Symbols are easy to lift from an object and easy to mislabel. The object, its material, approximate date, and cultural setting can change what a familiar mark means. Historical beliefs about an amulet or diagram do not establish that its attributed effect occurred.
Egyptian signs
Egyptian hieroglyph · Ancient EgyptAnkh Meaning: Life in Ancient Egyptian ObjectsWhat the ankh meant in Egyptian writing and art, with a New Kingdom object that anchors the familiar looped-cross shape in a dated collection.Read the guide →Egyptian amulet · Late Period to Ptolemaic EgyptEye of Horus or Wedjat Eye: A Historical AmuletThe healed eye of Horus in Egyptian myth, its amulet form, and why the museum object is a firmer starting point than a modern protection claim.Read the guide →Egyptian amulet · Ancient EgyptDjed Pillar Meaning and the Egyptian AmuletStability, Osiris, and funerary context in dated djed amulets, without flattening a long Egyptian history into a modern icon caption.Read the guide →
Amulets and talismans
Late antique image · Egypt and eastern MediterraneanOuroboros: The Tail-Biting Serpent in Surviving ObjectsTwo British Museum objects place the ouroboros on amulets, giving the familiar serpent a date and material context before later alchemical readings.Read the guide →Talismanic motif · Medieval and later Islamic objectsSeal of Solomon: Hexagram, Amulet, and LegendA six-pointed star on an eleventh-century printed talismanic scroll shows one historical use of Solomon’s seal and why the name cannot identify every star.Read the guide →Hand amulet · North Africa and West AsiaHamsa Hand: Amulet, Star, and Cultural ContextA Moroccan hand pendant with an incised star shows how a hamsa is a material amulet used across communities rather than a single universal icon.Read the guide →
Diagrams and terminology
Planetary diagram · Early modern EuropeJupiter Magic Square: Numbers on a Surviving AmuletA silver British Museum disc preserves a four-by-four Jupiter square; learn what its rows show and how it differs from other numbered talismans.Read the guide →Terminology guide · Early modern and modern readingsPentagram vs. Pentacle: A Symbol and an Object NameWhy a five-pointed star and a grimoire “pentacle” are different descriptive categories, shown through a dated amulet and an edition of the Key of Solomon.Read the guide →