Incantation Bowls
What?
Incantation bowls are a form of protective magic like the nazar 🧿 or hamsa 🪬. Incantation bowls feature powerful inscriptions, which vary from Psalms to angelic invocations to mysterious gibberish. The Sword of Moses, an apocryphal book of magic said to have been given to Moses on Mount Sinai, features many such gibberish inscriptions.
Who?
The first incantation bowls were made by Jews, although the custom gained traction among Christians, Muslims, and Mandaeans, another ethnoreligious group indigenous to the Middle East. Most bowls historically were written in Hebrew and Aramaic, followed by Mandaic, Syriac, Arabic, and Persian.
When?
Most incantation bowls were made in the first millennium of the common era. Unsanctioned by rabbinic authorities, they have since become curious historical artifacts - until now.
Where?
Incantation bowls and other forms of Jewish magic practice in late antiquity have been archeologically documented across Mesopotamia and the Levant in modern Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Israel and Palestine.
Why?
In antiquity, incantation bowls served to protect owners’ homes from demons and other forms of ill-fortune. Contemporary apocryphal texts like the Sword of Moses feature still more instructions for a variety of other purposes.