"Gems of heaven" : recent research on engraved gemstones in late antiquity, c. AD 200-600

Foreword . . v
List of Contributors . . vi
Illustration Acknowledgements . . viii

Non-destructive Gemmological Tests for the Identification of Ancient Gems . . 1
A Case Study on Gemstone Origins: Chrysothrix, a Group of Roman Magical Gems . . 4
The Garnet Millennium: the Role of Seal Stones in Garnet Studies . . 10
Lithóis Indikois: Preliminary Characterisation of Garnet Seal Stones from Central and South Asia . . 25
Archaeologies of Magical Gems . . 39
Text, Image and Medium: the Evolution of Graeco-Roman Magical Gemstones . . 50
The Colours of Magical Gems . . 62
Magic and Medicine: Gems and the Power of Seals . . 69
Magical Gems and Classical Archaeology . . 75
Studies on Magical Amulets in the British Museum . . 82
'Grylloi' . . 88
Engraved Gems from Sites with a Military Presence in Roman Palestine: the Cases of Legio and Aelia Capitolina . . 99
Selected Antique Gems from Israel: Excavated Glyptics from Roman-Byzantine Tombs . . 105
Christian Gems from Portugal in Context . . 114
Intaglios and Cameos from Gaul in the 3rd and 4th Centuries AD . . 127
Late Roman Gems from Tilurium in Croatia . . 130
Three Degrees of Separation: Detail Reworking, Type Updating and Identity. Transformation in Roman Imperial Glyptic Portraits in the Round . . 135
Gem Portraits of Soldier-Emperors . . 149
Gods or Mortals - Images on Imperial Portrait Gems, Medallions and Coins in the 3rd Century AD . . 163
Love and Passion: Personal Cameos in Late Antiquity from the Content Collection . . 179
The Belgrade Cameo . . 186
Late Antique and Early Christian Gems: Some Unpublished Examples . . 193
The Argument from Silence: Iconographic Statements of 1981 on Faked Gems Reconsidered . . 208
The Constanza Carnelian and the Development of Crucifixion Iconography in Late Antiquity . . 214
Seals in Transition: their Change of Function and Value in Late Antiquity . . 221
Myth Revisited: the Re-use of Mythological Cameos and Intaglios in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages . . 229
Inscriptions on Portrait Gems and Discs in Late Antiquity (4th to 6th centuries AD): Between Epigraphical Tradition and Numismatic Particularism . . 239
Roman Intaglios Oddly Set: the Transformative Power of the Metalwork Mount . . 248
The Re-use and Re-interpretation of Gemstones in Medieval Hungary . . 257
Reflections on Gems Depicting the Contest of Athena and Poseidon . . 263