Three amulets in papyrus and linen from the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden

Among the papyri acquired by the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden from the collector Giovanni d’Anastasi in 1828, there are some interesting amuletic papyri. Three of them have not been published until now: two amuletic papyri, AMS 59d (pLeiden I 359) and AMS 59b (pLeiden I 357), and a linen amulet, AMS 59a (Leiden I 356). The three amulets present several differences: AMS 59a is quite long and extensively decorated, as the amuletic papyri of the Late Period; on the contrary, AMS 59b is very simple and bears only one image; AMS 59d presents some images that can be interpreted in the context of the exorcistic practice related to the goddess Sekhmet and her demons. These amulets show many similarities with other amulets from the Late and Ptolemaic Period, being good representatives of the magical practice of the period. The images are based both on the iconographic repertoire typical of this kind of objects and on the innovations introduced during the Late Period. Given also their excellent state of preservation, the objects are an interesting addition to the group of the already known amuletic papyri.