NHER 39283 (Find Spot record) - Roman victory charm amulet

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Summary

An extremely rare example of a Roman amulet or talisman, with Greek and Roman text inscribed onto a gold sheet. The inscription appeals to the protective gods Iao and Abraxis. It is only the fourth example to be found in this country. It may have originated in the Cologne area of Lower Germany.

Protected Status/Designation

None recorded

Location

Map sheet	TG02SW
Civil Parish	BILLINGFORD, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK

Full Description

April 2003. Casual Find.
A tablet of gold sheet with a Greek and Latin inscription appealing to the gods Iao and Abraxis was found in the front garden. It was found rolled up and unrolled by the finder. It is a Roman period spell or imprecation.
Further details to follow.
To be considered as Treasure.
Acquired by Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2005.297)
A. Rogerson (NLA), 21 April 2003. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 5 May 2020.

This is a very rare example, one of only four known in the country.
See report by [1] of the British Museum and (S1) in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 5 December 2003.

This find has now been published in (S2) and (S3).
While (S2) notes that the tablet could have been imported from another site as it was found in garden topsoil, it is also of note that there is evidence of Roman settlement just to the southwest of this site at NHER 7206.
H. Hamilton (NLA), 25 January 2008.

(S4) Article relating to the showing of Billingford Lamella charm in Gold: power and allure exhibition.
M. Langham-Lopez (HES), 13 September 2012.

Associated Sources (11)

--- SNF73147 Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 2004. Row over 'magical' gold. 13 April.
--- SNF84354 Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 2012. Norfolk's archaeological treasures revealed on TV. 16 July.
--- SNF85664 Photograph: 2003. KTR 21, Romano British gold sheet spell tablet..
--- SNF50955 Photograph: I & RS. Digital finds image.
--- SNF50602 Photograph: NLA. Finds Photograph.
--- SNF8804 Secondary File: Secondary File.
--- SNF100565 Unpublished Document: Department for Culture, Media and Sport. 2004. Treasure Annual Report 2003. p 56; No 67; Fig 67.
<S1> SNF52645 Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 2003. Gardener unearths magical treasure. 17 September.
<S2> SNF66355 Article in Serial: Tomlin, R.S.O. & Hassall, M.W.C.. 2006. Roman Britain in 2005. III. Inscriptions. B. Instrumentum Domesticum.. Britannia XXXVII, 481-3. pp 481-483.
<S3> SNF69556 Article in Serial: Tomlin, R. S. O.. 2004. A bilingual charm for health and victory.. Zeitschrift fur Papyrologie und Epigraphik. Vol 149, pp 259-66. pp 259-66.
<S4> SNF84874 Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 2012. Ancient gold has power to dazzle in our Olympic year. 30 June.

Site and Feature Types and Periods (1)

FINDSPOT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Object Types (3)

CHARM (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
CURSE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
DOCUMENT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Related NHER Records (0)

Find out more...(2)

Record last edited

May 5 2020 11:22PM