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Incantation bowls were created and used as magical amulets, and they were produced throughout Mesopotamia (especially in parts of what is now Iraq and Iran) during the 4th-8th centuries CE.

As this article explains:

Clients used incantation bowls to protect and heal, to frighten off demons and evil spirits, and, in a few cases, to enlist demons to help secure love or money, or to harm adversaries. In addition to the magical texts, scribes sketched drawings of bound and chained demons – pictorial representations of the spells’ desired effect – on the bottom of about a quarter of the bowls.

Above: this incantation bowl was commissioned by someone named Gia Bar Imma nearly 1,700 years ago, and it features a Jewish Babylonian Aramaic inscription along with a drawing of two demons wrapped in chains

These bowls were used by people of many different faiths. They were typically inscribed with Aramaic text, which appeared in one of three different dialects: Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, Mandaic, or Syriac. The incantations written in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic are attributed to Jewish communities, while the ones written in Mandaic are typically associated with Gnostic Mandaeans, and those in Syriac are associated with Christians, Manichaeans, or followers of the ancient Babylonian religion.

There are a few incantation bowls that feature Arabic or Persian inscriptions instead, and those examples tend to have Islamic or Zoroastrian motifs.

Above: this bowl is lined with an Aramaic inscription that invokes "the powers of Enoch, the seven planets, and the twelve signs of the zodiac" to protect the home of a man named Pabak bar Kufithai

Some bowls are simply inscribed with gibberish:

The largest number of known incantation bowls are written not in Syriac, but in Jewish Aramaic by Jewish scribes (though not necessarily for Jewish clients). Mandaean bowls are the second most numerous, only then followed by bowls in Syriac. A handful of bowls in Arabic and Persian are also known, in addition to bowls – perhaps 10 per cent – that can only be called ancient forgeries. These latter are filled with scribbles that mimic cursive writing but are not, in fact, in any language at all; perhaps they were made by illiterate scribes preying on equally illiterate clients.

Above: a bowl with a Mandaic inscription

Incantation bowls provide valuable information about Jewish history, in particular:

The prevalence of Jewish Aramaic bowls are what makes these artefacts so important for Jewish history. They provide the sole piece of epigraphic evidence documenting Jewish language and religion at one of the most important times in Jewish history: the period of the composition of the Babylonian Talmud.

Above: researchers believe that the figure in the center of this bowl is a representation of the demon Lilith, whose likeness and/or name appears on many other incantation bowls

This article also notes:

Generally speaking, the incantations could do a number of things: healing fevers and diseases; guarding from sudden death, injustice, and treachery; and exorcising evil spirits. Similar metal talismans were made around the same time and filled largely the same role. Where they differ is that in many instances the bowls called upon deities or angels to ensnare demons. It is believed from drawings on incantation bowls depicting ensnared creatures that the reason that so many have been found upside-down is that they were intended to be traps for careless or curious demons.

Above: this bowl has a Jewish Babylonian Aramaic inscription that includes the phrase "this cat is bound," and it features a drawing of a demonic cat being restrained

More than 2,000 of these bowls are known to exist, but only a fraction of them have been thoroughly studied.

Above: an illustration from another bowl

Above: two incantation bowls with Jewish Babylonian Aramaic text and drawings that show demons being restrained

Sources & More Info:

Aeon: Magic Bowls of Antiquity

Penn Today: The Stories the Bowls Tell

Bowers Museum: To Catch a Demon: Mesopotamian Incantation Bowls

Jewish Quarterly Review: Magic Formulae and Women's History: Authorship, Agency, and Gender in the Aramaic Incantation Bowls

My Jewish Learning: Magic Bowls

The Librarians: Who Wrote these Ancient Jewish Incantation Bowls?

Penn Museum: Hebrew Bowl

This elaborate saddle blanket dates back to about 400-300 BCE. It was discovered in the Pazyryk barrows, located in the Altai mountains of Siberia, where it had been preserved in the permafrost for more than 2,000 years. It's made of felt, leather, horsehair, and gold foil.

Above: the appliqués at the center of the saddle blanket

The central design features two identical appliqués, each depicting an ibex being pinned down by a griffin.

Above: close-up of the appliqués

The sides of the saddle cover are also decorated with circular pendants made of felt; each of these pendants is trimmed with leather, encircled by tufts of horsehair, and embroidered with a stylized depiction of a ram's-head. A pair of horned tigers can also be seen at the base of each pendant.

Above: the pendants that hang from each side of the saddle cover

This artifact is attributed to the Altaic nomads of Siberia, who formed part of the larger group of cultures that are collectively known as the Scythians (or Scytho-Siberian peoples).

According to the Hermitage Museum:

Saddles used by the ancient Altaic nomads differ from those used today. They had no wooden base and consisted of two leather cushions filled with reindeer and horse hair and sewn together on one side. Felt saddle covers were traditionally decorated with scenes showing a beast of prey tearing to pieces a herbivorous animal. 

The Scythians were among the first cultures to begin using horses as mounts, and they invented one of the earliest forms of saddle. They were extremely skilled and accomplished riders, and their early mastery of mounted warfare enabled them to gain control over vast sections of Eurasia. That dynamic led to the development of a very noticeable "horse culture," with horses playing a critical role in many different aspects of Scythian life (and afterlife):

The horse was an essential part of Scythian life and was the most important and multipurpose animal used by the nomads. Initially, the Scythians reared large herds of horses mainly for their milk and hides, but eventually were among the first people to harness the horse as a mount.

By the 7th century BCE, the Scythians were already master horsemen and controlled a vast corridor of land that stretched across southern Siberia, from the Black Sea to the fringes of northern China. This expanse of land was greater than the Achaemenid Persian Empire, which the Scythians outlasted.

The Scythians produced many horse-related artifacts that have been discovered at sites throughout Eurasia, but this saddle cover is one of the most elaborate and most well-preserved examples of that tradition.

Above: the saddle cover from Pazyryk

Two other artifacts from Pazyryk have previously been featured on my blog -- a 2,300-year-old plush bird and an elaborate horse headdress.

Sources & More Info:

Hermitage Museum: Saddle Cover

World Archaeology: Do the Clothes Make the Horse? Roles, Statuses, and Identities in the Pazyryk World

University of Washington: Artifacts from Southern Siberia/Pazyryk

Expedition: The Textiles from Pazyryk (PDF)

Cambridge University Press: The Origins of Saddles and Riding Technology in East Asia

Routledge: Pazyryk Culture Up in the Altai

Theseus Slaying the Minotaur

This is one of the most inaccessible ancient findings in Greece. It is believed to be the throne of Queen Eurydice I (c. 410–369 BC), wife of King Amyntas III of Macedon and grandmother of Alexander the Great. The throne was found inside her burial place in Vergina, discovered by archaeologist Manolis Andronikos in 1987. The importance of this ancient monument is great, because it is a rare case of a Greek throne and also a classical painting surviving to this day. The painting depicts Hades and Persephone riding in a chariot together. 

The monument is almost always closed to the public, due to the extreme fragility of the pigments. It needs steady temperature and humidity at all times. Hopefully they will work their way around this at some point. 

Under the cut there is a representation of what the throne would possibly look like back in the day, made with AI.

Deep in an Oxfordshire valley stand the ruins of the old St. James's church, all that remains of the vanished village of Bix Brand.

Ethereal Spring in Ireland