Ancient Magic Amulets?
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- Опубликовано: 17 окт 2024
- Today's Ancient Artifacts video investigates ancient Mesopotamian amulets depicting rather monstrous beings. These objects are quite small, ranging from 1.5 to 5 cm (for reference, a US dime is about 1.8 cm across), and the four examples shown here were found at Ur mostly in the 1930-1932 seasons. Two of the examples are around 3800 years old, the other two are around 2600 years old. I'm not excavating right now (though I should be in the field soon), so I'm talking about artifacts that were excavated a long time ago by using photos of the objects from their museums.
The main question for my video today is: Why did the ancient Mesopotamians depict a relatively hideous and legendarily evil creature on these amulets?
Every object has a story. The older the object, the harder it can be to understand that story. In every case, however, it is more than an object. It represents the effort of the people who made it, the use or uses it was put to, the beliefs of the people who used it, and the effects of the environment on it after it was abandoned. So it really has multiple stories. Trying to understand these stories is the goal of archaeologists. Passing that understanding on to interested people, more than just debate with other archaeologists, should also be a goal. That's what I'm trying to do with these short videos on ancient artifacts.
Thanks for watching!
This is not an official video of any museum, but please do visit museums wherever you are and check out their online materials for added information.
Wherever possible, photos have been downloaded from museum online catalogues and the museum number of the object has been given. If not possible, then photos have been taken from Wikimedia Commons with the information provided there. 
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I really love your sense of humor, thank you for clarifying batman doesnt predate Humbaba or Pazuzu. I know that can confuse a lot of folks
Your reaction video to miniminuteman pushed you into my feed, and I'm really grateful for that. I lost touch with archeological and other anthropological studies since I finished college. Thank you for taking the time to make interesting and educational content for us lay persons.
Me too 👍👍👍
Same here.
same, so thankful for Dr. Hafford
Same here, glad I was pointed to this channel!
Samesies
This is so interesting. Pazuzu amulets were meant to ward off Lamashtu, whose original Sumerian name was either Dimme or Kamadme. She wasn't even a demon, but an actual evil goddess; a daughter of the sky god, An/Anu. She was a killer of pregnant mothers and infants; probably just a supernatural explanation for childbirth and infant mortalities.
"We don't see hints of facial intestine folding" is not a sentence I expected to hear today.
Found you though miniminuteman! It's honestly hard to sort through all the conspiracy videos to find real archeology on RUclips, so this is awesome
It is extremely disheartening that this is your second most viewed video and has only 10,000 views. You deserve much more
Thanks! Hopefully the word will get out and more people will see it in their feeds. Spread the word!
Found this channel after the milo reaction was suggested and I am so hype for it! I can't stop watching. Fuck I wish I would have pursued archeology. I know it's not all exotic locations and crazy finds but I mean as a baker I'm obviously OK with some tedium.
I like to think that the Humbaba pendants were worn by ancient hot goths being counter cultural instead of people looking for protection.
I like how you create a link between ancient findings and our modern actions/beliefs/rituals. It humanises archeology as a field, and creates a perspective that makes it feel like we're a link in an unbroken chain, streteching all the way from the first semi-human who crafted a tool, into the unforseen future
With Pazuzu banished, The Exorcist should really have ended with Regan getting devoured by Lamashtu.
Very happy to have found your channel! Lots of love from this Swedish archaeologist
Your common sense and understanding approach to the past is a welcome add to my feed, thanks SO much!
Found you via Milo, and my word am I glad! Really excellent video, I cannot wait to watch through the rest of your content!
I've always wanted to visit the ancient Sumerian sites. Sumer has always fascinated me.
Great content coming from someone who actually works in the field is amazing to watch. Thank you for the look at history I’m binging on all your videos. +1 fan🙌👏🙌
What a blessing 🎉being a field director in this region! This is so exciting!
Thank you! really enjoyed this video!
I craft flower and fish pedants and lately I’ve been being asked about amulets, this was a nice little introduction to the subject to set my feet at and start researching.
