Obj. ID: 53883  Birth amulet (Le-Zachar), Germany, circa 1770

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

During the last half of the 18th century, many birth amulets were printed in Germany, primarily in the areas of Sulzbach and Fuerth. They were usually specifically for a male or female child and seem to have been printed in pairs, as in Gross 027.011.001, where they are printed together, and in Gross 027.011.004 and 027.011.063, where they seem to have been separate. This example probably has the amulet for the female child printed on another sheet. These amulets often carry an illustration of either a male or female figure.  These illustrations seem to have been taken from stock illustrations, often for the zodiac signs, and they sometimes appear on other printed pages for Jewish uses other than amulets. On this amulet, the angel depicted within a wreath is almost surely the illustration of a Zodiac sign. The texts, in both Hebrew and Yiddish, contain the traditional "shir le-ma'alot", the names of the three angels whose names, Sanoi, Sansanoi and Samgelaf, are invocated for protection against Lilith. There are other amuletic texts as well. The amulet is printed with a decorative border.