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An Aramatc Incantation Bowl from KhafajeEowlnl M. Coor

The Comprehensive Aramaic LexiconHebrew Union CollegeCincinnati, OH 45220An incantation bowl written in Jewish Aramaic found at Tell Khafaje in lraq men-tions " Sargon" and describes an angelic being as magical intercessor.

he bowl described herein (Oriental InstituteNo. 417877)1 was discovered by H. Frank-fort at Tell Khafaje during the 1935-1936excavation season. It is the first incantation bowlknown from that location, although numerousothers have been found at Nippur (Montgomeryl9l3) and other Mesopotamian sites. (For the mostrecent survey of research on incantation bowls, seeNaveh and Shaked 1985: l9-21.)The bowl, made of rough terracotta, measures23.25 cm from rim to rim. It is fairly shallow andhas two small holes in the bottom (fig. l). It bearsa short Aramaic incantation in square script, writ-ten in a spiral beginning at the center and continu-ing clockwise. The letters are crude, although quitereadable, and the arrangement of the text isclumsy; the first few words of the incantation lie inthe path of the spiral, so that the reader has to skipover them to continue.The incantation itself, though brief, is of partic-ular interest because it contains a magical use of thename "Sargon" and describes an angelic being interms very unlike the usual incantations of the sameperiod. The language is typical Jewish BabylonianAramaic of the Sasanian period (third-seventh cen-tury c.n.) with some conservative features in theorthography (NlrNl for NID"1, the masculine pluralending J'- for !-, and the masculine plural verbalsufformative fl- for 1-).The text is as follows:

'I]'tnD 1f Nl'rt ilrn)f onnD'lotnnl "l'oN IBound and sealed and doubly-sealed is the houseof YY' son of MahdukI'Un) t .'nt l'lno ut. .lt Rtl NDnnf 2with the great seal of [. . .] Sargon; enchantedwith enchantments and

;t')y ''l]J''t RnD)Dl NlrNt.l NDnnf l'.'t'up rbp.t 3ND'lC"t5bound with bonds, with the seal of the head ofthe kingdom of fire, who has a countenanceil''n'r nD]po'N) 1t:rp') x): xt'nt NuN'] 4

J,'.11I, i.]r..ltyf.l -l1l;.1D .'lf N".1JDx )xrur )x ottu: 1')')t 1'7'17rt J''UDID'I 5n)o 1nxof bright fire; in order that demons and plaguesand damagers and liliths may not approachthe threshold of YY' son of Mahduk and hislivestock. In the name of the God of Israel,amen, amen, selah.

COMMENTARYLine 1. onnD'l Dtrlh.l "PoN: Compare the begin-ning of Montgomery No. 30 (1913 221)The name Ntt may be Aramaic (from tNr,"comely"); or it may be a hypocoristic form of anIranian or Semitic name beginning with Ya- (Yaz-digard, Yacaqub, etc.). "Mahduk" is an Iranianfemale name. As is usual in the incantation bowls,the client is identified by the mother's name.Line 2. The letters before the name "Sar-gon" are the only difficult ones to read in thistext; the last one seems to be lD, and the rest ofthe traces might be read j?)-T, yielding JtrtD Upt'T,"of the one who smote Sargon." If accurate, thisreading might be based on a confused memory ofthe text about the angel who slew the Assyrianhost of Sennacherib in 2 Kgs l9:35. But it is alsoconceivable that the blurred letters form somekind of proper name, which, compounded with"Sargon," form the magical name of the angelwho is invoked.

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80 \EDWARD M. COOK BASOR 285

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Lines 2-3. l'l'UP . . . U'n). Compare rhesimilar wording of Montgomery No. 5 (1913: 138).The "head of the kingdom of fire" is clearlysome kind of angel. The affinity of the angels withfire is a commonplace of Talmudic literature;Michael, in particular, is called the "Prince ofFire" (lt/N )U ftr', b. Pesahim l18b). In the proro-kabbalistic work "3 Enoch," the face of the angelKerubirel, prince of the cherubim, "looks like ablazing fire" (Alexander 1983: 277 and refer-ences). The description of the figure in the bowl issimilar to that line of thought.The word NglylD, "countenance" (derived fromGreek prosopon) occurs here for the first time onan incantation bowl, although it is well knownfrom other Aramaic sources.

Line 4. The demons named here occur fre-quently in similar lists in other bowls. Montgom-ery (1913: 61-94) presents a comprehensivediscussion.Line 5. The use of the Hebrew 9N "God" in-stead of Aramaic nbx should be noted.The Hebrew words "amen, amen, selah" are fre-quently found at the close of incantation bowltexts, including those written in Syriac or Mandaic.They were evidently regarded as magical words ofgreat significance.The incantation as a whole is a generic spell ofprotection for the general welfare of one man, hisdwelling, and his livestock. Its strongly Jewish ter-minology runs counter to the syncretism and eclec-ticism characteristic of many of the bowl texts.

tlf 7ryFig. 1. lncantation bowl from Tell Khafaje. The first such bowl known from that site, it was discovered by H. Frankfortduring the 1935-1936 excavation season.

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1992 AN ARAMAIC INCANTATION BOWL FROM KHAFAJE

NOTElThis bowl is published with the permission of the March 1988. I also thank M. Morony of UCLA, whoUniversity of Chicago Oriental Institute Museum; my first showed me a photograph of the bowl and encour-

thanks to R. Tindel and others of the Museum staff, who aged me to write about it.were very helpful when I visited to examine the bowl in

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Alexander, P. S.1983 3 (Hebrew Apocalypse of) Enoch: A NewTranslation and Introduction. Pp. 223-315 inThe Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Vol. l:Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments, ed.J. H. Charlesworth. Garden CitY, NY:Doubleday.

Montgomery, J.1913 Aramaic Incantation Texts from Nippur.Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania.Naveh, J.; and Shaked, S.1985 Amulets and Magic Bowls: Aramaic Incanta-tions of Late Antiquity. Jerusalem: Magnes.

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