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The Impact of Religion and Medicine on ancient Egyptian magic

- Introduction:

Magic was widely practiced in ancient Egypt and the ancient Egyptians approached magicians for many problems that faced them throughout their life. Even for their afterlife, magical spells were found in ancient Egyptian tombs to help the deceased with his underworld adventure. Magic in ancient Egypt was a mix of medicine and religious myths which the Egyptians believed in. Generally, magic can be defined as "the manipulation of supernatural beings by a human who expects that the correct sequence of words or actions will automatically bring about the desired result" . This definition is accurate for ancient Egyptian magic. These supernatural beings were not known only to the magicians, because magic relied on religious myths and deities, normal peasants knew about these beings and were able to identify them due to their knowledge of these myths. Therefore, magic was not considered blasphemous according to the Egyptians because it did not contradict religion. Apart from this, magicians also used medicine for some cases which could be cured by the use of medical means. Thus magic in ancient Egypt mainly relied on: religious myths and medicine.

The impact of religious myths on magic:

The most important forms of magic in ancient Egypt were: spoken magic, amulets and figurines. Each of these forms had its own characteristics but they all shared the reliance on the myths provided by the ancient Egyptian religion.

- Spoken magic:

This form of magic could be found written on papyrus, coffins, tomb walls or statues of kings and deities. However, these texts were considered very secret and the number of people who had access to them was very limited. One story featuring the son of Ramses II, Khaemwaset, mentions how his eagerness to recover a magical book written by Thoth from the tomb of Prince Naneferkaptah resulted in him suffering hallucinations until he returned the book back . Prince Naneferkaptah's story was also known. Reportedly, he committed suicide after having his family slaughtered by an emissary sent by the god Ra for stealing the magical book . This shows the secrecy of these magical papyri and how that they were intended to be available only for those who were worthy to acquire them. Even princes and kings were not intended to have access to such books. In addition, the gods Ra and Thoth are both characters in the story. They punished those who tried to acquire the book without having been given authority to do so. This could be taken as an example of how magic was mixed with religion because of the appearance of deities. In addition to this story, many magical spells relied mainly on the deities. For example, one anti-headache magical spell features Horus and Seth fighting over a plant . Another anti-venomous spell hails Horus and asks for his help over the venom . It is also stated that this recitation must be spoken over a Horus statue for it to become potent . It was also a known magical practice that a magician could simply narrate the spell or he could enact a dialogue representing himself as the deity with magical powers . These many examples show how these spells mainly relied on the religious myths of the ancient Egyptian religion. Imagining a head-ache as the fight between Horus and Seth and having magicians take the role of deities in order to control higher magical powers shows a clear influence of religion on magic.

- Magic Figurines and Statues:

One example of figurines is wax models used by magicians. Magicians claimed to have the ability to give their client power over someone or to force them to love their client. The magician would ask his client to bring hair of the depicted person to attach it to the wax model for the figurine to truly represent the actual person. A lead tablet invoking the deities and the spirits was then attached to the model in order for the spell to be complete and affect the depicted . An example of such figurines occurs in the “Execration texts” where the enemies of the state are identified as Apep or Seth who were thought by the Egyptians to be the cause of chaos in the world . Figurines of the enemies were made out of wax and the deities were called to take an action against these enemies . Protective statues were also made by magicians for their clients. These statues were made for the sake of protecting the client or for curing him from a snake bite or from a venomous poison. They could be also done for protection of several parts of the body or to help the deceased with his afterlife. The figurines here represent religious deities who are thought to have the magical power to cure or protect the client. One example of a spell curing from snake bites and poison was to be said over a figurine of a cat. In religious texts, Ra and Hathor took the form of a cat in order to overcome the chaos serpent . It was though that the poison would transfer to this sacred figurine from the poisoned individual .

Hieratic sherds

The sun god Ra, in the form of Great Cat, slays the snake Apep[5]

Another spell to relieve stomach-aches was to be said over a statue representing Isis. Isis was then invoked to fight the ache and cure it . Spells curing snake bites also require that the spell be said over a wooden figurine of Horus holding snakes and scorpions . One example of protective figurines features Horus and his four sons. Figurines of the four sons of Horus were placed inside the tomb to protect the liver, lungs, stomach and the entrails of the mummified person . Horus is the son of Isis and Osiris. All of such examples include the representation of deities as figurines and statues. The statues could be for mere protection like the sons of Horus or could be the unit that the ache or poison should be transferred to. In all cases, the magic relied on the magical power of the religious deities and their ability to protect the client or cure him.

- Amulets:

Amulets were thought to have protective powers and they were worn by most Egyptians for several purposes. Amulets could be worn for protection against demons and dangerous spirits. In addition, they were sometimes used to protect the general health of the body. They could also be worn for reasons concerning the afterlife. For example, amulets featuring the regenerated sun at dawn, Khepri, were amongst the most worn amulets in ancient Egypt. The Khepri amulet was worn by Egyptians in hope of regeneration in the afterlife .

Back of scarab amulet

Others amulets offering health and wholeness include the wedjat eye amulet which was thought to be the lunar eye of Horus which was restored by Thoth .

Earthenware Wedjat amulet on display at the Louvre, c. 500–300 BCE

The fear of demonic days also involved the use of amulets so that the clients would be protected. The lioness God Sekhmet is featured in one amulet as the main protector .

These amulets used also show the great influence by religion on magic. The deities appear clearly in the amulets and their influence cannot be neglected on the whole magical process.

- Medicine and magic:

In practice, medicine could not be separated from magical practice. Along with medicine, magical spells were recited and were thought to be of extreme importance for the client to be cured. The curer or doctor himself related himself to the deities. In Papyrus Ebers, a doctor introduces himself as the servant of Ra and as being given the ability to practice medicine by Thoth himself . In addition, the patient and the doctor could both be identified during the medical process as deities in order to add a magical sense to the curing process. One spell curing burns identifies the patient as the burning Horus and the doctor as Isis. The doctor would then speak taking the role of Isis and would promise the patient to cure him. Normal honey would then be used as a cure for such burns. Apart from the cure, the cause of such burns or medical implications also had to be identified. For the same burning case, the goddess Sekhmet was held responsible for such burns. It was important for the ancient Egyptians to identify the ultimate cause of such events like a burn or a snake bit or any other disease. Along with the medical explanation for such diseases, ultimate mythical reasons had to be identified such as demons, evil spirits or deities . In the medical papyrus Ebers, a quote clearly reflects the influence of magic on medicine. This papyrus is supposed to be a medical papyrus however the religious deities and myths still appear: "This is the book of the healing of all maladies. May Isis heal me as she healed Horus of all his pains which his brother Seth has caused him when he killed his father Osiris. O Isis, great of magic, heal me, save me from all the bad, evil, typhonic things, from the daemonic and deadly diseases and impurities of all kind which attack me, as you have saved and freed your son Horus. I have entered the fire and emerged from the water. May I not fall into the trap of that day, saying: "I am small and pitiable." (Papyrus Ebers). It can be noticed from the above examples that normal medical means were used but they were mixed with magical and mythical practices.

- Conclusion:

It appears from the above examples that most of the ancient Egyptian magical practices mainly relied on religious myths and some medicine. All kinds of magic included mention of the deities and references to myths and mainly relied on them to construct their spells, amulets and figures. Even medicine which could have only relied on the herbs and medical means used some magical myths in order to feed into the ancient Egyptian society leaving ancient Egyptian magic as a mix of both: myths and medicine.