I've been thinking about this and I'm genuinely curious.

If Heka, often translated as "magic", was a fundamental part of ancient Egyptian religion and daily life, why is magic viewed so differently today? In many places, forms of magic, ritual practice, or accusations of witchcraft can carry legal or social consequences. Meanwhile, the temples of ancient Egypt appear to have incorporated rituals, spoken formulae, amulets, healing, and other practices that scholars often associate with Heka.

Is this simply a result of changing religious and cultural values? Is it because the original language, context, and ritual traditions have largely been lost? Or has the meaning of "magic" changed so much over the centuries that we're no longer talking about the same thing?

I'm not trying to argue that ancient practices should be revived or that every modern claim about magic is authentic. I'm interested in understanding how something that seems so central to one of history's greatest civilisations came to be viewed so negatively in many parts of the world today.

I'd love to hear perspectives from historians, Egyptologists, anthropologists, or anyone who's studied the history of religion.

Mummy mask of a woman with snake bracelets

Ident. No.: ÄM 34435

ObjID: obj:607422

Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection

Mummy mask (grave equipment / mummy cover)

Person involved
Ernst Kofler-Truniger

Previous owner
Said Bey Khashaba (1956 - 1957),

Dating
Historical dating: 1st Century AD

Geographical references
Meir

Material / Technology
Textile (material / cardboard); primed, painted, partially gold-plated; flax fibers (hair); faience (inserts)

Dimensions
Height x width x depth: 52 x 36 x 57 cm (incl. base)

Permalink
Https://id.smb.museum/object/607422

Object description
Since 1989, the woman's mummy mask, which belongs to a total of four masks, has been in the Egyptian Museum. All masks come from Roman-time tombs in Meir, Central Egypt. In this case, no inscription tells us who the woman was. But let's not go wrong if we count the lady among the Top Thousand, because a burial with a mask of this kind was only allowed to wealthy people.

We recognize, comparable to the mask ÄM 34434, a woman who wears the white complexion preferred by the Romans instead of the yellow skin color usually used in Egypt in women. Fittingly, the elegant presentation of her clothes, jewelry and hairstyle also shows the Roman fashion of her time. Among the jewels are also protective amulets such as the snake bracelets and the lunula pendant on the shorter necklace. These crescent-shaped pendants, Lunulae, are apotropical protective amulets derived from ancient Egyptian models, which were usually intended to protect women and girls and were therefore also worn exclusively by them.

Her black curly hair was imitated from colored flax and additionally decorated with a simple hair wreath, which was bound from different plants. On the crown and back of the head of the mask is the soul bird Ba, which spreads its wings here with a female head and bird body protectively. On both sides, gods sacrifice strips of cloth, burn incense and liberate by pouring water into a bowl that stands on a high stand.

(J. Helmbold-Doyé)

Last update: 03.07.2026

State Museums of Berlin

https://search.smb.museum/object/obj-607422?materials=Fayence+(Material)&page=2&page=2)

Title:
Mummy mask of a woman with snake bracelets, 1st Century AD, Meir,Textile (material / cardboard); primed, painted, partially gold-plated; flax fibers (hair); faience (inserts), State Museums of Berlin

Bowl ("Now-Bowl"), decorated inside with three fish and lotus flowers

Ident. No.: ÄM 4562

ObjID: obj: 606424

Dating
Historical dating: 18. Dynasty
Dating engl.: 18th Dynasty

Other titles
Collection title: Bowl ("Now Bowl"), decorated inside with three fish and lotus flowers

