islamic seals - magical or practical

8/14/2019 Islamic Seals - Magical or Practical

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ISI,AMIC SEALS:MAGICAL OR PRACTICAL?VenetiaPorter

In public and private collections there are many thousands of sealsthat can be broadly defined as Islamic. They are made from a rangeof materials such as camelian, chalcedony, rock crystal and hematiteand carry a variety of types of inscriptions in Arabic script' There arenames of owners,pious inscriptions which include invocations to Godor Shi'ite imams. Some carry symbols such as stars or single letters,numbers sometimes in squares, etters and numbers mixed together.Others have obscure and difficult inscriptions in Kufic script, generallyrelegated to the 'undeciphered inscription' category. All theseinscriptions are engraved n reverseand are, therefore, made with theintention of stamping onto sometling. However, the same nscriptionsor symbols often appear engraved in positive, and these objects aregenerally regarded as talismans. This paper considers firstly theoverlap between the validatory and amuletic functions of seals,andthen goeson to discussa variety of magical sealsand amulets.The word khatam as described in Ibn ManTtrr's dictionaryLisan al-'AraDr is 'that which is placed on clay' and al-khitam the claywhich is used to seal documents (kitdb). Living in the l3th-l4thcentury, Ibn Man?ur worked in Tripoli in North Africa in the Diwanal-Insha' where documents are likely to have still been sealedpossibly' I am very grateful to Robert Hoyland, Nitzan Amitai-Preiss, Robert Irwin and

Emilie Savage-Smith or their most helpful comments on the text of this paper.


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UniztersityLecrures n Islamic Srudies2wrth clay. While there are ofren references n historical texts to thesealing of documents in the various chanceriesof the 'Abbdsids or theSaljuqs, or example, clay sealssti l l somerimes artached o papyrusdocuments only tend to survive from the early Islamic period.2The term khatam grew to encompass a whole range ofmeanings and thus when Allan wrote the entry khatam in theEncyclopaediaof Islam, he describes it as 'a seal, signet ring, theimpression (also khatm) as well as the acrual seal-matrix; it is appliednot only to sealsproper, engraved n incuse characterswith reuogradeinscriptions, but also in the very common seal-like objects withregular inscriptions of a pious or auspicious characterf in addition tomeaning a ring, it coversvirtually any small 'seal-likeobject which hasbeen stamped with some mark.'3 The other terms that we find in theIiterature in connection with seals are /ass, the engraved stone of aring,a and pdbi'sas something which has been stamped on.The first group of sealswith which we are concerned here area large group with inscriptions of a pious nature) sometimes)but notalways,with a name attached: phrasessuch as 'sovereigntybelongs toGod' (al-mulk lillah),'I put my faith in God' (tawakkah 'ala Allah) or'such and such a person trusts in God' ffulan yathiq billah).It can besaid that although these are personal seals, as will be shown below,through their referencesto God, and through the use of panicularstones with known amuletic functions these seals have an inbuiltamuletic aspect o them.62 Lead as well as clay seals were used from rhe early Islamic period. Porter, V,

'Islamic seals' in D Collon (ed.), 7000 Yearsof Seals,London 1997 p. 182. Fora group of seals on documenrs from Afghanistan, G Khan, 'An Arabic legaldocument from the Umayyad period', JRIS, 4 pt. 3 1994, p.365. Seal practrceis discussed by J M Rogers in'Islamic Seals Part 2' in Collon, Seals1997, pp.185-195f, D Sourdel , Le aiz irat 'Abbasside, Damascus, 1959, vol . I I , p . 607, JA Boyle (ed.), The Cambridge History of lran, The Saljuq and Mongol Peiods, vol.5, Cambridge, 1968, p. 259.3J Al lan, 'Khdtam, Khdt im' , EI2 vol . IV, pp. I102-1105.a See for example in al-Washsha, Kitab al-Muwashsha, ed. A N al-]amali and MA al-Khaui i , Cairo, 1323/1905-6, p. I32f .5 In the Ghayat al-Hakim, H Ritter, Pseudo-Magriti Das Ziel des Weisen,I-.eipzigand Berlin, 1931, vol.I, p. 55. In modern Arabic this also refers to a postagestamp.

