Magical amulet against cancer found in Turkey

An intaglio gemstone with an incised crab discovered in the ancient city of Antioch of Pisidia in southwestern Turkey, was worn as a pendant amulet to fight cancer. Archaeologists estimates it dates to the Hellenistic era (323 – 30 B.C.).

The amulet depicts a finely-carved crab on the middle of one side, and has inscriptions on the other side that promote the healing of the disease. The inscription indicates the amulet was commissioned by a father to cure his sick daughter. It was likely used by several people over generations who kept it for its value as a precious stone in addition to their belief in its curative properties. It is one of the best-preserved intaglio talismans ever found in Anatolia, with its imagery and inscriptions in excellent, readable condition.

The talisman was discovered on Aedilicus Hill near a church originally built in the 6th century but the artifact significantly predates construction of the church. The church was converted into a monastery in the 10th century and a thick wall surrounding it was made with spoglia, building materials recycled from ancient remains. On the interior of the wall, the excavation uncovered storage areas with large pithoi (massive amphorae) embedded in the ground, structures of different purposes and a monumental fountain in use between the 4th and 6th centuries. The amulet found its way to the wall area when it was constructed in the 10th century.

The term cancer derives from karkinos, the Greek word for crab. It was first applied to malignant tumors by the Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, writing around 400 B.C., who believed they were caused by an excess of black bile. Why he applied the crab metaphor is unknown. Scholars have theorized it was because their hardness was reminiscent of a crab’s shell or because they hurt so sharply they feel like being pinched by a crab’s claw. The philosopher Celsus Latinized “karkinos” to “cancer” in the 1st century A.D., but it was the 2nd century Greek physician Galen of Pergamon, who transformed “karkinos” from metaphor to simile in his Method of Medicine, describing the blood vessels that surround a malignancy: “as the crab has legs spreading around its body, in the same way are the veins in this illness; they are spread by the abnormal tumor in a shape of crab.”

* This article was originally published here