Pub Date : 2023-06-07DOI: 10.1163/17455227-bja10041
Margaretha Folmer, Rivka Elitzur-Leiman
Abstract In this contribution we publish a lead circus curse tablet written in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic (Princeton Art Museum excavation no. 3608-I57). The tablet was found in 1935 during excavations near the first turning-post at the hippodrome of Antioch on the Orontes (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). The use of Greek and Latin defixiones agonisticae (agonistic binding spells) in chariot races was a wide-spread phenomenon during the Roman Byzantine Period. Curse tablets were inscribed with aggressive incantations that aimed at the defeat of rivals in the chariot races. The tablet under discussion is a unique piece: It is the only known lead circus curse tablet that was written in a Jewish language and script. The tablet is datable to the fifth or sixth century CE .
{"title":"A Jewish Aramaic Circus Curse Tablet from Antioch","authors":"Margaretha Folmer, Rivka Elitzur-Leiman","doi":"10.1163/17455227-bja10041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/17455227-bja10041","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In this contribution we publish a lead circus curse tablet written in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic (Princeton Art Museum excavation no. 3608-I57). The tablet was found in 1935 during excavations near the first turning-post at the hippodrome of Antioch on the Orontes (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). The use of Greek and Latin defixiones agonisticae (agonistic binding spells) in chariot races was a wide-spread phenomenon during the Roman Byzantine Period. Curse tablets were inscribed with aggressive incantations that aimed at the defeat of rivals in the chariot races. The tablet under discussion is a unique piece: It is the only known lead circus curse tablet that was written in a Jewish language and script. The tablet is datable to the fifth or sixth century CE .","PeriodicalId":41594,"journal":{"name":"Aramaic Studies","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135449722","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-07DOI: 10.1163/17455227-bja10040
A. Cherkashina
This article continues a series of studies dedicated to Syriac love magic as attested by texts found in Syriac magical codices dated to the 18th–20th century. Here I address five Syriac recipes that I consider to belong to the category of separation spells. Four of them are titled ‘For Hatred’ and are edited for the first time. Another one can be found in The Nestorians and Their Rituals and exists only in the English translation provided by G.P. Badger. Based on their supposed proto-text, the five texts can be divided into three spells. The separation spells are also compared with Syriac spells for attraction. The comparison involves the textual level as well as the magical practices for inducing hatred or love. In the third section of the article, I address the phenomenon of Syriac hate spells in a wider context by providing parallels from Jewish, Coptic, Mandaic, and Arabic magical traditions.
{"title":"‘As Far as the East Is from the West, and the North Is from the South’","authors":"A. Cherkashina","doi":"10.1163/17455227-bja10040","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/17455227-bja10040","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This article continues a series of studies dedicated to Syriac love magic as attested by texts found in Syriac magical codices dated to the 18th–20th century. Here I address five Syriac recipes that I consider to belong to the category of separation spells. Four of them are titled ‘For Hatred’ and are edited for the first time. Another one can be found in The Nestorians and Their Rituals and exists only in the English translation provided by G.P. Badger. Based on their supposed proto-text, the five texts can be divided into three spells. The separation spells are also compared with Syriac spells for attraction. The comparison involves the textual level as well as the magical practices for inducing hatred or love. In the third section of the article, I address the phenomenon of Syriac hate spells in a wider context by providing parallels from Jewish, Coptic, Mandaic, and Arabic magical traditions.","PeriodicalId":41594,"journal":{"name":"Aramaic Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42569852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-12DOI: 10.1163/17455227-bja10036
J. Dušek
Panamuwa I, king of Samʾal/Yʾdy, commissioned a statue of Hadad in approximately the second quarter of the eighth century BCE. The inscription on the statue, written in the Samʾalian language, contains four lists of gods. In lines 2–3 and 18–19, these gods are Hadad, El, Rešef, Rākib-El, and Šamaš. The list in line 11, however, contains a theonym that is not attested in the other three lists; it is usually read Arqû-Rešef. A collation of the inscription yields a new reading and interpretation of the text in line 11 that sheds light not only on the identity of the enigmatic Arqû-Rešef, but also on the whole list of gods in line 11.
