A
Anonymous
Guest
Okay, picked up a curio at the weekend from a Bric-a-Brac shop and it struck me as odd enough to merit comment. Before I describe it, no I don't think I have stumbled upon a lost artefact of an ancient civilisation, yes I do think it probably is a souvenier sold to a gullible or simply aesthetically odd tourist. No I am not expecting purple robed cultists of the Elder Gods to cart me off for ritual shennanigans.
Right, now thats out of the way, what I am asking is not if someone can identify the talisman itself but if someone can identify the culture it came from, by the symbols upon it.
The talisman itself is about the length 3 inches long by 2 inches wide with a thickness of about 0.5 centimetres. It is roughly teardrop shaped and made of a weighty metal. We think the metal or alloy has some copper in it because of the greenish residue (oxidisation). On one face of the talisman is an octopus with its tentacles spread but curled(yes I know that will raise your incredulity, but no, it doesn't look like cthulhu) that dominates the most of that side, whilst above it is a coencentric star, small and at the peak of the teardrop. My first impressions are that it would thus not come from a land-locked country, but a culture where fishing is important.
On the reverse side is what I can only describe as a babylonian/asian styled woman. She is stood bare-chested, with her arms outstretched, clutching a snake in each hand. Her hair is long, but fashioned upwards and a curly lock of hair frames each side of her face. She is wearing a long, A-shaped segmented dress, constructed of horizontal, stepped bars, that conceals her feet and legs. beneath her outstretched arms are coencentric coils on either side.
There you go, best description I can give. I've got a few ideas but I thought I would through it open to the sum of your knowledge and see what I got back.
No I am not expecting anything, other than for it to be fairly mundane, but my curiosity is peaked and I'm interested in finding out if any tourists among you have come across where it might have originated from.
Of course it could simply be some esoterically minded art students project!
Right, now thats out of the way, what I am asking is not if someone can identify the talisman itself but if someone can identify the culture it came from, by the symbols upon it.
The talisman itself is about the length 3 inches long by 2 inches wide with a thickness of about 0.5 centimetres. It is roughly teardrop shaped and made of a weighty metal. We think the metal or alloy has some copper in it because of the greenish residue (oxidisation). On one face of the talisman is an octopus with its tentacles spread but curled(yes I know that will raise your incredulity, but no, it doesn't look like cthulhu) that dominates the most of that side, whilst above it is a coencentric star, small and at the peak of the teardrop. My first impressions are that it would thus not come from a land-locked country, but a culture where fishing is important.
On the reverse side is what I can only describe as a babylonian/asian styled woman. She is stood bare-chested, with her arms outstretched, clutching a snake in each hand. Her hair is long, but fashioned upwards and a curly lock of hair frames each side of her face. She is wearing a long, A-shaped segmented dress, constructed of horizontal, stepped bars, that conceals her feet and legs. beneath her outstretched arms are coencentric coils on either side.
There you go, best description I can give. I've got a few ideas but I thought I would through it open to the sum of your knowledge and see what I got back.
No I am not expecting anything, other than for it to be fairly mundane, but my curiosity is peaked and I'm interested in finding out if any tourists among you have come across where it might have originated from.
Of course it could simply be some esoterically minded art students project!