This illustrated amulet was made to protect a woman and her child during childbirth, a moment of grave danger in the early modern world. At its center stand Adam and Eve, surrounded by the names of the angels traditionally invoked against Lilith, while biblical scenes, protective verses, and Psalm 121 fill the surrounding space.

The amulet was engraved by Abraham bar Jacob, a German-born Christian who converted to Judaism and became an important engraver in Amsterdam’s Hebrew printing trade. He is best known for his illustrations for the Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695. His work often adapted images from Christian European sources for Jewish books and ritual objects. Here, the convert himself becomes an agent of cultural translation: imagery learned in a Christian setting is remade to protect a Jewish mother and newborn child.