Wrapped Within: A Report on Ottoman Era Sudanese Amulets Excavated from Qasr Ibrim

Abstract

The author, a volunteer at the British Museum, catalogued a number of Ottoman-period amuletic objects from the fortress site of Qsar Ibrim, Lower Nubia, on the east bank of the Nile in today's southern Egypt. This article examines several textile wrapped objects from Qasr Ibrim that appear to have an apotropaic purpose. These artefacts indicate that such traditions were in use during the Ottoman period in Sudan and illustrate a continuity of magical belief and practice over centuries.