Ancient Egyptians, apart from being superstitious, were great believers in magic as well. They had special magic spells that were to be recited in certain situations that they believed would help in protection, especially with regard to souls of the dead.

Apart from just the magical phrases, certain spells had magical amulets to be worn as well while chanting the spell to make it work. The spells were contained in many different books such as the Pyramid Texts, the Coffin Texts and the Book of the dead.

The Egyptian book of the dead was considered especially important as it contained the instructions for using spells and ancient rites to ensure the departed souls a safe passage to the underworld. Sometimes, wealthy Egyptian nobles would ask to be buried with a scroll of papyrus that contained spells from the Book of the dead to make the passage even easier.

The magic spells in ancient Egypt included in the Book of the Dead were as follows:

(1) Magic spells relating to burial ritual
(2)
(3) Spells relating to safety of heart and soul of the deceased
(4)
(5) Safety of the Underworld
(6)
(7) For entering the hall of Truth
(8)
Two spells that were considered specially important were spell 125 relating to Declaration of Innocence which was to be used before Osiris and 42 judges of the court and spell 156 which relates to the god isis and requires the use of a Magic Amulet.

It is recited over a knot amulet made of red jasper which was placed over the heart on the body of the deceased for protection against wickedness, sometimes referred to as the Isis Amulet. The words of spell 156 from the Book of the Dead calls upon Isis and is as follows.

"The blood of Isis, the spells of Isis, the magical words of Isis shall keep this great (or shining) one strong, and shall protect him from whosoever would harm him\do to him such things as he abominateth."

The requirement of all these spells was due to the Egyptian belief that the soul would go through a lot of Obstacles before it was allowed to Pass through such as fearful beasts, various traps, demons and a long series of tests.

It was believed by them that only once the obstacles were bridged and the tests passed would the soul be able to reach the Hall of Two Truth where their mortal lives would be examined. If they were not well prepared the soul would remain unhappy and incomplete.

Taking into consideration this sorry state of affairs that an unprepared soul would have to face, it isn't surprising that the Ancient Egyptians took their spell- work very seriously!

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Money & Coins	Recreation Part 1	Trading of Goods
Famous Monuments	Recreation Part 2	Translation Of Hieroglyphics
Mummies / Mummification	Religion Part 1	Transportation System
Music in Ancient Egypt	Religion Part 2	Viziers Ranking
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Myths Part 1: Creation, Eye of Ra	Sarcophagus	Weaponry & Chain of Command
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Names and Meanings	Science and Technology	Women's Life Part 1
Numbering System	Role of Scribes	Women's Life Part 2
Obelisks Designs	Life of Slaves & Slavery	Status of Women
Paintings Style, Colours	Social Classes in Ancient Egypt	British Museum and Ancient Egypt
Papyrus Invention	Soldiers in the Army	Burial Tombs In Ancient Egypt
Pharaohs Dynasties	Sphinxes - majestic monuments	Concept of Afterlife
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Priests' Role	Famous Statues	Common Food and Drink
Process Of Embalming	Symbols and Meanings	King Tutankhamun of Egypt
Famous Proverbs	Tattoos and Designs	Sun God: Ra
Queens Part 1: Cleopatra	Technology Advancements	The Pyramids of Ancient Egypt
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This page last updated in Feb 2013