DeConick A.D

301
PLEASANTVILLE RELIGIONS
Figure 10.3 Green jasper amulet, first or second century CE, at the Bibliothèque Nationale,
Paris, inventory no. 2169. Photo used with permission.
Grant had been poring over gem catalogs for his own research when he
noticed a green jasper amulet, first described by Molinet (1692, 127) and
then later by Delatte and Derchain (1964, 225–26), in the catalog of gems
housed in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (figure 10.3). Careful study
of the artwork style and craftsmanship suggest that the gem was created
during the first or second centuries by an artisan in a Greco-Egyptian
workshop. The letter formation on the front and the back suggest that
both sides of the gem were carved by the same artisan at the same time.
The front of this gem depicts the now familiar lion-headed god we
already saw on the Ophian gem. He is ferocious, wearing Roman military
garb. On this gem, he holds in his hands a sword and the severed head
of Medusa. This suggests that the gem was being used to repel evil and
thwart demons.
The front of the gem also contains a palindrome, a magical spell read
forward and backward. This spell contains the names Michael and Elieli,
both derived from the Bible. Michael is the famous archangel, whom
many Gnostics identified with Ialdabaoth. On this gem, his name appears
as an anagram that must be decoded to be read, suggesting that the owner
of this piece of jewelry wanted the name to be hidden in plain sight.