Description
This amulet against illnesses invokes various deities and makes us of increasing and decreasing vowel sequences to support its power.
Lines 1 and 6 are inscribed with the names of the higher powers later addressed in the invocation as “Lord Gods”
Iarbath Agrammê Phiblô Chôêmeô
Line 2 is inscribed with a vowel sequence with the seven vowels of the Greek alphabet increasing in number
[a e]e êêê iiii ooooo yyyyyy ôôôôôô[ô]
Lines 3-5 include the invocation and the purpose of the artefact:
Lord gods, heal Helene, whom [NN] bore, from every illness and every (onslaught of) shivering and fever, ephemeral, quotidian, tertian, quartan [?].
Lines 7-14 consist of the seven vowels written in a decreasing triangle-shape. The final single Omega is rubbed of.
Data
Location: The University of Michigan Library
Inventory number: P.Mich.inv. 6666
Material: Papyrus
Dating: 3rd century
Provenance: unknown, purchased from Nahman through H.I. Bell in 1934
Dimensions: 12 cm x 5.8 cm
Link: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/a/apis/x-2920/6666R.TIF
Literature
Robert Daniel, P.Mich. inv. 6666: magic, in: ZPE 50 (1983), 147-154.