Western Asiatic Mixed Bead Necklace String

Ellipsoid in plan with reserved lion passant regardant, two attachment holes to each end. 56 grams, 82 mm



Collected from 1969-1999. From the collection of the late Mr S.M., London, UK.

Comprising two pillow-shaped clay tablets comprising: one in dark brown material, cuneiform text to both broad faces and one edge, polished surface, end of the third millennium but with an Akkadian administrative text; one in tan-coloured material, cuneiform text to both broad faces and three edges, a legal text from the beginning of the second millennium. 90 grams total, 45-51 mm



Acquired in the 1970s. European private collection.

Broad terracotta bowl with extensive inked inscription and symbols to the inner face; repaired and partly disassembled. 382 grams total, 9-17 cm



From an important family collection, London and Geneva.

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.