Exhibitions at ISAW

title slide for the show "Cursed" with a photograph of a carved white stone creature

Free and open to the public!
11am-6pm; Fridays 11am-8pm
Closed Mondays and Tuesdays
Free guided tours Fridays at 6pm and Saturdays at 11am

The galleries at ISAW present Cursed! The Power of Magic in the Ancient World. From its integration into religious traditions in Mesopotamia and Egypt, to its marginal, often illicit status in Greece and Rome, magic played a central role in ancient societies. Cursed! examines the visualization and practice of magic between 2000 BCE and 300 CE in these communities, featuring rare objects in a variety of media–including sculpture in stone and bronze; decorated ceramics; amulets in semiprecious stones, gold, and silver; and papyrus scrolls. Taken together, these artifacts reveal a shared human desire: to influence the unseen forces shaping life and death.

Cursed! is organized by the Toledo Museum of Art; its presentation at ISAW is made possible by generous support from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and the Leon Levy Foundation.