Middleham's Mystery Jewel
A look into the history of a spectacular gold pendant unearthed in Yorkshire.
A spectacular 15th-century gold pendant, unearthed in Yorkshire last year is due to be sold at Sotheby's on December 11th, with questions about its function, ownership, and what it tells us about medieval beliefs and religious practice still unanswered.
The lozenge-shaped jewel measuring two by two-and-a-half inches is engraved on both sides with finely- detailed representations of the Trinity and of the Nativity. The latter is bordered by a frieze of fifteen figures who, although not yet all identified, include Saint George; the former is inset with a sapphire and inscribed with words from the Mass, 'Ecce Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi miserere nobis' (Behold the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us). But the words that conclude the inscription, 'tetragrammaton avanyzapta', are less orthodox; a charm, found engraved elsewhere in medieval jewellery, against epilepsy or the falling sickness.
The lozenge-shaped jewel measuring two by two-and-a-half inches is engraved on both sides with finely- detailed representations of the Trinity and of the Nativity. The latter is bordered by a frieze of fifteen figures who, although not yet all identified, include Saint George; the former is inset with a sapphire and inscribed with words from the Mass, 'Ecce Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi miserere nobis' (Behold the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us). But the words that conclude the inscription, 'tetragrammaton avanyzapta', are less orthodox; a charm, found engraved elsewhere in medieval jewellery, against epilepsy or the falling sickness.
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