Free on the Upper East Side: 'Cursed!' at NYU's ISAW shows ancient amulets, spells and the demon from 'The Exorcist'

Looking for something spooky this month that is not a haunted house? The galleries at NYU's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) on the Upper East Side are showing Cursed! The Power of Magic in the Ancient World, and it is free.

The banner outside features the head of Pazuzu, the Mesopotamian "king of the evil wind demons." "This is the demon Pazuzu, who is very famous for being the demon in The Exorcist," curator Carl Walsh told NY1. In ancient Mesopotamia, people called on Pazuzu to fight the demoness Lamashtu, who was said to prey on children.

What you'll see

The show brings together some 50 works made between 2000 BCE and 300 CE, borrowed from institutions in the U.S. and abroad, according to NYU: sculpture in stone and bronze, decorated ceramics, amulets in gold, silver and semiprecious stones, and papyrus scrolls. NY1 pointed to a priest's handbook of spells from Egypt under the Roman Empire, a pendant to ward off the evil eye, a miniature coffin with a curse figure from ancient Greece, and a mixing vessel showing Odysseus outwitting the sorceress Circe after she turned his men into pigs.

Magic in the ancient world was less about witchcraft than everyday worries, Walsh told NY1: protecting newborns, guarding against snakebites and scorpion stings, finding love, even winning a court case. The exhibition is organized around protective magic, attempts to talk to the dead and the gods, and the way some cultures treated magic as part of religion while Greece and Rome saw it as improper or illicit, NYU said.

"Magic words like 'abracadabra' derive from ancient Roman magic, as does the belief that certain crystals have healing powers, and many of us believe in good luck charms," guest curator Jeffrey Spier said in NYU's announcement.

Plan your visit

• Where: ISAW, 15 E. 84th St., between Fifth and Madison avenues.
• When: through Sunday, Dec. 13.
• Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Fridays until 8 p.m.; closed Mondays and Tuesdays, according to ISAW.
• Cost: free and open to the public.
• Tours: free guided tours Fridays at 6 p.m. and Saturdays at 11 a.m.

The exhibition is organized by the Toledo Museum of Art and comes with an illustrated catalogue. ISAW's number is 212-992-7800.