Friday, November 19, 2010

Do you believe that amulets had the power to prevent something? Why or why not?

If you could create any amulet what would it be and what would it stand for?

Amulets, amulets, amulets!

There are many different types of amulets that the Egyptians had. There were plants, animals, parts of the body, gods, and any object said to have supernatural powers. The most common was the scarab beetle. But the most common group is the animals. There were fish for protection of drowning, and almost any animal you could think of for protection. While I've been researching I've found that they protect against something fairly obvious according to what they are. For instance the fish is to protect from drowning and fish live in bodies of water. This makes me think about my greatest fear and think about what the symbol for protection against that would be. What's your greatest fear? What do you think the symbol for it would be?

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Women in Ancient Egypt

Women played a very important role with amulets. Women of every class chanted spells at night to protect their families from harm. They chanted spells to guard their family to drive away scorpions, and prevent nightmares. Women also used spells to protect loved ones while burying: from entering the afterlife upside down. They used anything that was believed to have magical or supernatural powers. If I were a mother then I definetley would've followed these traditions to protect my family... wouldn't you?

Egyptians Made These?

Yes, it is true, well someone had to make them! These little hand carved objects were usually made out of gold or a precious stone. To keep track of these they were made into either a bracelet or necklace. The scarab beetle was the most popular but it was mostly made out of gold, few people had made it out of a precious stones. King Tut owned over 140 amulets and was buried with all of them but he was very wealthy. Depending on how wealthy you were was a result of how many amulets you owned. Some people may make their own small amulets because they couldn't afford to buy the real ones made of gold or precious stones but anything counts! Even if the person had carved it out of wood someone would say that they were still protected. So I think it's safe to say that almost EVERYONE in Ancient Egypt owned at least one amulet!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Another Name Please!!

Is there another name for amulets? Well, not officially but yes, some do refer to them as "Good Luck Charms." Now you may be asking yourself, what do amulets and good luck charms have to do with each other. To answer that question, Ancient Egyptians believed that amulets were good luck charms because supposedly they were worn to ward off evil, curses, and injury from the wearer and they were supposed to provide protection in the next life. Some of the good luck charms were four leaf clovers and Speaking of luck, can you guess who would've used these to help their patients? Yeah, you got it! Witch doctors used these while chanting spells to protect the ill from death, sometimes it worked but sometimes the person was already to sick to be cured. That's a lot of responsibility for those little charms but there was a very strong belief in these little guys so if I had lived “back then”  I guess I would've believed it too, wouldn't you?

Amulets?!? What are they?

Have you ever wondered what the good luck charms the Ancient Egyptians were and why they had them? Well, they are called amulets and they were worn around the neck or wrist as a bracelet. Egyptians wore these Amulets to ward off the evil and injury and sometimes were accompanied by chanting spells. Some of the different amulets were crystals, stones, gods, or other objects that were believed to have supernatural powers. Isn't that fascinating?!? How cool would it be to walk around your school and see these amazing objects with your peers wearing them? I think it would be very cool. You would wear them throughout your life or whenever you felt you needed protection, (most Egyptians would wear them all of the time) and when you died they would be wrapped tightly to your body while being mummified. Did you know that there were over 140 amulets found on King Tut? Wow! Isn't that amazing, that's a lot of amulets! There are so many types of amulets that I could go on and on describing and listing but here are just a few that I hope you learned a little something about.