Bronze amulet with Solomon and Hecate (4168)

Found in the area of the Caseggiato di Diana (I,III,3-4).
Diam. 0.033.
On one side is a depiction of a man with the text SOLOMON, on the other the three-bodied Hecate, goddess of magic and sorcery. The man is wearing a long mantle. In his left hand is a lance or sceptre, in his right hand a rod in a cauldron. He might be a magician mixing a magic potion. Two hands of Hecate hold spearheads, two others torches, and still two others flails. At the bottom are two snakes. Various symbols are depicted: the caduceus (the staff of Hermes), a balance, stars, stars with circles at the extremities, starts in circles, an anchor, a (seven-branched?) candelabrum, a P and the Greek letter ξ - symbols with a magical meaning.

Guida p. 95. NSc 1917, 326-328. BullCom 46 (1918), 85-100. EDR072802. Karivieri 2020, cat. nr. 163. Photo: ICCD E027278B and E027278A.