Apotropaic Practices

The identification of deviant burials as those of ‘vampires’ is a feature of excavated skeletons from sites across Eastern, Central and Southern Europe as well as the Balkans. Based on a close reading of historic and folkloric sources researchers have sought to match features of excavated sites with narrative descriptions drawn from vampire legend and myth. This study critically reviews the recent claims based on sites in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Poland and Slovakia. Whilst it is found that there was a widespread belief in vampires across Europe, it is argued that it is difficult to make absolute claims for ‘vampire’ burials on archaeological grounds as in most cases there are alternate and equally compelling interpretations of the data.

KEYWORDS
ARCHAEOLOGY, HISTORY, SIXTEENTH CENTURY, SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, VAMPIRE, DEVIANT BURIAL, PLAGUE, BLACK DEATH, FOLKLORE, PAGAN, BURIAL, WITCH, BALKANS, EASTERN EUROPE, CENTRAL EUROPE, SOUTHERN EUROPE, BULGARIA, CZECH REPUBLIC, POLAND, GREECE, ITALY, SLOVAKIA, LESBOS, VENICE, APOTROPAIC, VAMPIRIDZHIJA, PERPERIKON, SOZOPOL, PROSTEJOV, CELAKOVICE, DRAWSKO, GLIWICI, SOUTHWELL, KILTEASHEEN, LAZZARETTO NUOVO, NACHTZEHRER, KAMIEN POMORSKI

This article explores the probability that a silver sixpence,
recovered at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River’s Webster
Field Annex in St. Inigoes, Maryland, represents an everyday
item that had supernatural significance for the individual(s)
who once owned it. Between 1637 and 1942, the land that
now comprises Webster Field had been home to a Jesuit
settlement. Throughout this period, coin magic was practiced
in the British Isles, and silver sixpences incorporated many
of the symbolic properties that made them useful as protective
amulets, emblems of vow-making, and other less defined
representations of luck. The presence of such a coin at St.
Inigoes is indicative of the interplay between folk traditions
and church-sanctioned religious objects employed at the
settlement, and coin-bending practices are examined through
archaeological finds in the Chesapeake.

Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach to a variety of material, textual, and literary evidence, the aim of this thesis is to shed light on the realities –rather than stereotypes- of an important aspect of late ancient women’s experience: the use of ritual power. Patterns of gender differentiation in late antique Egyptian magic are investigated and shown to be connected to the particular aims to which numinous powers were employed, aims which were in turn bound up with the social roles expected of each sex. The majority of this study consists of a series of case studies of different types of women’s rituals of power, which emphasize examples of significant trends in ritual iconography, praxis, and context, both those which were typical of late antique Egyptian magic as a whole, and those which were uniquely female in character. The fact that female practitioners came from a wide array of socio-economic, ethnic, and religious backgrounds is also addressed.

In keeping with the paradigm of fighting fire with fire, it is suggested that the resemblance of garlic cloves to oversized teeth may help to underpin the legendary efficacy of garlic against the bite of the vampire. The argument casts a wide net – topics range from the fangs of prehistoric predators to the perceptions of garlic in ancient Egypt, Rome and Persia; from the Balkan nezhit to the Middle Eastern nazar; and from biomedical data to comparative linguistics.

