Archeologists Find Centuries-Old Amulet in Cyprus, But It's the 59-Letter Inscription That's Special

A 1500-year-old amulet was discovered by archeologists working in Cyprus, but it's the 59-letter inscription that's stealing way all the attention.

According to Live Science, the amulet was found in the ancient city of Nea Paphos in southwest Cyprus. On one side, the ornament had several images carved into it.

Credit: Photo by Marcin Iwan, artifact from the excavations of Jagiellonian University in Krakow at Paphos Agora

On the other side, however, there was an inscription written in Greek with a special quality: it reads the same backwards as it does forwards, making it what's known as a palindrome.

Credit: Photo by Marcin Iwan, artifact from the excavations of Jagiellonian University in Krakow at Paphos Agora

Here's the message in Greek, according to Live Science:

ΙΑΕW

ΒΑΦΡΕΝΕΜ

ΟΥΝΟΘΙΛΑΡΙ

ΚΝΙΦΙΑΕΥΕ

ΑΙΦΙΝΚΙΡΑΛ

ΙΘΟΝΥΟΜΕ

ΝΕΡΦΑΒW

ΕΑΙ

The message translates to "Iahweh (a god) is the bearer of the secret name, the lion of Re secure in his shrine."

According to experts, the amulet also has several other usual qualities.

"It must be stated that the depiction is fairly unskilled and schematic. It is iconographically based on Egyptian sources, but these sources were not fully understood by the creator of the amulet,"Jagiellonian University professor Joachim Śliwa wrote.

For example, Harpocrates, a god of science, should be sitting on a lotus flower, the professor said. Further, a dog-headed creature called Cynocephalus shouldn't be mimicking the god.

"[In] the classic version, the cynocephalus faces Harpocrates with paws raised in adoration," Śliwa wrote, according to Live Science."We can find no justification for the cynocephalus's gesture of raising its right paw to its lips in a manner similar to Harpocrates."

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