Medieval Islamic Amulets, Talismans, and Magic

Abstract

Magical designs are to be found on virtually every medium of material culture, including metalwork, objects carved of wood, cloth, and jewelry. This chapter begins with a discussion of what the term “magic” refers to within the context of Islam. It then considers aspects of the magical literature where theories of magic, before proceeding to discuss the elements of what can be termed a “magical vocabulary” and to examine traces of the magical theories preserved in medieval and some later artifacts. Magic and its traditional place in Muslim societies has most succinctly been described by Michael Dolls as “a more forceful method of supplication or a super-charged prayer”. The pseudo-Aristotelian Hermetica is a corpus comprising a number of texts that take the form of epistles and conversations between Aristotle and Alexander the Great. For example, the Istimakhis gives instructions for making four talismans and four amulets (khirz) intended to ensure military success.

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