London, BM 1974,1209.2

Incantation Bowl 136204

British Museum (London, United Kingdom)

On an object

incantation bowl

Clay

Unidentified

Calamus

No ruling

7.40cm

17.60cm

Width is diameter

6thC-8thC

Iraq

Orient

Magic and Divination

(Other)

Incantation

(1) Bound and sealed are you, all you demons and devils and lilith(s), by that (2) hard, mighty and powerful and strong binding. For bound (are) SYṬYN and SYṬYN, Adur Dama Farruk, PRQ BYSP, son[s] of (3) GWʾL. Evil lilith that leads astray the heart(s) of human kind and appears in a dream by night and appears in a vision (4) by day, burning, casting down, by Nala as she falls, slaying boys and girls, (and) sucklings, male and female - be subdued and sealed, (away) from the house (5) and from the threshold of Bahram Gušnasp son of Aštad Anahid, by the talisman of Meṭaṭron, the great prince that is called the Great Healer of mercies that bless the season, (6) he that subdues demons and devils and evil enchanters and powerful magicians, (away) trom the house and from the threshold of Bahram Gušnasp son of Aštad Anahid. Amen Amen Selah. (7) Subdued be evil sorcerers and powerful magicians, subdued be the sorceresses, they, their sorceries and their magic and their curses and their invocations, from the four borders of [the house of Bahram Gušna]sp (8) son of Aštad Anahid. Subdued and trampled be the sorceresses, subdued on the earth and subdued in the heavens. Subdued be their constellations and their stars, bound be the works of their [h]ands. Amen Amen Selah. (translation after Segal 2000)

Inscription note: Inscribed in spiral from the centre outwards.

No vowels or accents

This bowl was previously in private hands at Tehran where it was examined by Gordon in 1944/45 and the text published by Gordon in 1951 as his Bowl 1. It is paralleled by another in the Oriental Institute Chicago (A35804). Segal's edition was reviewed critically by Muller-Kessler 2001/02 and needs to be used cautiously and a new edition is forthcoming.
Acquisition date: 1974
Acquisition notes: This bowl was previously in private hands at Tehran where it was examined by Gordon in 1944/45 and the text published by Gordon in 1951.
(All information copied from British Museum archive)

Bibliographic references
Segal 2000a / Catalogue of the Aramaic and Mandaic Incantation Bowls in the British Museum (068A)
Müller-Kessler C 2001/02 / Die Zauberschalensammlung des British Museum (pp.129-30)
Curtis 2000b / Mesopotamia and Iran in the Parthian and Sasanian Periods: Rejection and Revival c. 238 BC - AD 642 (Proceedings of a Seminar in memory of Vladimir G. Lukonin) (pl.31)
Gordon 1951 / Two Magic Bowls in Teheran (pp.306-309)