Islamic Seals: Magical or Practical?

Abstract

In public and private collections there are many thousands of seals that can be broadly defined as Islamic. They are made from a range of materials such as carnelian, chalcedony, rock crystal and hematite and carry a variety of types of inscriptions in Arabic script. There are names of owners, pious inscriptions which include invocations to God or Shi‘ite imams. Some carry symbols such as stars or single letters, numbers sometimes in squares, letters and numbers mixed together. Others have obscure and difficult inscriptions in Kufic script, generally relegated to the ‘undeciphered inscription’ category. All these inscriptions are engraved in reverse and are, therefore, made with the intention of stamping onto something. However, the same inscriptions or symbols often appear engraved in positive, and these objects are generally regarded as talismans. This paper considers firstly the overlap between the validatory and amuletic functions of seals, and then goes on to discuss a variety of magical seals and amulets.