A couple of years ago, I was Googling info about Hebrew inscriptions in America. One link led to another, and after looking at various alphabet charts, this item in particular caught my attention:
"Maine amulet with unusal symbols. On the other side is an eye of God -- an Old World motif."
I snooped around on the web, but it seemed that nobody who studied this amulet, knew what the symbols meant. Now maybe that's changed but I don't have the time to re-research. So I'll continue from memory (plus a little luck with image searches).
When I saw the image, it reminded me of these symbols:
One set is from Los Lunas, the other from Tel Dan. Here's the link:
http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/15_home.html
Now if you compare the symbols on the amulet, it appears that the first line of script (right to left) contains the following letters:
bet, zayin, yud, vav
I know very little about Hebrew but I like to dabble, and I enjoy word puzzles. So looking at that I read "b'ziv"; IOW, in [the month of] Ziv.
Also, the image to me suggested a reference to an eclipse or some such celestial event. The two circles at the top looked like those full moon and new moon symbols on a calendar. The "face" with the horns or rays could be the sun, if the astronomical symbolism is correct. Not sure what the "mouth" is below the two top circles, but perhaps it depicts a connection or relationship between the two circles and/or the larger circle with the four horns or rays (perhaps suggestive of a compass rose).
On to those bottom two "x"s. They looked to me like two tavs. The dot below the second tav (reading right to left), and/or the dash before both of them, may differentiate these tavs from the other letters. Perhaps the tavs represent a number (800, 400 + 400), instead of a word. I reasoned this because of the modern day practice of inserting apostrophes in letter sequences, so the letters are understood as numbers or abbreviations, instead of a word.
Far-fetched? Where did that leave me? I wondered if like today, the 800 is representative of a Hebrew year ending in 800, such as 3800 or 4800. The year now is 5765, and I've seen on calendars where the year is abbreviated to the last three digits.
Okay, so if I am on to something, the amulet marks an eclipse in the month of Ziv in a year 800.
Ziv = Zif
02099 Ziv {zeev'}
probably from an unused root meaning to be prominent; TWOT - 533; n pr m
AV - Zif 2; 2
Zif = "brightness"
1) name of the 2nd month of the year, corresponding to Apr-May
I realize that the month is normally spelled zayin vav (no yud), but the root (meaning "radiance", "brightness") is spelled zayin yud vav, so this isn't necessarily a poor hunch. The big test is that eclipse, in the spring of a year "800". Are eclipses that common that I should find one anyway, no matter what the amulet really means? Perhaps, but a visit to Fred Espenak's eclipse page reveals:
a total lunar eclipse in AD 40 (Hebrew year 3800) on May 15th, saros series 70. I have no clue where this eclipse would have been visible from (I had figured it out way back when, the instructions are on the page).
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEcat/LEcatalog.html
I also checked years -960/2800 (no year zero), and 1040/4800, but there weren't any eclipses in April or May.
I checked for solar eclipses also. There was a partial on April 29 in the same year, AD 40.
Perhaps the amulet speaks of that particular month, which was heralded by a solar eclipse and marked in the center by a lunar eclipse. Ironically, this during a month which means "brightness".
Coincidence? It is just a few hunches thrown together with a few tidbits of knowledge. Otherwise, what's an amulet doing in Maine with Hebrew writing, describing eclipses from AD 40?
FWIW
