Carolingian Brooch/amulet (BM 1875,1211.1)
This Carolingian brooch presents an intriguing amalgamation: an amuletic seal inscribed in Arabic and embedded in a copper-alloy Christian cross. The central seal is actually black glass, possibly a cheaper substitute for black jasper. European Christians and Muslims believed engraved gems could bear amuletic properties: spiritual and mystical abilities to protect or benefit the wearer. Most Christians in Europe could not read Arabic, and the exoticism of the glass gem’s script likely contributed further to its talismanic associations. It is also possible that the decision to embed the Arabic seal in the cross was due to the medieval perception of Arabic as the language spoken in the Holy Land (see A. Walker, “So-called Crusader’s Bowl,” below). In that case, perhaps unexpectedly, the Arabic inscription could have served to remind its viewers of the Christian sacred past.
Carolingian refers to the time of the Emperor Charlemagne (ca. 747–814) and his successors, meaning that the cross (which has Carolingian stylistic features) was made in the eighth or ninth century. How did a Carolingian cross bearing an Arabic amuletic seal end up in Ballycotton, Ireland? Scholars have suggested that it may have been carried to Ireland by the Vikings, who conducted substantial early trade with the Arab world; Islamic coins and other small, portable goods such as seals have been found across Scandinavia. Vikings also conducted raids in monasteries and other centers of wealth in the Carolingian Empire, whence this brooch, with the inscribed glass seal already embedded, could have been stolen. Therefore, the amuletic brooch and its findspot may attest to the trading, raiding, and cultural exchanges that took place among Muslims, Vikings, and others in the early Middle Ages.
Suggested Reading:
Porter, Venetia, and Barry Ager. “Islamic Amuletic Seals: The Case of the Carolingian Cross Brooch from Ballycottin.” In La science des cieux: Sages, mages, astrologues, edited by Rika Gyselen, 211–18. Bures-sur-Yvette: Groupe pour l’Étude de la Civilisation du Moyen-Orient, 1999.
Wilken, Robert L. “Byzantine Palestine: A Christian Holy Land.” Biblical Archaeologist 51 (1988): 214–37.