大约在公元前8世纪的后25年，Sam - al/Y - al - dy国王Panamuwa I委托建造了哈达德的雕像。雕像上的铭文是用萨姆阿拉伯语写的，包含了四个神的名单。在第2-3行和第18-19行，这些神是哈达德，艾尔，Rešef, Rākib-El和Šamaš。然而，第11行的列表包含了一个在其他三个列表中未被证实的神名;通常读为Arqû-Rešef。对铭文的整理产生了对第11行文本的新的阅读和解释，不仅揭示了神秘的Arqû-Rešef的身份，而且揭示了第11行中所有神的名单。
{"title":"Who Were the Gods of Panamuwa I?","authors":"J. Dušek","doi":"10.1163/17455227-bja10036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/17455227-bja10036","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Panamuwa I, king of Samʾal/Yʾdy, commissioned a statue of Hadad in approximately the second quarter of the eighth century BCE. The inscription on the statue, written in the Samʾalian language, contains four lists of gods. In lines 2–3 and 18–19, these gods are Hadad, El, Rešef, Rākib-El, and Šamaš. The list in line 11, however, contains a theonym that is not attested in the other three lists; it is usually read Arqû-Rešef. A collation of the inscription yields a new reading and interpretation of the text in line 11 that sheds light not only on the identity of the enigmatic Arqû-Rešef, but also on the whole list of gods in line 11.","PeriodicalId":41594,"journal":{"name":"Aramaic Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48257100","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-12DOI: 10.1163/17455227-bja10039
Avigail Manekin-Bamberger
The root gzr, in nominal and verbal forms, is prominent in rabbinic literature and is usually translated ‘legislation’ or ‘decree’. However, attention to the numerous rabbinic accounts in which rabbis employ this root demonstrates that it was not merely a term used for human legislation. Rather, in rabbinic Amoraic narratives, the root gzr was often used by the rabbis to gain control over their surroundings and subdue the natural and supernatural, in both Palestine and Babylonia. Comparing these narratives to contemporary Jewish magical texts highlights the uniqueness of this rabbinic decree. Therefore, translating gzr in rabbinic literature strictly as a legal decree obscures important components of the self-presentation of the rabbis, especially the way they conceived of and represented the power of their rulings. Finally, I suggest that a careful reading of legal-magical decrees may teach us about the place of the rabbis in a world in which miracle workers, magical practitioners, and the rabbis themselves competed over the power to defeat demonic forces of evil.
{"title":"Taming Nature and Gaining Authority—Rabbinic Decrees Reconsidered","authors":"Avigail Manekin-Bamberger","doi":"10.1163/17455227-bja10039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/17455227-bja10039","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The root gzr, in nominal and verbal forms, is prominent in rabbinic literature and is usually translated ‘legislation’ or ‘decree’. However, attention to the numerous rabbinic accounts in which rabbis employ this root demonstrates that it was not merely a term used for human legislation. Rather, in rabbinic Amoraic narratives, the root gzr was often used by the rabbis to gain control over their surroundings and subdue the natural and supernatural, in both Palestine and Babylonia. Comparing these narratives to contemporary Jewish magical texts highlights the uniqueness of this rabbinic decree. Therefore, translating gzr in rabbinic literature strictly as a legal decree obscures important components of the self-presentation of the rabbis, especially the way they conceived of and represented the power of their rulings. Finally, I suggest that a careful reading of legal-magical decrees may teach us about the place of the rabbis in a world in which miracle workers, magical practitioners, and the rabbis themselves competed over the power to defeat demonic forces of evil.","PeriodicalId":41594,"journal":{"name":"Aramaic Studies","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41389592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-15DOI: 10.1163/17455227-bja10037
A. Cherkashina, N. Kuzin
This article examines a Syriac erotic binding spell, ‘Binding of a Husband’. We provide a text-critical edition of this spell based on three manuscripts and reconsider previous editions and translations. We also try to establish the aim of the text and its place in the Syriac magical tradition. For this purpose, the evidence from modern Syriac magic manuscripts as well as from other pieces of Syriac literature is addressed. In addition, we discuss possible parallels for ‘Binding of a Husband’ beyond Syriac literature.
