"The Magical Abracadabra pendant"

The Adin Museum Of Fairy Tale Artifacts proudly presents:

"The Magical Abracadabra pendant"

Once upon a time... a long long time ago, people used to hang a piece of parchment around their neck with the word Abracadabra written down in a triangular pattern to be protected from various diseases and to be cured of fever to lead the evil energy to the ground.

The first known mention of the word ABRACADABRA was in the 2nd century AD in a Roman poem called "De Medicina Praecepta". Abracadabra sounds as the Aramaic word “Abrahadabra” which roughly translates into "I will create as I speak." it could also derive from the Hebrew “Abreg ad hãbra” meaning “strike dead with thy lightning”.

On the other side of the pendant we can read "De vos mains grossières, Parmi des poussières, Écrivez, sorcières : Abracadabra" which translates to “Witches with your raugh hands, write in the dust : Abracadabra”. This is from a text from Victor Hugo's “Odes et ballades 14”. Victor Hugo is also the author of the famous “Les Miserables”.

This pendant is simply loaded with symbolism. We also can recognize a double headed bird and two flying scarabs. Not that we know the symbolic link with the turquoise that is used but we are pretty sure it has been used for some symbolic reason too.

Click the picture to get to this intriguing pendant.

Antiqualy yours,
The Adin team
www.adin.be



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From manure to jewelry

The unlikely evolution of the dung beetle.

In the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, the use of the dung beetle (also called: scarab) as a symbol became common. The dung beetle's rolling of dung into a ball was seen as an earthly symbol of the heavenly cycle. Cut in bone, ivory, stone, Egyptian faience, or precious metals they were often incorporated into tombs, as grave goods, or given as 'gifts'. Over centuries till our days, to people with a fascination for the art and beliefs of ancient Egypt, the scarab is an item of popular interest.

In the past 200 years, Ancient Egypt has been a rich source of inspiration to art and fashion worldwide for at least three times. We call these three periods the Egyptian revivals or Neo-Egyptian styles and they are divided as follows:

1. the first one was initiated by Napoleon Bonaparte's Egyptian Campaign, circa 1797
2. the second by the construction of the Suez Canal in 1859 and its official opening in 1869
3. the third by the discovery of the tomb of King Tutankhamun in November 1922

We think the ring pictured here is made in Egypt somewhere between 1920 and 1930. Perhaps not even made as a result of the third Neo-Egyptian revival but just to sell to tourists. It could also be questionable if the scarab is originally from the Ancient Egyptian era or specially made to look old, as there are no reasons to believe that the tourist industry in general has changed over the years.

Click the picture to get to the descriptive page of this jewel.

Antiqualy yours,

The Adin team
www.adin.be

See our:
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or read our:
explanation on the Neo-Egyptian styles
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