos XMG (probably Christos, Michael, Gabriel) and IXTHUS; see W.K.Prentice,“MagicalFormulaeofLintelsoftheChristianPeriodinSyria AJA10 (1901), 137—50.Forformulaeactuallyavertingphthonosbyname,cf.IGLSyr~ no. 1909 and H. Gregoire, Recueil des inscriptions grecques-chretiennes d’Asie Mineure, I (Paris, 1922),no. 230. Forexamplesofprayers,seeA.Delatte,AnecdotaAtheniensia, I (Liege,1927), 7 243.11 (prayer ofGregory Theologos). For aprayer with ecclesiasticalauthority, see MikronEuchologion, ed.M. Saliveros (Athens, n.d.),quoted inFrench translationby L. Amaud, “Labaskaniaou lemauvaisoeil chezlesgrecs modernes EO 15 (1912), 386—87. L.Robert,“Hellenica RPh 18(1944),41—42;REG64 (1951), 146,no. 55. 6 On amulets generally, see H. Leclercq, art. “amulettes,” DACL, 1.2 (Paris, 9 1924), cols. 1784—1860;FX. Kraus, art. “amulete,”Realenz.yklopadiederChristl. Al- terthumer~ 1(Freiburg, 1880),49—51.The mostcomprehensivecollectionofexamples appearsinC.Bonner, Studies inMagicalAmulets(AnnArbor, 1950),especially95—99 on theevileye. Representative examples includeJohn Chrysostom, horn. 8 on Col. 3:15, PG 10 62, cols.357—58; hom. 4 on 1 Cor. 1:25, PG 61, col. 38; Augustine, Thact. 7, §6on John 1:34—51, CChr 36, 70;Basil ofCaesarea on Ps.45 § 29, PG 29, col. 417; and especially hom. deInvidia, PG31, col. 380;Jerome, Comm. inMatth. 4.23, CChr77, 211—12. Imposition ofpenaltiesbycivilauthorities:ConstantiusII(Ammian. Marcell., 1 19.12.13);ValentinianandValens(CTh,9.16.7);byreligiousauthorities: SynodofLao- dicaea (C.J.Hefele,Histoiredesconciles, I.2 Paris, 1907, Con. 36, 1018—19). 1 Treewithclothrihhonstiedtoit,theCorycian Cave,Mersin. 2 Anemurium, inscrihedglass paste 3 Anemurium, inscrihed glasspaste amulet, frontfacewithtrisagion. amulet,rearface. 4 Anemurium, inscrihed glasspasteamulet,drawing ofhoth faces. 5 Anemurium,hronze amulet 6 Anemurium, hronzeamulet withevileyeheingattacked. withfigure ofholyrider(Solomon). (photo: HectorWilliams) (photo: HectorWilliams) 7 Anemurium, terracottamouldforeulogiaofRaphael. (photo: HectorWilliams) 8 Anemurium, hronzewith eight- pointed starengraved on hezel. (photo: HectorWilliams) 9 Anemurium, hronzetuhular 10 Anemurium, rolled silverphylactery containerforphylactery. andremains ofhronzecontainer. (photo: HectorWilliams) (photo: HectorWilliams) 11 Anemurium, smallhell (tintinnabidum). (photo: Hector Williams) II JL 5 0 10 PALAESTRA AREA -- EARLY BYZANTINE HOUSES 12 Anemurium, planofhaths-palaestracomplex(III2B)with secondarydomestic structures indicated A—D.(drawinghyTom Boyd)