Proper syntax for SUMIF with wildcard

I'm using the following formula:

=sumif($G$3:$G$120,"*ancient*",$H$3:$H$120) to add certain cells in column H (if the cells in column G of the same row contain the word 'ancient'), and it's working fine.

But I'd like to refer to a cell instead of have to type in the word 'ancient', because I have a whole column of different words to apply this formula to. The problem is, if I use =sumif($G$3:$G$120,A9,$H$3:$H$120) or =sumif($G$3:$G$120,"A9",$H$3:$H$120) or =sumif($G$3:$G$120,"*A9*",$H$3:$H$120), the formula doesn't work (I just get 0, instead of the actual sum), because the list in column G is a bunch of phrases that may or may not contain the word ancient (it's a CONTAINS, not an EQUAL TO thing). How can I write this so that I can copy and paste the formula without having to type in new words in the place of 'ancient' every time?

Thank you!

YES! that worked brilliantly, thank you Jeff