Since the origins of the alphabet, the peoples of the Mediterranean Basin have incorporated cryptographic sciences (ἰσοψηφία | גימטריה|علم الحروف ) into sacred practices. This talk inves􀀘gates an ancient tradion’s modern legacy through analysis of alpha-numeric codes inscribed on amulets first collected in Mandatory Palestine between 1930 and 1936 by the medical anthropologist Tawfiq Canaan. An ecumenical assemblage of recently rediscovered “magic square” talismans will illuminate the broader lifeworld of syncretic healing and intercommunal pilgrimage in which these objects once circulated. And evidence for this indigenous tradition of coexistence canoverturn assumptions about the politcal ontology of the modern Middle East.