PGM XIX a (P. 9909)

Amulet with erotic charm from Hermupolis, dated to the 3rd or 4th century CE. The papyrus sheet has been folded several times and contained a brownish-red hair lock. The spell is introduced by a 13-lines long sequence of magical words, followed by a prayer to a nekydaimon, the spirit of a dead person. According to some passages of the text, the charm should be performed over a mummy: the papyrus sheet itself should be put inside the mummy’s mouth while asking the nekydaimon to fulfill the magician’s desires. In the middle of the sheet there are magical words written in different shapes. The biggest one is an equilateral triangle described either as “grape-shaped” or “heart-shaped” or “wing-shaped”. The magical spell continues in the last lines of the papyrus. Here the nekydaimon is requested to inflame with love the heart of a woman called Karosa and to force her to come to Apalos. This spell belongs to the category of so called agogai, “attraction spells”, by means of which the magician tries to conquer the will of a desired but reluctant person and to force her / him to fulfill his / her erotic desires.