Also, that’s lovely tie, doctor!
Seeing miniminutemen respond to your response of his video brought me here and I actually really enjoy your content so far! You seem like a really intelligent archaeologist and the way you cover things gets me very interested in what you have to say
Your videos are really kindling my increasing interest and desire to study archaeology, paleontology and anthropology. They are incredibly informational and well put together. Thank you for creating them!
I love the ending statements there. It's a beautiful description of humanity's drive to explain it, however they knew how at the time.
Very excited to hear that excavations in Ur are continuing! Are there any preliminary reports available already?
Are you rocking the Full Windsor without a dimple? Respeckt.
I generally prefer the Windsor; the Four-in-Hand feels lop-sided to me.
Keep up great work with the videos! I can't believe I just found your channel.
Wonderful! Informative and enjoyable. You are the field director at Ur? That's impressive.
I remember the statue of Pazuzu in the opening scene of the 1970s film The Exorcist. I thought it was terrifying, and I still do. Thanks for churning up old memories!
Yes, we are scheduled to begin a field season at Ur very soon. Political conditions in Iraq right now have us concerned for our Iraqi friends and we may have to reschedule, but at the moment we are still planning to go. I will try to make some short videos while there.
@@artifactuallyspeaking Hopefully everyine will be safe.
I just found your channel by algorithm. Coins and money too! I'm very pleased to have you among my subscriptions.
@@artifactuallyspeaking soooo...ur almost at Ur.
Loved the video-- you're easy to understand, articulate, and convey a clear passion for the subject. looking forward to the next one.
Thank you Dr. Hafford for this interesting view of amulet artifacts. Best wishes for a great archaeological season!
Thank you! Deeply appreciate you taking time from your research and academic duties to bring a little knowledge to the curious masses😉
Thank you for this. I like that you admit it when you didn’t know what the truth of the situation was and you were just guessing.
That is important so many archaeologist published their theories as absolute truth
Just found your channel. I know youtube is hard, and I hope it works out for you, there arent many good archeologists on youtube
Recent subscriber Dr. Hafford. I've been toying with the idea of writing some historical fiction, and one aspect I've been attempting to get a better grasp on is the magical mindset of ancient peoples in their day to day lives. Do you have any book recommendations on the subject?
Thanks, and keep up the good work!
Magic in the Ancient Greek World
by Derek Collins Use his biblio as a jumping off spot. I am currently enjoying Dr Irving Finkel's The First Ghosts
"It belongs in a museum," is a sentiment that's all well & good, but it often lacks a critical follow-up clarification: "A museum *_where?"_*
Fascinating pieces and history, thanks for sharing! Nice explanation for "magic" too, I liked that.
Fascinating! Thank you for this!
Hey I really enjoyed the video you did on mylo and I probably never would of found you if I didn’t see that video def gonna watch now …. Ritualistically. 😅 jk but really good stuff I’m enjoying it
concepts of Magic and Incantations, gods and mythical beasts hold sway over the human mind; in this way they hold some amount of power. Belief has been the catalyst on which entire dynasties have risen and fallen, how wars have began and ended. Like poetry or music, magic has real power over the self and others, just not in the way you might expect.
Dude well said.
Totally misunderstood in what these are and what’s really happening
@Nad Senoj thank you nad, useful insight as always.
Like to see your reactions to archeologists in movies.
What a great video! It's so nice to gain a little insight into the lives of the people that came so far before me.
Oh man. I read this title as "ancient magic mullets". Darn dyslexia strikes again! 😂
Nice... thank you for your content. I have a degree in Theoretical Archaeology from Wales, UK. I like your objective reasoning.
Love your channel, thank you.
Was the blue one solely painted blue, or is there any indication that other colours were used on it? I know that Greco-Roman statues were originally painted (quite garishly by modern standards), not the bare stone they are today, so wondering if something similar would have been done in Mesopotamia and like the aforementioned Classical statues, over time the paint has been worn away to leave them looking bare (like the mask you showed).
