Below is a list of ten magic amulets that were commonly used in this cause. Statuette of Isis nursing Horus, 332-30 BC, via The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New Yorkĭrawing on instructions from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, priests ritually called on this divine family to do the bidding of the deceased in their care. And though the Egyptian pantheon was crowded, for the purposes of a discussion on afterlife rituals the core three deities were Osiris, god of the Underworld, his wife, Isis, and their son, Horus. During mummification, priests would invoke the gods through these talismans to provide assistance to the deceased in the afterlife. Over the course of the millennia, the practice of wearing magic amulets came to be more associated with the dead. “Al-Khemeia” eventually made its way into the English language as Alchemy. In later times, after the demise of the Pharaohs followed by the Ptolemies and then the Romans, Arab conquerors in Egypt would add “Al” to the ancient word for alloy. They’d become experts at fusing these to make alloys, or “ khemeia ,” which were believed to inherently possess magic powers. And in such a landscape it’s no surprise: ancient Egypt was brimming with precious gemstones and metallic elements. Substance, color, and shape were all relevant features of an Egyptian amulet. Magic Amulets In Egypt Excerpt of the Book of the Dead, 1425 – 1353 BC, via Museo Egizio, Turin
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