{"title":"‘Binding of a Husband’","authors":"A. Cherkashina, N. Kuzin","doi":"10.1163/17455227-bja10037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/17455227-bja10037","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This article examines a Syriac erotic binding spell, ‘Binding of a Husband’. We provide a text-critical edition of this spell based on three manuscripts and reconsider previous editions and translations. We also try to establish the aim of the text and its place in the Syriac magical tradition. For this purpose, the evidence from modern Syriac magic manuscripts as well as from other pieces of Syriac literature is addressed. In addition, we discuss possible parallels for ‘Binding of a Husband’ beyond Syriac literature.","PeriodicalId":41594,"journal":{"name":"Aramaic Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47788320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-15DOI: 10.1163/17455227-bja10038
J. DeGrado, M. Richey
The Old Aramaic inscription Sefire I (KAI 222) includes, in a series of mimetic curses, a debated clause that has been read by most previous scholars to involve a mysterious {gnbʾ} gannābaʾ(?) ‘thief’, which (or who?) is symbolically burned (Sefire IA:36–37). The present article argues that there are lexicographic (cognates in later Aramaic dialects) and phonological (geminate prenasalization) grounds for understanding {gnbʾ} to encode instead ganbaʾ (< *gabbaʾ) ‘straw’. The burning of this straw to symbolize consequences should a treaty partner renege has clear parallels in Mesopotamian and Syro-Anatolian magical and ritual language, including treaty curses, and produces a more typical image in a list of mimetic curses involving materials (wax), objects (a bow and arrow), and animals (a calf).
古阿拉姆语铭文Sefire I (KAI 222)包括，在一系列模仿诅咒中，一个有争议的条款，被大多数先前的学者读到，涉及一个神秘的{gnb al} gannāba al(?)“小偷”，它(或谁?)被象征性地烧毁(Sefire IA: 36-37)。本文认为，有词典学(同源在后来的阿拉姆语方言)和音韵学(双元音前鼻音化)的理由来理解{gnb - al}编码而不是ganba - al (< *gabba - al) ' straw '。焚烧稻草象征着条约伙伴违背条约的后果，这在美索不达米亚和叙罗-安纳托利亚的魔法和仪式语言中有明显的相似之处，包括条约诅咒，并在一系列涉及材料(蜡)、物体(弓箭)和动物(小牛)的模拟诅咒中产生了更典型的形象。
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Pub Date : 2022-11-23DOI: 10.1163/17455227-bja10035
Sergey Minov
This article contains the unpublished Syriac text of the Story of the Dog Who Talked. Put down in writing by the West Syrian monk ʿAzīz bar Ṣlīḇā bar Bassūs in the year 1503, the Story is, arguably, the earliest datable specimen of the fairy tale genre of folklore attested in the Syriac language. The text of the Story, published on the basis of manuscript Mardin, Church of the Forty Martyrs, 350, is accompanied by an English translation and discussion.
{"title":"Of Men and Dogs","authors":"Sergey Minov","doi":"10.1163/17455227-bja10035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/17455227-bja10035","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This article contains the unpublished Syriac text of the Story of the Dog Who Talked. Put down in writing by the West Syrian monk ʿAzīz bar Ṣlīḇā bar Bassūs in the year 1503, the Story is, arguably, the earliest datable specimen of the fairy tale genre of folklore attested in the Syriac language. The text of the Story, published on the basis of manuscript Mardin, Church of the Forty Martyrs, 350, is accompanied by an English translation and discussion.","PeriodicalId":41594,"journal":{"name":"Aramaic Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-11-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46704588","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-04DOI: 10.1163/17455227-bja10034
M. Morgenstern
The article presents a new edition of the Wolfe Golden Amulet based upon a close examination of new RTI images and its interpretation in light of related Aramaic and Hebrew sources. New readings and translations are presented for many parts of the text.
