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Religion Antiquities & Archaeology

Jewish and Mandaean Incantation Bowls in the Royal Ontario Museum

by (author) W.S. McCullough

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Feb 2019
Category
Antiquities & Archaeology, Ancient & Classical, General
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781487578510
    Publish Date
    Feb 2019
    List Price
    $24.95

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Description

THE FIVE TERRACOTI'A BOWLS which are the subject of this study are commonplace in appearance, their only distinction being that each has on its inside surface (and in one case on the outside as well) a spiral inscription in a dialect of Aramaic. The inscriptions are in fact magical texts designed to throw a protective spell over the persons for whom they were written. Bowls of this type have been found in Mesopotamia in considerable numbers during the past century, and have reached the Western world either through dealers or through archaeologists.

 

The five texts before us add in various ways to the lore of the Mesopotamian incantation bowls, and in particular the three Mandaean ones make a modest contribution to the known vocabulary of Mandaic.

About the author

W.S. MCCULLOUGH is a graduate of the Unviersity of Toronto and of Harvard University. He has been a member of the Department of Near Eastern Studies in the University of Toronto since 1930, and, since 1952, has held the rank of Professor.

W.S. McCullough's profile page