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Two Hebrew Amulets from the Klau Library: Jewish Magic in the Modern
Mediterranean

Chapter · August 2019

DOI: 10.1400/269635

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 Vadim Putzu

TWO HEBREW AMULETS FROM THE KLAU LIBRARY:

JEWISH MAGIC IN THE MODERN MEDITERRANEAN

To Daniel J. Rettberg (‫)ז״ל‬,

who opened me the doors of the Rare Book Room
and indulged my wanderings among Kabbalistic and magical manuscripts

In 2005, the Klau Library of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish In-

stitute of Religion of Cincinnati acquired two Jewish manuscript amulets
intended for the protection and healing of their bearer from a wide array
of diseases.1 Both artifacts are composed of a Hebrew text, which contains
no halakhic material, and various interesting graphic elements – geome-
trical patterns and images.2 According to the bibliographical record, both
objects were produced between the nineteenth and the early twentieth

1 
As my first adventure into the territory of Jewish magic, this study has bene­
fited a great deal from the precious insights and generous assistance of Emma
Abate, Gerrit Bos, Susan Einbinder, Theodore Tuvya Kwasman, Marco Moriggi,
Michael Swartz, and Laurel Wolfson at different moments. Here I would like to
thank them all for their time and advice.
2 
The avoidance of the vernacular and the lack of halakhic references in the
text are considered typical features of all modern Jewish amulets – Aškenazi
and Sephardi; European, African, and Middle Eastern – (see S. Sabar, Jewish
Amulets from the Beginning of the Modern Age until the Twentieth Century, in
F. Vukosavovic (ed.), Angels and Demons: Jewish Magic Through The Ages, Bi-
ble Lands Museum Jerusalem, Jerusalem 2010, p. 25). It is precisely because of
this that all graphic elements are especially valuable, insofar as they constitute a
better indication of the particular cultural environment in which an amulet was
produced (see S. Sabar, Childbirth and Magic: Jewish Folklore and Material
Culture, in D. Biale (ed.), Cultures of the Jews: A New History, Schocken, New
York 2002, p. 679).

315
 Vadim Putzu

century in Muslim countries surrounding the Mediterranean, and indeed

both display several features that scholars attribute to Jewish amulets
originating in Islamic lands in modern times:

- They consist of a single long and narrow scroll of paper, inscribed

on one side only, which originally must have been rolled up and inserted
into a cylindrical metal case. One would then need to wear the encasing
containing the amulet in order to benefit from its power; 3
- They can be dated between the 1800s and the 1940s – scarce atten-
tion to preservation took a toll on earlier amulets, and after 1948 Jews
from Muslim lands emigrated in mass to Israel;4
- They have been personalized for a specific occasion – by adding to
the generic, formulaic sections inscribed in square script, long and com-
prehensive lists of the diseases from which protection and/or healing is
required, handwritten in semi-cursive Sephardi script;5
- They include appeals to a vast number of angels, who are believed to
possess protective and curative powers;6
- They contain certain distinctive graphic elements, such as geometric
patterns, the Shield/Star of David, the Hamsah, and images of the three
angels SNWY, SNSNWY, and SMNGLF.7

Seeing as it is that our two artifacts possess all of the above familiar
elements, one might ask why they should be worthy of scholarly attention.
The relevancy of these two amulets for the study of modern Judaism in

3 
See for example V. Mann (ed.), Morocco: Jews and Art in a Muslim Land,
Merrell, London 2000, p. 109; R. Posner, J. Baskin, S. Sabar, T. Schrire, Amu-
let, in M. Berenbaum - F. Skolnik (eds.), Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 2, Macmil-
lan, Detroit 20072, coll. 121-123; Sabar, Childbirth and Magic, cit., p. 689; Id.,
Jewish Amulets, cit., p. 26; Y. Harari, Magic: The Modern Era, in R. Patai (ed.),
Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore and Traditions, 2 vols., M.E. Sharpe, Armonk
(New York) 2013, p. 348. Apparently, similar amulets were common also among
non-Jews; see E. Hunter, A scroll amulet from Kurdistan, «ARAM Periodical»
5 (1993), pp. 243-248.
4 
See Sabar, Jewish Amulets, cit., p. 24.
5 
See Id., Childbirth and Magic, cit., pp. 690-691.
6 
Ivi, p. 693.
7 
See Id., Jewish Amulets, cit., p. 27; Id., Childbirth and Magic, cit., pp. 693-694;
Harari, Magic: The Modern Era, cit., p. 348.

316
 Two Hebrew Amulets from the Klau Library

the Mediterranean and in Islamic lands is twofold. On the one hand, the-
se objects represent a testimony to the survival, well into the twentieth
century, of a traditional magical folklore, whose central tenets and tools
remained essentially unchanged for centuries.8 The continuous popularity
of amulets, insofar as they were intended to safeguard and cure people
from illness through an appeal to angels and a recourse to powerful divine
names against evil spirits, is due (at least in part) to the fact that life chan-
ged very little over the years in the Muslim lands of the Mediterranean
and beyond – despite the advent of Modernity, the problems were almost
exactly the same medieval Jews experienced there.9 On the other hand,
the presence in the first amulet of anthropomorphic imagery is quite ex-
traordinary for a Jewish artifact produced in Islamic lands,10 and, to the
extent that it bears some resemblances to ancient Babylonian iconography
(as will be shown below), might perhaps point to a remaining connection
with a Jewish culture of the distant past.

Ms. Acq. 2005-1

The bibliographical record indicates that this amulet, which measu-

res 92 x 58 mm, originates from nineteenth-century Turkey.
The purpose of the amulet is to protect a woman from various demons
and evil spirits that were assumed to be responsible for mental illnesses.
The principle that underlies the functioning of this magical tool seems to
be that one fights fear with fear, scary demons with scary angels.
The text is written in Hebrew, with occasional formulae and technical
terms (mostly names of demons and of diseases) in Aramaic. The sections
written in square script – perhaps excluding the pictures – seem formulaic.
These sections contain in fact the “principal elements”11 usually found in
amulets written on paper or parchment – namely, an invocation to God
and to the angels, followed by a “conjuration” (or, rather, an adjuration)

8 
See Id., Childbirth and Magic, cit., p. 712.
9 
See Id., Jewish Amulets, cit., p. 24.
10 
See Id., Childbirth and Magic, cit., p. 696.
11 
See M. Gaster, A Note on a ‘Hebrew Amulet’, in Id., Studies and Texts in
Folklore, Magic, Mediaeval Romance, Hebrew Apocrypha and Samaritan Ar-
chaeology, vol. 1, Ktav, reprinted New York 1971, p. 367.