Two excavations were undertaken between West Thurrock and Purfleet in 2002 in advance of construction of High Speed 1 (formerly the Channel Tunnel Rail Link). At High House, ditches, gullies and pits of mainly late prehistoric and early Roman date were concentrated on the higher ground in the western half of the site. The late prehistoric features may represent two phases of settlement-related activity within an overall Middle Bronze Age – Early Iron Age time span. The Late Iron Age and early Roman features were probably also settlement-related and included a small enclosure, a possible trackway and an unusual group of at least 14 inhumation burials and two cremation burials inserted along the entire exposed length of an earlier, prehistoric ditch. At Stone House, the unexpected discovery of building remains during construction work led to an excavation which revealed a large part of a late 13th / early 14th century stone building of some stature and status, as well a sequence of 11th-13th century features probably associated with stock control, and a small number of late prehistoric pits. The considerable amount of documentary evidence shows that, almost certainly from as early as the beginning of the 14th century, Stone House was the manor house of West Thurrock. The building had been extensively robbed and the finds assemblages were relatively poor; but it represents a significant discovery in the county. New Place, later known as High House, was built in the mid-16th century on higher ground to the north-west and subsequently assumed the position of 'manor house’, while Stone House became a tenanted farm. In 1683 Stone House was rebuilt on a more modest scale on an adjacent site, and was used as the parish workhouse for a period of about 20 years at the end of the 18th century, with final demolition coming in the 1920s.

The metalwork assemblage includes an Early LaTène-type brooch and numerous Roman brooches (one with substantial repair) as well as evidence for the ritual/apotropaic use of a nail in a child's burial. The medieval/post-medieval metalwork comprises dress accessories like pins, buckles and hooked tags, as well as a thimble, knives, keys and horse shoes.

This paper deals with some questions concerning the iconography, iconology and date of execution of the famous mosaic pavement from Sheikh Zoueide in Sinai, now exibited in the Ismailiya Museum. The author analyses both the mythological mosaic with the representation of various subjects, like Dionysiac procession, Nilotic theme, Hippolytos and Phaedra, and another geometric mosaic. The iconological study of all symbolic elements sheds light on the mentality of Nestor who lived in this house and of other inhabitants of the city.  The author sees the great influence of Egypt probably of Alexandria, in the mosaic's style. He also discusses stylistic problems and suggests a date of its execution in the first half of the 5th century.
On the iconological study of the mosaic see also: M.T. Olszewski, Mauvais œil et protection contre l'envie dans la mosaïque de Cheikh Zouède au Sinaï (IV-Ve siècle), published in: Paunier, D., Schmidt, Ch (ed. by), la Mosaïque gréco-romaine VIII. Actes du  VIIIe Colloque international de la mosaïque antique et médiévale, Lausanne 1997 (2001), pp. 276-301.
M.T.Olszewski, Two Late Antique synonymous mosaics from Sheikh Zuweid (Egypt) and Vinon (France) (translated) / Deux  mosaïques  synonimiques  de l’antiquité tardive: Cheikh  Zouède  (Egypte)  et  Vinon  (France) / Dwie późnoantyczne mozaiki synonimiczne z Szeikh Zued (Egipt) i Vinon (Francja) - (in Polish), Światowit IV-A, 2002, pp. 99-105.

People in the Nile Valley lived in the constant fear of monsters, demons and other misfortunes threatening them. Therefore, they had to turn to God for protection. God however was far in the Heavens, while his angelic messengers were closer, moving between celestial and earthly
spaces. To ensure their protection, their images and names were placed wherever the exposure to the evil forces was the greatest. An attribution of these protective functions is not always clear from the way the archangels were depicted in art. The figures are shown frontally, frequently
freestanding. For the most part, it is the context or accompanying inscriptions that allow an image to be identified as an archangel in its apotropaic function. Therefore, for this chapter, three groups have been chosen connected with the protection of buildings and their interiors;
protection of the bodies of living Nubians and finally with deceased. Writing this paper, the author was aware that the subject is so rich that the presented material and its interpretations are only an introduction to further research, which will be gradually undertaken.

