LOT 1077

Aramaic Terracotta Magic Bowl with Cursive Script

4TH-8TH CENTURY A.D.

3 3/4 - 4 7/8 in. (277 grams total, 9.5-12.4 cm).

An unglazed terracotta trumpet-shaped bowl with the faint remains of Aramaic-script to the inside; accompanied by a smaller bowl with three concentric rings of recently overpainted pseudo Aramaic-script to the upper face. [2]

Acquired on the German art market, 1989-1995.
with The Museum Gallery, 19 Bury Place, London, WC1, UK, 1998-2003.
Property of a London based academic, 2003-present.

Aramaic incantation bowls are particular to the Sassanian period and have been found in regions of modern Iraq. These simple ceramic bowls, also known as magic bowls, each contain an Aramaic inscription, written in ink, which spirals from the centre. The bowls seem to have played an important part in domestic life. For example, during excavation in Nippur in 1889, one or more incantation bowls were found in each house together with domestic artefacts, most often in doorways or under floorboards in the corner of rooms. The bowls are predominantly apotropaic, and the inscriptions tend to protect their owners from misfortunes such as those faced in child-birth, illness and evil spirits.