6 For tlre various properties of stones see for example B A Donalds orf The WildRare, -ondon, 1938, pp. 152-4. Arabic texts which discuss stones and theirproperties include al-BtrDni, Khab al-jamahirfi mar'ifat al-jauahir, Hyderabad,


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Islamic Seals:Magical or Practical?The ambiguity between seal and talisman alluded to by Ailan

has a very long history. Finkel in his discussionof ancient near-easternsealssuggests hat: 'Early stamp sealsprobably derived from amuletsand it is lil


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Uniaersity Lectures n Islamic Studies 2wa nuqisha khatimihi or wa kana naqsh khat|imihitr and then thephrase. The Caliph 'Ali (656-661), for example, according to al-Mas'udi had his ring engravedal-mulk lillahby his scribe, UbaidallAhibn Abi Rdfi', who had been a slave of the Prophet.12The inscriptionsas described in the texts, vary in length: some are short: al-'izzat lillah('Glory belongs to God', MarwAn I, 684-5);13hasbiAllah ('My trustis in God', al-Mahdi, 775-85),t5 while others are longer: al-'uzmatzra'l-qudrat Lillah 'azza ma jalla (Hdrun al-Rashld).t6 \Vhile mostinscriptions are generally pious in nature) some are specific versesorparaphrasesof verses from the Qur'an. Al-Mu'tasim's seal (833-42)for example, was a phrase of which the secondpart (underlined) is adirect quote from the Qur'en: al-hamdu lillah alladht laysa kamithlihishag' wa huwa khaliq kull shay'. This phrase,according to al-Mas'udl,was also engraved on the seal of al-Mu'tadid (892-902) and al-Muqtaf i (1136-60).t6

Many of the phrases on the caliphal seals appear on theextant seal-mauices n the British Museum collection and elsewhere.Flowever this doesnot mean that all sealswith the inscription al-mulklillah, belonged to the Caliph 'Ali, or ones with hasbtAllah belongedto the Caliph al-Mahdl. It does, nevertheless,suggest two things:firstly, that unlike European 'royal' seals which are recognisablebecause hey will have a royal name on them, these seals,with theirpopular pious but quite impersonal phrases, would have beenrecognisablebecauseof the context in which they were used; but howcould we be sure of recognising a caliphal seal today? Secondly, thesheer numbers of these seals extant in various collections and theappearance of the inscriptions on some of the rare clay sealingsattached to papyrus documents) suggests hat the use of what appeartoday to us anonymous reiigious phrases for seal legends waswidespreadpractice (fig. 8.2). It was the context rhat mattered for alltheseseals.lTAs Kalus and Gignoux have argued, n the context of therr al-Mas'fidi, Khab al-Tanbth, p. 286 arrd 349.12al-Mas'udi, Khab al-Tanbth, p. 297.rr af-Mas'udi, Kilab al-Tanbih, p.312; I(alus and Gignoux, p. 139.ra Ibn'Arabt, Mul.z'iQarat,p. l14; Kalus and Gignoux, p. 142.15lbn 'Arabi, Mul.taQardt, p. 115; Kalus and Gignoux p. 139.r6 Qur'dn 6:102. It also occurs in other places : Kalus and Gignoux, 'Les


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Islamic Seak: Magical or Practical?links between Sasanian and Islamic seals,not only was the presenceof the religious text an expressionof a person's direct link with God,but furthermore, it provided in itself a mark of authenticity for theobject being sealed.rsAs seals,we can postulate tentatively that thisgroup belongs to the categoryof 'alama, a religious motto which tookthe place of a signature on documents from at least 'Abb6sid timesand very common on F6timid documents. These phrases are, forexample, al-I.tamdillah rabbal-'alimln ('Praisebe to God, Lord of theIJniverse') used by all the Fdtimid caliphsor, closer to the seals,shortphrases such as al-mulk lillah used by viziers.re

It is not clear how the 'alama corresponded f at all to the useof a seal as a means of authentication. In Stern's survey on 'thesignature' inhis Fa4imid Decrees, e only once links the 'alama with aseal and that is in referenceto seals of the Sa'did shartfsof Moroccowhere 'the 'alama was impressed by means of a stamp.'2OW'hat isinteresting is that the same pious phrasescontinued in use on bothsealsand 'aldmas.It is evidently the case hat the 'alAma, he seal andan actual signature varied at different times as the principle means ofauthenticatingdocuments. In a wider context, it is interesting to notethe limited number of benedictory, supplicatory phrasesor Qur'anicversesbeing used on the seals.The relatively homogeneous nature ofsuch inscriptions in the context of inscriptions on rock, has recentlybeen commented on by Robert Hoyland. He has noted that there is a'common stockof words and phrases'which'crop up time and agalnin many different places.' He notes additionally that the style of thelanguage used, as well as the epigraphy, is on the whole consistentacross a wide geographical area. This suggests,Hoyland believes,'that the early Muslims formed a homogenous elite who were unitedby a shared ideology and common religious idiom.' He suggests hatpresumably this is due to the homogeneity of the Arabs'tradition andthe strength of their adherence o it, but it may alsobe in part becausethis religious idiom was, to some degreeat least)controlled from the

r8 I{alus and Gignoux, 'Les formules', p. 138f.fe S M Stern, 'Three petitions of the Farimid period', reprinted in Coins andDocuments from the Medieaal Middle East, Variorum 1986, VI, p. 186, andFatimid Decrees: Oiginal Documents from Fapimid Chanceies, London, 1964, pp.123-L66; al-Mas'udt, in his Kzrab al-Tanbih, does not describe the motroes as


