Incantation Bowls from Mesopotamia, c.300-700 CE: these bowls are lined with Aramaic incantations and drawings that show demons being shackled and subdued; they were often buried beneath houses and cemeteries in an effort to capture malevolent spirits
Bowls like this were once produced as magical amulets in parts of Mesopotamia (in what is now Iraq and Iran). As this article explains:
Thousands of similar incantation bowls, also known as magic bowls, were produced in the area of today’s Iraq between the fifth and eighth centuries. 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 created and 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. Incantations that were written in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic are, of course, attributed to Jewish communities, but the ones in Mandaic are associated with Gnostic Mandaeans, and the ones in Syriac are typically associated with Christians, Manichaeans, or followers of the ancient Babylonian religion.
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
There are a few incantation bowls that feature Arabic or Persian inscriptions instead, and those examples tend to have Islamic or Zoroastrian motifs. 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: this bowl features 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
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
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?
Journal of Late Antiquity: Enslaved People and the Demonic in the Sasanian Empire
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