Greece, Etruria & Rome · c. 800 BCE – 500 CE
Amulet capsules & gold lamellae
What it is
Thin gold or silver sheets (lamellae) scratched with Greek or Aramaic spells for fever, epilepsy or childbirth were rolled up and carried in tubular capsule pendants. They are the ancestor of Islamic, Jewish and Ethiopian scroll-amulets.Making yours
Capsules are 3–6 cm cylinders with end caps and suspension loops. Lamellae are 3–10 cm sheets of 0.1 mm gold foil, inscribed with a stylus and tightly rolled.
More from Greece, Etruria & Rome: Magical gems (Abraxas, Chnoubis)
Every type in the gallery
Anything in the gallery can be made, by hand, in the prescribed metal or yours and, where the tradition names an hour, at that hour or with a plain note that it was not. Numbered. Price on commission, quoted first. I reply within one business day.