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UniztersityLectures n Islamic Studies2centre and thence disseminated o the periphery''21

The use of a Qur'dnic inscription on a seal emphasising tsamuletic aspect, is seen on an interesting South Arabian seal in theBritish Museum (fig. S.3) made of sardonyxwhich hasbeen publishedat various times.22From the Himyarite period in Yemen (ca. 3rd-6thcentury AD) it is inscribed in reverse n South Arabian characterswiththe name Nadim, an eagle grasping the tail of a serpent is in thecentre, and then around the sides, an inscription in Kufic in what isbelieved o be a ca. 8th century epigraphicsryle,which is a paraphraseof a verse from the Qur'[n. ('Oh Lord, Glory to thee, keep me fromthe punishment of the fire,' snra 3:191 \Talker in his publication ofthe sealz3suggested that the Arabic may have been carved by a laterowner of the seal as a prophylactic. Evidence for this is ttrat theengraverhas changed'keep us' (qina) to 'keep me' (qini)' T\e sealmay also have had special amuletic properties on account of theHimyarite script. For, this was regarded as a 'magical script' by somemedieval writers such as Ibn Valrshiya for example'24The fact that itwas old and mysterious at the time the Arabic was inscribed on it isalso likely to have ient it some further baraka.

Having looked at the amuletic aspect of personal oradministrative seals, we now turn to those seals which lead usunequivocally into the more esoteric world of magic. These are sealswith symbols, numbers, magic squaresor obscure inscriptions. Thesamesymbols, etters and scripts can be found engraved n positiveon'amulets'. These inscriptions are also found in all sons of differentcontexts from magic bowls to letters or tombstones.25 story in thetext of the GhAyat al-Hakim, a medieval text on magic translated nto2r Robert G Hoyland 'The Content and Context of Early Arabic Inscriptions',

ISl1, vol. 27, 1997, PP.77 -102.22Most recendy in Porter, Collon, Seals,fig. lll3,p. 197 and p. 179. The mostcomprehensive discussion is in J \Walker, 'A South Arabian gem with Sabean

and Kufic legends', Le MusionT5 3/4, 1962,pp.455-8.23Walker, op. cit., p. 456.2aCasanova, 'Alphabets magiques Arabes', Journal Asiatique I le s6rie vol' XVIJI,1921, p.46, fn. 1. Ibn \Tahshiya also mentions a magicai Sabean alphabet, SMatton, La Magie Arabe Traditionelle, p. 238. There has been some debate asto whether the South Arabian image and the Arabic were engraved at the sametime. A later date for the Arabic seems the most plausible.25V Grassi, 'L'epigafia araba nelle isola maltesi, materiali per io studio dellapieseuza 1989, no. 16, p' 49.


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Islamic Seak: Magical or Practical?Latin and known in the west as Picatrix26ncludes a story attributedto the Tulunid period in Egypt, to Khumarawayh (r. 884-96) aboutthe use of seals in magic which goes as follows: a person in theEgyptian court saw a young man who, having heard someonecomplaining about a scorpion sting, took out a cloth in which was acollection of seals (pawabi') made from something like incense. Hetook one ofthese seals,ordered that it should be pulverised and givento the wounded man. This was done and he then quietened down.\Tanting to find out more about this, I looked carefully ar the sealsand I found that on each one was the likenessof a scorpion. He (theyoung man) then took out a gold ring, its seal (fosl a bezoarstone onwhich appeared he scorpion. I asked him about the secret ofthe seal(khatim) and how it was made. He told me that it was engravedwhilethe moon was in the secondface of Scorpion. I went ahead and madeone and started sealing with it. I would alter the material that Istamped the signet onto fearing that it was the material (i.e., theincense) that was having the effect. Afterwards with seals and sealimpressionsI did wonderful things before all the world'.27

The word maglc (sihr) in the Islamic world has complicatedconnotations. h is not as could be supposed anti-religious althoughIbn Khaldun made his disapproval known of it. In the Muqaddimahhe opens the section on magic and talismans thus: 'magic andtalismansshow how the human spirit can act upon the elementseitherdirectly-and that is magic-or by celestial intervention-and theseare the talismans.These sciencesare forbidden by different religionsbecause hey are dangerous and because hey turn the spirit towardsastral beings or other things rather than in the direction of God.'28

