1,600-year-old amulet depicting King Solomon spearing the devil found in Turkey
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Archaeologists in Turkey have uncovered a rare fifth-century Christian pendant depicting King Solomon on horseback spearing the devil. It's the only pendant of its kind discovered in Anatolia, a region that covers much of modern-day Turkey, to date.
Both sides of the bronze pendant feature inscriptions in ancient Greek. The text on the King Solomon side translates to "Our Lord defeated evil," while the other side names four angels: Azrael, Gabriel, Michael and Israfil.
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"It is a symbol of religion and power," Ersin Çelikbaş, an archaeologist at Karabük University in Turkey who oversaw the excavation, told Live Science. The pendant was used as an amulet, a charm that was thought to protect against evil or danger, Çelikbaş added in a translated statement.
According to the Hebrew Bible, King Solomon was a ruler of ancient Israel during the 10th century B.C., but there is little archaeological evidence to confirm the biblical account.
Though Çelikbaş is certain that the artifact is a Christian pendant, "Solomon is an important figure in all three holy religions," he said in the statement. "While he is referred to as a ruler in the Torah and the Bible, he is also recognized as a prophet in Islam. The depiction of Solomon on this [pendant] surprised us and revealed the importance of the artifact for Anatolian archaeology."
Related: Rare gladiator-shaped knife handle discovered by Hadrian's Wall
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Archaeologists uncovered the pendant during excavations at Hadrianopolis. This ancient settlement in Paphlagonia, a region in north-central Turkey on the coast of the Black Sea, became a city under the Romans. It was called Hadrianopolis for the Roman emperor Hadrian, who ruled from A.D. 117 to 138, and was rebuilt in the Early Byzantine period. Today it is located in the vicinity of the city Karabük.
The site of the ancient city is famous for its animal mosaics, and excavations have revealed baths, churches, fortifications, burials, a theater, villas and other structures, the statement said. The pendant was discovered in a building that might be related to military activity, although its function is still unknown, Çelikbaş told Live Science.
"In our previous excavations, we had determined the existence of a cavalry unit here," he said in the statement. "Prophet Solomon is also known as the commander of armies. We understand that he was also considered as a protective figure for the Roman and Byzantine cavalry in Hadrianopolis." In fact, Çelikbaş hypothesized that the pendant belonged to a cavalry soldier.
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Based on the archaeological layer where they found the pendant, the archaeologists dated the artifact to the fifth century, when Hadrianopolis was part of the Byzantine Empire, he added. Emperor Constantine, who ruled a few centuries after Hadrian, later split the Roman Empire in two, leading to the creation of the Byzantine Empire in A.D. 330.
Although the pendant is the first of its kind discovered in Anatolia, Çelikbaş is aware of one previously found in Jerusalem. "The presence of similar artifacts in these two distant geographies indicates that Hadrianopolis was an important religious center in ancient times," he said in the statement.
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The pendant is now in his lab, and he will eventually hand it over to a museum to exhibit it.
Editor's note: This article was updated at 1:15 p.m. EST to note that the amulet was found in Hadrianopolis in Paphlagonia, an ancient region of what is now Turkey, not in another Hadrianopolis that was formerly called Uskudama.