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Wand
A wand is a thin, light-weight rod that is held with one hand, and is traditionally made of wood, but may also be made of other materials, such as metal, bone or stone. Long versions of wands are often styled in forms of staves or sceptres, which could have large ornamentation on the top. In modern times, wands are usually associated with stage magic or supernatural magic, but there have been other uses, all stemming from the original meaning as a synonym of rod and virge. A stick that is used for reaching, pointing, drawing in the dirt, and directing other people, is one of the earliest and simplest of tools. History It is possible that wands were used by pre-historic peoples. It is mentioned that 'rods' (as well as rings) were found with Red Lady of Paviland in Britain. It is mentioned in ''Gower – A Guide to Ancient and Historic Monuments on the Gower Peninsula'' that these might have been wands and are depicted as such in a reconstruction drawing of the burial of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circe
In Greek mythology, Circe (; ) is an enchantress, sometimes considered a goddess or a nymph. In most accounts, Circe is described as the daughter of the sun god Helios and the Oceanid Perse (mythology), Perse. Circe was renowned for her vast knowledge of potions and herbs. Through the use of these and a magic wand or staff, she would transform her enemies, or those who offended her, into animals. The best known of her legends is told in Homer's ''Odyssey'' when Odysseus visits her island of Aeaea on the way back from the Trojan War and she changes most of his crew into swine. He manages to persuade her to return them to human shape, lives with her for a year and has sons by her, including Latinus and Telegonus (son of Odysseus), Telegonus. Her ability to change others into animals is further highlighted by the story of Picus, an Italian king whom she turns into a woodpecker for resisting her advances. Another story tells of her falling in love with the sea-god Glaucus, who prefe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taweret
In Ancient Egyptian religion, Taweret (, also spelled Taurt, Tuat, Tuart, Ta-weret, Tawaret, Twert and Taueret, and in , Thoeris, Taouris and Toeris) is the protective goddess of childbirth and fertility. The name "Taweret" means "she who is great" or simply "great one", a common pacificatory address to dangerous deities. The deity is typically depicted as a bipedal female hippopotamus with feline attributes, pendulous female human breasts, the limbs and paws of a lion, and the back and tail of a Nile crocodile. She commonly bears the epithets "Lady of Heaven", "Mistress of the Horizon", "She Who Removes Water", "Mistress of Pure Water", and "Lady of the Birth House". History and development Archaeological evidence demonstrates that hippopotamuses inhabited the Nile well before the dawn of Early Dynastic Period (before 3000 BCE). The violent and aggressive behavior of these creatures intrigued the people that inhabited the region, leading the ancient Egyptians both to persecute a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caduceus
The caduceus (☤; ; , ) is the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology and consequently by Hermes Trismegistus in Greco-Egyptian mythology. The same staff was borne by other heralds like Iris (mythology), Iris, the messenger of Hera. The short staff is entwined by two serpent (mythology), serpents, sometimes surmounted by wings. In Roman iconography, it was depicted being carried in the left hand of Mercury (mythology), Mercury, the messenger of the gods. Some accounts assert that the oldest imagery of the caduceus is rooted in Mesopotamia with the Sumerian god Ningishzida; his symbol, a staff with two snakes intertwined around it, dates back to 4000 BC to 3000 BC. This iconography may have been a representation of two snakes copulating. As a symbol, it represents Hermes (or the Roman Mercury), and by extension trades, occupations, or undertakings associated with the god. In later Classical antiquity, Antiquity, the caduceus provided the basis for the astronomic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hermes
Hermes (; ) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quickly and freely between the worlds of the mortal and the divine aided by his winged sandals. Hermes plays the role of the psychopomp or "soul guide"—a conductor of souls into the afterlife. In myth, Hermes functions as the emissary and messenger of the gods, and is often presented as the son of Zeus and Maia, the Pleiad. He is regarded as "the divine trickster", about which the '' Homeric Hymn to Hermes'' offers the most well-known account. Hermes's attributes and symbols include the herma, the rooster, the tortoise, satchel or pouch, talaria (winged sandals), and winged helmet or simple petasos, as well as the palm tree, goat, the number four, several kinds of fish, and incense. However, his main symbol is the ''caduceus'', a wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divided into 24 books. It follows the heroic king of Ithaca, Odysseus, also known by the Latin variant Ulysses, and his homecoming journey after the ten-year long Trojan War. His journey from Troy to Ithaca lasts an additional ten years, during which time he encounters many perils and all of his crewmates are killed. In Odysseus's long absence, he is presumed dead, leaving his wife Penelope and son Telemachus to contend with a group of unruly suitors competing for Penelope's hand in marriage. The ''Odyssey'' was first written down in Homeric Greek around the 8th or 7th century BC; by the mid-6th century BC, it had become part of the Greek literary canon. In antiquity, Homer's authorship was taken as true, but contemporary schol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birth Tusk
Birth tusks (also called magical wands or apotropaic wands) are wands for apotropaic magic (to ward off evil), mainly from the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. They are most often made of hippopotamus ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ... (Taweret, represented as a bipedal hippopotamus is the goddess of childbirth and fertility), are inscribed and decorated with a series of figures. Most of these tusks were found in burials at Thebes, Egypt, Thebes, Lisht, Abydos, Egypt, Abydos and at other places, but a few examples were also found at settlements, such as Wah-Sut or Avaris, but also in Ugarit and Tel Megiddo, Megiddo. Some of the birth tusks bear short inscriptions and these always relate to the protection of high-status women and children.{{cbignore, bot=medic The tusk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apotropaic Wand - Middle Kingdom - Metropolitan Museum Of Art
