An Ancient Egyptian Magical Spell to Protect a Young Lady from Everything

Posted on 29/05/2012
The Third Intermediate Period of Egyptian history (ca. 1070 720 BC) was characterized by a breakdown of
central authority and resulting multiple kings and these dislocations were accompanied by changes in
religious and magical practices, as well as changes in architecture and tomb construction.
During the Libyan Dynasties of this period (dynasties. 21 24) as part of transformations in religion and
magic, a new type of magical protection appeared. Called Oracular Amuletic Decrees (OAD), these amulets
were primarily worn as a charm by the young of the non-royal / religious strata. This is no surprise. Given
uncertainties associated with changes and dislocations of the time, it makes sense that protection against
various misfortunes should be sought especially for children and the young - who might not have been able to
protect themselves.
The charms, written in hieratic on papyrus strips, are approximately 5 to 6cm wide and 65cm long (picture
below) and were tightly rolled up and placed in a case such as the following:
Oracular amuletic case in the British Museum
Here is a description of the production of the amulets by Dr. Lucarelli, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-
Universitt Bonn:
The demons of the [oracular amuletic decrees] were considered a cause of evil in daily life, which needed to
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Hieratic oracular amuletic text recto and
verso. (not the ms. translated in this
blog). British Museum
be repulsed by divine intercession. The priests and the temple authorities, by
producing and distributing the amuletic papyri, were the intermediaries
with the gods who pronounced the oracular decrees
The attempt of the Theban priests of the Libyan period to link the popular
beliefs in demons to the local temples did not cease with the [amuletic
decrees] but continued in the Ptolemaic period with the increasing use
of protective amulets, which spread through the whole late antique
Mediterranean world.

Source: Lucarelli-Popular Beliefs in Demons in the Libyan Period:
the Evidence of the Oracular Amuletic Decrees
Dr. Ritner of the Oriental Institute (University of Chicago) has produced a
lovely translation of an oracle manuscript in the Oriental Institute, as follows:

For Lady Taibakhori, spoken by the Goddess Nekhbet:

