Obj. ID: 54413  Amulet, Baghdad, circa 1920

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

An early Iraqi printed amulet was published as an amulet for the home and against the evil eye. The 67th psalm in the form of a Menorah shows the use as a Shiviti as well. The names of the seven Patriarchs near the bottom show its use also as a Ushpezin for the Sukkah. There is a written inscription in the lower right portion of the page in the space left for the name of the student to whom this was dedicated. Similar dedications are at the end of many Baghdad amulets. This method of printing in gold on shiny colored paper is known from the Zuckerman press in Jerusalem but is unusual to find outside that city.  There is another different Iraqi amulet in the Gross Family collection, 027.011.334, printed in the same manner but of different design and present in the collection on two different different colored papers. This example is identical to those two with two slight differences: it is printed on green paper, the dedication below contains the name to whom the page was presented, and just below the Shiviti is printed the name Jerusalem whereas in the other two, the space contains an illustration of railway locomotive.