{"title":"לכל שלטניה—A New Edition of the Wolfe Golden Amulet in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic","authors":"M. Morgenstern","doi":"10.1163/17455227-bja10034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/17455227-bja10034","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The article presents a new edition of the Wolfe Golden Amulet based upon a close examination of new RTI images and its interpretation in light of related Aramaic and Hebrew sources. New readings and translations are presented for many parts of the text.","PeriodicalId":41594,"journal":{"name":"Aramaic Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43944213","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-04DOI: 10.1163/17455227-bja10033
C. Häberl, K. Kashintseva, S. Loesov
The grammar of the village dialects of Ṭuroyo remains poorly described apart from that of Midən, and within the documentation there is a dearth of spontaneous conversations. Consequently, much about Ṭuroyo pragmatics and sociolinguistics in general also remains undescribed. We therefore present two short conversations between three residents of Kfarze in Tur Abdin, concerning a significant event in its recent history, together with a translation and a glossary. In addition to their value as oral histories of the Christian-Kurdish relationship in the region, they reveal significant details about the dialect of Kfarze, including 1) the contraction of triphthongs in ii-y verbs; 2) nouns consistently marked with l- when they express the agent of an ‘ergative’ preterite; and 3) the retention of ‘soft’ (unaspirated) ḳ in Kurmanji loan vocabulary. The presence of the last feature, and of frequent code-switching between Ṭuroyo and Kurmanji in the spontaneous speech of these villagers, attests to the bilingual situation in Kfarze.
{"title":"Who Killed Osman Xate?","authors":"C. Häberl, K. Kashintseva, S. Loesov","doi":"10.1163/17455227-bja10033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/17455227-bja10033","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The grammar of the village dialects of Ṭuroyo remains poorly described apart from that of Midən, and within the documentation there is a dearth of spontaneous conversations. Consequently, much about Ṭuroyo pragmatics and sociolinguistics in general also remains undescribed. We therefore present two short conversations between three residents of Kfarze in Tur Abdin, concerning a significant event in its recent history, together with a translation and a glossary. In addition to their value as oral histories of the Christian-Kurdish relationship in the region, they reveal significant details about the dialect of Kfarze, including 1) the contraction of triphthongs in ii-y verbs; 2) nouns consistently marked with l- when they express the agent of an ‘ergative’ preterite; and 3) the retention of ‘soft’ (unaspirated) ḳ in Kurmanji loan vocabulary. The presence of the last feature, and of frequent code-switching between Ṭuroyo and Kurmanji in the spontaneous speech of these villagers, attests to the bilingual situation in Kfarze.","PeriodicalId":41594,"journal":{"name":"Aramaic Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45701947","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-15DOI: 10.1163/17455227-bja10031
Emmanuel Mastéy
Perfect verbs in the Passive-Qal (qetil) and Hufʿal (huqtal or hoqtal) stems are attested in both Biblical (BA) and Middle Aramaic. This paper contests the claim of BA grammars that the Hufʿal imperfect is unattested in BA. Moreover, some scholars have doubted the authenticity of the Masoretic vocalisation of some Hufʿal and Passive-Qal occurrences, postulating that the Hufʿal preformative vowel was changed from a to u under the influence of the Hebrew Hufʿal. This paper discusses the most problematic occurrences from morphological, syntactic, and contextual viewpoints, and concludes that the Masoretic vocalisation of the forms in question is generally reliable. Lastly, a form that was mistakenly identified as a disguised Passive-Qal form is shown to be a Qal (active) form. It appears that the marking of human direct objects by lamed accusativi in BA has fewer exceptions than previously thought.
{"title":"Biblical Aramaic Passive Stems","authors":"Emmanuel Mastéy","doi":"10.1163/17455227-bja10031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/17455227-bja10031","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Perfect verbs in the Passive-Qal (qetil) and Hufʿal (huqtal or hoqtal) stems are attested in both Biblical (BA) and Middle Aramaic. This paper contests the claim of BA grammars that the Hufʿal imperfect is unattested in BA. Moreover, some scholars have doubted the authenticity of the Masoretic vocalisation of some Hufʿal and Passive-Qal occurrences, postulating that the Hufʿal preformative vowel was changed from a to u under the influence of the Hebrew Hufʿal. This paper discusses the most problematic occurrences from morphological, syntactic, and contextual viewpoints, and concludes that the Masoretic vocalisation of the forms in question is generally reliable. Lastly, a form that was mistakenly identified as a disguised Passive-Qal form is shown to be a Qal (active) form. It appears that the marking of human direct objects by lamed accusativi in BA has fewer exceptions than previously thought.","PeriodicalId":41594,"journal":{"name":"Aramaic Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48285284","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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