There are believed to be two kinds of magic, licit and illicit.While licit magicians according to the l0th century writer Ibn al-Nadim, author of t}'e Fihrisr,2econstrain the spirits by obeying andsupplicating Alldh, illicit magicians enslave the spirits by offerings26R lrwin, The Arabian Nights: A Companion, London, 1994, c|.,.8, p. 318,

fn. 5; S Matton, 'Picatrix' in La Magie Arabe Tiaditionelle, Paris, 1977, pp.243-317.27Matton, 'Picatrix', p.245, for biographical notice and p. 307 for the story andGhdyat al-Hakim, Ritter, p. 55 (the translation here is based on the Arabictext).28Monteil, Y, Ibn Khaldan Discours sur I'Histoire Uniuerselle, Beyrouth, 1968, vol.


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University Lectures n Islamic Studies 2and evil deeds.He also says all the exorcistsand magicians (in otherwords licit and illicit magicians) assert that they have seals,charms,paper, ... sandalwoodand other things used for their arts,' adding, 'onegroup of philosophers and servantsof the stars assert hat they havetalismansbasedon astronomical observations or all things desired nconnection with wonderful actions ... They also have designs onstones stringed beads and signet stones.' He adds bafflingly, 'thetalismans of the lands of Egypt and Syria are numerous and theirforms well known, although their use has been rendered vain becausethey are out of date.'3oSorcerers and magicians form a key part ofstorytelling in Islamic societies.This is exemplified in the tales of theArabian Nights with its stories full of supernatural elements wheremagiciansmake predictions on the basis of the signsof the letters, theuse of Solomon's Sealand so on.3l In the British Museum's collectionand elsewhereare magical sealsand amulets which fall into a numberof different categories.32here are those, mostly engraved n positive,with verses rom the Qur'en or parts of verses,and these tie in withthe negatively inscribed seals with phrases, Qur'dnic or otherwise,discussedearlier. Fig. 8.4 is a ca. 18th century chalcedony seal fromthe Sloane collection, inscribed in positive with silra 2:255' the'tlrrone verse', known as the ayat al-mustn'idin, the verse of thoseseeking refuge, and in the centre, from snra 13, 'thunder repeats hisphrases and so do the angels with awe.' The throne verse hasparticular potency and is very frequently found in a variety ofcontexts. It is often enough just to have tiny fragment of it. Thecowrie shell (fig. 8.5) is inscribed illa huu:a al-l1ajry,a few words nearthe beginning of the verse. In addition to the inscriptions, as hasalready been mentioned, the stones themselves had particularproperties.Chalcedony, for example)was believed to protect from theevil eye and to give a person a peaceful disposition; while cowries (inaddition to representingmoney in some cultures) too were thought tohave alismanicpropenies and are frequently found sewn nto clothing.

Another category of magical seais consist of inscriptionswhich draw on the power of individual letters and the divine names,

30Ibn al-Nadim, Fihrist, vol. II, p. 726.3r pp.


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Islamic Seals:Magical or Practical?the so-called al-asma' al-husna (of which there are 99 or moredepending on the texts). This is the focus of the work of al-Buni (d.1225) athor of the Shams al-Ma,aif, the most popular treatise onoccult practice, talismans and so on, whose work was repeatedlycopied across the Islamic world.33 In this caregory of sealswe findmagic squares with individual letters or numbers or l inearcompositions of numbers and letters mixed (figs. 8.6-9).The scienceof letrers ('ilm al-fuumfl is a highly complicatedsubject n which letters have particular propenies that cannot be goneinto here.3a fhat concerns us are magic squares which feature on avariety of objects: they are engraved both in positive or negative onsealsand amulets, on magic bowls, paper amulets and so on. They areconstructed on the basisof the numerical value of letters according tothe ancient order of the Semitic alphabet known in Arabic as abjad. Inthis system a = 1, b = 2, ) = 3, d = 4and so on. The earliest ecordingof a magic square at its simplest-3 x 3-is referred to by the gthcennrry alchemist Jabir ibn gayyin.35 This square (he mentions it inthe context of assisting n childbirth) is the one mosr popularly used(fig. 8.6). rVith numbers totalling 15 in whichever direction they areadded up, it is known as budnh, an artificial word made from theequivalent ettersat the four cornersof the square.36 here are variousstoriesconnected to it: that it was the seal of Adam on account of thenumerical value of the word Adam which totals 45-the sum of all thenumbers of the seal.37Canaan's discussion of the square, mostlybased on al-Buni, shows it to have several different33E Savage-SmitJt, Science, Tools and Magic, London, 1997,p. 65.3aEP articles: D B Macdonald, 'Budth', vol. II pp. 153-4 and T Fahd, ,Huruf ,vol. III, pp. 595-6; Canaan, 'The Decipherment', 1932, p. 98f.35Paul Kraus, 'Jebir ibn Hayydn', Mimoires presentdesd I'lnstitut d'Egtpte, vol. 45,Cairo, 1942, vol. II, p. 73,fn. l. The text is thought to have been compiled in9th-10th cenrury. Savage-Smith, Science,p. 106; Canaan, 1937. An imperfectsquare (6 x 9) is recorded amongst Safaitic inscriptions in Widt Miqar insouthern Jordan. It bears curious markings neither Safaitic nor Arabic whichhave yet to be explained. Winnet believed it to be some form of magic square.Although this is doubtful, it is not possible to date but could conceivably bepre-Islamic. I am gratefirl to Michael Macdonald for pointing this out to me./innet and G Lankester Harding, Inscriptions from Safairic Cairns,Toronto,1978, pp. 519-20, no. 3790.


