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The Tawfik Canaan Amulet Collection
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Tawfik Canaan was born in 1882 in Beit Jala, graduated with honors in medicine from the American University of Beirut in 1905, and in 1912 opened what was then the only Arab clinic in Jerusalem. Married to German-born Margot Eilender, as Canaan expanded his interest in folklore, folk medicine, archaeology, and domestic life in Palestine, their Jerusalem home was frequently filled with well-known scholars.
As a practicing physician, Canaan’s interest in amulets was first kindled in his medical visits to villages in the Jerusalem district. He wrote of his collection: “I came across most of these amulets and charms from all segments of the Muslim and Christian population of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas…. I was able to familiarize myself … with their usage, origin, productions, and reasons attributed to their healing capabilities.”
The Tawfik Canaan Amulet Collection contains 1,490 objects, 1380 of which were recorded by Canaan in a four-volume catalogue. The earliest acquisition is dated 1912, and the latest 1946. Canaan carefully attached the items in the collection on rectangular cardboard pieces, numbering them and adding remarks pertaining to their origin and usage in the collection. The amulets and amulet-quality jewelry are made of diverse materials, including silver, glass beads, stones, paper, animal bones and teeth, plants, and wood. They were meant to be worn or attached to the body for the healing of specific diseases or to ward off the evil eye, or other dangers in folk belief. Canaan acquired his amulets from people from all walks of life, including patients, children, and well-known sheikhs in Jerusalem, village leaders, peasants, pilgrims, and priests.
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