The Pentacles

Athens 115 · Seal 15

A small circle encloses the crossing of eight otherwise unadorned arms. [1]

Delatte 1927, printed historical edition; Athens MS 115 · Delatte I (1927), printed p. 20, row 1, column 3; phylactery passage p. 18, Athens MS 115, Book II, ff. 17–18.

Pentacle profile

Tradition and Group: Greek Solomonic tradition · Athens MS 115 [1]
Position within the Set: 15th design in the catalogue; unnumbered in Delatte’s edition. [1]
Attributed Purpose: Part of the twenty-four-seal phylactery carried at the chest in preparation for the art of the circle. [1]
Design: Eight straight arms cross a small central circle and reach the enclosing circumference. [1]

Eight straight arms cross a small central circle and reach the enclosing circumference. — **Source reproduction** A wheel with a central ring. Delatte, 1927, p. 20.

A wheel with a central ring

An upright cross and two diagonals meet inside a small circle at the centre. Their eight arms continue to the outer circumference. The crossing remains visible through the little central ring, dividing it into sectors. [1]

There are no looped caps or transverse bars at the outer ends. The central circle distinguishes this wheel from the more heavily ornamented radial drawings, including seals 2, 10 and 12 on the first plate. [1]

The chest-worn phylactery

This is the rightmost figure in the first row of page 20. The source joins it to the other twenty-three seals through their common placement beneath names on parchment worn at the chest. Its preparation passage identifies the intended undertaking as the art of the circle. [1]

Sources and editions

A. Delatte, Anecdota Atheniensia I
Delatte 1927, printed historical edition; Athens MS 115. Manuscript B (Athens MS 115): introductory description, printed pp. 1–2; Book II, phylactery passage p. 18, lines 19–27 (ff. 17–18); twenty-four seals pp. 19–20; this drawing p. 20, row 1, column 3. Facsimile PDF pp. 14–15 and 31–33.
The drawing appears in Delatte’s 1927 edition of Athens MS 115.

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