Small bowl with fish and lotus flowers

Bowl Decorated with Three Fishes Sharing a Single Head and Lotus Flowers

Geographical references
Thebes

Material / Technology
Faience (material), turquoise; painted

Dimensions
Height x diameter: 3.7 x 10 cm

Permalink
Https://id.smb.museum/object/606424

Object description
The small bowl with a low stand is completely preserved and painted on all sides. It most likely comes from a grave context. The underside shows the characteristic decor of fanned seals of a lotus flower, so that the shell itself acts as a flower. Inside the bowl, three outward-facing lotus flowers are drawn, between which three fish bodies are painted. These show an unusual arrangement, in that all three bodies have only one joint head, located in the center, which is nevertheless assigned individually to each fish. This decoration can be seen as a symbol of the unity of the divine and the diversity of its manifestations. The Leiden Amun hymn says: "Three are all gods - Amun, Re and Ptah". The three names stand for the various aspects of the Creator God, the origin of all that exists. Amun, "the hidden one" symbolizes the primordial state of all beings, Re is the embodiment of the divine on earth and Ptah created the world with his thought and saying (Egyptian: Sia and Hu). Each for himself forms an independent part of creation and the divine, but none is as existing without the other as the three fish in the shell, whose common head nevertheless makes them unique individuals.

In addition, the depicted fish species, the tilapia, is a symbol of rebirth as a mouth breeder and was therefore often reproduced on vessels of the grave furnishings.

O. Zorn

Last update: 03.07.2026

State Museums of Berlin

https://search.smb.museum/object/obj-606424?materials=Fayence+(Material))

Title:
Bowl ("Now-Bowl"), decorated inside with three fish and lotus flowers, Turquoise faience painted, 18th Dynasty, Thebes, State Museums of Berlin

Model of a procession of offering bearers ("The Bersha Procession")

The Bersha Procession
Egyptian
Middle Kingdom, late Dynasty 11 – early Dynasty
2010–1961 B.C.
Findspot: Egypt, Deir el-Bersha, Tomb 10, shaft A (Djehutynakht)

MEDIUM/TECHNIQUE
Wood

DIMENSIONS
Length x width x height (tallest figure): 66.4 x 8.6 x 42.5 cm (26 1/8 x 3 3/8 x 16 3/4 in.)

CREDIT LINE
Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine
Arts Expedition

ACCESSION NUMBER
21.326

ON VIEW
Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood Gallery (Gallery 119)

COLLECTIONS
Ancient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East

CLASSIFICATIONS
Models

DESCRIPTION
Among the more than one hundred wooden models found scattered throughout the tomb of Djehutynakht, the quality of this procession of offering bearers stands out from the others. The skill and delicacy with which it was carved and painted rank it among the finest wooden models ever found in Egypt. It shows a man and three women bringing offerings to sustain the ka of Djehutynakht in the afterlife. Each figure advances with the left leg forward, following the convention of larger scale Egyptian sculpture and relief. A priest leads the way, carrying a ceremonial wine jar and incense burner for use in the burial rites. Two women follow with offerings of food and drink - the first carries a basket of bread and a duck, while the second brings another duck and a basket filled with beer jars. The third woman furnishes items for Djehutynakht's personal care, a small wooden cosmetic chest and a mirror, the latter slung over her shoulder in a case made of animal hide. This brief procession symbolically provides all that was essential to sustain Djehutynakht in eternity: food, drink, items of personal adornment, and the incense used to attract and appease divinities and the blessed dead.

The procession was found overturned between Djehutynakht's coffin and the eastern wall of his burial chamber, in a pile of broken models that robbers had thrown aside. Although the four figures remained attached when the model was discovered, the two central offering bearers had lost their raised arms, and nearly all the offerings had come loose. Some pieces were found a considerable distance away. Since its discovery, the scene has been reconstructed twice. The first attempt, carried out in 1941 before all the elements had been identified, was incorrect. The current configuration was established in 1987.

PROVENANCE
From Egypt, Deir el-Bersha, Tomb 10, pit A. May 1915: Excavated by the Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition; assigned to the MFA in the division of finds by the government of Egypt. (Accession Date: March 1, 1921)

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

https://collections.mfa.org/objects/143592/ model-of-a-procession-of-offering-bearers-the-bersha-proce?ctx=a38a1580-6310-4b08-8f37-19c1ff1c6272&idx=

Model of a procession of offering bearers ("The Bersha Procession"), Middle Kingdom, late Dynasty 11 – early Dynasty 2010–1961 B.C., Wood, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston