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‘Atiqot 76 (2013)
ISBN 2948-040X
A Byzantine-Period Pendant from the Burial Cave at ‘En Ya‘al, Jerusalem
(pp. 135–137)
Robert Kool
Keywords: burial goods, metal, Christianity, epigraphy, amulet
The pendant was found in the standing pit of the rock-hewn burial cave at ‘En Ya‘al. It is a cast-bronze, double-sided medallion, with two flat loops at opposite sides. A cruciform Greek monogram was incised or engraved on the flat surfaces of the medallion, possibly with the name of the pendant’s owner. Similar pendants were usually religious or amuletic in character. The inscription was engraved on the encircling edge of the medallion. It is a simple invocation, common on rings and bracelets from Byzantine Palestine, in which the owner invokes the name of a saint or holy person for help or good fortune.