“Selenis, an amulet (phylakterion) at the neck of children (paides)”
Hesychii Alexandrini, Lexicon
Ierissos 1979: it’s nearly a decade since 1970, when the works for the water supply network of the modern town added the site of the ancient Akanthos cemetery to the archaeological map. The dead of the ancient city are being gradually exhumed from the sandy soil of the coastal area of Chalkidiki, where they are found buried in clay sarcophagi or large vessels, in cist or tile graves, but most commonly in simple pit graves. Among the dirt of a partially ruined pit grave dating back to the 5th century BC emerge a few disarranged bones, a simple silver ring and a gold pendant in the shape of a crescent moon, a selenis, as Hesychius calls these jewels in his 5th century AD Dictionary.
The selenis from Akanthos (I.49.370) consists of a gold sheet, outlined by a plain and a twisted gold wire. The same technique forms the three tongue-like decorative elements on its surface, all adjusted to the crescent-like shape of the pendant. It could be hung by a narrow band of gold, attached in the middle of its outer periphery and secured by an additional gold pellet, similar to those that adorn the ends of the pendant.
The crescent moon or selenis or meniskos in Greek (lunula in Latin), borrows its shape and name from the secondary phases of the moon, when it begins to appear (Αύξων Μηνίσκος: Waxing Crescent) or just before it disappears (Φθίνων Μηνίσκος: Waning Crescent). In ancient art, it symbolizes the moon itself. Known in the East since the second millennium BC, it is associated with lunar deities and appears in Mesopotamia and on the Syro-Palestinian coast carrying apotropaic and prophylactic (protective) properties towards women, children, and animals. In Egypt, it is called Aoh and used as an amulet against the evil eye and witchcraft.
As a bearer of similar protective and warding powers, selenis appears in Greece as early as the Mycenaean period, with an ever-increasing presence from the Classical period onwards, extending into Roman times and spreading to the far reaches of the Roman Empire. The deity with which it is most closely associated is Artemis, who controls the birth, growth, maturation and procreation of humans as well as animals. Due to religious syncretism, it is also connected with Artemis-Selene and Artemis-Hecate, as well as with other female deities with similar qualities, such as Aphrodite and the Mother of the Gods.
Crescent-shaped pendants made of various materials are found either together with beads of various shapes in necklaces, possibly worn diagonally across the chests of small children, as depicted in a special category of Attic vases called choes, or as independent neck jewellery, as appears to be the case with the Akanthos example.
The discovery of the Akanthos crescent alongside the silver ring recalls the Epidicus of Plautus (Plautus, Epidicus, 639), where a combination of a gold crescent pendant and a ring is offered as a birthday gift to a young girl. Could the crescent of Akanthos, along with the silver ring also have been a birthday gift that ended up protecting its owner from all evil not only in life but also after death?
The truth is that this question will probably remain unanswered. However, you may admire the Akanthian crescent in the exhibition section “The Gold of Macedon”, showcase 42.