317
 Vadim Putzu

directed against various demons, to be rendered powerless by means of

mysterious names. These portions of text must have been written at an
earlier stage, as if this was a template that the practitioner kept in his
“store”. Then the amulet had to be personalized by adding the name of the
designated person and the sections written in semi-cursive script. These
further specify the type of spirits to be warded off as well as the nature of
the client’s problems.12
It appears that the space left for tailoring the amulet to one’s specific
needs had to be filled completely. This is accomplished in part by enlar-
ging or stretching the letters in semi-cursive script, but also by drawing
pictures – a Star/Shield of David and an odd looking angelic image – that
are commonplace in Jewish magical artifacts from Islamic lands. About
this, Sabar explains that, in amulets like ours, “[d]ecorations and script
fill all empty spaces, demonstrating the common artistic rule in Islamic
art of horror vacui (fear of empty spaces)”.13 Sabar’s claim, paired with
his contention that it is the combination of the textual and the pictorial
elements that gives the amulet its supposed effectiveness,14 suggest that
leaving no blank space might ultimately serve the purpose of preventing
the amulet from being altered by additions, which would presumably jeo-
pardize its efficacy.
There is no specific instruction as to what to do with the text of the
amulet, but the presence of some vocalized words poses several questions:
- Did the text of the amulet have to be read aloud, in order for this
magical device to be activated? If so, who was supposed to do the reading,
the magician or the person for whom the amulet was written? Was either
of them not proficient enough in Hebrew so that they needed help from
the vocalization?
- The vocalized words are all angelic and divine Names, as well as
God’s attributes; they appear only in the sections written in square script,
as the sections written in semi-cursive script contain no such Names. Was
this the only part to be read? Or was it rather the most important one?

12 
See Sabar, Childbirth and Magic, cit., pp. 690-691.
13 
Id., Jewish Amulets, cit., p. 27.
14 
See Id., Childbirth and Magic, cit., pp. 683-684. See also M.D. Swartz, The
Aesthetics of Blessing and Cursing: Literary and Iconographic Dimensions of
Hebrew and Aramaic Blessing and Curse Texts, «Journal of Near Eastern Reli­
gions» 5 (2005), pp. 195-201.

318
 Two Hebrew Amulets from the Klau Library

- Was the act of vocalizing itself a magical procedure?15 If so, why only
some words are vocalized?

It seems to me that at least the magician perfectly understood what

he was writing, as in lines 59-64 he copied almost verbatim in semi-cursive
script what was written in square script in lines 17-21. Interestingly, there
are some lexical variations concerning the names of the demons: one might
wonder if the terms used in the semi-cursive sections were the more com-
monly used ones, as opposed to more “traditional” (older?) ones found in
square script.
- Does this indicate that the bearer of the amulet was proficient enou-
gh in Hebrew, but was not acquainted with a certain specific jargon - viz.
the language of magic? If this were the case, then one should assume that
the person in charge of reading the amulet was its bearer. In our case, this
would amount to making the case for a certain degree of female literacy in
Hebrew in the environment where the amulet was produced.
- The variations in demonic names may also be the result of a quite
unscrupulous scribal work. One can perhaps suggest that, even in the
phase of “personalizing” the amulet, the scribe was actually copying from
a template. While doing this, he may have carelessly substituted more fa-
miliar terms that came immediately to mind for other more abstruse and
infrequent ones. If the magician’s client was not literate enough in Hebrew
to be able to read the text, she could hardly notice the difference.16

In my opinion, the fact that only angelic and divine Names are voca-
lized is crucial. Perhaps the vocalization of these Names alone has a magi-
cal significance. If so, however, one would expect a certain consistency in

15 
E. Hunter (see her Manipulating Incantation Texts: Excursions in Refrain
A, «Iraq» 64 (2002), p. 272) made a similar suggestion with regards to incantation
bowls: “Over and above the precise transmission of a text, the act of writing may
have been per se the ‘chief ritual activity’, which, together with the recitation of
the text, may have ensured the basic function of incantation bowls, namely the
protection of the client or clients”.
16 
See Sabar (Childbirth and Magic, cit., pp. 693; 712), who suggests that, de-
spite its importance, the text on an amulet “was not and could not be deciphered
by most of those who used these objects. They were not supposed to read the
inscriptions, or to understand their hidden meaning”.

319
 Vadim Putzu

the process. On the contrary, it is apparent that, for example, only certain
angelic names are vocalized, and without any identifiable pattern. I be-
lieve this indicates that it was imperative for the magic to be efficacious
that whoever was supposed to read aloud the text of the amulet would not
mispronounce the angelic and divine Names. Given the awesome power
inherent in these Names, their misreading would be extremely dangerous.
While other parts of the text were perhaps considered less important and
other terms were likely deemed neutral, all potential for error was really
to be avoided when pronouncing the angelic and divine Names. Hence,
the urge to vocalize the Names with which the utterer might have been less
familiar.
One additional peculiarity of this amulet that is worthy of our con-
sideration is the conspicuous presence of elements that can be associated
with ancient Babylonian Judaism. Not only does the text include adju-
rations against demons and invocation formulas in Aramaic; it also pro-
minently features the image of Ašmedai, the king of demons. While its
depiction in anthropomorphic terms is in and of itself quite unusual for a
Jewish amulet coming from Islamic lands,17 the fact that Ašmedai is ren-
dered as a single, standing, full-frontal figure, featuring out-turned feet
and outstretched arms with fingers clearly drawn, and wearing a three-
peaked headgear suggests an intriguing cultural connection with Jewish
magic in Babylonia. As a matter of fact, while our object’s representation
of Ašmedai bears substantial resemblance to the iconography of demons
in Aramaic incantation bowls from late-antique Mesopotamia,18 it also dif-
fers dramatically from nineteenth-century representations of this demon
in Turkish amulets.19

17 
See Sabar, Childbirth and Magic, cit., p. 696.
18 
See E. Hunter, Who are the Demons? The Iconography of Incantation
Bowls, «Studi Epigrafici e Linguistici sul Vicino Oriente Antico» 15 (1998), p. 97
ff.; Id., The Typology of the Incantation Bowls: Physical Features and Decora-
tive Aspects, in J.B. Segal (ed.), Aramaic and Mandaic Incantation Bowls in the
British Museum, British Museum Press, London 2000, pp. 174-179, 203.
19 
See for example H. Gollancz, The Book of Protection: Being a Collection of
Charms, Now Edited for the First Time from Syriac MSS., H. Frowde, London
1912, p. 55.

320
 Two Hebrew Amulets from the Klau Library

Text and Translation

1 With the help of Heaven ‫ בסד‬1

2 “And all the nations of the world shall see ‫ וראו כל עמי הארץ‬2
3 that the name of the Lord is called upon you ‫ כי שם ה נקרא עליך‬3
4 and they shall fear you” (Deut. 28,10). And in ‫ ויראו ממך ובשם‬4
the name of
5 ’YBQ’ YX’Y BM’Y ‫ איבקא יצאי במאי‬5
6 BYNW ‘MY ‘ŠW ‫ בינו עמי עשו‬6
7 In the name of the Almighty who created ‫ בשם שדי די ברא‬7
8 the heavens and the earth ‫ שמייא וארעא‬8
9 the world and the earth ‫ עלמא וארקא‬9
10 behold, I write this ‫ הרי אני כותב זה‬10
11 amulet in the name ‫ הקמיע על שם‬11
12 of the one who carries it ‫ הנושאת אותו‬12
13 on her, Regina bat Mazli ‫ עליה רגינה בת מזלי‬13
14 BM SB ŠXB SB ‫ במ סב שצב סב‬14
15 MW God, please! Heal her please! ‫ מו אל נא רפא נא לה‬15
16 I adjure you ‫ משביע אני עליכם‬16
17 all spirits and demons ‫ כל רוחין ושדין‬17
18 and blast demons and harmful spirits, and all ‫ וזיקין ומזיקין וכל‬18
19 evil spirit of the same ‫ רוח רעה דאתו‬19
20 seed of Ašmedai ‫ מזרעא דאשמדי‬20
21 the king, and by his seal ‫ מלכא ובחותמיה‬21
22 seal off with it what is written ‫ החתים ביה הכתוב‬22
23 here, and this is his likeness and his seal ‫ הנה וזה דמותו וחותמו‬23

