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Magic in Ancient Egypt
In ancient Egypt, if a woman were having difficulty conceiving a child, she might spend an evening in a Bes Chamber (also known as an incubation chamber) located within a temple. Bes was the god of childbirth, sexuality, fertility, among...
Article
Magic in Ancient Greece
For the Greeks magic (mageia or goeteia) was a wide-ranging topic which involved spells and evil prayers (epoidai), curse tablets (katadesmoi), enhancing drugs and deadly poisons (pharmaka), amulets (periapta) and powerful love potions (philtra...
Definition
Arslan Tash Amulet
Dated to the 7th century BCE, the Arslan Tash amulet (AT1) was discovered in Arslan Tash, Syria and contains the writing of Phoenician, magic incantations. The limestone plaque includes a variety of features: incantations perceived to prevent...
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Offering the Panel to the Bullfighter by Cassatt
An 1873 oil on canvas, Offering the Panel to the Bullfighter, by Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), the American impressionist painter. (Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, USA)
Video
Viking Witches and Norse Magic
A presentation on some aspects of Norse religion such as the importance of sorcery, its meanings and practitioners, as well as the role of gender. Important terms in the "lesson": seiðr - sorcery seiðmaðr - sorcerer seiðkona - sorceress...
Article
The Egyptian Amulet: Pious Symbols of Spiritual Life
Material Objects & Cultures Material objects convey volumes about the people who possessed them. Cultures and societies in every generation are in part classified - either correctly or incorrectly - by the objects or symbols they...
Video
Magic and Medicine: The casebooks of history's most notorious astrologer doctors
A ten-year project to study and digitise some 80,000 cases recorded by two famous astrological physicians has opened a wormhole into the everyday worries and desires of people who lived 400 years ago.
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Circe
A 19th century CE painting by John William Waterhouse depicting the sorceress Circe of Homer's Odyssey offering a cup of magic potion to Odysseus. (Oldham Gallery, UK)
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Greek Amulet Invoking Apollo
A beaten gold amulet stamped with a Greek text invoking the god Apollo. The text reads: INVOCATION TO THE GOD PHOEBUS APOLLO WHO RULES OVER MAN, POURING OUT LIBATIONS TO HIM, THAT HE MAY TAKE UP ARMS AND GO THROUGH THE ENEMY'S ARMY TO...
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Heart Scarab of Hatnefer
A serpentinite and gold heart scarab pendant. Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, Tomb of Hatnefer and Ramose, Mummy of Hatnefer. Thebes. Egypt, 18th Dynasty, c. 1492-1473 BCE. The text inscribed on the back of the scarab calls for Hatnefer's heart not...