Although the apotropaic qualities of tefillin have been generally recognised, there is one additional aspect that needs some further attention. The main purpose of this paper is therefore to present the connection between tefillin and Deuteronomy 28:10 that is drawn in the early Rabbinic literature. The said verse reads: and all the nations of the land will see that the name of Yahveh is called upon you and will be afraid of you and in itself bears the meaning of distinction, provision and protection. Yet, despite this verse’s interpretative potential, it is referred to just eleven times in the scope of both Talmuds and Midrash R. Seven of these references are clustered in the Babylonian Talmud: one (Berakhot 56a) interprets the passage as a metaphor of fame, whereas the remaining six (Berakhot 6a, 57a; Megillah 16b; Sotah 17a; Menahot 35b; Hullin 89a) explicitly state that the words the name of Yahveh is called upon you refer to head-tefillin. Meanwhile, the other four mentions (Exodus R. 15:6, 17; Deuteronomy R. 1:25; JT Berakhot 5:1 37b-38a) portray Israel as an earthly representative of Yahveh respected and feared by the heathens, despite the military supremacy of the latter. This indirect connection between tefillin and the idea of godly provision is supported by BT Menahot 36b and Mekhilta de-rabbi Ishmael to Exodus 12:23, 14:29, which explain the power of tefillin as stemming from the sacred names contained therein. This explanation fits the broader context of the apotropaic power of divine appellations.

Giovanni Mascia,
Le tenebre nel Molise. Liturgia, lessico e folclore di un antico rituale di Pasqua
Palladino editore, Campobasso 2001

INDICE GENERALE

Le tenebre nel Molise

7 L'alone della leggenda
11 Un nome a triplo senso
15 Mattutino al calar della sera
21 Il salutevole orrore
25 Il triangolo di luce
31 Il piccolo strepito
35 Passaggi di truppe, e di diavoli
43 Gli istrumenti di legno
59 Le tenebre nel quotidiano
63 Il perché dello strepito
87 Prospetto riepilogativo

Appendice
91 L'uffizio delle tenebre
        di Raffaele Capriglione

111 Abbreviazioni bibliografiche
117 Indice dei nomi
121 Indice delle località molisane



Sono alla base del volume il desiderio della conoscenza e l’impulso a tirar fuori dalle secche della nostalgia aspetti liturgici, lessicali e folcloristici di un rituale della Settimana Santa ormai scomparso, ma ancora ben vivo fino a pochi decenni addietro: l’Ufficio delle tenebre (in Molise: " ‘a scurdate " o " ‘a scurdie " o espressioni equivalenti, che rimandano all’oscurità).

Sulla scia di Raffaele Capriglione, che giusto un secolo fa diede sistemazione letteraria al rito di Santa Croce di Magliano, si allineano aspetti tipici delle "Tenebre" di Agnone, Venafro, Isernia, Boiano, Riccia e di decine e decine di altri centri minori.

La speranza è di ricondurre nel solco della realtà, non importa se passata, le permanenti suggestioni di una cerimonia che la sera del mercoledì, giovedì e venerdì santo aveva il fascino di coinvolgere anche emotivamente intere popolazioni di anziani, giovani e ragazzi.

For many years the excavations at the Urartian fortresses have yielded only a few clay figurines. They have shared
some common features in terms of their context and the period. All were male and found in storerooms or areas close to the
storerooms. Furthermore, all were uncovered in the fortresses of Rusa son of Argishti, who reigned in the seventh century BC.
Their functions are considered to be connected to protection from evils. In this paper, I would like to reconsider these figurines
all together and classify them according to their identities.

In early Christian society, the continuation of pagan beliefs and apotropaic elements derived from the Roman culture can be observed in the reflections of artistic production. Apotropaic themes bearing the traces of paganism, such as the Medusa head and the mask were used continuously for decorative purposes by Christian artists. These motifs
also show apotropaic features aligning with the Christian faith in the decoration of the new Byzantine art.

We can see that the majority of artists who drew the wall paintings in the region were local artists socialized within Hellenistic traditions and with Christian knowledge. While painting the motifs with sacred meanings and apotropaic effects in the church, Byzantine artists focused on the harmony of these motifs with the Byzantine aesthetic. In this sense, it should not be forgotten how effective it is from a viewer’s point of view to add a sacred meaning and apotropaic effects to these motifs in the Cappadocian wall paintings in the mid or late Byzantine era.