321
 Vadim Putzu

4 rectangular boxes (vertical) + picture of the demon Ašmedai in the center

YM’WM’LY top left ‫ימאומאלי‬
XMRKD bottom left ‫צמרכד‬
Tetragrammaton top right ‫יהוה‬
’ZBWGH bottom right ‫אזבוגה‬
This is your nature top center, left of the picture ‫זהו טבעתך‬

inside the picture

1 And this is he and his seal ‫ וזהו וחותמו‬1
2 YH YH YH YH ‫ יה יה יה יה‬2
3 YH YH YH YH ‫ יה יה יה יה‬3
4 WH WH WH WH ‫ וה וה וה וה‬4
5 WH WH ‫ וה וה‬5
6 I am ‫ אהיה‬6

24 And with the power of the Ineffable Name ‫ ובכח השם המפורש‬24

Rectangular table with 6 x 12 cells, containing the 72-letter Name

25 And by the name of the angels ‫ובשם המלאכים‬ 25
26 holy and terrible: ‫קדושים והנוראים‬ 26
27 the great minister, ‫השר הגדול‬ 27
28 Mikha’el and Gabri’el ‫מיכאל וגבריאל‬ 28
29 and Rapha’el and Barqi’el ‫ורפאל וברקיאל‬ 29
30 and Lahati’el and Lahavi’el ‫ולהטיאל ולהביאל‬ 30
31 and ‘Ani’el and ‘Arafi’el ‫וענאל וערפיאל‬ 31
32 and Pahadi’el and Bez‘ai’el ‫ופחדיאל ובזעיאל‬ 32
33 and Nazri’el and Wati’el ‫ונזריאל ושטיאל‬ 33
34 and Pahadi’el and Barah’el ‫ופחדיאל וברחאל‬ 34
35 and Haradi’el and Nasni’el ‫וחרדיאל ונסניאל‬ 35

322
 Two Hebrew Amulets from the Klau Library

36 and ‘Avdi’el and Yofi’el ‫ ועבדיאל ויופיאל‬36

37 and Nani’el. God Almighty, ‫ ונניאל אל שדי‬37
38 HSYN YH God ‫ חסין יה אל‬38
39 ’MT ’H WH ‫ אמת אה וה‬39
40 YH WHW alive and enduring ‫ יה והו חי וקים‬40
41 upright and trustworthy and holy ‫ ישר ונאמן וקדוש‬41
42 H Lord of hosts ‫ ח יהוה צבאות‬42
43 Blessed be His name forever ‫ בורך שמו לעד עד‬43
44 and to all eternity and for all the gener- ‫ולנצח נצחים ולדורי דורים‬ 44
ations
45 that you cause to flee every (male) de- ‫שתבריחו כל שד בין גדול‬ 45
mon, whether big
46 whether small; and every (female) de- ‫בין קטן וכל שדה בין גדולה‬ 46
mon, whether big
47 whether small, that frightens his heart ‫בין קטנה שמחריד לבבו‬ 47
48 and scares his soul. And let it go to the ‫ונפשו תבהיל וילך אל מקום‬ 48
place
49 whence it comes: if from the sea, let it ‫שבא אם מים ילך לים‬ 49
go to the sea
50 and if from the land, let it go to the land ‫ואם מיבשה ילך ליבשה‬ 50
51 and if from the rivers, let it go to the ‫ואם מנהרות ילך לנהרות‬ 51
rivers
52 and if from the hills, let it go to the hills ‫ואם מגבעות ילך לגבעות‬ 52
53 and if from the mountains, let it go to ‫םאו מהרים ילך להרים מכל‬ 53
the mountains; from every
54 place it comes, let it return there ‫מה שבא שמה ישוב‬ 54
55 and not come anymore to frighten ‫ולא יבוא עוד להפחיד‬ 55
56 and to scare and to harm the bearer of ‫ ולהבהיל ולהזיק לנוקז‬56
this amulet
57 and also I adjure and invoke ‫ ועוד מומינא ומשבענא‬57
58 for the sake of all demons and she-de- ‫ לכון כל שדה ושדתין ומזיקין‬58
mons and harmful spirits

323
 Vadim Putzu

59 and evil spirits of illnesses from ‫ ומרעין בישין דאתו מזרעא‬59

the same seed
60 of Ašmedai the king and from ‫ דאשמדי מלכא ומליליתא‬60
Lilith
61 with the seal of king Solomon, ‫ בחותמו דשלמה מלכא שבו‬61
since with it
62 he suppressed the demons and ev- ‫ כבש את השעיירם ואת כל רוח‬62
ery evil
63 spirit, and subdued it under his ‫ רעה והוכנעו תחת ידיו שבו‬63
hands, since with it
64 he suppressed Ašmedai your king. ‫ כבש את אשמדאי מלככם‬64
65 And his fear over it/him shall be ‫ ויהי מוראו עליו כאימת מות‬65
almost like death
66 to man. ‫לאדם בשם בלדיאל‬ 66
In the name of Baladi’el [square script begins]
67 and Walti’el and Ava’el ‫ושלתיאל ואבאל‬ 67
68 and Miar’el and Pahdi’el ‫ומיראל ופחדיאל‬ 68
69 and Makhi’el and Tardi’el ‫ומכהיאל וטרדיאל‬ 69
70 YaH YaH WaH WaH I-am- ‫יה יה וה וה אהיה‬ 70
71 who-I-am BŠK ‫אשר אהיה בשכ‬ 71
72 MLW A(men) A(men) A(men) ‫מלו אאא נננ ססס‬ 72
N(exah) N(exah) N(exah) S(elah)
S(elah) S(elah)
73 W(a‘ed) W(a‘ed) W(a‘ed) Hallelui- ‫ ווו הללויה לנוקז‬73
ah to the bearer of this amulet
74 in the name of WYQY’ MKZL/ ‫ממל‬/‫ בשם ויקיא מכזל‬74
MML
75 ’MBRYRYT ’NGRWN ‫אמברירית אנגרון‬ 75
76 ’NWPH HTWPH ‫אנופה חטופה‬ 76
77 ŠTWPH YW’HXBYRWN ‫שטופה יואחצבירון‬ 77
78 Akatri’el YWHK KLK ‫אכתריאל יוהך כלך‬ 78
79 Lord our God Lord ‫כוזו במוכסז כוזו‬ 79

324
 Two Hebrew Amulets from the Klau Library

80 SNWY SNSNWY SMNGLF ‫ סנוי סנסנוי סמנגלף‬80

81 XMRKD ‫ צמרכד‬81

Rend Satan! left ‫קרע שטן‬

center: stylized image of the angel SNSNWY
YH Inside the picture ‫יה‬
right: Shield/Star of David (hexagram)
Almighty YWHK inside the image ‫שדי יוהך‬

