Talismans and Amulets in Iranian Tradition

The Seven Seals of medieval Islamic magic, which are believed to constitute the Greatest Name of God, also feature in Jewish Kabbalah from the same period. While many Seal symbols make sporadic appearances in early Islamic amulets bearing Kufic script, the source of the symbols and their eventual ordering remains a matter of legend. As this topic was first – and last – examined systematically by Dr. Hans Winkler in 1930, a wider-ranging and more modern review is long overdue. The present survey focuses on potential sources for the symbols rather than on their exegesis. It first examines the possibility that a precedent for the Seal series exists in an undecipherable “seven signs repeated seven times” inscribed on a Late Babylonian amulet. It then considers the possibility that the Seals’ origins lie in other cuneiform symbols from ancient Mesopotamia; in Egyptian hieroglyphs or scripts; in paleo-Hebrew characters or the letters of ancient South Arabian scripts; in Libyco-Berber or Tifinagh letters from North Africa; or in the symbol repertoire of Late Antique magic, including the highly potent seven Greek vowels. The review also explores the possibility that at least some of the symbols originated in numerological ciphers or religious emblems, canvassing sources as diverse as Indian Hinduism and Byzantine Christendom. The article concludes by considering the recent suggestion that the Seal series may have acquired its privileged status because its symbols reflect “shape archetypes” that are hard-wired into the human nervous system.

No doubt, every nation had possessed a set of deeply rooted
beliefs, these rendered into variant practices and traditions,
establishing civilization aspects. The belief in magic,
superstitions and divinations are categorized under these
beliefs. Mankind had tremendously believed their ability to
hurt, bring bad destiny, and on other hand, trusting their
capacity to bestow protection and guarantee good luck, thus,
motivated the appeal to possessing amulets and talismans.
This research paper deals with ‘Bāzūbands’; a form of
amulets and talismans, worn by warriors to, morally,
safeguard them and ensure triumph through Qur’ānic
inscriptions, invocations, besides other magical texts. The
research tackles some important aspects related the Safavid
and Qajar bāzūbands, like the belief in magic, its roots in the
Persian culture, an etymological study for the different terms;
‘amulet’, ‘talisman’ and ‘bāzūband’, to reveal their roots and
consequent development. This is followed by a preview for
the Shi‘ītes’ attitude regarding amulets and talismans, and the
main elements that should be exploited in fashioning them,
and the influence of the Shi‘īte belief on its mounting and
ornamentation. In addition, a detailed description for a
special collection of talismanic ‘bāzūbands’ from world-wide
museums and private collections; some of which are to be
published for the first time, is enclosed. Thenceforth, a
concise analysis for the described samples is incorporated.

In Islamic magic, the Greatest Name of God is traditionally represented in graphic form by a series of seven glyphs known as the Seven Seals; the series is also known to Jewish Kabbalah. Ciphers of a very different appearance, characterised by strings of single-letter (ha’ and ‘ayn) repeats, are another recurring feature of Islamic amulets, as for example in the popular “Pleiades Square.” These ciphers are often found close to occurrences of the Seven Seals and, while much less well known, they too are alleged to represent the Greatest Name. In the present communication, an unexpected avian association for the repeat-letter ciphers is explained in terms of the mythology of the Pleiades star cluster. Moreover, the ciphers are shown for the first time to relate directly to the Seven Seals via a ca. twelfth-century CE prototype of the latter preserved in a manuscript copy of the Diwan of Ali (Brit. Mus. 577 Add. 7534). While this prototype was soon supplanted by the now canonical version of the Seven Seals, degraded forms of the Diwan series seem to have survived incognito as the repeat-letter ciphers, which persist in Shi‘a talismanic plaques sold today. Two other unexpected survivals/revivals of the Diwan Seal series in talismans of recent manufacture are also presented: one inscribed on an Ethiopian silver ring, the other concluding a Jewish Kabbalah scroll. The newly proposed Seal–cipher–Pleiades relationship links two auspicious heptads by associating the Seven Seals with the Seven Stars, a conjunction reminiscent of the seven stars/seals nexus in Revelation 1-6.