We don't have indication of paint on these, though the evidence could have been wiped out by the long period in the ground. Painting probably did happen on some figurines, but again, traces don't survive well in the Mesopotamian soil. So it's a good question but one we can't answer at the moment.
@@artifactuallyspeaking as a collector of lapis and having viewed many sumerian lapis objects i was surprised to hear you lable it lapis, it seems like a faience or coated as only the superficial layers are blue pigment and the abraded or incised parts seem like a cortex or limestone or host body...of course lapis is vary varied depending on the nature of rock it that is affected by the process that creates it, but even so it doesn;t seem like lapis to me ? Perhaps lazulite ...the only lapis that i have that looks closest to that is from Burma.
@@kc3718 It does look like faience in the image. The database for the museum lists it as lapis and some lapis can be rather light blue, but I can't be absolutely sure unless I look at the object itself rather than just pictures, and so have gone with the listing on the original find card and in the museum database.
Thank you for your work and bringing information to the public
I enjoyed your video. Thank you!
It's interesting too because Humbaba protects the Cedar forest. Some of the doors you had at Ishtars temple were Cedar . Maybe Humbaba is being called upon to protect the household by using his role as cedar protector to protect the doorway, like demons over the doorways in catholic cathedrals.
Thank you, please keep it up!
I really enjoy your videos. I spent some time in Iraq asa young soldier and wish I had time to visit Ur or any of these sites.
too many people these days still carry amulets. Some for luck some for protection . We really haven't changed tha5 much still enjoy your videos thank you
I find it interesting how humans, since forever, really like tiny things with faces. Like these are the evolved version of the makanpansgat pebble. I can't think of a single culture which did not have some form of tiny face object. Both easy to make and carry, but also very meaningful.
I wish “ghost hunters” and ouija board enthusiasts would watch this video too 🥰 the ancient beliefs get really twisted, probably unintentionally, but sometimes it’s way out of left field 😂
Milo sent me. Subbed
Is pazuzu meant to look like a cat? He reminds me a bit of how cats are seen as protectors of the home.
Fascinating!
fascinating thank you
Yes, these treasures need to be kept in museums but when they've been stolen from their homeland, maybe we should give them back. Unless it is suspected they may be destroyed - no-one wants to see another Palmyra. And let's not forget the mighty Khaled al-Asaan, the hero who refused to tell the Taliban where the location of artifacts they wanted to destroy were hidden and was murdered by them. If there's a heaven, he'll be there.
Just here to steal ideas for D&D thanks doc
Interesting. I assumed the 1st amulet was Pazazu
Another cool dude that looks at rocks and hopes to find stuff in them! I DIG IT. (Edit: what interest me is how small yet complex they are)
I'll have to check this out after a nap I'm so close to passing out. All I know is if hippie bums today think rocks and amulets have super duper mystical powers, then hippie bums 10,000 years ago thought rocks and amulets had super duper mystical powers.
So everyone who wears a cross or star of David or a st Christopher & any other saint medallion is a hippie bum ?
@@newman653 Unfortunately, yes. If you don't live in the woods naked you are basically going to burn in hell for eternity.
Is it certain that the blue specimen (32-40-307) is Lapis lazuli? If not, I might wonder if it's actually faience- and at c. 600 BCE that material was certainly around since the Egyptians had been using it for more than 500 years by that point.
If it is faience, it's a pretty good imitation of lapis, but it is a lighter blue than might be expected. We would probably have to do a somewhat invasive chemical study to find out for sure, but it is catalogued as lapis at the moment.
@@artifactuallyspeaking Yeah, it'd be nice if something non-invasive like XRF would easily tell the difference. As for the colour, I've made faience many times myself to re-create Egyptian Shabti and have achieved a wide range of blues from light sky blue to almost cobalt- depending on the amount of copper carbonate in the mix; so I can say for sure the apparent colour of your artifact is indeed within the range of faience. Of course not having the piece to directly examine, I'm only going by the photo in the video.
