Ring with a gem with magical device of a composite figure with an unidentifiable object and a caduceus

Roman Period

Not on view

Gems that inscriptions and non-standard iconography associate with certain magical practices known from texts and manuals, especially in the Roman Imperial Period, are termed 'magical gems.'

While this gem has no inscription, the unusual figure depicted has a feathered body and bird legs but a strange head. This suggests it might have a relationship to the material described as magical gems.

Ring with a gem with magical device of a composite figure with an unidentifiable object and a caduceus, Gold, jasper

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