Classical Phoenician Scarab Corpus

Introduction

'Classical Phoenician scarabs' were made in Phoenicia in the period of the Achaemenid Persian empire, from the later sixth century to the mid-fourth century BC. Beside the Etruscan, they are the last major production of scarab seals of antiquity. They are made of green jasper, the colour probably being of as much importance as their intaglios since it enhances their amuletic value.

Most of the 1500 examples known have been found in the west Phoenician (Punic) cemeteries of Carthage, Sardinia and Ibiza (Spain), but there are many also from the east Mediterranean. It was long held that all were western products but it is more likely, on many other grounds, that they were made in the Phoenician homeland. They served as jewellery, as offerings in tombs and sanctuaries, and for their primary function of sealing. Many were given precious metal mounts.

The subjects of the intaglios are the most eclectic of any medium of the period. They include Egyptianizing (the common stock of Phoenicia for many years), Levantine (more Syrian in style and subject) and Hellenizing (mainly following late archaic Greek subjects and styles, whence many have been called Greco-Phoenician). But there are also many Miscellaneous, and much overlapping of categories, which are simply for the convenience of scholars and not to be taken as reflecting on use or provenience. To each category in the catalogue given here is appended a select list of scarabs with the same subjects in other materials (with X numbers) some of which are also illustrated; these appear to be of the same period and from the same sites but not the same workshops.

The series has been studied in more detail by John Boardman in Classical Phoenician Scarabs (Beazley Archive and Archaeopress, 2003) where there is selective illustration. This webpage has been designed to repeat the whole catalogue from the book, with some updates and modifications.

The material has been assembled over many years but its final ordering was made possible only by a generous grant from the Leverhulme Foundation of an Emeritus Research Fellowship.

Each of the catalogue sections is here put on line, with illustrations. For the full index see Index to catalogue. For an explanation of the abbreviations see abbreviations. For the chart explaining the border patterns and types of hoop see borders and mounts.

