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The Magician

We can identify two groups of people in Ancient Egypt who could be considered magicians:

There were simple magical practices that they performed, for example, by using an amulet. These did not require such deep knowledge and could be practiced by anyone. Most of the time, the corresponding spells were relatively easy to recite. One practiced, so to speak, magic in one’s affairs for the minor aches and pains of everyday life.

The other group was those who, as healers and magicians, were consulted by others for more severe problems. These were the experts, so to speak, who had acquired their extensive sacred knowledge in the House of Life, per ankh. The mage who wanted to help the needy used this sacred knowledge and a vast repertoire of spells. They passed it on only to the chosen ones in the framework of an initiation. The experts specialized in particular fields, which their titles could recognize: Heka:ooh (magician), Sa:ooh (a specialist, who performed magical protective actions on deserts and quarry expeditions), Wab Sekhmet (Sekhmet priest), Khereb Sereket (the scorpion summoner), etc. However, the most important spell-caster and priest was the so-called priest of reading Cheri Hebet, who was active in funerary or sacred cults and many magical acts in everyday life.

It is difficult to distinguish between a physician, a magician, and a priest because job titles are often intertwined. For example, a Soo:nooh physician could also be a Sa:ooh magician. The Sekhmet priest could indicate by his chain of names that he was the head of the Heka:ooh magicians. This possible triple occupation, which means physician, priest, and magician, was usual for the Ancient Egyptians. Only for us, the analysis of these healing concepts is sometimes a challenge because, in our modern society, there is a strict separation between science and religion or magic.

Fig. 6.: Fragment of a magical papyrus, ca. 712–525 B.C., Third Intermediate Period–Saite Period.