Img. ID: 544947

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

This is a very long parchment amulet originating in Iraqi Kurdistan most likely in the last quarter of the 19th century.  Amulet reading (in Hebrew), "Be fruitful and multiply… and be blessed with a living seed, and suffer not illness… nor barrenness…", against the evil eye and disease, evil spells, aches and other matters. The amulet was made for the benefit of a male, Zevulun ben Korshit.

The Hebrew words "In the name of the G-d" at the top of the amulet are enlarged and enclosed in a decorated frame in the manner of using a black background to emphasize the letters and decoration in the natural color of the material. The length of the amulet is inscribed with charts, illustrations and a great many magic inscriptions and names.

This amulet is quite out of the ordinary in terms of its aesthetic nature. The decorated introduction and the dramatic tri-partite design in the middle are both very unusual. There is text that constitutes a frame running the entire circumfrence; this is a decorative technique used in Kurdistan, Buchara and Azerbaijan.