Scarab abbreviations

AG	A. Furtwängler, Die antiken Gemmen (1900)
AGDS	Antiken Gemmen in deutschen Sammlungen
AGGems	J. Boardman, Archaic Greek Gems (1968)
AJBA	Australian Journal of Biblical Archaeology
Along the Routes	Along the Routes of the Phoenicians Carthage Museum (1998)
Almagro-Gorbea	M.J. Almagro-Gorbea, Orfebreria Fenicio- Punica (1987)
Anecd	E. Acquaro et al. (eds.), Anecdota Tharrhica (1975)
ANS	American Numismatic Society
ArchClass	Archaeologia Classica
ArchEsp	Archivo Español de Arqueologia
Astruc	M. Astruc, La Necropolis de Villaricos (1951)
Atti II FP	Atti II Congresso di Studi Fenici-Punici (1991)
BAS	Bullettino Archeologico Sardo
Berlin	AGDS II (1969) (E. Zwierlein-Diehl)
Berry	B.Y. Berry, Ancient Gems from the Collection of Burton Y. Berry (1968/9)
Biblo	Biblo: una città e la sua cultura (Colloquio, Roma, 5-7 Dic. 1990) (1994)
Biggio	E. Acquaro, La collezione Biggio. Antichità puniche a Sant'Antioco (1977)
Boardman, IR	J. Boardman, Intaglios and Rings (1975)
Boardman, PW	J. Boardman, Persia and the West (2000)
Bordreuil	P. Bordreuil, Catalogue des sceaux ouest- sémitiques inscrits...Bibliothèque Nationale (
Bresciani	S.F. Bondi et al. (eds.), Studi in onore di Edda Bresciani (1986)
Budapest	J. Boardman, 'Near Eastern and Archaic Greek Gems in Budapest'. Bull. Mus. Hongrois des Beaux-Arts 32/33 (1969) 7-17
BullArch	Bulletin Archéologique
Byblos	M. Dunand, Fouilles de Byblos I (1937-9), II (1933-8)
Cambridge	M. Henig, Classical Gems. Fitzwilliam Museum (1994)
Carthage	J. Vercoutter, Les objets égyptiens et égyptisants du mobilier funéraire carthaginois (1945)
CRAI	Compte Rendu. Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres
CSAPI	O. Keel, Corpus der Stempelsiegel-Amulette aus Palästina/Israel Einleitung (1995); I (1997).
de Clercq	A. de Ridder, Collection de Clercq VII.2 (1911)
Delaporte	L. Delaporte, Catalogue des cylindres...II. Acquisitions. Louvre (1920-1923)
Ebers	G. Ebers, 'Sopra alcune antichità sarde e loro provenienza', Annali dell'Instituto 55 (1883) 86- 147
Eirene	J. Boardman, 'Some Africans in Classical Phoenician Scarabs'. Eirene 31 (1995) 62-68
Fest.Hausmann	J. Boardman, 'Greek Myths on 'Greco-Phoenician' Scarabs' in Fest. U. Hausmann (1982) 295-297
GazArch	Gazette Archéologique
Geneva	M.-L. Vollenweider, Catalogue raisonée. Genève I (1967); III (1983)
Getty	J. Spier, Ancient Gems and Finger Rings. J. Paul Getty Museum (1992)
GGFR	J. Boardman, Greek Gems and Finger Rings (1970/2001)
Gubel, Furn	E. Gubel, Phoenician Furniture (1987)
Hamburg	AGDS IV (1975) (M. Schlüter et al.)
Hanover	AGDS IV (1975) (P. Zazoff)
Henig, Lewis	M. Henig, The Lewis Collection of Gemstones (1975)
Hölbl, Sard	G. Hölbl, Ägyptisches Kulturgut in phönizischen und punischen Sardinien (1986)
Homenaje Blazquez	Homenaje a José M. Blazquez (1993)
Hornung/Stahelin	E. Hornung and E. Stahelin, Skarabäen und andere Siegelamulette aus Basler Sammlungen (1976)
The Phoenicians	S. Moscati, ed., The Phoenicians (1988)
Ibiza	J. Boardman, Escarabeos de piedra procedentes de Ibiza (1984)
JHS	Journal of Hellenic Studies
Kamid-el-Loz	II (1978); III (1999); XV (1996). Saarbrücker Beitrage zur Altertumskunde)
KarthagoII	F. Rakob, ed., Karthago II (1997); III (1999) (to distinguish from the periodical Karthago 1...)
Kassel	AGDS III (1970) (P. Zazoff)
Kition II	G. Clerc, et al. (eds.) Fouilles de Kition II (1976)
Lajard	F. Lajard, Recherches sur le culte...de Vénus en Orient et en Occident (1849)
LHG	J.D. Beazley, Lewes House Gems (1920) - now in Boston
LIMC	Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (1981-99)
London	H.B. Walters, Catalogue of the Engraved Gems and Cameos...British Museum (1926)
Lopez de la Orden	Lopez de la Orden, La glyptica de la antiguedad en Andalucia (1990)
