MESA Banner
Reflecting the Evil Eye: Medieval Islamic Talismanic Mirrors Inscribed in Arabic
Abstract by Dr. Lyla Halsted On Session I-09  (Medieval Material Culture)

On Monday, November 11 at 11:30 am

2024 Annual Meeting

Abstract
This paper explores the role of medieval Islamic talismanic mirrors in apotropaic and therapeutic practices targeting the evil eye (al-‘ayn, the Eye in Arabic), the belief in the capacity of the gaze of envious individuals to inflict harm, misfortune, and even death on others. This paper investigates mirrors bearing inscriptions that hint at their use for averting or curing the effects of the Eye and contextualizes these inscriptions with analysis of contemporaneous amuletic and talismanic artifacts whose inscriptions declare their efficacy against the Eye more explicitly. The mirrors are particularly relevant to affliction by the Eye, a threat associated with vision, yet little is known about how they were intended to operate. In addition to comparative analysis with other medieval artifacts, this paper will trace the use of such mirrors to late antique precursors, highlighting enduring conceptual associations between mirrors, vision, and the Eye. The traditional function of a mirror, to facilitate gazing at one’s reflection, is complicated by the design of some medieval talismanic mirrors bearing Arabic inscriptions covering the entirety of their reflective surfaces. This paper will investigate the content of these inscriptions, their relationship to the act of gazing into the mirrors, and why such an act might have been considered a remedy for the Eye. Attributed to Iran or Anatolia between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, two copper mirrors from the Louvre in Paris (AA 273, MAO 161) have not previously been analyzed in the context of the Eye yet feature Qur’anic quotations from suras al-Falaq (113:5) and al-Qalam (68:51) on their reflective surfaces, the only two Qur’anic verses which refer to the Eye. Despite their inscriptions, the mirrors could produce a partial reflection; the Qur’anic verses would be superimposed over any image produced, allowing the user to see the verses written across their own face. The unique ability of reflective surfaces to combat malignant gazes is further demonstrated by a range of late antique parallels, from apotropaic mirrors unearthed in excavations to the tale of the gorgon Medusa beheaded with the aid of a mirrored shield. This analysis suggests that while the primacy of vision in the operation of the Eye has long been accepted, medieval Islamic mirrors inscribed in Arabic provide material evidence of the active role of vision not only in casting the Eye, but also in warding off or removing its pernicious effects.
Discipline
Art/Art History
Geographic Area
All Middle East
Sub Area
None