The Pentacles

Athens 115 · Seal 24

Hooked and crossed endings surround the centre of the last seal in Delatte’s twenty-four-drawing sequence. [1]

Delatte 1927, printed historical edition; Athens MS 115 · Delatte I (1927), printed p. 20, row 4, 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: 24th 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 arms radiate from the centre, ending in brackets, curved tips and crossed marks. [1]

Eight arms radiate from the centre, ending in brackets, curved tips and crossed marks. — **Source reproduction** Eight arms with hooked ends. Delatte, 1927, p. 20.

Eight arms with hooked ends

An upright cross and two diagonals meet at the centre. The upper and lower vertical ends carry broad curved bars, while the horizontal ends have a bracket on the left and an open curve on the right. Three diagonal arms carry shorter hooked or crossed marks; the upper-left ends in a plain stroke. [1]

Its radial framework recalls seals 2, 10 and 12, each of which treats the outer ends differently. This is the final drawing in the twenty-four-seal sequence. [1]

The chest-worn phylactery

Delatte prints it at the right of the last row on page 20. The Greek notice joins the complete series to names on the chest-worn phylactery, made from parchment of an unborn male calf. The passage then moves to the separate preparation of the hand coverings. [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 4, 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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