5th C. Sasanian Judeo-Aramaic Pottery Incantation Bowl

**First Time At Auction**

Ancient Near East, Sasanian (Sassanian, Sasanid) Empire, Judeo-Aramaic culture, ca. 5th to mid-7th century CE. A wheel-thrown pottery bowl of a minimalist mastoid form with a conical base, gradually expanding walls, and a thin rim surrounding the basin. Within the basin is a singular line of black-painted Aramaic text that spirals around the basin surfaces roughly seven or eight times. Bowls like this example were traditionally buried face down to lure, catch, and disable demons and were typically placed underneath homes and around cemeteries. Also known as "demon bowls" or "devil-trap bowls," incantation bowls were evidently widely used; for example, nearly every excavated residence in the Jewish Iraqi settlement of Nippur had one buried under or around the premises of the dwelling. Size: 6.8" W x 3" H (17.3 cm x 7.6 cm)

For two stylistically similar examples of incantation bowls from the Sasanian Empire, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession numbers 32.150.89 and 32.150.90.

Provenance: private J.H. collection, Beaverton, Oregon, USA, acquired in October 2000; ex-Tom Cederlind collection, Portland, Oregon, USA

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#153247
Condition Report: Minor abrasions to base, walls, rim, and basin, with one chip to rim, fading to painted text within basin, scattered bubbling commensurate with kiln-firing, and light encrustations, otherwise intact and very good. Nice earthen deposits throughout.