One of the most popular healing ritual practices in the Muslim world was the "consecration" of water in special jam-chilkalit bowls.
A person performing the magical action was to be in a state of ritual purity (tahorat). The water was "sanctified" by a text carved on the inside of a copper bowl. It was believed that water, which "absorbed" the text of a certain ayat, could cure illness, facilitate childbirth, help overcome temptations and attract good luck.
Basmala was used to neutralize witchcraft. The first surah of the Quran al-Fatiha helped from all diseases (for example, it cured paralysis, rheumatism and lumbago).
In addition to ayats, other religious texts, as well as devotional formulas, individual alphabetic letters, magic squares and other could be carved on the inner surface of the bowl. Over time, the lines turned into a kind of graphic formula, and it was believed that when water came into contact with it, it acquired certain properties.
A rare example of a jam-chilkalit bowl is kept in the State Museum of the History of Religion in Saint Petersburg.
The general sponsor of the project "Cultural legacy of Uzbekistan in the world collections" is the oilfield services company Eriell Group.