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Uniaersity Lectures n Islamic Studies2meanings: this includes the splitting up of the word into two: L.tub(love) and wadd (affection).38Associated with healing, as it is on thebrass seal in fig. 8.6, here the Qur'anic verses inscribed in reversearound the seal are verses known for their healing properties: srr416:69 and s*ra 10;57, 'and there issues rom their bodies a drink ofvarying colours wherein is a healing for men.' The illnesses hat canbe cured with the budnfusquare are quite specific: stomach pains,temporary impotence and it has the additional properry of being ableto render a person invisible. Amongst its other uses,Macdonald notesthat the square itself is found engraved at the beginnings of books asa preservative and is thought to ensure the safe arrival of letters andpackages.3e

The squares can be very complex and, as in fig. 8.7,sometimes bear the names of the archangelsJibri'tl, Mikiyil, Isrifiland Uzrafil around the sides.aoDerived from Hebrew angelology,each angel is believed to be endowed with specialgifts and functions:for example Jibra'il (Gabriel), the messenger to the Prophets whobrought down the Qur'6n; Mikdytl, who presidesover rain and plants;Isrdftl who guards the heavenly trumpet and stands by the throne ofGod; Uzraftl the angel of death. All the verticals in this magicalsquare,except two, add up to 473.4t There are in fact different kindsof magical squares.This example is a Latin square. In each of theindividual cells (frg. 8.7) are pairs of letters which include some of the'mysterious letters' of the Qur'in.a2 On the first line and subsequentlines in different orders can be seenkaf ha' yd' 'agn Eadwhich beginsurat Maryam (sura 19) and which are frequently found on amulets.These letters are found immediately before the texts of 29 of the 114snrasof the Qur'in. Much has been written on this subject in tryingto understand their purpose and function. AIan Joneshas come to theconciusion that 'these are intentionally mysterious and have nospecific meaningl'43 other theories include the suggestion that they38Canaan, The Decipherment', 1937,p. lOf f.ts 'Budah',EP, supplement,p. 153 and Diadwal, vol. 2, p. 370.a0For a discussion f the angels, eeCanaan,'The Decipherment',1937,p. 81f,

EP, 'Mala'ika', vol. 6, pp.216-9.ar I am grateful to Dr Hans Kind for his help with the seaiswith magic squares nthe British Museum collection. For a definition of different types of magical


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Islamic Seals:Magical or Practical?may be mnemonics for remembering the subject matter of the suras.a'SThatevertheir original intention, they continue to have specialreligious significanceand magical connotations.

Numbers and letters do not iust occur in squaresbut often inhorizontal lines, again engraved n positive and reverse.a5 ehatsek nhis article on magic,a6working from Avicenna's Book of Treasures, etsout groups of individual letters and numbers which contain the namesof the sevenangels who govern the days of the week.aTSimilar kindsof clusters can be found on figs. 8.8-9, for example, but not exactly.It is virtually impossible, I believe, to correlate the texts with theobjects.as We can only gain a generalised mpression of the sort ofmeaning they might have. Individual letters, often repeated, arebelieved to haveparticular potency or to hasten the action of a spell.aeThey are found engraved in positive and negative on paper amuletsand elsewhere figs. 8.8-9). The form of the letters too was importantas will be discussedbelow.

