The image of a young
man with both
hands uplifted in prayer flanked by two lions - Daniel in the lion's den - was very popular in early
christian art. But other images from the story cycle of Daniel also appear, and this lead seal is an interesting example:
Roman lead seal “Daniel and the Dragon”, 4th century AD
Daniel,
nimbate, wearing short tunic, standing right, feeding matzah to dragon
15mm; 3.42 gram.
Unpublished. The scene is found on a 4th century gold
glass medaillon in the British Museum, on a number of early
christian sarcophagi and on clay tokens from the sanctuary of Saint Simeon Stylites the Elder in
Syria.
The image on this lead seal illustrates a scene from the story of Daniel and the Dragon. This story is one of the narratives found in the last of the deuterocanonical
additions to the book of Daniel, “Bel and the Dragon”, verses 23-30. According to the narrative, the Babylonians worshipped a Great dragon. The
king orders Daniel to worship the beast, but Daniel tells him that he worships the Lord
his God, and that he is able to kill the Dragon without
weapons. After the
king allows him to proceed, he prepares cakes (Gr. 'mazas') and mixes in pitch, fat, and hair. When the Dragon eats the cakes, it bursts open from within. No doubt, this story was interpreted by early christians as an allegory of
Christ’s triumph over Satan (
cf. J.
Spier, Picturing the Bible, the earliest
christian art (2007), cat. 47)
Regards
Gert
