incantation bowl

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Object Type
Museum number: 91710
Description: Pottery incantation bowl: a wheel-made hemispherical bowl with simple rim. Inscribed on the interior with an Aramaic text which contains an introductory passage which invokes a bill of divorce against demons and other evil genii. It also names the clients Bahranduk daughter of Newanduk and Mahdad son of Ispandarmid; then follows Refrain B. In addition there is a design in the centre of the bowl consisting of an irregularly drawn circle divided into quadrants. An additional drawn line encloses the text immediately below the rim of the bowl.
Cultures/periods
Production date: 6thC-8thC
Production place: Made in: Iraq
Excavator/field collector
Findspot: Excavated/Findspot: Amran (Babylon)
Materials
Technique
Dimensions: Diameter: 16.40 centimetres; Depth: 6.90 centimetres
$Inscriptions
Inscription subject
Curator's comments: For the design at the centre of this bowl, see E. S. Drower, 'Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran ' (Leiden, 1962), p. 97, n. 14. Bibliography: M. Lidzbarski, ‘Ephemeris für semitische Epigraphik, V (Giessen, 1902).
Bibliographic references: Segal 2000a / Catalogue of the Aramaic and Mandaic Incantation Bowls in the British Museum (013A); Müller-Kessler C 2001/02 / Die Zauberschalensammlung des British Museum (pp.120-21); Hunter E C D 1995a / Combat and Conflict In Incantation Bowls: Studies On Two Aramaic Specimens From Nippur (pp.71 ff.)
Location: Not on display
Condition: Fair
Associated names: Named in inscription: Bagdana; Named in inscription: Habsalas; Named in inscription: Zarni
Department: Middle East
BM/Big number: 91710
Registration number: 1851,0903.2
Additional IDs: Miscellaneous number: 21 (exhibition number (black))
Conservation: Treatment: 27 Jun 2001; Treatment: 20 Jun 2001

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