In our study, we will emphasize the motifs we have encountered in the wall paintings of churches, especially in the Cappadocia region, dating back to the middle and late Byzantine periods, such as leaf mask, moon, sun, eight-pointed rosette, rotating disk and medallion, guilloche, interlace, zigzag, three-dimensional folded plate, precious stones and their location within the church, their use of color, and their sacred apotropaic meaning. Moreover, an evaluation of the effects of the doctrines of Cappadocian church fathers on this situation in Byzantine art, especially about the manuscripts and wall paintings of the period, will be conducted by comparing the art within the material historical framework.

Cheikh Zouède est un village localisé sur la côte ouest du Sinaï, entre Rafah (19 km au sud) et El' Arîche et quelques dizaines de kilomètres de Gaza (54 km au S.-O. de Gaza et 144 km de Jérusalem). Il est identifié avec Bitulion, une ville épiscopale au VIe siècle dont l'histoire remonte à l'époque sémitique avec quelques fondations. A l'époque ptolémaïque existe un bourg, Bytyl, témoigné par la céramique rhodienne (amphores estampillées).
La fouille de 1913 n'était qu'un dégagement rapide des vestiges archéologiques sans méthode au sens actuel du terme. La mosaïque figurative (4,75 x 3 m), très bien conservée, occupe la partie Est d'une grande pièce rectangulaire (7,25 x 6,60 m). A l'ouest de cette mosaïque est juxtaposé un panneau géométrique (1, 72 x 1,65 m). Ces deux mosaïques polychromes contrastent avec le sol monochrome en tesselles blanche.
Le visiteur se trouvait d'abord en face d'une longue inscription, le panneau central déroulé en deux registres figurait un thiase dionysiaque, enfin le dernier illustrait le mythe de Phèdre et d'Hippolyte accompagné au-dessus d'une inscription et couronné d'une autre.
L’auteur analyse trois inscriptions et trois images figurées du point de vue du vocabulaire utilises, de  l’iconographie ainsi que de l’iconologie en suivant leurs apparitions depuis la tragédie grecque jusqu’ à l’époque tardive.
Nous nous demandons si l'inscription contre le Mauvais Œil et l'Envie est placée intentionnellement près du mythe de Phèdre et d'Hippolyte. Il fait allusion aux conséquences destructrices d'un regard maléfique, malheur à celui qui tenterait d'entrer avec de semblables intentions. l'hypothèse nous semble défendable. Nous connaissons toute une série d'inscriptions exprimant l'idée : « Que l'on souhaite du bien ou du mal, il sera rendu au double ».
Dionysos et Héraclès sont associés dans les écrits théologiques de Julien. Le premier veille que la vie ait un sens et le deuxième est un dieu <<gardien>> et <<protecteur>> du monde. Ces caractéristiques attribuées à Dionysos et à Héraclès expliquent leur présence sur cette mosaïque.
Il serait tout à fait justifié de comparer le programme de la mosaïque de Cheikh Zouède avec celui de la villa gauloise de Vinon en Narbonnaise interprétée d'une façon excellente par Henri Lavagne. Nous voyons aussi quelques parallèles avec des inscriptions saluant le visiteur (HAIREI) et l’avertissant (KAISU) en même temps. C'est le cas de la maison de Dionysos à Néa Paphos qui a fait l’objet d’une très bonne étude de Ch. Kondelon. Les mosaïques du vestibule de la maison du Mauvais Œil ont également le pouvoir protecteur comme Doro Levi l’a justement expliqué.
Ce pavement du Sinaï d'une vaste propriété nous laisse penser que ses habitants devaient être hellénisées et profondément païens. Ils se servent de la mythologie pour décorer leur demeure et se protègent contre l'intrusion des forces maléfiques. Le propriétaire est un homme cultivé et le filokalos. Le choix des sujets mythologiques pour représenter des idées qui sont exprimées sur d'autres mosaïques d'une façon beaucoup moins sophistiquée témoigne de son goût raffiné. La date de l'exécution de la mosaïque reste discutable, malgré quelques analogies iconographiques et stylistiques suggérant plutôt la période entre les premières moitiés du IVe et du Ve siècles ( sur la datation et le style de la mosaïque cf. M. T. Olszewski, La mosaïque de style naïf de Cheikh Zouède au Sinaï , Archeologia (Warsaw) 53, 2002, pp. 45–61, pls III+VI).