82 to the one who bears this amu- ‫ למי שנושאת קמיע זה תשמריה‬82
let, protect her
83 from this mental confusion, and ‫ מזו הצרוף דעת ומבהלה‬83
from panic,
84 and from all fear, and trem- ‫ ומכל פחד ורעדה וחלחלה‬84
bling, and shudder.
85 Protect her, and rescue her, the ‫ תשמרוה ותצילוה לנוקז‬85
bearer of this amulet
86 from the diseases of the heart, ‫ מחולי הלב ומכל סיבה‬86
and from every evil circum-
stance
87 and event and encounter, and ‫ ומקרה ופגע רע ועין‬87
the Evil
88 Eye, and evil Satan and from all ‫ הרע ושטן רע ומכל‬88
89 thoughts ‫ מחשבות‬89

325
 Vadim Putzu

Notes

Square script (1-42)

5  The phrase composed by the terms ’YBQ’ YX’Y and BM’Y is part
of the initial invocation, which continues in the following lines. It is an
acrostic made with the initial letters of Ps. 69,7, which is intended for
healing (see E. Davis - D. Frankel, The Hebrew Amulet: Biblical-Medical-
General [‫ עם תצלומים ואיורים רבים‬:‫ מקראי־רפואי־כללי‬:‫]הקמיע העברי‬, Makhon
le-Mada‘e ha-Yahadut, Yerušalayim 1995, pp. 59; 172 [Hebr.]).
6  The invocation continues with the term BYNW, which is compo-
sed of the initial letters of ‫ =( בעזרת יי נעשה ונצליח‬with the help of God
we shall perform and succeed). See T. Schrire, Hebrew Magic Amulets:
Their Decipherment and Interpretation, Routdlege and Kegan Paul, New
York 1966, p. 122.
The phrase ‘MY ‘ŠW is a Name composed of the initial letters of Ps.
121,2. Psalms 91 and 121 are most popular in beneficial amulets.
7-9  Formula of praise to God in Aramaic.
10-13  Name of the person for whom the amulet was intended: Regi-
na bat Mazli. Both the first name and the matronymic bear – rather con-
sistently with the supposed provenance of the amulet – a clearly Sephardi
origin, being still used among Jews from Syria, Iraq, and India in the
early twentieth century. In magical text it is common to mention such a
person with her/his matronymic, perhaps out of fear of incurring in an er-
roneous identification that would render the incantation useless. The fact
of mentioning the mother’s name might also testify to the antiquity of the
practice of writing amulets (which, according to J. Trachtenberg, Jewish
Magic and Superstition, Berhman’s Jewish Book House, New York 1939,
p. 116, would reflect an ancient matriarchal society). The name is written
in smaller characters: it must have been added at a later point.
14-15  BM SB ŠXB SB MW = ‫“( אל נא רפא נא לה‬God, please! Heal her
please!,” from Num. 12,13) in the so-called “ABGaD” alphabet (see Davis
- Frankel, The Hebrew Amulet, cit., p. 176). The phrase is an invocation
to God often found in amulets for women’s health (see Sabar, Jewish Am-
ulets, cit., p. 25).
16-23  Adjuration of all harmful spirits and demons. In particular,
the offspring of Ašmedai (Asmodeus), the king of the demons, are men-
tioned (see M. Hutter, “Asmodeus”, in K. van der Toorn, B. Becking,

326
 Two Hebrew Amulets from the Klau Library

P.W. van der Horst (eds.), Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible
(DDD), Leiden - New York - Köln 1995, pp. 197-200; Asmodeus, in M.
Berenbaum - F. Skolnik, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 2, Macmillan, De-
troit 20072, coll. 592-593). Ašmedai (from the Persian aesma daeva / aes-
madiv = demon of wrath; perhaps also connected to the Hebrew root smd
= to destroy) may be a generic name indicating the demon in the highest
rank (an equivalent to “Pharaoh”, according to gematriyyah). For Jew-
ish folklore Ašmedai is a Jewish demon, who accepted Torah and is mortal
(as a result of sexual relations with humans), although living longer than
human beings. According to Talmudic sources, Ašmedai and its offspring
are undisciplined rather than intrinsically evil, and can be driven to help
human beings. Here it seems that the demon can be “sealed” off through
the amulet.
a.  Picture of Ašmedai, as indicated by the phrase ‫זהו טבעתך‬. Perhaps
this reference has been added later (note the change in the pronominal
suffix from 3rd to 2nd person singular).
The demon is represented anthropomorphically, as a full-frontal
standing figure, legs apart with out-turned feet, outstretched arms, di-
sproportionately big and visible fingers, and a checkered, triangular he-
ad-dress. Given that in Babylonian incantation bowls, whose iconography
is strikingly similar to this amulet’s, drawing a demon’s image was likely
intended to reduce its efficacy, thus subjecting it to the demands of the
adjuration (see Hunter, Who are the Demons?, cit., p. 96; Swartz, The
Aesthetics of Blessing, cit., pp. 198-200), it is highly probable that the
function of Ašmedai’s picture here is the same.
Divine Names based on the Tetragrammaton are written on the de-
mon’s body – in semi-cursive Sephardic script – and should help in sealing
it off. Names such as H or YH are frequently used in amulets.
The Name ‫ ימאומאלי‬is composed of the initial letters of the words com-
posing Ps. 91,7 (see Davis - Frankel, The Hebrew Amulet, cit., p. 190).
The Name ‫ צמרכד‬is composed of the final letters of the last words in
each verse of Gen. 1,1-5 (see Schrire, Hebrew Magic Amulets, cit., p. 120).
The Name ‫ אזבוגה‬represents the Šem ha-Šeminyiut. It is composed
of three pairs of letters, each equaling 8 in gematriyyah (1+7; 2+6; 3+5).
It might represent the covering of the Seventh Heaven, a Name of God
(according to Sefer Razi’el, f. 45a), or the Name of one of His attributes,
Gevurah (according to G. Scholem, Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysti-
cism, and Talmudic Tradition, The Jewish Theological Seminary of Ame­