One of the most mysterious of the groups of symbols, whichleads us back to al-Buni, as hey belong in the discussionof the namesof God, are the'seven magical signs'5ofig. 8.10). A descriptionandexplanation of these is given by the theologian al-Rezt (d. 1209) asfollows:5r 'three sticks lined up after a seal [the so-called Solomon's

aaM Seale, 'The Mysterious letters of the Qur'in' in Qur'an and Bible, London,7978, pp. 29-46.a5They do not just appear on the seals and amulets. A bronze beast illustrated inJ G C Adler, Museum Cuficum Borgianum Velitis, pttblished in Rome in 1782'plate X, described as a Druze idol, shows lines of numbers and letters as wellas lines of Kufrc (Microfilm Bodlean Library). I am grateful to MichaelMacdonald for pointing this out to me.a6E Rehatsek, 'Magic', Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Sociery,vol . XIV, 1878-80, pp. 199- 298.a7Rehatsek, 'Magic', p. 215.a8This is concuned by Savage-Smith, Science,p. 62.aeCanaan, 'The Decipherment', 1937, p. 96f.50al-Buni, al-Shams al-Ma'aif al-Ku&,'d, Beirut, n.d., p. 86ff. There is muchliterature on this subiect. See for example A H Vinkler, Siegel und Karacters mder Muhammidanischen Zauberez,Berlin, Leipzig, 1930, pp. 55-149; G CAnawati, 'Le nom suprdme de Dieu', Atti del Terzo Congressodi Studi Arabi eIslamici, Naples, 1967, pp. 20- 58; J Dawkins, 'The seal of Solomon" JRIS,1944, pp. 145-50; Savage-Smith, Science,pp. 60.


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Unh.tersity ectures n Islamic Studies 2seal]52 t their head is like a bent head of a lance; a zzzzz quashedandamputatedJ hen a iadder which leads to every hoped for object butwhich is nonethelessnot a ladder; four objects resembling fingers havebeen lined up, they point towards good things but [they are] withouta frst; a ha' in half then a tDdwbent over like a tube (anbnb) of acupper (hijam) but which is not a cupping glass.' His explanation isas follows: 'this is the name which is supreme in its power and if youdid not know this before, know it [now] ... Here is the name of AllAhmay his glory be exalted ... 'Al-Rdzt goeson to describehow thesesignspossess evennames amongst the great names of God and sevenletters which have been omitted from the Fatiha, rhe opening chapterof the Qur'dn. (the sawaqit al-fatil.ta). These letters,fa', jzm, shin, tha',ga', hhd' and zayn, are also the beginning letters of some of the divinenamesof God; Fard (the Only One), Jabbar (the Omnipotent) and soon. It is also said, adds al-Rdzt, that these signs refer to the name a/-Raftmdnwhich may in fact be the 'greatestname' of all. However, itstrue meaning is unknowable, he says,except by the most holy.Where do we find these symbols and what is their power?Solomon is believed to have exercisedpower over rhe jinn by virtue ofa talismanic ring engravedwith 'the most great name of God.53Butal-Razi's ext indicates how the signs may have been used in every-daylife: the presenceof thesesigns nscribed on a boat was believed o saveit from sinking, on someone'shouse prevented it from destruction byfire and marked on goods protected them from theft. He says theywere also nscribed on seals.54 othing on the carnelianseal llustratedin fig. 8.10 provides any clue for dating purposes. Carnelian is stillused today for amulets. It is from the Christy collection and thesecame into the British Museum in 1878. How early can it be? EmilieSavage-Smith has suggested hat these symbols, in addition ro themagic squares,do not appearon objectsbefore the l2th century. Thiswould appear to coincide with the proliferation of magical textsbeginning with that of al-Buni's, whose Shams al-Ma'arif was writtenin the late 12th or early 13th century, and with the interest in magicalhealingbowls (one of the earliestknown examples of which was madefor the Zengrd ruler Nur al-Drn Zangtr n lL67).5552A five or six pointed star. The whole of the seven signs have been called

,theseven seals of Solomon', Savage-Smith, Science,1997,p.60.53R. Irwin, Is lamic Art , London, 1997,p.207.


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Islamic Seals:Magical or Practical?In addition ro letters and numbers, another category of sealsand amulets contains bizane words inscribed in positive and reversewhich end in /and resemble Hebraic words (fig. S.ll and l2). Theso-called lunette script where loops are attached to letters was also

popular, many of the 'spells' in al-Bunt's Shamsal-Ma'aif are n thisform.56The final group of magical sealsdiscussedhere are inscribedin Arabic script in a style which Casanova first described, as Koufiquelin,iaire.51They are characterised by continuous lines, made up ofI(ufic letters, so that individual words cannot easily be differentiated,

if at all.58Even when there are breaks the meaning is often diffrcult tofathom. The letters themselvesare simply written with no ornaments;on many of the sealssome letters, such as the letter ha', are written ina very early form which first appears on Dome of the Rockinscriptions.se Although it is generally possible to date Arabicinscriptions from their epigraphic style because of the amount ofdated or dateable material, care has to be taken with magicalinscriptions. IJTehave already alluded to rhe fact that the form of theletter was important in amulets and these inscriptions were oftenwritten in a deliberately archaistic manner. This is emphasisedby amagic bowl published by Rehatsek60which includes panels of thisscript which contrasts with the cursive naskht script of the rim. Thecontrast can be seen again on a paper amulet where there is a crude56Irwin, Islamic Art, p. 205f; al-Buni, Shams, p. 251, for example. J Marquds-Rividre, Amulettes, talismans et pentacles dans les traditions oientales et occidentales,

