ancient Egypt

Beyond Dungeons and Dragons: Amulets, Talismans, and Other Protective Magic

Magic and fantasy fiction go hand in hand. Magic is woven into the fabric of fictional universes such as Thedas in the Dragon Age video games or Faerûn in the Dungeons & Dragons series. People can possess magical powers, but so can inanimate objects. Want to foil a scrying sensor? You should wear an Amulet of Proof. Going up against a big baddie? Equip the Kitty’s Collar amulet and you’ll instantly resurrect after dying. But protective magical objects aren’t limited to fictional battles. For many ancient peoples, they offered real safeguards from serious threats – both corporeal and invisible.  

Common Threats in the Antiquity

Our ancestors faced a world that was full of perils. If you lived during those times, your first challenge was surviving to adulthood. Our World in Data estimates that nearly half of all children born before the 20th century died before reaching adolescence. In antiquity, those figures ranged between 25% and 57%.

So what killed off these children? Deadly diseases were common, but other threats included famine, accidents, and violence. Some societies practiced infanticide, leaving newborns to die if they were disabled, the wrong gender, or one of too many mouths to feed.

With so many ways to die, you’d think that reaching adulthood would offer some reprieve. But that wasn’t always the case. Threats of disease, starvation, accidents, and violence remained. Depending on where and when you lived, you could become a casualty of war. If you were royalty, someone who wanted your throne badly enough could remove you from it – permanently.

Protection Against Evil

Humans in antiquity devised several ways of dealing with their hostile atmospheres. Amulets, charms, and talismans were common alternatives. These objects are examples of apotropaic magic, aimed at shielding their wearers from harm. Apotropaic magic doesn’t just involve physical objects – other means include crossing one’s fingers or knocking on wood.

Amulets in the Ancient World

Amulets existed in many societies, but some of the best-preserved specimens come from ancient Egypt. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art shows some of these amulets, which were usually worn by living people or placed near a person’s mummified body before interment. Many were fashioned as pendants or rings shaped like gods, goddesses, animals, or symbols. Some bore text inscriptions. One important key to creating an amulet was a magical act that granted its power.

Other ancient cultures used amulets to ward off evil. Roman parents gave their children protective amulets made from precious metals or gemstones. Archaeologists have found metal versions in ancient Palestinian sites, some inscribed with Hebrew letters. Hand of Miriam amulets were designed to protect wearers against the evil eye.

Talismans and Charms

Amulets are classified as talismans, which are handcrafted objects made to protect those who possess them. But “talisman” is a broader term that also applies to clothing, weapons, or even text written on pieces of parchment. Some Stone Age talismans were inscribed with swastikas, which were universal symbols of prosperity and luck until they were co-opted by the Nazi Party during the 1920s.

Talismans of all sorts were also common throughout the Islamic world. For instance, artisans crafted and engraved metal talismanic bowls to heal certain illnesses. Others, such as necklaces or shirts, served as vehicles of divine protection for their wearers.

Enduring Belief in Unseen Forces

The idea of magic may seem absurd in modern times. After all, we have science and reason to guide us, right? Yet belief in the supernatural persists in many cultures all over the world. Evil eye pendants are becoming high fashion, and good luck charm jewelry remains popular. We aren’t living in ancient times, but we face equal uncertainty as COVID-19 and climate change threaten our world. And with such uncertainties, relying on magical objects may not seem so silly after all.

Monotheism in Ancient Egypt: The Story of Akhenaten

While most people associate monotheism with the three Abrahamic religions, the concept of a single, all powerful god was also promulgated in ancient Egypt.

While most people associate monotheism with the three Abrahamic religions, the concept of a single, all powerful god was also promulgated in ancient Egypt.

Monotheism has long been associated with Abrahamic religions. The first verse of the Shema, the most significant prayer in Judaism, states: “Hear O’ Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.” The Islamic concept of Tawhid holds that God is singular and indivisible. In Christianity, the Trinity doctrine asserts that God is a singular entity with three persons. While these are our most familiar examples of monotheism, it isn’t limited to Abrahamic faiths. One of the most drastic shifts from polytheism to monotheism happened in a place you may not expect: ancient Egypt.

Atum: Father of the Gods

Thousands of years ago, Kemetic polytheism was the norm in Egypt. The Ancient History Encyclopedia describes ma’at, the essential balance that governed the universe according to the Kemetic worldview. Atum, the chief deity, once existed alone on a great hill standing in the primordial swirl of chaotic nothingness. From him came humanity as well as the progenitors of Kemet’s primary gods. Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys were Atum’s great-grandchildren. He had scores of other descendants, including Horus, Anubis, Bastet, and Hathor.

Religious and Political Divisions

Kemet’s unification in 3150 B.C.E. started nearly 3,000 years of dynastic rule. Yet the northern and southern regions didn’t always coexist harmoniously. Each had a distinctive religious subculture, according to ancient history professor James K. Hoffmeier: The sun god Ra was preeminent in the northern Delta region, while the south venerated Amun.

Kemet’s civil war started in 2150 B.C.E and lasted about 150 years. Each region had its own pharaoh, with Memphis as the north’s seat of power and Thebes as the south’s capital. Mentuhotep II, a Theban monarch, ended the war by defeating the northern rulers and reunifying the north and south. Amenemhet I, who founded Kemet’s Twelfth Dynasty, combined the north’s and south’s chief gods into a single deity: Amun-Ra.

A Sun God’s Royal Devotee

Amun was the chief deity during the first part of the New Kingdom period starting in 1570 B.C.E. Historian Joshua J. Mark mentions that Amun’s depictions combined the most essential attributes of both Atum and Ra, resulting in a god that encompassed every aspect of creation. Amun’s cult was extremely popular, to the point where ancient Kemetic religion embodied monotheism.

Amenhotep IV, who came to power in 1353 B.C.E, would change all of that. About five years later, he abandoned his worship of Atum and became a devotee of Aten. He enacted sweeping religious reforms, instituting a monotheism with Aten as its deity. He erased other deities’ names from public monuments, ordered Amun’s priests to serve the new god, and sent his palace guards to destroy relics, idols, and texts devoted to Amun. Another Encyclopedia Britannica piece reveals that other gods suffered the same fate: Even Amun’s chief consort Mut and the word “gods” were removed from temples all over the land.

Amenhotep IV also changed his name to Akhenaten. Just for context, the name translates as “beneficial for Aten.” He dedicated several new temples to Aten, complete with iconography depicting the Aten sun disk shining its rays upon the royal family. In another Ancient History Encyclopedia article, Joshua J. Mark mentions that Akhenaten declared himself the living incarnation of Aten and his wife Nefertiti to be a god.

Uncertain Motives and a Complicated Legacy

What motivated Akhenaten to make such extreme changes? Political self-interest is one possibility: He could steal power and influence away from the Amun priesthood. Hoffmeier speculates that Akhenaten may have also experienced what he believed was a divine manifestation. Either way, his work was undone after he died. His son King Tut changed his name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun, and Aten’s temples were later dismantled. Yet the records left behind show a fascinating yet troubling pattern that would be repeated in other cultures throughout human history.