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Apotropaic magical rituals were practiced throughout the [[ancient Near East]] and [[ancient Egypt]]. Fearsome deities were invoked via ritual in order to protect individuals by warding away evil spirits. In ancient Egypt, these household rituals (performed in the home, not in state-run [[Egyptian temple|temples]]) were embodied by the deity who personified magic itself, [[Heka (god)|Heka]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Robert |last=Ritner |year=1988 |title=The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice |place=Chicago |publisher=The Oriental Institute of Chicago |pages=14-28}}</ref> The two gods most frequently invoked in these rituals were the [[hippopotamus]]-formed [[fertility goddess]], [[Taweret]], and the lion-deity, [[Bes]] (who developed from the early apotropaic dwarf god, [[Aha (deity)|Aha]], literally "fighter").<ref>{{cite book |first=James F. |last=Romano |year=1978 |title=The Origin of Aha (also called Bes) |place=New York |publisher=College Art Association}}</ref>
Objects were often used in these rituals in order to facilitate communication with the gods. One of the most commonly found magical objects, the ivory apotropaic [[wand]] ([[birth tusk]]), gained widespread popularity in the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]] (c. 1550 – 1069 BCE).<ref>{{cite book |first=Hartwig |last=Atlenmüller |year=1965 |title=Die Apotopaia und Die Götter Mittelägyptens |place=Munich |publisher=Ludwig-Maximilians University |lang=de}}</ref> These wands were used to protect expectant mothers and children from malevolent forces, and were adorned with processions of apotropaic [[solar deities]] ''<sup>[citation needed]</sup>''.
Likewise, protective amulets bearing the likenesses of [[ancient Egyptian deities|gods and goddesses]] such as [[Taweret]] were commonly worn. Water came to be used frequently in ritual as well, wherein [[libation]] vessels in the shape of Taweret were used to pour healing water over an individual. In much later periods (when Egypt came under the [[Greeks|Greek]] [[Ptolemies]]), [[stele]] featuring the god [[Horus]] were used in similar rituals; water would be poured over the stele and—after ritually acquiring healing powers—was collected in a basin for an afflicted person to drink.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}
=== Ancient Greece ===
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