THE HERME AMULET FROM CERAITAI IN PISIDIA

Abstract

The subject of this article is the Herme amulet brought to Burdur Museum from Ceraitai. The city is one of the mountainous cities of the Pisidia Region. It was largely destroyed by illegal activities in the 1960s and 1970s. A Herme amulet was discovered, which was reportedly found during illegal excavations in the city. This amulet was brought to the Burdur Museum in 1973 and sold. In ancient Egypt, Phoenicia, Mediterranean, Anatolia, and Greece, the use of divine objects or various animal figures in the form of amulets was a common tradition. However, examples of symbolic herme amulets made in the form of miniatures of the god Hermes are extremely rare. The herme amulet, which was determined to be brought from Ceraitai, is an important object in this sense. This amulet was made as a Hermes cult object. It is a miniature version of the ithyphallic Hermes monuments found throughout Athens. It is phallus-shaped and has an anthropomorphic head. On the back, there is a thread hole for hanging it. This object is worn around the neck to ward off evil spirits and to bring success and good fortune. It is an apotropaic object. It is quite distinct from the amulets discovered in Anatolian studies and used for the same purpose. In this way, it is a one-of-a-kind artifact. While determining the work’s historical context, stylistic comparisons with appropriate specimens from outside Anatolia were made. According to these works, it was deemed appropriate to date the amulet to the 5th and 4th centuries BC.