Apotropaic magic (From ) or protective magic is a type of magic intended to turn away harm or evil influences, as in deflecting misfortune or averting the evil eye. Apotropaic observances may also be practiced out of superstition or out of tradition, as in good luck charms (perhaps some token on a charm bracelet), amulets, or gestures such as crossed fingers or knocking on wood. Many different objects and charms were used for protection throughout history. Symbols and objects Ancient Egypt Apotropaic magical rituals were practiced throughout the ancient Near East and ancient Egypt. Fearsome deities were invoked via ritual in order to protect individuals by warding away evil spirits. In ancient Egypt, these household rituals (performed in the home, not in state-run temples) were embodied by the deity who personified magic itself, Heka. The two gods most frequently invoked in these rituals were the hippopotamus-formed fertility goddess, Taweret, and the lion-deity, Be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Senebkay
Woseribre Senebkay (alternatively Seneb Kay) was an ancient Egyptian king during the Second Intermediate Period. He is thought to have reigned somewhere between 1650 and 1600 BCE. The discovery of his tomb in January 2014 supports the existence of an independent Abydos Dynasty, contemporary with the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Dynasties during the Second Intermediate Period. Attestation His primary attestation is his tomb (CS9) at Abydos. He might also appear in the Turin Canon, where there appear two kings with the throne name "Woser... re" (the names are only partly preserved). A further possible object with his name is a magical wand bearing the name '' Sebkay''. The wand was found at Abydos but could refer to one or possibly two kings of the earlier 13th Dynasty. The existence of the so-called Abydos Dynasty was first proposed by Detlef Franke and later further developed by Kim Ryholt in 1997. Burial Tomb Senebkay's tomb (CS9) was discovered in 2014 by Josef W. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homer
Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his authorship, Homer is considered one of the most revered and influential authors in history. The ''Iliad'' centers on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles during the last year of the Trojan War. The ''Odyssey'' chronicles the ten-year journey of Odysseus, king of Homer's Ithaca, Ithaca, back to his home after the fall of Troy. The epics depict man's struggle, the ''Odyssey'' especially so, as Odysseus perseveres through the punishment of the gods. The poems are in Homeric Greek, also known as Epic Greek, a literary language that shows a mixture of features of the Ionic Greek, Ionic and Aeolic Greek, Aeolic dialects from different centuries; the predominant influence is Eastern Ionic. Most researchers believe that the poems w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle Kingdom Of Egypt
The Middle Kingdom of Egypt (also known as The Period of Reunification) is the period in the history of ancient Egypt following a period of political division known as the First Intermediate Period of Egypt, First Intermediate Period. The Middle Kingdom lasted from approximately 2040 to 1782 BC, stretching from the reunification of Egypt under the reign of Mentuhotep II in the Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt, Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt, Twelfth Dynasty. The kings of the Eleventh Dynasty ruled from Thebes, Egypt, Thebes and the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty ruled from Lisht, el-Lisht. The Periodization of ancient Egypt, concept of the Middle Kingdom as one of three golden ages was coined in 1845 by German Egyptologist Christian Charles Josias von Bunsen, Baron von Bunsen, and its definition evolved significantly throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Some scholars also include the Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt wholly into this period, in which case the Mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circe Offering The Cup To Odysseus
''Circe Offering the Cup to Ulysses'' is an oil painting in the Pre-Raphaelite style by John William Waterhouse that was created in 1891. It is now in Gallery Oldham, Oldham, England. Subject The painting depicts a scene from the ''Odyssey''. Circe, a sorceress, offers a cup to Odysseus (commonly Ulysses in English). In the cup is a potion. Circe seeks to bring Ulysses under her spell, as she has done with his crew. Two of Ulysses' crewmen have been transformed into pigs; one can be seen beside Circe's feet on the right, while the other is peering out from behind her throne on the left. Ulysses' reflection can be seen in the mirror which is behind Circe's throne. It reflects the columns of Circe's palace, and Ulysses' ship. Odysseus, intrepid and worried about his sailors, tries to save them and on the way Hermes (the messenger of the immortals) intercepts him and tells him of Circe's intentions, advising him to find a special plant that keeps him away from the effects of Circ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mithraism
Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman Empire, Roman mystery religion focused on the god Mithras. Although inspired by Iranian peoples, Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity (''yazata'') Mithra, the Roman Mithras was linked to a new and distinctive imagery, and the degree of continuity between Persian and Greco-Roman practice remains debatable. The mysteries were popular among the Imperial Roman army from the 1st to the 4th century AD. Worshippers of Mithras had a complex system of seven grades of initiation and communal ritual meals. Initiates called themselves ''syndexioi'', those "united by the handshake". They met in dedicated ''mithraeum, mithraea'' (singular ''mithraeum''), underground Roman temple, temples that survive in large numbers. The cult (religious practice), cult appears to have had its centre in ancient Rome, Rome, and was popular throughout the Western Roman Empire, western half of the empire, as far so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
