Watch List notes:

Anonymous, circa 10th century. Amulet (Lead, 25 mm, 3.91 g), a fragment of a Saint Theophano womb amulet. ΘЄO[Φ] Saint Theophano, standing facing, hands raised in prayer (on this fragment, her left hand is visible); all in border decorated with pearls. Rev. H - Z (retrograde) - Φ Central facing head in center, from which seven serpents originate towards the border; all in border decorated with pearls. Ioli Kalavrezou, Byzantine Women and Their World (Cambridge, MA, 2003), p. 291 and figures 172a and 172b. Large piece missing, otherwise, good very fine.


The empress Theophano, wife of Leo VI the Wise (886-912) was revered as a saint, particularly by women seeking intervention on matters of pregnancy and childbirth. Her cult is attested from the middle of the 10th century onwards. Several amulets survive, combining her image with a "womb symbol" on the reverse - a central head with serpents around, known from several other types of magical amulet.