327
 Vadim Putzu

rica, New York 1960, pp. 66-69). See Schrire, Hebrew Magic Amulets,
cit., pp. 112-113.
24  Appeal to the power of the 72-letter Name. This name is derived
from Ex. 14,19-21, by juxtaposing the three verses (the second one writ-
ten in reverse) and taking the first letter of verse 19, the last of 20, and
the first of 21 to form a triad. The second triad then is made of the second
letter of 19, the penultimate of 20, and the second of 21, and so on. The
result is a set of 72 triliteral units (see Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic, cit.,
pp. 95-96), which, in this case, are contained in a 6 x 12 magical rectangle.
The rectangle containing the letters is a protective symbol quite common
in (Jewish) magic (see Posner, Baskin, Sabar, Schrire, Amulet, cit., pp.
121-123).
25-37  Appeal to a list of angels, all bearing theophoric names. Apart
from the archangels Mikha’el, Gabri’el, and Rapha’el, some of these an-
gelic names are variously attested in magical texts, especially Sefer Ra-
zi’el: ‘Ani’el (see M. Schwab, Vocabulaire de l’angelologie, d’après les
manuscrits hébreux de la Bibliothèque Nationale, Imprimerie Nationa-
le, Paris 1897, p. 214; J. Naveh - S. Shaked, Magic Spells and Formu-
lae: Aramaic Incantations of Late Antiquity, Magnes, Jerusalem 1993, p.
155ff), ‘Arafi’el (“God’s nape of the neck”?; see Schwab, Vocabulaire, cit.,
p. 219), ‘Avdi’el (Schwab, Vocabulaire, cit., p. 209; Naveh - Shaked, Ma-
gic Spells, cit., p. 173), Barqi’el (Schwab, Vocabulaire, cit., p. 91; J. Na-
veh - S. Shaked, Amulets and Magic Bowls: Aramaic Incantations of Late
Antiquity, Magnes, Jerusalem - Leiden 1985, pp. 92; 225; Naveh - Shaked,
Magic Spells, cit., p. 237), Lahati’el (Schwab, Vocabulaire, cit., p. 163);
Lahavi’el (Schwab, Vocabulaire, cit.,p. 162), Pahadi’el (Schwab, Vocabu-
laire, cit., p. 222), and Yofi’el (Schwab, Vocabulaire, cit., p. 147; Naveh
- Shaked, Magic Spells, cit., p. 224). Most of the remaining angelic names
are connected to fleeing, turning away, trembling, etc.
37-42  Appeal to God.
38  HSYN YH (lit. “strong God”) is a Name based on Ps. 89,9 (see
Naveh - Shaked, Magic Spells, cit., p. 238).
39  Although the word ’MT ordinarily means “truth”, here it is em-
ployed as a Name derived from the final letters of the last three words in
Gen. 2,3 (see Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic, cit., p. 261).
42  The word XB’WT (lit. “hosts”) may also be taken as an indepen-
dent divine Name (see Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic, cit., p. 90).

328
 Two Hebrew Amulets from the Klau Library

Semi-cursive Sephardic script (43-66)

The evil spirits and demons come to scare the person in her heart and
in her soul: let them return to their original place (rivers, hills, sea, etc.)
47-48  Although the amulet was intended for a woman, here mascu-
line suffixes are used. If, as we have suggested, the scribe was copying
from a template, in this instance here he may have forgotten to turn the
relevant terms into feminine.
57-66  In order to adjure Ašmedai and Lilith (queen of demons) and
then to seal them off, the practitioner uses the seal of Solomon, by means
of which the king defeated those demons in the past. According to the Tal-
mud in fact (BT Gittin 68a-b), Asmodeus had usurped Solomon’s throne.
Being mortal demons, they fear death, just like human beings.
57  Adjuration in Aramaic.
59  ‫ מרעין בישין‬means both serious illnesses and wicked evildoers:
clearly harmful spirits are here held responsible for human maladies.

Square script (66-81)

List of other angels, all bearing theophoric names, and list of divine
names
67  Šalti’el is the angel of questioning and consulting (see Schwab,
Vocabulaire, cit., pp. 257; 201); for Ava’el, see Naveh - Shaked, Magic
Spells, cit., pp. 201-202.
69  Tardi’el is the angel that pushes away, that drives off (see Schwab,
Vocabulaire, cit., p. 140).
70-71  The phrase ’HYH ’ŠR ’HYH is a divine Name of common
usage in amulets (see Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic, cit., p. 91).
71-72  The phrase BŠK MLW is a Name composed of the initial let-
ters of ‫ =( ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד‬blessed be His glorious sovereign
Name for ever and ever). See Schrire, Hebrew Magic Amulets, cit., p. 126.
73  See BT ‘Eruvin, 54a, where the three terms Nexah, Selah, and
Wa‘ed are all taken to mean “without interruption/end”, “forever”.
73  LNwQZ = ‫לנושא קמיע זו‬
75  ’NGRWN is perhaps the name of a demon, mentioned as
’NGRYWN or ’NGYRYHWN in Schwab, Vocabulaire, cit., p. 65.
76-77  These three identically-patterned words (’NWPH HTWPH

329
 Vadim Putzu

ŠTWPH) bear the roots of anger, terror/violence, and dissoluteness, re-

spectively. As they are surrounded by a list of Names, however, I take them
to be Names too. YW’HXBYRWN, which appears in late medieval and early
modern Kabbalistic sources as YW’HXXBYRWN, seems to be a Name often
paired with Adiriron (see for example A. Goldreich, Automatic Writing
in Zoharic Literature and Modernism [‫שם הכותב וכתיבה אוטומטית בספרות‬
‫]הזוהר ובמודרניזם‬, Cherub Press, Los Angeles 2010, pp. 257 ff. [Hebr.]).
78  YWHK KLK is a Name, common in generally protective and be-
neficial amulets, which is composed of the final letters of Ps. 91,11 (see
Schrire, Hebrew Magic Amulets, cit., p. 127).
79  This is the 14-letter Name, which consists of the phrase YHWH
’LHYNW YHWH written in the so-called “ABGaD” alphabet (see
Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic, cit., p. 92).
80  According to the Alfa Beta of Ben Sira (see E. Yassif (cur.),
The Tales of Ben Sira in the Middle Ages: A Critical Text and Literary
Studies [‫ מהדורה ביקורתית ופרקי מחקר‬:‫]סיפורי בן סירא בימי הביניים‬, Magnes,
Yerušalayim 1984 [Hebr.]) SNWY, SNSNWY, and SMNGLF are three an-
gels that were sent to summon Lilith when she left Adam, her husband (in
the legend she was the first woman, before becoming a demon). Although
they were not successful in recalling the female demon to her bridal role,
they obtained that both Lilith’s own name and the names of the three
angels would protect whoever carried them from her. Since it was Lilith’s
custom to strangle newborn children and to harm their mothers, these
angelic names are frequently used in protective amulets for childbirth and
infancy (see Schrire, Hebrew Magic Amulets, cit., pp. 114-118).
Picture of the Ark (?) containing the divine Name YH. The image,
here stylized, is drawn from Sefer Razi’el (f. 43b), where it represents
the angel SNSNWY, who is appointed to protect Eve – and, by extension,
every woman – especially at the time of childbirth.
Star of David/Hexagram – popular shielding amulet (see Sabar,
Childbirth and Magic, cit., p. 699) – containing the divine Name YH. The
word YWHK, which is part of a Name based on Ps. 91, is here understood
as a divine Name in its own right, given its similarity to the Tetragramma-
ton (see Schrire, Hebrew Magic Amulets, cit., p. 85).
The phrase ‫( קרע שטן‬lit. “Rend Satan!”) is the second out of 7 6-let-
ter groups, which constitute the 42-letter Name. This Name comes either
from the first letters in the Bible (see Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic, cit.,
p. 95) or from the hymn Ana be-Koah. Also its individual components

330
 Two Hebrew Amulets from the Klau Library

are powerful in their own right: QR‘ STN, in fact, is considered to be

good for one who has gone mad or has been attacked by an evil spirit or
demon. Written upon an amulet and hung around the neck of the victim,
this phrase will cure her/him.

Semi-cursive Sephardic script (82-89)

Protect the woman from mental illnesses, Evil Eye, trembling, evil
encounters, bad thoughts, etc.

