10 Pendant with Holy Rider

Figure 1. View of the front.

Syria or Palestine, 4th - 7th Century

Bronze

1.37 x .63 x .04 in. (3.49 x 0.1 x 1.6 cm)

.12 oz. (2.6 g)

Blick-Harris Study collection 2020.113

Figure 2. View of the reverse.

Figure 3. Profile drawing of the bail. Demonstrates how the D shape of the bail allows for the pendant to lay flat on the wearer's chest.

This pendant features a Holy Rider, on horseback, sporting a cross-headed spear, having just killed Abyzou, a demon blamed for miscarriages and infant mortality (Figure 1). The Greek inscription on the reverse reads, O KATVKON. These are the opening words of Psalm 91, “he who dwells in the shelter of the most high,” which can be interpreted as the wearer being welcome in God’s kingdom and thus a benefactor of his protection (Figure 2). We know that the Holy Rider is meant to be the front side of the pendant as the shape of the bail, which is the loop located at the top of the pendant, is constructed in such a way that only allows the pendant to lie flat on the wearer’s chest when the Holy Rider is facing outward (Figure 3).

Figure 4. Pendant with Holy Rider, Syria or Palestine 4th - 7th Century. Bronze, Height: 1.77 in. (4.5 cm). David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, 1988.57. Photo by Genevra Kornbluth.

These types of pendants were mass produced from stone molds, and many exist today. The date and geographic origin of our piece is suggested by a very similar pendant at the University of Chicago (Figure 4). This pendant also features an image of Holy Rider on the front and the opening verse of Psalm 91 on the back.

These Holy Rider pendants were a daily essential item meant to be worn at all times (see nos. 11 & 12). However, they were not simply a fashion statement; they served an active purpose for all who wore them. The Holy Rider on the front provided spiritual protection to the wearer to all outside threats. Psalm 91, being pressed against the wearer’s chest, provided protection from inner demons. Lastly, the more people who wore these pendants, or similar objects, the better protected an entire city or state would be from evil.

These pendants reveal so much information about the civilization and people that it came from. We can learn about a culture that we potentially may have had no other way of doing so.

Bibliography

Helen C. Evans, and William D. Wixom, eds., The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843-1261 (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997).

Alexander P. Kazhdan, ed, Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991).

Asen Kirin, ed., Sacred Art, Secular Context: Objects of Art from the Byzantine Collection of Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC (Athens, GA: Georgia Museum of Art, 2005).

Eunice Dauterman Maguire, Henry Maguire, and Maggie J. Duncan-Flowers, Art and Holy Powers in the Early Christian House (Urbana: Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1989).

Whitley, J. (2013). Agency in Greek Art. In A Companion to Greek Art (eds T.J. Smith and D. Plantzos).

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