Tuesday, March 08, 2022

More on the incantation bowls seized in Jerusalem

APPREHENSION UPDATE: ‘Magic’ bowls among trove of ancient artifacts seized in raid on Jerusalem home. Ramat Shlomo resident suspected of illegal antiquities trade had three 1,500-year-old incantation bowls from Iraq, hundreds of other rare treasures (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

This article has new information about the inscriptions on the three seized bowls. Background here.

One of my first posts on PaleoJudaica included a translation of an Aramaic incantation bowl. That bowl also involved R. Joshua bar Perahya ("Joshua ben (son of) Perachiah") and had a divorce procedure against the demons.

The post had many useful links. Almost all of them have evaporated in less than twenty years. Maybe we should have stuck with clay tablets.

UPDATE (9 March): I have collected links to many of my posts on the Babylonian Aramaic incantation bowls here.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.