Czére Andrea szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 102-103. (Budapest, 2005)
ANNUAL REPORT 2005 - A 2005. ÉV - ÉVA LIPTAY: Repelling Demons - Protecting Newborns: The Egyptian Magic Wand
REPELLING DEMONS - PROTECTING NEWBORNS: EGYPTIAN MAGIC WAND 21 October - 20 November 2005 Curator: Irén Vozil In 2005, the Collection of Egyptian Art of the Museum of Fine Arts acquired a nearly 4000-year-old artwork (fig. 79). The importance of the magic wand, made in the second millennium B.C. out of a hippopotamus tusk, is not based solely on its rarity, but also by the level of its artistic elaboration, it ranks among the most outstanding objects of the collection. Like the Budapest wand, several other magic wands in other collections of the world came to light, broken, bearing traces of restoration carried out in Antiquity, yet the new piece of the Museum uniquely preserved the ancient straps that bound the pieces together. The typical crescent shape of magic wands follows the natural curve of the hippopotamus tusk. On the basis of their form, these wands can be related to the knives, which the protective deities shown on them hold in their hands, or to the throw-sticks used by ancient fowlers when hunting birds in the swamps. According to ancient Egyptian belief, these wands were arms with magical powers, to ward off demons. The majority of similar magic w r ands, made of bone, were fashioned in the Middle Kingdom and in the Second Intermediate Period. In all likelihood, possessing such a valuable magical tool was a privilege of men of rank. Their magical potentials were exploited for the living, especially to help women in labour and the newborn, during delivery and in the rituals to facilitate delivery, which were performed at the moment of birth. Their protective role did not end after the child was born, but they were kept near the mother and the child for a period of time. According to different hypotheses, these ritual tools were used for drawing a magical —protective circle, while other scholars claim that the objects were placed on the body of the mother and the child, or that they were kept under their bed. Magic wands came to light from female —and child burials, from the same period, attesting that these objects were regarded useful not only at childbirth, but in the rebirth of the soul of the dead.