Los Fenicios	Olmo Lete and C. Aubet (eds.), Los Fenicios (1986)
LRings	F.H. Marshall, Catalogue of the Finger Rings...British Museum (1907)
MA	Monumenti Antichi
Marmora	A. Della Marmora, Sopra alcune antichità sarde (1853)
MemJunta	Memoria. Junta Superior de Excavaciones y Antigüedades
MM	Madrider Mitteilungen
Monte Sirai	Monte Sirai. Rapporto Preliminare I- (1964-). Rome.
Morrison	Christie's June 29 1898. The Morrison Collection of Gems and Antiquities
Moscati, Gioielli	S. Moscati, I Gioielli di Tharros (1968)
MuM	Münzen und Medaillen, Basel
Munich	AGDS I (1968) (E.Brandt)
NAAC	Numismatic Art and Ancient Coins, Zurich
NAAG	Numismatic and Ancient Art Gallery, Zurich
NBAS	Nuovo Bullettino Archeologico Sardo
New York	G.M.A. Richter, Catalogue of Engraved Gems. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1956)
Newell	H.H. von der Osten, Ancient Oriental Seals in the Collection of Edward T. Newell (1934)
Nicolini	G. Nicolini, Techniques des arts antiques (1990)
Nunn	A. Nunn, Die figürliche Motivschatz Phöniziens, Syriens und Transjordaniens vom 6. bis zum 4. Jahrhundert v. Chr. (2000)
Oman	C.C. Oman, Victoria and Albert Museum. Catalogue of Rings (1930)
OpAth	Opuscula Atheniensia
OrAnt	Oriens Antiquus
Oxford I	J. Boardman and M.-L. Vollenweider, Catalogue of the Engraved Gems and Finger Rings. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford I (1978)
Oxford III	B.Buchanan and P.R.S. Moorey, Catalogue of Ancient Near Eastern Seals. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford III (Stamp Seals) (1988)
Padro, New, II, III	J. Padro, Egyptian-type Documents from the...Iberian Peninsula II (1983), III (1985), New... (1995)
Parrot et al.	A. Parrot et al., Les Phéniciens (1975)
Pauvert	E. Babelon, La Collection Pauvert de la Chapelle (1899)
Perrot	G. Perrot and C. Chipiez, Histoire de l'art dans l'antiquité III (1885); V (1890)
Pisano, Gioielli G.	Quattrocchi Pisano, I gioelli fenici di Tharros nel museo nazionale di Cagliari (1974)
Pisano, Gioielli It.	G. Pisano, I Gioielli fenici e punici in Italia (1988)
QDAP	Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities, Palestine
Quillard	B. Quillard, Bijoux carthaginois I (1979), II (1987)
RA	Revue Archéologique
RendVat	Rendiconti. Atti della Pontificia Accademia Romana
REPPAL	Revue des Etudes Phéniciens-Puniques et des Antiquités Libyques (Tunis)
Reyes	A.T. Reyes, The Stamp Seals of Ancient Cyprus (2001)
RM	Römische Mitteilungen
ROM	Royal Ontario Musuem, Toronto
RPA	Rendiconti. Atti delle Pontificia Accademia Romana
RSF	Rivista di Studi Fenici
Sass/Uehlinger	B. Sass and C. Uehlinger (eds.), Studies in the Iconography of Northwest Semitic Inscribed Seals (1993)
SCE	E. Gjerstad et al., The Swedish Cyprus Expedition II (1935)
Southesk	H. Carnegie, Catalogue of the Collection of Antiquities formed by James, Ninth Earl of Southesk (1908)
Spano	G. Spano, Catalogo della raccolta archeologica sarda del canonico Giovanni Spano, da lui donato al Museo d'Antichità di Cagliari 1860
Sternberg	F. Sternberg, Auctions and Lists, Zurich
Studies Quaegebeur	Egyptian Religion (Studies... J. Quaegebeur. 1998)
Taramelli	A. Taramelli, 'La necropoli di Predio Ibba a S. Avendrace Cagliari', MA 21 (1912) 45-224.
Tassie	J. Tassie and R.E.Raspe, A Descriptive Catalogue of a General Collection (1791)
Tharros	R.D. Barnett and C. Mendleson (eds.), Tharros. A Catalogue of the Material in the British Museum (1987)
Vienna	E. Zwierlein-Diehl, Die antiken Gemmen des Kunsthistorisches Museums im Wien I (1973)
Vives y Escudero	A. Vives y Escudero, Estudios de Arqueologia Cartaginesa. Necropoli de Ibiza (1917)
W/B	C. Wagner and J. Boardman, Classical and Eastern Intaglios, Rings and Cameos in a Private Collection (2003)
Wiegandt	H. Wiegandt, Charms of the Past (1998)
Zazoff	P. Zazoff, Die antiken Gemmen (1983)