Ms. Acq. 2005-2

The bibliographical record indicates that this amulet, which measu-

res 100 x 58 mm, originates from 1900s Morocco.
The geographical attribution indicated by the seller seems somewhat
problematic, as the script is very similar to ms. Acq. 2005-1; some techni-
cal expressions also recur in both manuscripts. Perhaps the seller thought
about Morocco as it is one of the countries where the tradition of using the
Hamsah in amulets “still persists strongly”,20 but such is the case also for a
number of other Islamic lands, in the Mediterranean and beyond. Among
them, Turkey and Iraq would make equally good candidates as countries
of origin for both our amulets,21 given a number of elements singled out in
this study.
Indeed, this second artifact prominently features a Hamsah – and
one that, characteristically for Moroccan Jewish amulets, contains Names
and an hexagram – as its central figurative element. With regard to this

20 
See Posner, Baskin, Sabar, Schrire, Amulet, cit., p. 123. See also the exam-
ples of Hamsah being used as/in twentieth-century Moroccan Jewish amulets in
Mann, Morocco, cit., pp. 57; 111; 148-149; 165. On Morocco’s renown for Jewish
magic in the modern period, see Harari, Magic: The Modern Era, cit., p. 348.
21 
For example, Sabar (Childbirth and Magic, cit., p. 693) refers to the Ham-
sah as being extremely popular in Jewish amulets in Morocco, Tunisia, Persia,
Kurdistan, and Iraq; Nitza Behrouzi (The Hand of Fortune: Khamsas From the
Gross Family Collection and the Eretz Israel Museum Collection [‫ ח׳מסות‬: ‫יד המזל‬
‫]מאוסף משפחת גרוס ומאוסף המוזיאון‬, Muze’on Erex-Yiwr’ael, Tel Aviv 2002 (Hebr.),
p. 5) adds to the list Egypt, Syria, Israel, Turkey, Iran, and India.

331
 Vadim Putzu

aspect, our second magical object appears more representative of Jewish

amulets produced in Muslim countries than the first one, which displays
no Hamsah, but rather uncommon figurative representations of a demon
and an angel instead.
In addition to featuring more typical imagery – no anthropomorphisms,
just a Hamsah, a Star/Shield of David, and a rectangular frame for Names
– this second amulet is more characteristic of Jewish magic in Islamic lands
than the previous one in that its text is written only in Hebrew (it has no
Aramaic words),22 and it includes a certain number of Names derived from
Kabbalistic sources.23 Furthermore, while divine and angelic voices are
indicated as such through dots added above the names, in contrast with
the previous amulet words are never vocalized here, thereby suggesting a
seemingly typical lack of preoccupation for anybody’s ability to read the
text correctly.24
At the same time, this second magical artifact represents a less repre-
sentative sample of Jewish amulets produced in Muslim countries than
the first one because it lacks two characteristic elements. First of all, this
amulet does not include any adjuration of specific demons, but only ma-
kes a few vague references to the Evil Eye.25 What is more, unlike most
Jewish amulets from Islamic lands, this one only partially identifies, at
best, the specific person for whom the magical object is intended. The
word Nešamah, which has likely been added to a pre-existing text, may
in fact be understood not as a common Hebrew term for soul, but rather
as a personal name, despite the fact that it is unaccompanied by a matro-
nymic, as would normally be the case. Additionally, the generic reference
“to the bearer of this amulet” (LNwQZ) on the inscribed side of the scroll
is not supplemented, as was customary in Kurdistan and Iran,26 with a
personal name written on the flip, blank side of the paper. It appears
that the elements of personalization in this amulet are limited to the list of

22 
On the preference for Hebrew as typical feature of Jewish amulets, see Sa-
bar, Jewish Amulets, cit., p. 24.
23 
On the popularity of Kabbalistic Names in Jewish amulets coming from
Muslim countries, see Id., Childbirth and Magic, cit., p. 691.
24 
On this aspect, see Id., Childbirth and Magic, cit., pp. 693, 712.
25 
On adjurations as a key component of Jewish amulets, see Gaster, A Note
on a ‘Hebrew Amulet’, vol. 1, cit., p. 367.
26 
See Sabar, Childbirth and Magic, cit., p. 690.

332
 Two Hebrew Amulets from the Klau Library

diseases written in semi-cursive script that fill the lower part of the scroll
all the way to its end, and – possibly – to the first name of an otherwise
unidentified female subject. Moreover, instead of the primary focus on
mental conditions which characterized our first amulet, a wide, yet va-
guely defined array of diseases is listed here. As a result, it seems that
this second magical object is an “all-purpose” amulet for the recovery of
a sick woman and for her future good health, which has been tailored to a
specific local community, but not unequivocally to a specific individual.27
Text and Translation
vertically oriented
1 I-am ’YHH ’W ’W ’WT ‫אהיה איהה או או אות‬ 1
2 that-I-am Y’ W’ SWT ‫אשר אהיה יא וא סות‬ 2
3 El Elohim pure YHW HH PH ‫אל אלהים צח יהו חה פה‬ 3
4 Splendor XBWT El YH HWH ‫צבי צבאות אל יה הוה‬ 4
5 dreadful and terrible WHW YH ’SYR ‫איום ונרורא והו יה אסיר‬ 5
6 The name of the Lord I shall call, the ‫שם יהוה אקרא שם יהוה‬ 6
name of the Lord I shall call ‫אקרא‬
horizontally oriented
7 ’HXYXYYRWN ’BRWHYHRWN ‫ אחציציירון אברוחיהרון‬7
8 and ŠBDRTMQNYN DMWRSNZN ‫ ושבדרטמקנין דמורסנזן‬8
9 and HWHYYQRWN ŠWQYH’RWN ‫ והוחייקרון שוקיהארון‬9
10 ‘RŠYHG’WN MSYHYH ‫ ערשיהגאון מסיחיה‬10
11 MKMHWN HYHW YH HYW YH ‫ מכמהון היהו יה היו יה‬11
12 DMHRWRN ‫ דמהרורן‬12
double circle: Name?
inside the circle
1 Lord ‫יהוה‬ 1
2 Almighty ‫שדי‬ 2
3 XBWT ‫צבאות‬ 3
4 Lord ‫יהוה‬ 4
27 
To complicate things further, it should be mentioned that, at least in mod-
ern common parlance, the word nešamah is also used among Hebrew speakers as
a term of endearment when calling a loved one (similarly to the way “sweetheart”
is used in American English).