Se analiza el significado de un conjunto de manecillas o "maniculae" pintadas con almagre en la ermita de ermita de Santa Marina de Villamartín de Sotoscueva (Burgos), unidas a otras representaciones variadas (iglesia de San Miguel de San Esteban de Gormaz, Soria), igualmente sorprendentes. Este tipo de signos, hasta la fecha, tan solo se había localizado en libros manuscritos (luego, impresos) como elementos de llamada, pero no en conjuntos murales, lo que supone una traslación interesante de prácticas lectoras del folio al muro.

In this article, I propose that a future-oriented project of prefigurative humanities will provide a much-needed framework for fostering alternative ways of approaching the past beyond history. I consider whether such future-oriented humanities, which are guided by the idea of critical hope and epistemic justice (understood as the inclusion of knowledges created in "epistemic peripheries"), might provide critical tools for imagining different scenarios of the future, as manifested in realistic and responsible utopias. The prototypes of such utopias might be found in art, film, literature, and history as well as in real, everyday life. Following Ruth Levitas's approach to utopia and Ariella Azoulay's project of potential history, I also consider how utopia might function not only as a goal but as a method to revive more positive thinking about the future.

Women appear to have had an unusually high social status in the ancient Veneti. The ratio of female burials - particularly amongst the elite - is unusually high in comparison to other areas of ancient Italy. Women also appear to have enjoyed a high profile in ritual life, as demonstrated by the large number of votive offerings given by, or representing, women. This paper reviews the evidence for the role and status of women in Venetic society from the 7th to the 1st centuries BC. By comparing data of different types and from different contexts - epigraphic, visual, archaeological, ritual, funerary, etc. - it will examine whether female status was dependent on other factors such as overall family status, and whether female responses to cultural change differed significantly from those of men.

U ovom radu bavim se interpretacijom i kontekstualizacijom prakse uklesavanja Kristovog monograma IHS na ulazne portale šibenskih kuća u razdoblju od 15. do 18. stoljeća. Praksu sagledavam unutar antropološkog koncepta liminalnosti (van Gennep, Turner) i stavljam je u okvire povijesti mentaliteta i straha. Naime, ulazna kućna vrata često su mjesto postavljanja zaštitnih ritualnih oznaka i izvođenja praksi koje imaju apotropejsku ulogu. Takvim praksama nastojao se spriječiti prelazak granice kućnoga praga svim onim nepoželjnim bićima i pojavama koje predstavljaju strah. Iako ovaj trajno materijaliziran znak na arhitektonskim zdanjima predstavlja jedan manji segment bavljenja poviješću graditeljstva, on se ne može proučavati bez interdisciplinarnog pristupa koji uključuje etnološka i folkloristička znanja.

How does 'material memory' work? Should monumental sites be considered as places of social memory par excellence or perhaps citational practices? With these questions in mind the concepts of citation, trace and repetition are singled out as elements of 'material memory'. This article addresses evidence from the prehistoric site of Lepenski Vir in south-east Europe, and suggests that the concept of 'deep time' constituted the main structuring trope of the sequence. Over the long term, people adhered to physical traces of 'deep time', through re-figuring, displacement and circulation of material fragments, which maintained a collective (material) memory. The significance of apotropaism is suggested as a constitutive part of cultural practices and understood as a 'technology of protection' with ontological and epistemological relevance, such that it empowers individual agents to cope with various vicissitudes of life by an effective mobilization of 'deep time' residues. Examples of narrative sequences at Lepenski Vir are explored, which relate to specific individuals and life cycles of houses.

