For the Ancient Egyptians, magic was alive, a vital part of everyday life. Whereas for many later civilisations folk-magic was considered distinct from the practice of legitimate religion, in Egypt magic came directly from the gods. Heqet, the frog-headed goddess of magic, was an essential part of motherhood and childbirth, including assisting the creator-god Khnum at the birth of the new Pharaoh. The great goddess Isis, one of the most significant in the Egyptian pantheon, used magic regularly, importantly to resurrect her dismembered husband Osiris, and then to protect her son – Horus, the god of Pharaonic rule, and the legitimate godly Pharaoh of Egypt – from the various dangers of the marshes in which they were hiding. Isis’ magic abilities, earned by guessing the secret name of the sun-god Ra, resulted in one of her most widely-used titles, ‘Great of Magic’ (wrt-hkau). Magic could even be used to lie to the gods. One spell, 30A in the infamous Book of the Dead, seeks to intervene in the Weighing of the Heart ceremony, the ritual of judgement in which Osiris determined worthiness to enter the afterlife. The ceremony involves balancing the heart of the deceased against the feather of the goddess of justice Ma’at; too heavy or light, the heart failed and was consumed by The Devourer (Ammut), perfectly balanced then the individual entered paradise. Spell 30A (and a variant, 30B) beseeches the heart not to betray the secrets of the deceased to the gods, and through its silence to guarantee entry into the Netherworld.

The most popular way of applying magic, both in life and death, was through the use of amulets. This exquisite carnelian necklace bears pendants in the shapes of two of the most popular amulets: the heart (ib), and the djed-pillar. The heart was considered by the Egyptians to be the seat of intellect and emotion. It was where the memories were stored, and human affection was considered to be a connection between hearts. The Egyptians did not represent the heart anatomically. Instead, it resembled a small stone pot, with trimmed arteries mimicking lug handles. The choice to represent the heart as a vessel may refer to the importance of the heart as a repository of knowledge and memory. The popularity of heart amulets among the Egyptians reflected the need to protect the heart in life, which was itself subject to numerous threats from magical curses and from the demons that lived on the fringes of Egypt’s habitable areas. The second amulet is the djed-pillar, a kind of semi-architectural feature which is supposed to be reminiscent of the spinal column. It perhaps originated as some kind of totem around which sheaves of grain were piled, or as a phallic symbol associated with fertility. Further, the Egyptians believed that semen was created in the spine, and so the spinal imagery was similarly associated with fertility. The djed amulet was especially used posthumously, associated with resurrection and with the need of the deceased to use their spine to be able to sit upright.

These funerary associations reflect these amulets’ special association with Osiris. According to myth, Osiris was the divine Pharaoh at the time, and had greatly benefitted humanity by teaching them farming. His brother, Seth, grew jealous; he concocted a plan whereby he invited Osiris to dinner, and there displayed to him an extraordinary bejewelled chest. He invited Osiris to lay in the chest, to demonstrate its considerable size. Once Osiris was inside, Seth hammered it shut, and threw it into the river. Osiris drowned – only the sacred power of the River Nile could result in a god’s death – and was subsequently dismembered by Seth. The body-parts were then scattered far and wide. Osiris’ spine remained in the chest, which washed up in the city of Byblos, and was incorporated by its king into one of the columns of the palace. Isis, Osiris’ wife, who was seeking out his body-parts, bargained with the King of Byblos, who eventually gave up the pillar, which became the djed. Osiris’ heart was similarly found in the marshes of the Nile Delta, and restored to his body. According to the later Greek writer Plutarch, it was only Osiris’ penis which could not be located, having been eaten by the oxyrhynchus (sharp-nosed) fish, perhaps an elephantfish of the genus Mormyridae. Isis then fashioned a replacement penis out of clay, and successfully breathed life back into Osiris. The couple then conceived their son – and Osiris’ rightful heir – Horus. Osiris then became the King of the Dead, ruler of the Underworld, and amulets associated with him became commonplaces in the tombs of Egypt.