I shall keep her healthy in her flesh and her bones.
I shall protect her and I shall look after her.
I shall be between her and any sickness.
I shall grant her life, health, and a great and goodly old age.
I shall cause her eyes to see;
I shall cause her ears to hear;
I shall cause her strength to flourish.I shall open her mouth to eat and
I shall open her mouth to drink.
I shall cause her to eat in order to live and
I shall cause her to drink in order to be healthy.
I shall cause her to be completely satisfied with a happy life on earth.
Source: A Lost Oracular Amuletic Papyrus (OIM 25622) for Lady Taibakhori, spoken by the
Goddess Nekhbet: Practical Egyptian Magical Spells
Presented at the 1998 Oriental Institute Annual Dinner, by Robert K. Ritner
Retranslated from: I. E. S. Edwards, Oracular Amuletic Decrees of the Late New Kingdom, Hieratic Papyri in the British Museum, vol.
IV, London: 1960.
Oracular decrees were long, and generally written to encompass everything that could go wrong or befall
the addressee. Dr Ritners translation (above) selects just a few of the lines of the original text, which in its
length and totality of protections is indeed rather amazing.
Here is the full text from which the above was extracted :
P. OI 25622, recto: [papyrus Oriental Institute, front]
(1) Taybekhori, the daughter of Tetisheri, who is (also) called Sherenihi, my servant and my
offspring (?).
(5) I shall keep her healthy [in] her flesh and her bone(s). I shall protect (her) and I shall look
after her. I shall be between her and any sickness. I shall grant her life, health, and a great and
good old age. I shall cause her eye(s) to see; (10) I shall cause her ears to hear; [I shall cause]
her vigor to flourish. I shall open her [mouth] to eat and I shall open [her] mouth to drink; I
shall cause her to eat [in order to] live and I shall cause [her] to drink [in order to be healthy]. I
shall (15) cause her to be completely satisfied with a happy life on earth. I shall keep healthy her
whole body, every limb [of hers] and her entire frame from her head to the soles of her feet.
I shall keep [her] safe from every evil design of every god and every goddess (20) residing in
heaven, earth, and the underworld; I shall keep her safe from [their] manifestations; I shall
propitiate [them] for her in all their names. I shall keep her safe from every action of a khawt-
demon, from every action of a shemawt-demon and from every action of every god who does
wrong. I shall keep her safe (25) from every action of every god and every goddess and from
every evil thing. I shall keep her safe from the gods of (the book) That-which-is-in-the-Year; I
shall cause [it] to be nullified for her at all times.
I shall keep her safe from every action of a demon and every interference of a demon; (30) I
shall keep her safe [from] every demon of every kind that is in (?) heaven, earth, and the
underworld; I shall not let them come anywhere near her. I shall keep her safe from every evil
eye. I shall keep her safe from every Syrian magic; I shall keep her safe (35) from every magic
of every foreign land of every kind in the entire earth; I shall never let them prevail over her.
I shall keep her safe from all the wrath (?) of all (male) spirits and all (female) spirits; I shall
not let them come anywhere near her. (40) I shall keep her safe [from] every cry of every fear.
I shall keep her safe from every dread, every sickness, every disorder, every fever, every
inflammation, [every] malady every and every mishap (45) which makes every in the
land; I shall never let them happen to her throughout her whole lifetime. I shall keep her safe
[from] the bite of a serpent; I shall keep her safe [from] the bite of scorpions, from every bite of
(50) every snake, all reptiles, and every mouth which bites; I shall not let them come anywhere
near her.
I shall keep her safe from any harmful action (?) of a horse; I shall keep her safe from any
harmful action (?) of a chariot and any harmful action of a ship. I shall keep her safe (55) from
anything unpleasant (?) and any abomination on every kind of journey which she will make
(by) ship, chariot, or (on) foot, while her breath is alive and well with her. I shall keep her from
harm at midday, I shall watch (60) [over her].
I shall provide for her safe-conduct (?), protection, life, and health in every place in which
she may be and [every] sanctuary [which] she may enter. (65) I shall cause my great, mighty
oracle to take possession of her for life, health, and I shall give her everything (?) which (?)
I shall cause to be good every vision (70) which [she] has seen; I shall cause to be good [every]
vision which I shall cause another (male) or another (female) to see for her; I shall cause to be
good every vision which every man and (75) every woman and all people of every kind in the
whole land have seen for her. I shall do for her every good
I shall keep her safe from Syrian lentigo; I shall keep her safe from Ethiopian lentigo. I shall
keep (80) her safe from Sekhmet and her son. I shall keep her safe from the ape of the place of
the mound (?) and the baboon of the place of the Wadjet. I shall keep healthy [her] head; I shall
cause her ears to hear; I shall cause (85) her eye(s) to see; [I shall] keep healthy her mouth; I
shall keep healthy I shall keep healthy her hands; [I shall keep healthy] the ten fingers of her
hands; [I shall keep healthy] her intestines; I shall keep healthy her feet; (90) I shall keep
healthy her ten toes; I shall keep healthy her entire frame from her head to the soles of her feet.
Nekhbet, the [great] goddess, the eldest who was the first to come-into-existence, [said]: As
regards everything (95) which has been included in this oracle and those (things) the inclusion
of which has been forgotten in it, I shall make them beneficial to Taybekhori, the daughter of
Tetisheri, who is (also) called Sherenihi, whose mother is (100) every single day.
Aha! Finally found it (May 31) picture of the manuscript discussed in this blog! It is in a document, so had to take a
picture, therefore poor quality. Oracular text of OIM 25622 a-d, Oriental Institute Museum, U. of Chicago.
Bits and pieces of the decrees and their cases continue to be identified in various museums, as noted in the
following snippet. An identical case described below is that pictured after the text, which is in the Fitzwilliam
Museum, Both were owned ba a certain Sh3k:
Container for an oraculal amuletic decree, dynasty 22. Translation below. Fitzwilliam Museum.
One of two oracular decree cases of Sh3k, in the Louvre. (JEA Journal of Egyptian Archaeology)
Here is the case of Sh3k, in the Fitzwilliam Museum, mentioned in the above quote:
Hieroglyphic Inscription: Dd
mdw in xnsw m wAst nft-Htp ir.n.f
sA nfr [n] SAq, mAa-xrw
Translation: Words recited by
Khonsu in Thebes Neferhotep; he
made a goodly protection [for] Shak,
the justified
The amuletic decrees of the Libyan
Period and later are the product of
priestly intermediaries (between god
or goddess and the person receiving
the amulet); those found in recent
times in the Middle East, the Sahel
and North Africa are composed
generally by Imams (Islamic clerics)
or, minimally, by Arabic scribes., to
be discussed in an upcoming blog
Note: Since predynastic times, Libyan
tribes caused problems in the Nile
Valley, and it was not until the Third
Intermediate Period, discussed in this
blog, that Libyans were able to
dominate certain areas of the Valley.
Here is link to a blog I wrote a while
back on the earliest (prehistoric)
records of Libyans in the Nile Valley:
Libya Prehistoric Links with the Nile Valley
Articles of possible interest:
Opening up an ancient Egyptian library (britishmuseum.org)
Fragments of Book of the Dead found in Brisbane (abc.net.au)

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A recent group photo at a training course for veterinarians and vet technicians here in Burundi. I discuss in French with some
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This entry was posted in Egypt-Ancient, Magic and tagged Amulet, Ancient Egypt, AncientEgypt, Bes, Book of the Dead, British Museum, Demons, Egypt, Egyptian, Egyptology,
Hatshepsut, History of Ptolemaic Egypt, Luxor, Magic, Magic (paranormal), Nekhbet, New Kingdom, Oracle, oracles, Papyrus, protective amulets, Ptolemaic, religion, Ritner,
Spells - Ancient Egypt, Tebtunis, University of Chicago. Bookmark the permalink.
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