Magical Gems In their Contexts

The studies in this book derive from an international workshop held in Budapest in 2012 on magical gems: precious stone amulets engraved with inscriptions, images and magical signs, which represent the most sophisticated amulet type of the Roman Imperial Period. With contributors from a number of scholarly disciplines (classical archaeology, classical philology, Egyptology, Jewish studies, history of religions), the book provides a comprehensive overview of its subject, highlighting the many perspectives from which it can be studied, and bringing this long neglected object group on the wider horizons of classical research. Kata Endreffy is curator at the Collection of Classical Antiquities of the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest. She is an Egyptologist and editor of the Campbell Bonner Magical Gems Database. Árpád M. Nagy is Keeper of the Collection of Classical Antiquities at the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, with research focused on ancient iconography and sculpture. He is the editor-in-chief of the Campbell Bonner Magical Gems Database. Jeffrey Spier is Senior Curator of Antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. His interests include Greek art, early Christian iconography, gems and jewelry from Greek to Byzantine times, and magical amulets.