1,500-Year-Old Bowls Covered in Magic Spells for Curses Seized in Raid

Israeli authorities have seized hundreds of ancient artefacts, including "magic" bowls decorated with "spells," from a property in Jerusalem.

The raid was conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and police at an apartment in the ultra-orthodox Ramat Shlomo neighborhood over suspicions of illegal antiquities trading.

Among the treasures authorities discovered at the apartment were 1,500-year-old "magic" incantation bowls from what is now Iraq, according to a statement published by the IAA.

The bowls, which were used by Jewish and non-Jewish people alike, used to be placed around the house—under the floor, for example—to protect against curses, demons, diseases and pests.

They featured writing in the Aramaic language but used quotes from the Hebrew Bible, Ohad Abudraham, a Tel Aviv University postdoctoral researcher in Mandaic—a dialect of Aramaic—told The Times of Israel.

According to Abudraham, the "spells" were written by professional "magicians" using standard texts that were adapted for their clients—who were often named on the objects—in accordance with their personal needs.

More than 3,000 bowls like these have been discovered to date, the majority of which were created by Jewish people. But Christians and pagans also wrote spells on bowls in their own Aramaic dialects.

"The Jewish bowls draw heavily on Jewish tradition, cite verses, and even contain the earliest written attestations we have for Jewish texts like the Mishnah or benedictions," Matthew Morgenstern, an expert on these objects, told the Times.

Amir Ganor, head of the IAA's Robbery Prevention Unit, said in a statement that bowls like those found came from ancient sites in Mesopotamia—what is now Iraq.

"In 2003, following the war in Iraq, thousands of stolen 'incantation bowls' began to enter international trade markets," he said.

Authorities also seized hundreds of ancient coins, glassware and weapons, among other artefacts, at the property in Ramat Shlomo.

Among these artefacts were "rare" bone and ivory objects, including a piece dated to the 8th or 9th centuries B.C. that features two griffons, and another that displays four winged lions marching in a line.

Authorities discovered special chemicals at the property that are designed to be used for the restoration of pottery, as well as the cleaning of ancient metals and coins. The IAA said in the statement that the suspect likely restored the magic bowls ahead of a potential auction.

The maximum punishment for trading in illegal antiquities in Israel is three years in prison.

"Antiquities belong to all of us. They are our heritage," IAA director Eli Eskosido said in the statement. "Unauthorized antiquities dealers encourage looters to go out and destroy ancient sites in search of finds for sale on the antiquities market. In the name of greed, they plunder antiquity sites, removing the finds from their historical context, thus obscuring parts of human history."

Newsweek has contacted the Israel Antiquities Authority for comment.

Update 03/15/21, 3:10 a.m ET: This article was updated to include a new image.