AMULET (Late Lat. amuletum, origin unknown; falsely connected with the Arab. himdlah, a cord used to suspend a small Koran from the neck)

This article appears in Volume V01, Page 899 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: ALM-ANC

AMULET (Late Lat. amuletum, origin unknown; falsely connected with the Arab. himdlah, a cord used to suspend a small Koran from the neck) , a charm, generally, but not invariably, hung from the neck, to protect the wearer against witch-craft, sickness, accidents, &c. Amulets have been of many different kinds, and formed of different substances,stones, metals, and strips of parchment being the most common, with or without characters or legends engraved or written on them. Gems have often been employed and greatly prized, serving for ornaments as well as for charms. Certain herbs, too, and animal preparations have been used in the same way. In setting them apart to their use as amulets,

great

GREAT

precautions have been taken that fitting times be selected, stellar and other magic influences propitious, and everything avoided that might be supposed to destroy or weaken the force of the charm. From the earliest ages the Oriental races have had a firm belief in the prevalence of occult evil influences, and a superstitious trust in amulets and similar preservatives against them. There are references to, and apparently correctives of, these customs in the Mosaic injunctions to bind portions of the law upon the hand and as frontlets between the eyes, as well as write them upon the

door

DOOR (corresponding to the Gr. Bbpa,. Lat. fores or valvae; the
English
- ENGLISH
word, with other forms common in allied languages, comes from the same Indo-European
stem
- STEM (O. Eng. staefn, stemn, cf. Du. stain, Ger. Stamm, &c., probably related to " staff ")
as the Gr. Obpa and Lat. fares)

-posts and the gates; but, among the later

Jews

especially, the

original

ORIGINAL

design

DESIGN (Fr. desiin, drawing; Lat. designare, to mark out)

AMUR 899
and meaning of these usages were lost sight of; and though it has been said that the phylacteries were not strictly amulets, there is no doubt that they were held in superstitious regard. Amulets were much used by the ancient Egyptians, and also among the Greeks and Romans. We find traces of them too in the early Christian

church

, in the emphatic protests of Chrysostom,

Augustine

AUGUSTINE, SAINT (354-430)
AUGUSTINE, SAINT (d. c.613)

and others against them. The fish was a favourite symbol on these charms, from the word txOiis being the initials of 'Irtvous Xweed s eeov viol o-teri1p. A firm faith in amulets still prevails widely among Asiatic nations.

Talisman

TALISMAN

, also from the Arabic, is a word of similar meaning and use, but some distinguish it as importing a more powerful charm. A

talisman

TALISMAN

, whose " virtues are still applied to for stopping blood and in cases of canine madness," figures prominently in, and gives name to, one of Sir Walter Scott's novels.
See also Arpe, De Prodigiis Naturae et Artis Operibus Talismanes et Amuleta dictis (Hamburg, 1717) ; Ewele, Ueber Amulete (1827) ; and Koop's Palaeographica Critica, vols. iii. and iv. (1829).

End of Article: AMULET (Late Lat. amuletum, origin unknown; falsely connected with the Arab. himdlah, a cord used to suspend a small Koran from the neck)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/ALM_ANC/AMULET_Late_Lat_amuletum_origi.html">
AMULET (Late Lat. amuletum, origin unknown; fal...
</a>

(Previous)
AMUCK, RUNNING (or more properly AMox)

(Next)
AMUR

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email