A Unique Talmudic Aramaic Incantation Bowl

Kwasman, Theodore; Müller-Kessler, Christa

doi:10.2307/605019

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Their presence in the worldview of the Mandaeans is one of the chief reasons for which they have been condemned as idolaters and star‐worshippers, although the belief in the influence of demons and the heavenly bodies upon the fates of man is not by any means limited to them. Additionally, Müller‐Kessler and Kwasman (2000, 164 fn. 15) see a survival of an “Akkadian magical ritual concept” in the sequence of eating bread, drinking water, and anointing with oil found in an incantation text, which in turn parallels the Mandaean “sacraments” of the ritual oil ( miša ), bread ( pihta ), and water ( mambuha ) in the baptism ritual (Drower 1937, 114).…”

Section: External Witnessesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mandaeism in Antiquity and the Antiquity of Mandaeism

Häberl

2012

Religion Compass

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The evidence for a history of Mandaeism during the period of Late Antiquity (3rd–8th c. CE) and its evolution as a religious tradition prior to and immediately following the advent of Islam is surveyed. This evidence includes the Mandaean manuscript tradition, the testimony of outside witnesses, and the corpus of incantation texts from Late Antique Mesopotamia. It is noted that the study of this evidence has typically been subsumed under the study of related traditions, and that it could benefit from a reassessment. The issues addressed include Mandaeism’s relationship to other religions, such as Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Manichaeism, the antiquity and authenticity of its traditions, and the extent of Islamic influence upon them.

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Section: External Witnessesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mandaeism in Antiquity and the Antiquity of Mandaeism

Häberl

2012

Religion Compass

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“…Also proposed in Müller-Kessler 1998: 344; 2001–02: 121; 2005a: 150 and compare 2006: 267; 2010: 476.…”

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confidence: 99%

On some readings and interpretations in the Aramaic incantation bowls and related texts

Morgenstern

Ford

2017

Bull. Sch. Orient. Afr. stud.

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This study takes a new look at a number of obscure passages in the Aramaic incantation bowls and related texts discussed in Christa Müller-Kessler's article “More on puzzling words and spellings in Aramaic incantation bowls and related texts”, published inBSOAS75/1, 2012, 1–31. Among the words discussed are ברזא ‘wild boar’, מנוביא ‘wailing’, מסחיפתא ‘overthrower (type of demon)’, ספסיפא ‘burning’ and פרהזני ‘protectors’, all new to the Jewish Babylonian Aramaic lexicon, ככא ‘tusk’ and תברי “‘broken’ sounds of theshofar(as a maleficent force)”, which show new meanings for previously attested lexemes, and the new plural form שולניתא ‘maidservants’. Additional evidence for the words or expressions פגיתא ‘attack (a type of demon)’, אידיורא ‘helper’ / אידיורותא ‘help’, חי חי מץ (a divine epithet), מרוביא (a type of demon), נירבא (a hard metal) and שיפורי ‘shofars(a type of demon)’ is also adduced and a preliminary edition of the magic bowl Nippur 12 N 387 is presented.

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“…One of them that is written in the square letters of the Hebrew alphabet tends to be called ‘Jewish Aramaic’ (or simply ‘Aramaic’) because of the alphabet and the presence of Jewish content in the texts. But Müller‐Kessler and Kwasman (2000) have argued based on an exception that the Aramaic used in the Babylonian Talmud is not the dialect used in the incantation bowls. Most of the bowl texts using the Hebrew alphabet that have been published are in a Standard Literary Babylonian Aramaic, while a smaller number are in a ‘koiné’ of southern Babylonian Aramaic that had been identified by Harviainen (1981a,b) as an Eastern Aramaic ‘koiné’.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The demotion of former Babylonian deities to demons (Müller‐Kessler & Kessler 1999, pp. 65, 68–9; Müller‐Kessler & Kwasman 2000, p. 164) is symptomatic of the religious changes during Late Antiquity. Even the ancient Babylonian protective spirit ( šedu ) depicted as a winged bull with a human face became a generic term for demon in the Aramaic texts (Gordon 1951, p. 307; Yamauchi 1965, p. 518).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Sometimes this is direct. For Müller‐Kessler and Kwasman (2000, p. 164), ‘the sequence of eating bread, drinking water, and anointing with oil is clearly a survival of an Akkadian magical ritual concept.’Montgomery (1913, pp. 100–1) had already noticed the similarity between the way the Aramaic magicians invoke the name of some beneficent being to coerce the demons and the incantation specialist ( āšipu ) of ancient Babylonia who attributed his skill to the deities (Binsbergen & Wiggerman 1999, pp.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Religion and the Aramaic Incantation Bowls

Morony

2007

Religion Compass

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The corpus of Late Antique Aramaic incantation texts is defined. The issues in this field are identified as explicating the language of the Aramaic dialects used for these texts, correlating the religious identity of their authors with the dialects and the scripts used for them, the level of the authors’ literacy, and explaining the magic praxis of the bowls and their demonology. The pagan, Judaic, Mandaean, Christian, and Zoroastrian content of these texts is surveyed. It is noted that the nature of this content tends to be explained in terms of syncretism and popular religion.

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A Unique Talmudic Aramaic Incantation Bowl

Cited by 9 publications

References 9 publications

Mandaeism in Antiquity and the Antiquity of Mandaeism

Mandaeism in Antiquity and the Antiquity of Mandaeism

On some readings and interpretations in the Aramaic incantation bowls and related texts

Religion and the Aramaic Incantation Bowls

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