In Islamic mysticism and theurgy, the Seven Seals represent in graphic form the Greatest Name of God; in Jewish Kabbalah, the Seals bear individual Divine Names which collectively form a “Great Name.” We review and compare the primary interpretations and secondary associations for each Seal in Islam and Judaism, from which it is clear that the two traditions have developed largely independent understandings of the individual symbols. Nevertheless, points of convergence – such as the interpretation of the fourth Seal as a ladder and an ascent to/of goodness – do exist. Conversely, the attributes of the third Islamic and seventh Jewish Seals have a surprising amount in common. Collectively, the Seals have been linked via word- and letter-counting to key affirmations of each religion: the Islamic ones to the Shahāda, the Jewish ones to Psalm 46:7,11. In contrast to the Islamic Seals, individual correspondences are rarely given for the Jewish Seals and are inconsistent across sources. Kabbalistic amulets are more likely to employ the Names of the Seals than their symbols, and when present the latter are often much degraded; in contrast, Islamic talismans make frequent use of the symbol series. In Islamic magic, the Seven Seals are associated with the seven Ṭahaṭīl Names, which exhibit possible similarities to the Names of the Seals in Kabbalah. Intriguing overlaps of the Jewish Seal Names with Egyptian mythology and Vedic Sanskrit are explored, but ultimately it is thought more likely that the  seven Names derive from the Names of God’s fingers and eyes (five plus two, respectively) in the Shīʿūr Qōmah of the Hekhalot literature. Fittingly, exegesis of the Seals in both Judaism and Islam contains general themes of hands/fingers and sight/blindness.

This article is intended to supplement Tawfiq Canaan's 1937 review “The Decipherment of Arabic Talismans,” which was republished in 2004. It draws on both medieval and modern material for illustration, and contains some novel suggestions as to how certain magical formulae may have evolved from Qurʾānic templates. The focus of the paper is on series of Arabic letters where the characters have been written in their “isolated” or “disconnected” forms; the most popular of these privileged letter series turn out to have colorful Qurʾānic origins or associations which are not well served by existing commentaries in English. The survey commences with the nineteen-letter basmalla and then addresses the fourteen Letters of Light, including the full-length Name of the Mysteries and two five-letter “crowning words” from the muqaṭṭaʿāt letter-sequences of the Qurʾān. It moves on to the seven letters of the lower darkness, the sawāqiṭ. Subsequently, it examines the seven Letters of Bahteh from the al-qādirat and the seven component letters of the Qurʾānic phrase “strong, severe.” Finally, it reviews the seven-letter strings that comprise the seven ṭahaṭīl names, and the eighth name that is their acronym. Many of the letter series presented in this paper feature in the work of the Egyptian magician Aḥmad al-Būnī (d. 622/1225), who sought to deflect suspicions of demonolatry or polytheism by grounding his magical practices in the Qurʾān and in the letters making up particular Qurʾānic verses. With the significance of those letters amplified by the use of disconnected writing, the resulting paradigm has remained prominent in the books and talismans of Islamic magic from the thirteenth century CE through to the present day.

Object study of a pottery amulet, ostensibly from Israel/Palestine, which came to light in a deceased estate. While it seems to date from Late Antiquity, almost every aspect of this pendant is unexpected. Its shape – a three-armed star – lacks amuletic precedents. Its surfaces bear crude figurative images which seem to have been incised after the clay was fired. On one face, three male anthropomorphic figures – reminiscent of figurae magicae from the Greek Magical Papyri (PGM) in their crudeness, disposition and ambiguity – surround a central five-pointed star. On the other face appears another male anthropomorph together with two horned deer or antelopes, two canine or feline predators, and a fish; the man and the animals all seem at peace together. The bucolic scene continues onto one edge thickness, where an additional stag-like beast appears with two more of the predators. The scenes do not conform to known templates, such as the repertoire from magical gems, and resist interpretation. The two other edge thicknesses contain pseudo-inscriptions.

The present article is an investigation of talismans and prayers emerging from the recently dried Zāyandehrud riverbed. Adopting an archaeological approach, this article seeks for the relation between these materials and the surrounding ritual behavior through evaluating the former. These materials are the only remnants of a behavior that is essentially immaterial. They are created to be thrown into the river and hidden in it with the intention of triggering the magical effects or breaking up them. These material objects which are discovered by chance and because of the river water stop flowing represent a covert behavior of the people of Isfahan who tend to secrecy and leave little material evidence of their behaviors. Without trying to make any judgement on any behavior, the main goal of this study is to evaluate and analyze one of the behaviors of a contemporary people through the lens of their remaining material cultures. To have a more accurate picture of various layers of this cultural behavior in the city, three different communal space i.e., mosque, shrine and cemetery have been also surveyed. At the end, after providing a brief historical background, there is a discussion focused on this kind of attitude toward the mysterious knowledges within the context of modern everyday life in Iran.