This work analyses apotropaic graffiti carved in the front door jambs and lintels of houses erected in Šibenik during 14.-18. centuries. These are mostly graffiti representing crosses of different typologies, although other types occur, such as the christogram IHS, Mary’s monogram SMV, letter M(aria) used to invoke Virgin Mary along with akin abbreviations like  V(irgo) M(aria) and A(ve) M(aria), invocation of saints by the first letter in their naming and finally textual apotropaic graffiti. Moreover, an example of a graffiti depicting a sailboat carved in the door jamb of a house was attested and it may have served as an invocation for the protection of seamen.
Copious Latin Medieval inscriptions carved on the lintels accompanied by the cross indicate that crosses were carved for the protection from “enemies” in the form of Satan, demons, etc.
Additionally, data gathered from the historical and ethnographic literature indicate that apotropaic symbols were often placed in liminal zones (front doors, windows, chimney, roof, corners of the house) with the purpose of keeping away the witches and other supernatural beings. Some places were believed to be the gatherings of dark forces, hence, more intensive apotropaic practices were performed there. Two such locations were attested inside the medieval city core of Šibenik, in which an above-average number of apotropaic graffiti occurs.

The belief that malevolent spirits, vengeful divinities, or the envy of other individuals can be the source of harm and misfortune and that individuals are therefore in need of ritual protection is a concept that is present in many ancient and modern cultures. The interference of evil forces is manifested among others as illness, misfortune or death when referring to human beings and as destruction when referring to objects. In order to protect from such misfortune and danger, specific practices, symbols and objects imbued with protective qualities are employed. In Mycenaean Greece the existence of apotropaic imagery is fragmentary and tentative. The notion of ritual protection, however, can be supported by the evidence for the performance of specific practices and actions, usually involving symbols with religious associations. This paper focuses on particular actions that could have had an apotropaic or protective role during the performance of cult practices in order to examine the concept of apotropaism in Mycenaean culture.

The use of apotropaic prayers or wishes by female tragic choruses has not been left unnoticed by contemporary scholars.  In Aeschylus’ Seven against Thebes, the members of the female chorus sing apotropaic prayers for the salvation of the city (lines 104-80, 219-22, 251). In Euripides, there are many examples of apotropaic songs performed by female choruses (Med. 632-52; Hipp. 364-5, 525-9, 1111-9; Andr. 469-70; Hel. 361-2; I.A. 554-7, 785-6). In most of these cases, the members of the female chorus contrast their situation with the main hero or heroine who suffers, according to them, from excessive or manic love. They explicitly express their wish that they will be spared from this malady that is capable of causing mental confusion, domestic conflict, sorrow, and destroying their lives. As apotropaic songs face an inherent contradiction in that one must name the thing to be averted even though speaking words of negative meaning may be dangerous, these tragic passages are imbued with the language of lament  or the language of curses, as we encounter it in literary curses and erotic defixiones. The aim of this paper is to construct a reading of these tragic passages within the context of attested real-life apotropaic prayers (such as apotropaic paeans) and recited or sung verse (apotropaic iambics and hexameters), as well with ancient Greek laments for fallen cities and erotic defixiones. More specifically, I suggest that these passages are examples of tragedy’s religious exploration  and question the normative engagement of religious issues relating to apotropaic song.

This article explores the probability that a silver sixpence, recovered at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River’s Webster Field Annex in St. Inigoes, Maryland, represents an everyday item that had supernatural significance for the individual(s) who once owned it. Between 1637 and 1942, the land that now comprises Webster Field had been home to a Jesuit settlement. Throughout this period, coin magic was practiced in the British Isles, and silver sixpences incorporated many of the symbolic properties that made them useful as protective amulets, emblems of vow-making, and other less defined representations of luck. The presence of such a coin at St. Inigoes is indicative of the interplay between folk traditions and church-sanctioned religious objects employed at the settlement, and coin-bending practices are examined through archaeological finds in the Chesapeake.