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The Mesopotamian demon Pazuzu, depicted here in a combination of human and animal features, was invoked to prevent the malicious actions of the demon Lamashtu, who was believed to endanger newborn…
This cast and gilded bronze amulet from Italy includes a pair of dolphins as a design element. It is inscribed in Hebrew: “May no evil grieve you.”
Amulets for the evil eye; tested. Write on either a kosher or deerskin parchment, on a day of [reading from] the Torah, before eating anything. And calculate in that hour which day it is and which…
In some Hasidic communities, it became a common practice for the Hasidic leader or rebbe to give specially sanctified coins as amulets that could confer blessings on the holder. These coins-turned…
Amulets often took the form of Bes, a minor Egyptian deity, who was understood to guard mothers in childbirth and their babies. Bes is often shown with a feathered headdress and a grotesque face, a…
This page from a kabbalistic manuscript depicts the inner processes of the divine (the sefirot). Visualization plays an important part in kabbalah, and these diagrams provided a divine cartography…
The Hebrew word Shaddai—another name for God—is etched in the center of this ornate silver amulet from Italy.
This faience amulet from Lachish depicts the Egyptian goddess Isis sitting on a throne and holding her son, the god Horus, on her lap, a common artistic motif in Egyptian amulets. The legs are broken…
Amulets were crafted to protect pregnant women and newborn children from the powers of the evil Lilith, Adam’s mythical first wife. Mystical texts surround this image, written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and…
This unusual heart-shaped amulet from Morocco is inscribed with the words “God Almighty,” followed by the priestly blessing (Numbers 6:24–26) and an individualized text: “May God give him life and…