Hello! If anyone knows anymore kind of information carnelian's significance in historical civilizations please comment it! I find the crystal itself as well as its impact very fascinating
Question: how do you tell the difference between an amulet people truly believed in (like.. I don’t know, those clip-on saint medals for cars? Although even that… Or the ones you talked about some people use around babies), something people generally knew of but mostly didn’t truly believe in (like a rabbit’s foot), something meant more as a reminder (like the cross-in-my-pocket or any of the various other little bee/tree/frog/sun etc that come with poems and go in your pocket) and something that was just fun (people carrying around replicas of the one ring while the Lord of the Rings movies were coming out, people putting the Deathly Hallows symbol from Harry Potter on things, the Weeples we all wore on our shoulders at my elementary school)?
My guess is that most of the ancient world was superstitious as well as poor and so these amulets were likely almost always intended for a spiritual reason. To ancient man gods and myths were real so you'd have to provide evidence that the majority of the people with these objects during those periods and locations didn't believe in magic amulets.
@@billvigus3719 Well but a large part of the world believes in God and saints, and mom bought me a saint medal for the car as soon as I got my driver’s license, which I have carefully transferred car to car, even jury rigging modifications to its mount when necessary. But I don’t think either of us believes it’s a magical protection against car accidents. More just… a visible symbol of her prayer for my safety.
And plenty of people talk about luck and karma, and rabbits feet keychains are sold all over, but do people really think they’re lucky? Do sports fans wearing their lucky shirt and turning their hat around to rally truly believe they control the outcome of a game?
I just wonder how we can tell, looking back, what was believed to be a real “ward against evil” and what was more symbolic - and if we don’t even know for sure exactly what the thing is, whether or not it was just for fun. Isn’t there a bit of a bias towards “oh ancient people were superstitious so they thought this was a real and direct ward against evil” - how do you actually tell they’re “superstitious” from the artifacts?
@@bookcat123 all legitimate questions. I'm not a scholar so this is simply my opinion from my own amateur studying. First, you seem to be taking your 21st western American understanding of the world and trying to apply that to ancient times. That of course is futile. Secondly, he stated in this very video how we come to conclusions: studying artifacts, studying history, comparing similar cultures. Using various disciplines and not simply 1 artifact helps us form a picture in context. It's not perfect but it's tried and tested methods.
So to final comment, based upon our study of ancient cultures we reasonably conclude that almost everyone believed in real gods, myths, magic etc. We also have evidence both written and artifactually that amulets were used for spiritual purposes not simply as jewelry. Even today we have cultures that truly believe amulets are magical but we also have many modern cultures post-enlightenment that disregard almost anything being magical and view trinkets as you do.
@@bookcat123 I think it's worth pointing out that the meaning of words like 'God' and 'belief' varies widely with culture and religion. The Sumerian idea of divinity is really different to a modern Christian one (think of the connection between Mesopotamian Gods and their statues and how that tied the God to *one specific place* vs the idea of a God that's somehow incorporeally every where all at once).
Using examples from outside Sumer, linguist barriers are a big part of Yoruban traditional faith, a lot of indegineous Mexican peoples defined Gods as recieving sacrifice (anything else was just powerful). When we talk about what someone 'really believes'- I think the question itself is coming at things from a very Christian perspective, and a particular type of Christianity at that. There are many faiths for which following the ritual practices is much more important then what a person thinks or feels. Orthopraxy over orthodoxy. To the point that belief in a Christian sense is kind of irrelevant (think of animist religions, how much sense does it make to ask someone if they believe in the rain?)
What I'm trying to say is these are great questions, but you're talking about a set of cultural and religious practices that haven't been done for thousands of years. We can read what these people said about their Gods and use these digs to piece together ideas about what they did. But you can't really know the nuances of what someone so long ago thought in this way. And even if we did it might not be a relevant question. Sometimes the act of making or hanging the amulet is what has meaning. Sometimes asking a person performing a ritual about belief is as relevant as asking if you believe in your lunch, or showers. Because it's not working within their cultural frame work.
