In the general, was a name given by the ancients to all kinds of charms, spells, or characters, which they wore about them, as amulets, to preserve them from dangers or diseases. Phylactery particularly denoted a slip of parchment, wherein was written some text of holy Scripture, particularly of the decalogue, which the more devout people among the Jews wore at the forehead, the breast, or the neck, as a mark of their religion. The primitive christians also gave the name Phylacteries to the cases wherein they enclosed the relics of their dead. Phylacteries are often mentioned in the New Testament, and appear to have been very common among the Pharisees in our Lord's time.