Paris, 1950, p. 125f. Canaan, 'The Decipherment', 1938, p. 143f. Magicalalphabets are found in Ibn Wahshiya, Matton, La Magie, 1977, pp. 129-243.57Casanova, M, 'Alphabets magiques arabes', Joumal Asiati4ue, 1921, p. 52t Anintriguing parallel with this style of script can be made with a number of pre-Islamic Nabatean inscriptions from Sinai which, completelyuncharacteristical ly for Nabatean inscriptions are underlined, J Entling,Sinaitische Insciften, Berlin 1891, plate 6. I am grateful to Michael Macdonaldfor pointing this out. Unlike the Arabic examples they are legible, bearingnames of persons with additional phrases such as 'May he be remembered'.Whether there is a link or this is coincidence we cannot say at present.58Some of al-Bunl's formulae are written with an artificial baseline, for exampleShams, p. 243.5eA Grohman, Arabische Paldographie,vol. II, Vienna, 1971, chart facingp.72.60Rehatsek, 'Magic', 1880, plate following p. 218. Similar groups of letrers are


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Uniaersity Lectures n Islamic Studies2rendering of magical script in diagonal lines (fig. g.r3). The searsandamuletsbearing these nscriprionsare made from a number of differentmaterials: carnelian,metal, with a large number in rock crystal. In thecontent collection of rock crystalsealsare a number of thesepresentlyincomprehensible nscriptions often engravedon both sides n reverse.One small group of them areparticularly interestingbecause hey havea standard pious inscription on one side, while on the other, are thestringsof letters.Fig. 8. r4, for example, has on one sidethe inscription'glory to God, forgiveness belongs to God, sultans and dignitariesbelong to God,' on the other, five lines of strings of Kufic lerters.6r

There is much yet to be learnt about this particular group ofseal inscriptions regarding their meaning and function. It is nor yerclear whether the fact that so many are found in rock crystar issignificant. Becauseof the archaising nature of magical inscriptions,nor is it possible to date them with any certainty although ,earlymedieval'-ca. l0th-l lth century-might be suggested. Theexamples in the content colection and those in the BibliothdqueNationale published by Kalus certainry bear strong similaritiesto eachother in rerms of their simple epigraphic style, the engravingtechnique and the cutting of the rock crystar.62 (rhen some of theconfigurations of letters are compared there are often similarities inthe letter order. However, whether this was simply a form ofabracadabra or whether by trying to put 'linear Kufic' inscriptionsfrom many different conrexts together and comparing them mighthelp us crack the code, is hard to say at present.636r The only word I have been able to identifu tentativery is the last which may beal-'ajal ('speed'), sometimes found on amulers to hurry up their efficacy,,- Canaan, 'The Decipherment', 1937, p. 94.62Kalus has suggested that a group of seals with this type of inscription weremade for rainmaking, L Kalus, Catalogue d,es achets, bulles et talismansIslamiques, Bibliothique Nationale, paris, l9gl, p 9lf; L Kalus, ,Rock crystaltalismans against drought' in N Brosh (ed,.), Jeweilery and. Gord,smirhing n theIslamic lYorld, Jerusalem, 1982, pp. l0l_5. Rock crystal and its properties isdiscussed by A Shalem, 'Fountains of light: the meaning of medieval Islamicrock crystal lamps,, Muqamas vol. XI, 1994, pp. l_l l. Regarding theirprovenance, I understand from Mr Content that a number have an EgSptianprovenance.

63The question has been raised by coileagues as to whether they are in fact in theArabic language. Ibn al-Nadrm inhis Fihrist,vol. II, p. g65, in the context of


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Islamic Seals:Magical or hactical?Magical or practical? Magic in one form or another is a subtle

part of Muslim life. The seals and amulets that have been describedhere reflect the complexity but pose as many questions as they cananswer. This is particularly true for those unequivocally magical sealswith bizarre words and symbols. The texts provide us with no explicitrules about how they were used, only intriguing, but in the endunsatisfactory, hints generally shrouded in mystery and fantasy.Flowever, it is also true for those apparently practical seals, used insuch prosaic contexts as attachments to grain sacks, but making useof religiously charged expressions that undoubtedly had magicalconnotations in a wide variety of contexts.


