We are pleased to announce the opening of this exciting new exhibit at the Hatcher Gallery Exhibit Room! Explore a diverse array of Greco-Roman artifacts which were created to communicate with and call upon various unseen, supernatural forces for aid and protection. While the objects on display are disparate at first glance, ranging from lead tablets and amulets to papyrus and parchment leaves, they all share a common thread: they have long been labeled as "magical" in traditional Western scholarship.
Red jasper evil-averting amulet, SCL-Bonner 49
Roman Period, date unknown
Obverse: Frontal gorgon head with serpents.
Reverse: Triple-bodied Hekate wielding weapons,
encircled with magical formulas or names: αβρασαξ βαινχωωωχ.
However, each of these artifacts is better understood on a broad spectrum of ancient ritual, from subversive and transgressive acts to highly social and visible ones. The exhibit highlights the objects’ oft-overlooked material dimensions, asking us to consider how qualities like color, texture, and weight shaped an object’s perceived efficacy and meaning.
This exhibit was a collaboration, and displays items from several University of Michigan units: the library’s Special Collections Research Center and Papyrology Collection, the Museum of Natural History, and the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. It was curated by Abigail Staub, PhD Candidate, Interdepartmental Program in Mediterranean Art & Archaeology.
Anna Bonnell Freidin, U-M associate professor of history, will talk about Healing the Womb: Uterine Amulets in the Roman World on January 16.