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Lot Essay
The kerykeion (herald’s staff) was typically fashioned out of metal or wood, with a solid shaft terminating in two intertwined serpents, their heads face to face. It was an attribute of the messenger god Hermes and was later adopted as a symbol of the keryx, or herald. A keryx could carry both public and private messages, which addressed topics of political, military, judicial or religious importance.
According to C.L. Lyons, et al., eds. (pp. 90-91 in Sicily: Art and Invention Between Greece and Rome), the kerykeion represents “the most interesting archeological remains concerning ancient diplomacy and war.” Especially during wartime, messengers were indispensable in cities and communities, and the kerykeion represented their inviolability. This theme is echoed in Homer’s epic, the Iliad, when Agamemnon sent a herald to inform Achilles that he was taking Briseis (1.32-1.36).
Many have inscriptions along their lengths that establish "the public use of the staff and the fact that it belonged to the inhabitants of the city” (op. cit., p. 90). The present example is inscribed with the Greek text: “The city of the people of Himera.” For a similar example now in the British Museum, with the inscription, “I am Longenaian public property," and others, see op. cit., figs. 10, 51-52.
According to C.L. Lyons, et al., eds. (pp. 90-91 in Sicily: Art and Invention Between Greece and Rome), the kerykeion represents “the most interesting archeological remains concerning ancient diplomacy and war.” Especially during wartime, messengers were indispensable in cities and communities, and the kerykeion represented their inviolability. This theme is echoed in Homer’s epic, the Iliad, when Agamemnon sent a herald to inform Achilles that he was taking Briseis (1.32-1.36).
Many have inscriptions along their lengths that establish "the public use of the staff and the fact that it belonged to the inhabitants of the city” (op. cit., p. 90). The present example is inscribed with the Greek text: “The city of the people of Himera.” For a similar example now in the British Museum, with the inscription, “I am Longenaian public property," and others, see op. cit., figs. 10, 51-52.