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Fig. 8.1 kad sealing inscribed in Kufic script'sovereignry belongs to God', ca. 7th-8th century.

Dimensions:1.6 x 1.4 x 0. lcmBM (OA) 1983 5-172

Fig. 8.2 Quartz red iasper seal inscribed in reverse in Kufic script with aphrase rom the Qur'dn (snra 33 v. 25): 'they cannot know my end (i.e. mydeath), God knows it all and is able to enforce His will,'Dimensions: 1.9 x 1.4 x 0.5cm

BM (OA) 1880 3636 Masson collection


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Fig. 8.3 Quartz, sardon5aiSouth Arabian sealengraved n reversewith an eaglegraspingthetail of a serpent, Nadim in epigraphic SouthArabian and around the sidesa ca. Bth-centuryI(ufic inscription, 'O Lord, glory to Thee, keepme from the punishment and the fire.'Dimensions:1.7 x 1.25 x 0.6cmBM OX/AA) 120304(Image reversed)

Fig, 8.4 Quartz, chalcedonyamulet engraved n positive incursivescript with Qur'Anic inscriptions, margin: sura2 v. 255and centre slra 73 v. 13, ca. lBth century.Dimensions:4.1 x 3.ZcmBM (OA) Sloane amulet 8


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Fig. 8.5 Cowrie shell amulet engraved n positive withthe words 'except He the Living' from Qur'an sfrra2 v.255 ca.8th century.Dimensions: max. length l.7cm

BM (OA) 1861 6-28 4

Fig. 8.6 Brass seal engravedin reverse n both sides ncursivescripts. In the centrethe magical squareknown asbudu.haround the margin

six Qur 'dnicverses ssociatedwith healing,sura 16 v.69,10v. 57,9 v. 14, ' / v.82,

26 v. 80,41 v. 44,16v. l t .Dimensions:7.0 x 0.3cm

BM (OA) 1893 2-15 1


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Fig. 8.7 Brasssealengraved n reversewith a 5x 5 magical square. n eachof the individual squaresarepairs of letters which includethe 'mysterious letters' ofthe Qur'an. Around thesides are the names of thearchangels.Dimensions:4.5 x 4. 5 x0.2cmBM (OA) 1893 2-5 101(Image reversed)

Fig. 8.8 l-apis lazuliengraved with horizontallines consisting of amixture of numbers andletters. It is diffrcult tobe certain whether it is apositive or negativeinscription. Round sealsof this kind are generallythought to date fromabout the 15th century.Dimensions:1.1 x0.3cmBM (OA) r4278


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Fig. 8.9 Quartz, carnelianengraved n reversewith

horizontal lines consistingof letter and numbers. t

also includes the wordja'ala on the fourth line.

'Abdallah Guchani hassuggested hat this may bean abbreviated orm of the

phrase a1-dunyasa'ah waia'alahA a'a ( ' the world istransitory and He has

imposedobedience n it ' ) .Dimensions:

1.4x1.3x0.4cmBM (OA) Marsden 8

(Image reversed)

Fig. 8.10 Quartz, camelian engraved n positive withthe 'sevenmagicai signs'.Dimensions:1.5x 1.2 x 0.3cmBM (OA) lB78 L2-20 68 Chrisr,v ollect ion


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Fig. 8.f l Rock crysml engraved both sides in reverse,the side shown here has three lines with bizarre namesending in r-1.Dimensions:2.2 x 2.I x 0.6cmBM (OA) 1883 10-31 16 presentedby Revd Grevi l leChester(Image reversed)

Fig. 8.12 Obsidian engraved n positive withinvocations to bizarrely named angelsor jinnsDimensions:3.5 x 0.6cm


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Fig. 8.13 Paper amulet from asilver Yemeni amulet holder, i t iscrudely written in black and pinkink which has run in places.Theinscriptions include the 'sevenmagicalsigns'and 'Solomon's seal 'separately, 4x4 magicalsquareand bands of diagonal lines withnumbers and letters.

Fig. 8.14 a-c Rock crystal sealengravedon both sides n reverse.On one side, the inscription reads'Glory to God' (al-'izzatu lilldh),'Forgivenessbelongs to God' (a/-'idhraru 1i11dh),Sultans belong toGod' (al-salAtin.lr?/Ei),'Eldersbelong to God' (al-kibriye 1i11ah),'Greatnessbelongs to God' (a/-'izmatu lrllah), while on the otherare strings of letters in Kufic scripts.Dimensions:2.4 x 7.4 x 0.6cmCollect ionDerek Content(a = seal,b and c = impressions)