Oddly enough, the ancient Egyptians were quite big on spitting. Yes, you heard me correctly, spitting. Sending saliva shooting from your mouth. Disgusting, no?

They used it as a way to curse someone, and as a means of blessing them. Honestly? I could do without that kind of blessing.

The god Thoth even used spitting as a way to restore sight to the eye of Ra! Can you imagine spitting into the eye of a god?

I would think that would be a very high risk activity…

Wedjat eyes were a hugely popular symbol of protection and good luck in Egypt. Wedjat eyes can actually represent one of two things, and often incorporate both. One, it is symbolic of the lunar eye of Horus, which was destroyed by the god Seth, then restored to healthy by Thoth. That aspect grants healing and restorative powers. But, it also represents the fierce Eye of Ra–the Egyptian name for the Sun. (That was an actual goddess’s name–wouldn’t that be horrible? To have your name be Eye of Ra? I can just hear it now, “Eye of Ra, where is your hat? Quit dawdling, Eye of Ra!”)

Anyway, being associated with the Eye of the Sun gives the symbol very strong protective properties as well.

I thought it might be fun to have another contest, since we haven’t had one in a while. How about if you invent your own amulet – What shape or color would it be? What materials would it be made out of? And most importantly, what would it protect against?

For example, I would love an amulet that protected me against my grandmother’s overly-critical eye. I think it should be made of something sweet, to counteract her bitter nature. Honey, perhaps? No, no. Too sticky. Maybe a small lump of sugar? Or a sweet of some sort? A lemon drop? No, still a little too much sour in it. Whatever it’s made out of, it should be shaped like a little sun, to remind her to have a sunny disposition. Or shaped like a heart, to remind her of love and kindness. Something she’s seriously lacking.

How about you? What sort of amulet are you most in need of?

The winner of the contest will receive their very own wedjat eye amulet! We’ll run the contest from today thru June 16. That’s ten days, which should give everyone plenty of time to enter. And remember the contest rules: Post your entry in the comments section of this post, and first names only so the Serpents of Chaos have no way of finding you!

Have fun, and good luck!

A reader wrote wanting to know what exactly an amulet was.

Amulets were a form of protective magic worn by the Egyptians. They were a bit like jewelry, really, sometimes made of semi-precious materials and gold and worn from the neck. But they could also be homemade, like many of mine are. This was especially true of those worn by the poor.

In addition to being worn on a cord around the neck, they could be tucked into a pocket, or carried in one’s clothes. They were often used on mummies, to give additional protection over certain, vulnerable points on the body.

Amulets came in many shapes, colors, and materials. They might be shaped like a plant or Egyptian god or goddess, a animal of some sort, or a symbolic object, like the lotus or wedjat eye.

Amulets were worn more often by women and children, both of them being considered more vulnerable to danger. Amulets could be worn as a permanent adornment, or could be used for a specific time period and condition that called for extra protection, say being sick or a women in childbirth.

The Egyptian Calendar also acted as a fortune teller! Each day was assigned a rating, if you will, as to whether it would be a good day or a bad one. This all hinged on what was known to have happened to the Egyptian gods on those days. So, for example, if Horus or Osiris had a bad day, everyone in Egypt would have a bad day. Much as how when Father is in a grumpy mood, it tends to trickle down to the rest of us here at the museum.

So the prediction, or auspice, for today is: Very favourable It is a day when the gods are happy because of the offerings made to Sekhmet. It says to make pawet-cakes to please the gods. Must find out what a pawet cake is.

Well, it turns out the Egyptians had only three seasons instead of our four, and they all revolved around the Nile River’s fluctuations.

The first season is Akhet, or Inundation, which was the time of year the Nile River flooded and inundated the land with water. Next came Proyet, or Emergence, when the flood waters receded and the land re-emerged from underwater. Lastly, there was Shomu, or summer, where the Nile just sat there evaporating.

The Egyptians only had 360 days in their calendar, but soon realized that this made them get out of synch with the stars and the sun and the seasons, so they added five more days. Actually, it was the god Thoth who came up with that solution. Clever fellow, that Thoth.