333
 Vadim Putzu

4 corners outside the circle

YH top left ‫יה‬
HW top right ‫הו‬
HW bottom left ‫הו‬
YH bottom right ‫יה‬

13 in the name of the unique God ‫בשם האל המיוחד‬ 13

14 in the name of the God who may give ‫בשם האל שיתן‬ 14
15 complete healing ‫רפואה שלימה‬ 15
16 and sweet sleep ‫ושינה מתוקה‬ 16
17 to the bearer of this amulet. In the name ‫לנוקז בשם מיכאל‬ 17
of Mikha’el
18 and Gabri’el, Rapha’el; ‫וגבריאל רפאל‬ 18
19 in the name of I-am- ‫בשם אהיה‬ 19
20 who-I-am, ‫אשר אהיה‬ 20
21 YH, XBWT; in the name of ‫יה צבאות בשם‬ 21
22 SNWY SNSNWY SMNGLF ‫סנוי סנסנוי סמנגלף‬ 22
22 In the name of H HH YH YH ‫בשם ה הה יה יה‬ 22
22 YH YH YH YH YH ‫יה יה יה יה יה‬ 22
22 YH YH YH WH WH ‫יה יה יה וה וה‬ 22
22 WH WH WH WH WH ‫וה וה וה וה וה‬ 22
23 WH WH WH HW YHW ‫וה וה וה הו יהו‬ 23
24 WHW YHW ’NSH ‫והו יהו אנסה‬ 24

rectangle with “frame”

inside the rectangle
1 XMRKD shield 1 ‫צמרכד מגן‬ 1
2 MXMXYT who saves 2 ‫מצמצית הושיעה‬ 2
3 N‘WRYRWN who gives success 3 ‫נעורירון הצליחה‬ 3
4 Adiriron who gives relief 4 ‫אדירירון הרויחה‬ 4
5 ’GL’ Amen 5 ‫אגלא אמן‬ 5
6 YWBB ’ZBWGH quick 6 ‫יובב אזבוגה מהר‬ 6
7 to deliver me 7 ‫להושיעני‬ 7

334
 Two Hebrew Amulets from the Klau Library

inside the frame

May the Lord be for top ‫ויהי יהוה לי למשגב‬
me a fortress
And God as the rock of bottom ‫ואלהי לצור מחסי‬
my shelter
XMRKD TFTFYH left ‫צמרכד טפטפיה‬
XMRKD TFTFYH right ‫צמרכד טפטפיה‬
YH top left corner ‫יה‬
YH top right corner ‫יה‬
YH bottom left corner ‫יה‬
YH bottom right corner ‫יה‬

Hamsah (outstretched hand)

In the name of [22-let- Outside, top left ‫בשם אנקתם פסתם פס־‬
ter Name] ’GL’ Al- ‫פסים דיונסים אגלא שדי‬
mighty XBWT ‫צבאות‬
1 SNWY SNSNWY Outside, bottom left 1 ‫סנוי סנסנוי סמנגלף‬
SMNGLF
2 ’NRNL YH 2 ‫אנרנל יה‬
BPY BP‘ ‘BX ‘LŠ ŠMN outside, right ‫בפי בפע עבצ עלש שמן‬
BYT RHŠ ‫ביט רחש‬

Inside the five fingers:

verses from the Priestly Benediction (Num 6:24-26)
Inside the palm: Shield/Star of David (hexagram)
Adonai YH inside the hexagram ‫אדני יה‬
YHWH HWHY around the hexagram ‫יהוה הוהי היהו ויהה הויה‬
HYHW WYHH ‫ההיו‬
HWYH HHYW
TMYF XDN LBŠ outside, bottom ‫תמיף צדנ לבש אראריתא‬
’R’RYT’

335
 Vadim Putzu

25 And in the name of God, please ‫ובשם אל נה‬ 25

26 cure her, please ‫רפא נא לה‬ 26
27 “all of the diseases ‫כל המחלה א‬ 27
28 that I put upon the ‫שר שמתי במ‬ 28
29 Egyptians, I will not put ‫צרימ לא אשי‬ 29
30 upon you, because ‫מ עליכ כי‬ 30
31 I am the Lord who heals you” (Ex. ‫אני יהוה רפאך‬ 31
15,26)
32 In the name of ’TYQWN ‫בשם אטיקון‬ 32
33 ’TYZQWN TZQWN ‫אטיזקון טזקון‬ 33
34 ZQWN QWN WN N in the name of ‫זקון קון ון ן על שם‬ 34
35 YHW YHW HY YH HY ’W HWYH ‫יהו יהו חי יה הי או הויה‬ 35
36 WH ’H ’HYH HY HY YHW ’HYH ‫וה אה אהיה חי חי יהו אהיה‬ 36
37 ’HW ’W HYH BGWHY YHW HW ‫אהו או היה בגוהי יהו חו‬ 37
38 YHWH HYH BGW ’HYH HY HY ‫יהוה היה בגו אהיה חי חי‬ 38
39 ’WH YH HY ’WH ŠYH’ ‫אוה יה חי אוה שיהא‬ 39
40 for the sake of the Holy One hold ‫למען קדוש תפס נשמה‬ 40
Nešamah
41 from every disease and ache ‫מכל חולי וחשישה‬ 41
42 and from pain and from fear ‫ומכאוב ומרוה‬ 42
43 and evil event and encounter ‫ומקרה ופגע רע‬ 43
44 and fear from now and forever ‫ופחד מעתה ועד עולם‬ 44
45 Amen Nexah Selah Wa‘ed ‫אמן נצח סלה ועד‬ 45
46 Halleluiah and rescue her from pain ‫הללויה ותציליה מכאב‬ 46
47 of the head and diseases of the belly ‫הראש וחולי הבטן‬ 47
48 and from intestinal diseases ‫ומחולי המעים‬ 48
49 and from diseases of the stomach ‫ומחולי האצטומכא‬ 49
50 and from diseases of the belly and ‫ומחולי הבטן ומחולי‬ 50
from diseases
51 of the heart and palpitations ‫הלב ודפיקת הלב‬ 51
52 and from the shaking of the heart ‫ומהרעדת הלב‬ 52
53 and from the wandering of the heart ‫ומהליכת הלב‬ 53
54 and the heart’s tremor ‫ורתיתת הלב‬ 54
55 and from the heart’s fear ‫ומפחד הלב‬ 55
56 and from the heating of death ‫ומחימי מות‬ 56

336
 Two Hebrew Amulets from the Klau Library

57 and from fever of the bones ‫ומאישתא דגרמי‬ 57

58 and from faintness of the body ‫ומחלישת הגוף‬ 58
59 and from epilepsy ‫ומחולי הנופל‬ 59
60 and from white discharge ‫ומחיתור הלבנה‬ 60
61 and from all harsh ‫ומכל גזירות‬ 61
62 decrees to come ‫קשות לבוא‬ 62
63 in the world ‫בעולם‬ 63
64 I shall know I shall know I shall know ‫אדע אדע אדע‬ 64

Notes

Square script (1-39)

Divine Names and God’s attributes.

1  the term ’WT is frequently found in amulets and other magical
texts, in which context is probably to be taken as a Name (see Naveh - Sha-
ked, Magic Spells, cit., p. 275).
3-4  XH XBY, lit. “pure splendor”, appears as a divine Name in Sefer
Razi’el, f. 7a (see Schwab, Vocabulaire, cit., p. 232).
5  The participle ’SYR means “bound” and is not infrequent in
magical texts, where it is specifically used to bind demons. The term is
characteristic to the Babylonian magical bowls, although not exclusive to
them (see Swartz, The Aesthetics of Blessing, cit., p. 199). However, the
presence of two dots above the word seem to indicate that here it is taken
as a Name.
7-12  List of long angelic names ending in –on and –an.
7  These two angelic names contain the hiphil form of the roots HXX
(= to destroy) and BRH (= to cause to flee).
a.  Picture: 4 divine Names encircled by a double row of other divine
Names (?); Names based on the Tetragrammaton are written in the 4 cor-
ners outside the circle.
13-24  Request for “complete healing” and “sweet sleep” in the name
of the three archangels Gabri’el, Mikha’el, and Rapha’el, of God (various
Names are used), and of the three angels SNWY, SNSNWY, and SMNGLF.