Arm. gočazm, used of ‘turquoise’ and ‘lapis lazuli’ in the 17th c., translates in the Bible as an unknown stone, the ligure, but the names have been mixed up. In Epiphanius’ De Gemmis (394) and the manuscript Erevan 1500 (1292), it has been re-placed by amet‘ist(os) ‘amethyst’. Seeing that the amethyst is called ‘ên ‘ēḡlā ‘calf’s eye’ in the same passage of the Syriac bible, gočazm must be a loanword from MP *go-čašm ‘ox eye’. It was borrowed with the meaning ‘evil-eye amulet’; such amulets typically consist of blue gemstones or dried sheep eyes. In Turkish, certain types with eye decorations are called öküzgöz ‘ox eye’ or danagöz ‘cow eye’, and are used as protective beads on cattle. The sibilant in gočazm was fronted under the influence of MP asmān- ‘sky’ as in asmān-gōn ‘sky-blue, light blue’ which may itself, as a noun, have referred directly to blue gems; at least its Classical Persian descendant was borrowed into Andalusian Arabic as ‘smānjūn ‘sapphire’. Voicing of Arm. *-sN- occurs in some Iranian loanwords, e.g. yazmik ‘jasmin’ < Pahl. yasmīn.

No doubt, every nation had possessed a set of deeply rooted beliefs, these rendered into variant practices and traditions, establishing civilization aspects. The belief in magic, superstitions and divinations are categorized under these beliefs. Mankind had tremendously believed their ability to hurt, bring bad destiny, and on other hand, trusting their capacity to bestow protection and guarantee good luck, thus, motivated the appeal to possessing amulets and talismans. This research paper deals with ‘Bāzūbands’; a form of amulets and talismans, worn by warriors to, morally, safeguard them and ensure triumph through Qur’ānic inscriptions, invocations, besides other magical texts. The research tackles some important aspects related the Safavid and Qajar bāzūbands, like the belief in magic, its roots in the Persian culture, an etymological study for the different terms; ‘amulet’, ‘talisman’ and ‘bāzūband’, to reveal their roots and consequent development. This is followed by a preview...

Özet: Araştırma kapsamında, günümüzde Safranbolu'da bulunan sivil ve dini mimaride, özellikle su yapılarında görülen nazarlık çeşitleri, nazar kavramı çerçevesinde değerlendirilerek teknik, tür ve çeşitlilik açısından incelenmiş ve fotoğraflarla belgelenmiştir. Safranbolu'nun Bağlarbaşı, Kıranköy (Atatürk Mahallesi), Gümüş, Hacı Halil, Baba Sultan, Çeşme, Karaali, Çavuş Mahalleleri'ndeki mimari eserlerde bulunan nazarlıklar, araştırma konumuzun kaynağını oluşturmaktadır. Çalışmalar sırasında Safranbolu nazarlıkları hakkında yapılan araştırmaların yetersiz olduğu, yapılan araştırmalarda da nazarlıklardan birkaç cümle ile bahsedildiği tespit edilmiştir. Anahtar Sözcükler: Safranbolu, Nazar, Nazarlık, Boynuz, Maşaallah, Maşaallah Kâne. Abstract: The aim of this essay is to investigate and to certificate the types of amulets in civil and religious architecture and in water structures which exist in Safranbolu today, in terms of technic, types and variety. The source of our study subject are the amulets which exist in Bağlarbaşı, Kıranköy, Gümüş, Hacı Halil, Baba Sultan, Çeşme, Karaali, Çavuş Districts of Safranbolu. During the studies, it has been detected that the investigations made about Safranbolu amulets are insufficient and in the existing studies, the amulets are mentioned with only a few sentences.

En este trabajo presentamos un conjunto de talismanes de plomo figurados procedentes del yacimiento de Nina Alta. Recientes estudios realizados sobre este tipo de piezas halladas en otros puntos de al-Andalus y en Ceuta han permitido abrir una nueva senda para su correcta interpretación iconográfica y su uso ritual. Estos estudios sugieren que estos talismanes representan diversos astros de alto valor simbólico, como la Luna, el Sol y Venus. Tales arquetipos planetarios han sido asociados a figuras míticas como el rey Salomón y la reina de Saba. Esta lectura concuerda con la amplia difusión de la astromagiatalismánica en al-Andalus, cuyo centro de difusión todo apunta que hay que situarlo en la región de Anatolia y más concretamente en la ciudad de Harrán.

Humans have sought protection from pain, harm, and negative forces since time immemorial. In Muslim lands, invocations to God and verses from the Qur’an are believed to be especially protective, and so appear on various objects over the centuries. Discover two such amulets held in the Aga Khan Museum that were made to safeguard their owners and wearers: a tiny 11th-century Egyptian printed sheet of paper and a large 19th-century Iranian talismanic chart inked on gazelle skin. Their Arabic-script written and geometric contents also appear on coins, arms and armor, and talismanic shirts, revealing a larger material urge to bring spiritual blessings in close proximity to—and, at times, even absorption into—the physical body.

https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/khamseen/short-form-videos/2022/two-islamic-amulets-in-the-aga-khan-museum/

This essay investigates the role of talismans in the construction and function of arms and armor throughout the Islamic world from the sixteenth through nineteenth century. It particularly focuses on material from Turkey, Iran, India, and Southeast Asia.