According to Dan Levene, an expert in Jewish magic incantation bowls, more than 2,000 of these fascinating vessels have survived.1 The vast majority bear inscriptions written in a dialect known as Jewish Aramaic and were produced in Jewish communities in Babylonia between the third and seventh centuries C.E. Precisely how they functioned, however, is still a mystery.
These bowls are usually approximately the size of a large cereal bowl and are inscribed in cramped writing that spirals around the interior of the bowl from the center to the outside. Occasionally, they are accompanied by drawings—perhaps of the demons against whom they were meant to protect.
Belief in demons as the source of ills that befall humankind was widespread in antiquity. These evil spirits could be dealt with, however, by a variety of magical rites or formulae invoking other supernatural forces—numerous categories of angels and a myriad of benign spirits—that would counteract the negative effect of the demons.
Sickness, for example, was thought to be a result of demonic possession. If that were the case, the use of magic incantation bowls—invoking the power and aid of the good spirits that shared this world with the demons—might be even more effective than a doctor.
The magic incantation bowls represent what scholars call “word magic,” reflecting a belief that certain combinations of letters and words can provide one who knew how to use them correctly with the ability to bring supernatural forces into play for their own particular advantage.
Magic and medicine were inextricably connected in the ancient world. Magical practices were, in effect, medical treatment. A common opening formula of these incantation bowls is: “Healing from heaven shall be for …” followed by the name of the person for whom one of 063these bowls was made. Although various formulae were common, each bowl was made for a specific occasion and for a particular person. The person’s name would be followed by a description of the illness from which he or she suffered and/or the supernatural malefactors causing it. The incantation usually ended with a direct appeal to the supernatural being that would give the incantation its effectiveness. The user assumed that, provided the incantation formulae were correct and properly written, a chain of events with the desired effect would ensue: The demons or evil spirits would have no choice but to depart.
These magic incantation bowls tell us much about Jewish life in Sassanian Persia from the third to the seventh centuries C.E. Sometimes they give us the earliest surviving versions of rabbinic texts. They also preserve memories of folktales, for example, of the people of Israel urging Moses to plead with God on their behalf when he goes up on Mount Sinai. We learn of Persian Jews with Semitic names and others with Persian names, perhaps reflecting intermarriages. The incantation bowls sometimes quote texts from the Bible. They invoke the name of the Israelite God Yahweh in different guises, such as Yah, Yahu, El and El Shadday.
Occasionally an incantation bowl will ask protection from a personal enemy. An incantation can also serve as a love charm. In one bowl, a woman named Ahat daughter of Nebazak asked that a certain Anur son of Parkoi “be inflamed and kindled and burn after” her.
Still other incantation bowls contain what are called curse texts. Here’s an example of one:
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May all the healings that have been made for her come out badly … The curses of the earth and of the heavens and of the dead and of the living … May they be dispatched against this Ahatoi and (this) Abirta. May no remedy or dissolving sorceries be received for them … May the evil sorceries be as mountains and high places and clothe Ahatoi and Abirta with evil sorceries as a garment of sores. May evil sorceries be drawn against them, and may they come to rest upon Ahatoi and Abirta, and may they sweep upon them like birds.
If it seems strange that belief in magic was so widespread in the Jewish community, Levene tells us that “the Jews were a people of their age.” A belief in magic was widespread in other ancient communities as well. The cross-cultural connections were so strong that sometimes even non-Jewish gods were invoked in Jewish incantation bowls. Conversely, Jewish divine names are sometimes invoked in Greek magical incantations. As the Finnish expert in Jewish magic Tapani Harviainen has observed, “To be on the safe side it is also worthwhile to pay attention to foreign cults, demons, and deities.”2 As evidenced on these incantation bowls, the ancient Jews made sure to cover their bases when it came to asking for divine intervention.
According to Dan Levene, an expert in Jewish magic incantation bowls, more than 2,000 of these fascinating vessels have survived.1 The vast majority bear inscriptions written in a dialect known as Jewish Aramaic and were produced in Jewish communities in Babylonia between the third and seventh centuries C.E. Precisely how they functioned, however, is still a mystery. These bowls are usually approximately the size of a large cereal bowl and are inscribed in cramped writing that spirals around the interior of the bowl from the center to the outside. Occasionally, they are accompanied by drawings—perhaps of the demons against […]
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“Curse or Blessing, What’s in the Magic Bowl?” The Ian Karten Lecture 2002, University of Southampton, on which much of this article is based. This lecture is based on Professor Levene’s doctoral dissertation which in turn is based on his study of the magic incantation bowls in the collection of Shlomo Moussaieff, by whose kind permission the pictures in this article are published.
2.
“Pagan Incantations in Aramaic Incantation Bowls,” in M.J. Geller, J.C. Greenfield and M.P. Weitzman, eds., Studia Aramaica, New Sources and New Approaches (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1995), p. 53.
