Archive name: | Mahperoz Incantation Bowl Dossier |
Trismegistos Archive ID: Page on the database Trismegistos Collections for the archive. | |
Date: Dates are CE unless preceded by a minus sign <->, in which case they are BCE. | 501 – 800 |
Provenance: | Iraq (Mesopotamia) |
Trismegistos Place ID: Page on the database Trismegistos Places for the place of provenance. | 1 |
Manuscripts: | KYP M3745 3747 3748 3749 3750 3752 3755 |
Classification: | These manuscripts may comprise an “archive”, meaning that they were brought together and deposited by an ancient person or persons. |
Description: | Seven incantation bowls for the protection of a man named Mahperoz son of Hindu; one, CAMIB 9A (KYP M3749) is also for the protection of his wife, Panoi, daughter of KWZYTRY. |
Acquisition: | All seven bowls were purchased from Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson by the British Museum in 1851. According to the minutes of the trustees they were found in a “tomb in Babylon” (Hunter 2002: p. 259), although this would be unusual for incantation bowls, and Layard (1853: p. 509) states that their exact provenance is unknown. |
Dating: | The British Museum collection website lists all the bowls as having been written between the sixth and eighth century. |
Language/dialect: | All seven bowls are written in Jewish Aramaic. |
Materiality/composition: | All seven bowls are similar, seemingly having come from the same workshop, and perhaps the same batch of pottery (Hunter 2002: p. 259). They are all 18-19.9 cm in diameter, and 4-6.6 cm high. |
Content: | All seven bowls contain formulae for the protection of Mahperoz son of Hindu; CAMIB 9A (KYP M3749) is also for the protection of his wife, Panoi, daughter of KWZYTRY. Four of the bowls (KYP M3745, M3747, M3748, M3749) contain variants of a text designated by Judah Segal as “Refrain A” (Hunter 2002: p. 259). |
Discussion: | |
Bibliography: |
Hunter, Erica C.D. “Manipulating Incantation Texts: Excursions in Refrain A”, Iraq 64 (2002): p. 259-273. |
Edit History: | KD (16/11/2021); KD with suggestions of Ortal-Paz Saar (8/12/2021) |