In ancient Egypt, it was believed that magic allows you to establish contacts between people and gods (or demons), as well as between the worlds of the living and the dead. They resorted to it both to ensure a comfortable future for themselves in the afterlife and to solve problems in earthly life.
The Mystery of the Sphinx
The belief of the ancients in the unusual power of magic is evidenced by the inscription on a stone slab placed between the paws of the Sphinx, guarding the pyramid of Khafre in El-Giza. The inscription says: at one fine moment, Pharaoh Thutmose IV, who was then still a prince, tired after hunting, dozed off at the foot of the Sphinx.
In a dream, the god Horem-ahet-Khepri-Ra-Atum appeared to him, portrayed by the Sphinx. He commanded to clear the statue of the sands that were brought by the wind from the desert and by the time of Thutmose had almost completely buried the Great Sphinx under them. As a merit for this service, God promised to make the prince pharaoh. Waking up, Thutmose gave the order to immediately begin to fulfill the divine will, cleared the Sphinx and soon became pharaoh. Ruled by Thutmose IV in about 1397-1388 BC. e.
Description of the 1st of the sections of magic - the technique of summoning the spirits of the dead, or necromancy - is set out in the recommendations stored in the museums of London and Leiden, in the Paris Louvre. There are carefully described methods of establishing contacts not only with gods and spirits from the kingdom of light, but also with demonic creatures, also ruined, lost souls. It was believed that necromancy makes it possible to receive messages, advice and instructions from the other world, and also to make requests to the creatures residing there. All these deeds were accompanied by certain, often very complex rituals.
The knowledge of the old Egyptians about the existence, type and occupation of demons was even wider and richer than the knowledge of European sorcerers in the era of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Promotional video:
The main source of information about underground demons is the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. From it we learn that the owners of this sad place guarded the gates of the afterlife kingdom from the penetration of the "wicked", roamed the underground possessions of Osiris, and the bodies of the dead served them as food in this gloomy world, and they took off their thirst with their blood.
How they communicated with the other world
The main content of magic rituals were spells. They served to summon creatures from the other world. The spellcaster subjugated the demons of the world of the dead to his own will, and then escorted them back to the place of permanent residence. Spells were pronounced or recited with special intonations, accompanied by appropriate gestures and postures. Each sorcerer had his own set of spells, which he kept in the strictest confidence, for it was believed that if a “colleague” found out about them and, even worse, tried to use them, they would lose their power.
Here is a clear example of an unusual spell and its implementation, taken from an old text and cited in the famous novel "Pharaoh" by Boleslav Prus (translated by E. Troepolsky):
“Then the sorcerer raised his hands and said:“Heavenly Father, humble and merciful, cleanse my soul. Here I am - relying on the help of God, I am the visionary and fearless … I - the mighty one - call you and conjure. Appear to me, obedient ones, in the name of Aye, Saraye … In the name of the all-powerful and endless God … Amorul, Taneh, Rabur, Latisten. I conjure you and call you. By the name of the star, which is the Sun. Suddenly everything was quiet. Before the altar appeared a ghost in a crown, with a rod in hand, astride a lion.
- Beroes! Beroes! Said the ghost in a dull voice. "Why are you calling me?"
Magic ritual supplies and techniques
A special type of "applied" sorcery was the creation of substitute bodies, which were used only for the purposes of dark magic. The ancient Egyptians were convinced that if a sorcerer fashioned a figure of a person from wax and began to perform certain rituals on it, then their results would certainly affect the person who served as the model of the figure. The prevalence of similar manipulations with wax dolls is evidenced, in particular, by the inscriptions on the sarcophagi of the era of the Middle Kingdom (2040-1783 (or 1640) BC), as well as ancient texts.
The so-called "Lee Papyrus" contains the following entry:
"Pentiboon, who was the manager of the estate, said to him:" Bring me a book that would give me magical power and authority. " And he brought him a book on magic from the library of Pharaoh Vesermaat-Re-meri-Amon, a stately god, his own sovereign, and he went to use divine power against his own people. His assistant El-rem made figurines of people from wax and performed various spells and spells on them. And so they both unleashed diseases, pestilence and other misfortunes on people."
And here is a piece of text from Rollin's Papyrus:
“I have resorted to witchcraft to bring about and bring misfortune. I made several wax figurines of gods and people, in order to cause these people to dryness and necrosis of their limbs. I gave these figures to Rabbekameo, whom the divine Ry did not appoint as ruler of the house."