More particularly in regard to what we call 'supersition' in ancient cultures, the impression I get is that it's often the medical understanding of the time? (Admittedly this is mixed with religion and ritual in a way we find odd now.) Irving Finkle talks about this a lot in his book on ghosts in mesopotamian writings. We have their ritual instructions at various periods for dealing with troublesome ghosts, enough that there was clearly a lasting understanding of ghosts as a problem. But the context of the 'trouble' is often things like headaches, sore joints. Ailments. Remember that placebos do make people feel better. And we (humans) generally prefer doing something over doing nothing when the people we care about are in pain.
We call it superstition. I'm not sure if we have a better word. I don't think questioning it in terms of 'belief' gives us much though? We don't believe in aspirin, we take it for a head ache and we trust that the people who made it know more then us and can prove it works. I don't believe in the honey-lemon-ginger concotion my grandmother made to treat colds. I have no idea if it actually helps. I still make it and drink it.
More generally if you want to know more about how the deductions were made Irving Finkel's book is a pretty easy place to start with a decent bibliography at the back. Translations of a lot of Sumerian tablets can also be found online (the electronic text corpus of sumerian literature). You can also find text book lists for undergrad courses at unis that do ancient near eastern history.
Oh wow
That's not an ancient amulet. It's a cameo of my ex. I lost it while on vacation.
4:30 if I may play devil's advocate for a second, apart from the warped nature of this face, is there anything else that would suggest this was made intentionally to look like a monster, and wasn't simply the style of the time or a result of limitations of skill? Are there additional carved faces from the same time and place that look more human, this making these carvings stand out?
Typical figurines of the period do show much more human-lie faces (on both figurines that are meant to depict people and those meant to depict gods -- the main difference being the type of hat they wear). Although these figurines also have bodies, they show that artists of the time could depict faces that were not as 'grotesque'. The choice to display this unusual face on its own as a mask or amulet does appear to be intentional.
It doesnt look like the gorgon either dude. Are you even trying? Mummies in egypt that were DNA tested had 80% near eastern DNA.. They are amulets of lion people.
Your forgot to put "alien" in the title for clicks. Maybe try "Amazing". Oh ok i'll sit down and pay attention
Here is what I find odd about your work Artifactually Speaking: Mesopotamian archeology began
in the 19th century and it's solely based on the Christian/Judaic religions. Both religions are in
question as to the validity of their claims. As early as 1993 a top leading biblical archeologist by
the name of Professor Thomas Thompson, one of the worlds foremost authorities on biblical
archeology stated " the first 10 book of The Old Testament are almost certainly fiction."
Mesopotamia is including in those fictional tales written in more recent times than some
ancient B.C. period, a system for telling time that was made up in the 8th century and wasn't
in full use until the late 17 to early 1800's up until today.
Also many archeologist work for gov's, religious institutions, museums, historic sights, colleges,
universities, and engineering firms with cultural resource management while some work as
consultants and or form their own companies.
With that in mind each of the above have their own agenda's for having archeologist excavate
sites while archeologist who form their own companies have their own agendas as well.
I'm sure you are aware that some if not many of the objects labeled historical artifacts have
been fakes and or are forgeries and that has has been happening since the Medieval Ages
when common criminals and Catholic bishops would make fake Christian artifacts to support
their claims.
One more thing, If hundreds if not thousands of fake or forged artifacts have been spotted
then how many of them have not been and are sitting in museums and or the like unbeknownst
to museum, college and university staff as well as private collectors?
"As early as 1993"? There have been staunch critics of the old and new testament for hundreds of years. Thompson has been criticized for his views by many leading scholars including William Dever in his rebuttal book What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It? G-d created humans with the capacity to reject him and ignore or downplay evidence as well as to accept him. For every claim you can show of "no evidence or evidence against G-d" there is more countering that from just as smart archeologists, scholars, and historians from all different faiths.
@@billvigus3719 You do know that there is a HUGE difference between History ( His-Story )
and Historiography? Your belief in a Christian/Judaic G-D is solely based on religious
fiction that is then transformed and translated into academic historical fiction all revolving
around a westernized social construct of pretenses and legal fictions.
