Amulets and Superstitions

About this book

A scarab buried with the dead, a protective eye painted on an amulet, a charm inscribed with an ancient name. Small objects carried enormous hopes in cultures where danger could come from gods, demons or another person's glance.

E. A. Wallis Budge assembles protective objects, prayers and symbols from Egyptian and neighbouring religious traditions, reproducing many of them in illustrations. His translations and comparisons show how particular shapes and words were thought to repel harm or secure blessing. Budge's interpretations reflect the Egyptology of his period. The illustrated charms still show what people once carried, wore or placed around their dead in the hope of protection.