The papyrus tells of a conspiracy by the servants of the harem against Ramses III, the last prominent pharaoh of the New Kingdom, who ruled from about 1185-1153 BC. e. Some sorcerers who practiced black magic and turned their art against the pharaoh and his courtiers also took part in the conspiracy. But, as the papyrus goes on to say, the conspiracy was discovered. The conspirators, whose leaders were recognized as two sorcerers, were tried.
One magician was brutally executed, while the other was forced to commit suicide.
However, the services of black magic were resorted to not only by conspirators, but also by the highest Egyptian nobility, up to and including the pharaohs. After all, they too had to fight their enemies for life and death. In these cases, the book of the overthrow of Apophis probably served as a manual, which suggests, for example, this method of destroying enemies:
“Make wax figures of all living and inanimate enemies of Pharaoh and write on them the names of these people with green paint.
Put the figures in a box, spit on them, and then trample them with your "unclean" left foot …"
Is this not the source of the expression "get up with your left foot"?
"After that, stab them with a knife and throw them into the burning straw, which you then extinguish by pouring it with the urine of an adult woman."
The amulet has been considered one of the most powerful magic means since ancient times. Its purpose is to protect its owner from all kinds of troubles.
According to the ancient Roman writer and historian Pliny the Elder, amulets were most widespread in Ancient Egypt during the New Kingdom (1582-1070 BC). Amulets were made of precious and simple stones, metal, glass, wood.
They would be pieces of papyrus or cloth with spell texts or drawings of magical symbols. Sometimes unusual amulets in the form of small objects were placed inside knots on the surface of a woven belt.
Mages healers
Most closely magic in Ancient Egypt was associated with medicine and healing. The greatest of the sages, sorcerers and healers in the Egyptian tradition was considered Imhotep, the supreme dignitary of Pharaoh Djoser, who ruled around 2630-2611 BC. e. The name and titles of Imhotep, the builder of the first pyramid, the stepped tomb of Djoser in Sakkara, are preserved on the statue of the pharaoh in the memorial temple at this pyramid.
However, the fame of the healer outweighed all other merits of Imhotep, and later he was deified as the patron saint of healing, especially revered in Memphis. Since the middle of the first millennium BC. e. the Greeks began to identify him with Asclepius, the god of medicine, who even had the ability to raise the dead. In ancient Roman mythology, Asclepius corresponds to Aesculapius.
Revenge of the sarcophagus from the plundered tomb
One of the most important tasks of magicians in Ancient Egypt was to protect the secrets and peace of their former masters and patrons after their transition to another world. And they perfectly coped with this task both during life and after death. There is a lot of evidence that in ancient times the fate of cruelly punished the robbers and defilers of the tombs of the noble Egyptians.
It is widely known about the sudden and mysterious death of many of those who participated in the autopsy and research of the famous tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. But few people know about yet another, more mysterious and ominous story associated with the opening of the grave of the priestess of the god Amun-Ra, who lived in the city of Veset about 3600 years ago and was buried in the Valley of the Kings near Biban el-Muluk. Her grave was plundered in the 1860s.
The priestess's mummy has not survived, but the sarcophagus depicting a female face of demonic beauty remained intact. They say that everyone who has dealt with this sarcophagus was overtaken by a premature and inexplicable death. Including all its successive owners. And the photographer who took pictures of the sarcophagus, in one of the pictures, allegedly saw, as alive, the face of a beautiful Egyptian woman with an ominous smile on her lips.
The last owner of the relic saved her life by donating it to the British Museum. But the spell continued to work. When it became obvious that after the acquisition of the sarcophagus, the mortality rate among museum workers had sharply increased, it was decided to hide the mummy in the basement and display a copy in the hall.
Meanwhile, the Americans became interested in the sarcophagus, and in 1912 its secret delivery to the USA was organized. The relic was packed in a simple box, in the cargo bill of lading and customs declaration it was recorded as a "box with books."
On April 10, 1912, at Southampton, she was loaded onto the Royal Postal Service's most modern and most reliable steamship. This steamer was the Titanic on its first working voyage. And on the night of April 14-15, something happened that is known to everyone: the giant ship collided with a huge iceberg and sank. Of the 2,224 passengers, only 710 survived.
As it turned out later, on the route of the Titanic, the fatal iceberg was the only one within a radius of several tens of miles.