Inscribed Glass Charm Or Amulet
date: label: Accession Date
content: 20 Feb 1900
name: label: Donor Name
content: Edward Lovett
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "THIS IS ONE OF A SERIES OF PRESSED GLASS CHARMS MADE IN IMITATION OF CERTAIN TRADITIONAL OBJECTS FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD, FOR USE AS OBJECTS TO TRADE TO THE NATIVES (& WERE MOST SUCCESSFUL) MADE OF TRANSPARENT BLUE GLASS, RECTANGULAR IN SHAPE WITH ROUNDED ENDS, AND A SMALL SEMICIRCULAR KNOB ON ONE OF THE LONG SIDES. EACH SIDE IS IMPRESSED WITH SCRIPT-LIKE FIGURES. THAT ON THE GILDED SIDE IS IN ARABIC AND SAYS: "BISMI 'LLAH", IN THE NAME OF GOD-A COMMON MUSLIM FORMULA FOR MANY PURPOSES. THE ARABIC-LIKE SCRIPT ON THE OTHER SIDE, IS INCOMPLETE AND AS IT STANDS DOES NOT HAVE ANY INTELLIGIBLE MEANING, THOUGH CERTAIN ASPECTS OF IT LOOK SOMETHING LIKE URDU (HINDUSTANI). THIS LATTER GIVES THE APPEARANCE OF HAVING BEEN DONE BY SOMEONE WHO DID NOT KNOW THE LANGUAGES BUT PUT ON SOME STROKE THAT LOOKED SOMETHING LIKE REAL SCRIPT. THIS IS THE TYPE OF THING THAT MIGHT WELL BE DONE BY A CONCERN MAKING UP CHEAP MATERIALS LIKE THIS FOR TRADE PURPOSES. (THE LINGUISTIC INTERPRETATION WAS MADE BY; DAVID RAY, LIBRARY.) REFER TO CAT. NO. 204,747 FOR SIMILAR SPECIMEN."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 7 Feb 2019
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Egypt, Africa
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 036162
label: USNM Number
content: E204753-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Amulet