Your G-D is fake along with the foundation that it's all based on considering that there is
NO one source from which such arbitrary westernized religious fictions derive from.
Oh by the way Judaism is the last not the first religion as it was invented in the 11th
century AD by Moses Maimonides an Arab from Spain. ( notice non whites created
it but whites adopted it as their own later on down the road. )
According to Revelations 2 written during the Spanish Inquisition Judaism derives
after Christianity and Islam NOT before it. ( Those attributed to writing the bible
NEVER did so and all alleged events were written about 100's of years after such
events are alleged to have taken place which NEVER HAPPENED because it's all
fake )
White Jews adopted Judaism from and or around the mid 12th century AD and immediately
began mixing up Christian doctrines with their version of Judaism ( different from Ethiopian
and Arab Jews ) which is why the two separate and different westernized religions were
ultimately forged together in 1611 AD with the invention of the "authorized" King James
Version.
The reason white Jews were rounded up for the Spanish Inquisition is because the latter
were accused of stealing Catholic Christian mystical teaching and adding it to their Kabbalah.
@@jamesearlcash1758 figures, I cite a prominent scholar that demonstrates the authenticity of many aspects of the old testament in contrast to a quote you found on an anti-religion website, and your defense is... mostly childish. If you ever want to sincerely study to see if G-d is true instead of believe half-concocted theories and ignore the scholarship from the conservative camp it would be beneficial for you 👍
@@billvigus3719 I study your society not as one who lives in it but from an impartial
standpoint outside of it to know that you are definitely delusional and mentally
ill believing in fictitious narratives about characters and storylines used for social
control purposes. I don't need to refer to an anti westernized religious website like
you who needs others to validate you illusions regarding your fictitious beliefs.
Westernized scholars are liars and make things up just as you people made up
fictitious stories from the late 1800's regarding Mesopotamia and then forcing
those fictional tales into your religion which is way different today than it was
100 or even a thousand years ago.
NONE of the people your religion refer's to EVER EXISTED EVER. But you are a man
child believing in stories about made up characters and storylines. You come across
as a fan of pro wrestling. The only child in conversation is YOU. Accept the FACT that
your westernized white society is solely based on socially constructed pretenses with
statues codes rules and laws written around such pretenses known as legal fictions
and all of that derives from the Catholic Christian religion.
I have no vested interest in westernized society other than to see it's destruction.
Bazoozoo???
Why is that who you chose? He doesnt have an entrail face in the amulet, and the description in the story doesnt match it at all. It looks more like the lion people in egypt.
I’ve got a whole drawer full of amulets and other allegedly magical stuff (modern. not ancient).
I don’t think any of those things have actual magical powers, but if I’m wrong, I may be in big trouble.
Orange one looks like a tiger
The colors used are just as important as the subject of the artifacts 🤔 what the person using the artifacts as what those people thought the color will cause a “reaction “ from whatever they thought they were repelling or attracting 🤔
I really enjoy looking at the scenery of Iraq in your videos, gives me this weird feeling kinda like nostalgia or being homesick, well I guess that makes sense, technically I did live there for a year
I'm curious, how are treated by the Iraqi people? How high is the risk of being kidnapped/taken hostage, do ya'll have armed security?
When I was deployed there I remember about 95% of the people were very nice and their hospitality was unsurpassed by any other countries people. But with that being said I wouldn't go for a stroll by myself or unarmed, there's still that other 5% that that think I'd look better without my head.
Also some of the 95% probably belong to the 5%, they were just trying to act nice towards us so they wouldn't be on our radar. And we won't talk about those IS** idiots that consisted of nothing but evil incel douchebags.
Stay safe.
The Iraqis have always treated us well. Of course, in any place there can be danger, but we are looked after carefully by the Iraqi police and military. Plus, we work closely with Iraqi archaeologists in the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage who are all great people and keenly interested in the history of their country.