Magic: Did you mean...?

An Egyptian apotropaic knife made from a hippopotamus tusk and designed to ward off evil in a nursery. (Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago)

A magical bowl with an incantation written in ink to ward off malevolent spirits. Clay, inscribed in Aramaic language, 3rd to 7th century CE. From Babylon, Iraq. (The Sulaimaniya Museum, Iraq).

This sheet is decorated with an impression of a coin of the Emperor Valens (Flavius Julius Valens Augustus), 364-378 CE. It may have been intended as a curse against the Emperor. From Fulstow, UK. Donated by Tom Redmayne. (The British Museum...

These amulets were inscribed with a spell recruiting the mighty god Ninurta for protection. They were worn around the neck and their size corresponds to the needs of different age groups. From Nimrud and Nineveh, Mesopotamia, Iraq. Circa...

This curse tablet is engraved with with an appeal to Mars and Mercury regarding a theft. The inscription reads: "To the god Mars/Mercury... gold ring from... and iron fetter... who did wrong...let the god discover". Circa 100-200 CE...

These exorcistic incantations were written on this large clay tablet using both Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform language. Probably from Ashur, Mesopotamia, Iraq, 1300-900 BCE. (The British Museum, London)

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...

The pantheon of the Maya is a vast collection of deities worshipped throughout the regions of Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco, and Chiapas in Mexico and southward through Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. These gods informed...

The society of ancient Egypt was strictly divided into a hierarchy with the king at the top and then his vizier, the members of his court, priests and scribes, regional governors (eventually called 'nomarchs'), the generals of the military...

The ancient Egyptians understood that their gods had prevailed over the forces of chaos through the creation of the world and relied upon humanity's help to maintain it. The people of Mesopotamia held this same belief but felt they were co-workers...