Incantation bowl

To date only around 2000 incantation bowls have been registered as archaeological finds, but since they are widely dug up in the Middle East, there may be tens of thousands in the hands of private collectors and traders. Aramaic incantation bowls from Sasanian Mesopotamia are an important source for studying the everyday beliefs of Jews, Christians, Mandaeans, Manichaeans, Zoroastrians, and pagans on the eve of the early Muslim conquests. ==In Judaism==

, using Hebrew square-script, dated between 400 and 800, in the collection of the Jewish Museum of Switzerland. A subcategory of incantation bowls are those used in Jewish magical practice. Aramaic incantation bowls are an important source of knowledge about Jewish magical practices, particularly the nearly eighty surviving Jewish incantation bowls from Babylon during the rule by the Sasanian Empire (226-636), primarily from the Jewish diaspora settlement in Nippur. These bowls were used in magic to protect against evil influences such as the evil eye, Lilith, and Bagdana. These bowls could be used by any member of the community, and almost every house excavated in the Jewish settlement in Nippur had such bowls buried in them. The inscriptions often include scriptural quotes and quotes from rabbinic texts. The text on incantation bowls is the only written material documenting Jewish language and religion recovered from the period around the writing of the Babylonian Talmud. Scholars say that the use of rabbinic texts demonstrates that they were considered to have supernatural power comparable to that of biblical quotes. The bowls often refer to themselves as "amulets" and the Talmud discusses the use of amulets and magic to drive away demons. == In Islam ==

In the Islamic medieval period, what is referred to in the literature as talismanic or magic bowls performed a similar function. They represent the syncretism of the Islamic tradition and occult sciences. The bowls, most often made of metal rather than clay, were covered in Arabic script, most often verses from the Quran or a hadith, and occasionally with Numerology or Astrology. They were most often used for healing by drinking the water that was left in these bowls overnight. ==In Mandaeism==

There are also many incantation bowls written in Mandaic. Mandaic incantation bowls have been found in various archaeological sites in southern Mesopotamia, including bowls from Nippur that date to the early Islamic era. Many are kept in museums and private collections around the world, including the British Museum and the Moussaieff Collection. File:Bowl with incantation for Buktuya and household, Mandean in Mandaic language and script, Southern Mesopotamia, c. 200-600 AD - Royal Ontario Museum - DSC09714.JPG|Bowl with incantation for Buktuya and household, c. 200-600 AD - Royal Ontario Museum File:Bowl with incantation for Kuktan Pruk during her pregnancy, Mandean in Mandaic language and script, Southern Mesopotamia, c. 200-600 AD - Royal Ontario Museum - DSC09713.JPG|Bowl with incantation for Kuktan Pruk during her pregnancy, Southern Mesopotamia, c. 200-600 AD - Royal Ontario Museum File:Bowl with incantation to protect Anush Busai and his family against bad luck, Mandean in Mandaic language and script, southern Mesopotamia, c. 200-600 AD - Royal Ontario Museum - DSC09712.JPG|Bowl with incantation to protect Anush Busai and his family against bad luck, southern Mesopotamia, c. 200-600 AD - Royal Ontario Museum File:Incantation bowl with Mandaic inscription MET me32 150 89.jpg|Incantation bowl with Mandaic inscription File:Magical bowl with inscriptions in Mandaic, Mesopotamia. Wellcome M0003378.jpg|Incantation bowl with inscriptions in Mandaic, Mesopotamia File:Mandaic.jpg|c. 5th-7th century, incantation bowl, 19x7.5 cm, 44 lines in cursive Mandaic script in 3 blocks at different angles radiating from the centre ==See also==