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 Vadim Putzu

The mention of the latter three angels, who are associated with the pro-
tection from Lilith, confirms that this amulet was intended for a woman.
24  Perhaps ’NSH is an acrostic for Amen Nexah Selah God, in ana-
logy with the Name ’NSW listed by Schrire (Hebrew Magic Amulets, cit.,
p. 125). In this case, the H would stand as an abbreviation for the Tetra-
grammaton.
b.  Picture: square with 4 corners isolated by 2 vertical and 2 hori-
zontal lines. Appeal to God and angels to save, protect, shield, etc.
MXMXYT is a divine Name derived from Ximxum – hence referring
to the Kabbalistic doctrine of God’s “concentration” in order to let
everything else be – and appearing already in Sefer Razi’el, f. 44b (see
Schrire, Hebrew Magic Amulets, cit., p. 117).
N‘WRYRWN is a Name found in Sefer Razi’el (f. 42b). According to
Schwab (Vocabulaire, cit., p. 191), it means “qu’ils soyent attentifs”, and
is therefore to be employed in case of sudden danger.
Adiriron is a divine Name that is equivalent to the 42-letter Name of
God, according to gematriyyah (see Schrire, Hebrew Magic Amulets, cit.,
p. 97).
YWBB is a Name of biblical origin sometimes found in amulets (see
Schwab, Vocabulaire, cit., p. 146).
The Name ’GL’, which was used by Christian magicians as well, is
apparently composed of the first letters of the words ‫אתה גבור לעולם אדוני‬,
from the second blessing of the ‘Amidah (see Trachtenberg, Jewish Ma-
gic, cit., p. 262).
TFTFYH is one of the seventy names of the angel Metatron, and it is
composed of the first two letters of Ps. 119,69; 70; 76 (see Schrire, He-
brew Magic Amulets, cit., p. 109).
c.  Picture: Hamsah, containing a Star/Shield of David inside the
hand’s palm, surrounded by Names. This particular combination of ima-
ges and Names is especially common in twentieth-century paper amulets
used by Moroccan Jews (see Mann, Morocco, cit., pp. 57; 165).
Six (out of the twelve possible) combinations of the letters of the Te-
tragrammaton are written in the palm.
The verses coming from the Priestly Benediction (Num. 6,24-26) we-
re considered to be effective against the Evil Eye – so is the hand.
The 22-letter Name is supposed to correspond to the phrase in the
priestly benediction: ‫יברכך יהוה וישמרך יאר יהוה‬.

338
 Two Hebrew Amulets from the Klau Library

The Name ’NRNL, composed of the initial letters of Num. 12,13, is

common in amulets for the promotion of health (see Schrire, Hebrew Ma-
gic Amulets, cit., p. 125).
The Names BPY, BP‘, ‘BX and ‘LŠ are composed of the initial letters
of Gen. 49,22, and should serve as a protection against the Evil Eye (see
Schrire, Hebrew Magic Amulets, cit., p. 50). The fact that the usage of
this biblical verse for amulets is very frequent among “Oriental Jews” and
almost null in the West (cf. Schrire, Hebrew Magic Amulets, cit., p. 101)
strengthens the evidence for an eastern Mediterranean provenance of our
piece.
BYT is an angelic Name to invoke in case of pain or leaving for a jour-
ney (see Schwab, Vocabulaire, cit., p. 85), possibly based on Ps. 91,14 (see
Davis - Frankel, The Hebrew Amulet, cit., pp. 48; 176).
RHŠ might stand for ‫שדי חנון רחום‬, and serve as the initial term of an
acrostic invocation against danger found in Y. Rosenberg, Sefer Refa’el
ha-Mal’akh, Shlomo Belkhatovski, Piotrków, p. 71.
XDN LBŠ is a Name composed of letters from Gen. 43,11 (see Davis -
Frankel, The Hebrew Amulet, cit., pp. 45; 198).
’R’RYT’ is a divine name standing for ‫אחד ראש אחדותו ראש יחודו תמו־‬
‫“( רתו אחד‬one is the principle of his oneness, the principle of his unity; his
permutation is one”), a Kabbalistic statement that can be found, for ex-
ample in Mošeh Cordovero’s Pardes Rimmonim 21,3 (see Davis - Frankel,
The Hebrew Amulet, cit., p. 174).
25-27  Request for healing (a woman) in the name of God.
27-31  Ex. 15,26 is often used in incantation texts to protect from
sickness (see Naveh - Shaked, Magic Spells, cit., pp. 23-24).
32-34  The name of a demon (?) is being “shrunk”: this magical pro-
cedure serves to reduce the power of the evil spirit and eventually to make
it disappear (see Schrire, Hebrew Magic Amulets, cit., p. 61; D. Frank-
furter, The Magic of Writing and the Writing of Magic: The Power of the
Word in Egyptian and Greek Traditions, «Helios» 21 (1994), 189-221).
35-39  List of divine Names based on the Tetragrammaton.
37  The word BGWHY may mean “in its midst”, but perhaps here it
is considered as a Name.

339
 Vadim Putzu

Semi-cursive Sephardic script (40-64)

Request to save a certain Nešamah (or, alternatively, an unspecified

woman’s soul) from a long list of sicknesses especially related to parasites
(causing stomach and intestinal disorders, discharges, etc.), heart pro-
blems, and fevers, as well as from all illnesses forever. The terms used to
indicate the various conditions do not belong to the standard Hebrew me-
dical tradition but are instead vague and multi-interpretational – perhaps
on purpose. This being said, the “heart’s fear” could correspond to anxie-
ty or despondency, the “heating of death” to mortal fever (possibly related
to deadly poisons), and the “white discharge” to some form of diarrhea.
This list is fairly useful, insofar as it allows us to get some sense of the
epidemiology of the region in which the amulet originated. It appears
that, among Jews, certain diseases listed, such as fever and epilepsy, were
customarily treated with amulets up until the nineteenth century (see H.
Zimmels, Magicians, Theologians, and Doctors: Studies in Folk-medicine
and Folk-lore as Reflected in the Rabbinical Responsa, 12th-19th Centu-
ries, Goldston, London 1952, p. 135).

Abstract

This article consists of the transcription, translation, and study of

two previously unknown Jewish manuscript amulets, which were acqui-
red in 2005 by the Klau Library of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish In-
stitute of Religion in Cincinnati. Both magical artifacts are intended for
the protection and healing of their bearer from a wide array of diseases,
and were most likely produced between the nineteenth and the early twen-
tieth century in Muslim countries surrounding the Mediterranean. While
modern Jewish amulets tend to be understudied, these objects represent
a testimony to the survival, well into the twentieth century, of a traditio-
nal magical folklore, whose central tenets and tools remained essentially
unchanged for centuries. Moreover, to the extent that it bears some re-
semblances to ancient Babylonian iconography, the rather extraordinary
anthropomorphic imagery extant in the first amulet might point, as I sug-
gest, to a remaining connection with a Jewish culture of the distant past.

340
 Two Hebrew Amulets from the Klau Library

1. 2. 3. 4.

Figg. 1-2 - Klau Library of the Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion,
Ms. Acq. 2005-1.

Figg. 3-4 - Klau Library of the Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion,
Ms. Acq. 2005-2.

341
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