"In the name of the angel Rahmiel and literature and by the numerous original

bar them. They are of interest to the

in the name of Dlibat the passionate . . . charm inscriptions found on papyrus and
philologist as original documents of inter-
the gods, the lords of all the mysteries. other materials. And the supposition is
esting dialects. The student of religion
Amen, Amen." proved by an interesting identity of ex-
finds in them clues connecting the syn-
This is a veritable love-philtre to gain pression.
cretistic faiths of the Babylonia of about
the affections of a young man. Theo- A most charming love-incantation on
500 A. D. with their earlier sources. They
critus's second idyll at once recurs to us, a lead tablet has been found at Hadru-
cannot be said to be of general interest.
in which the enamored girl goes through metum, in the ancient Roman province
The Museum collection contains two
her adjurations of Hecate and performs of Africa. It has been frequently pub-
exceptions to this grey monotony, and
the proper rites to rouse up love. Here, lished; the English reader may be
these are unique among all the bowl in-
too, we have the deities invoked, the Lord referred to Deissmann, Bible Studies, p.
scriptions. They spring from the pas-
of heaven and earth, out of convention; 271 (=Bibelstudien, p. 23). In it there is
sion which "makes the world go round";
but more to the point are Rahmiel, whose repeated again and again the desire of the
as love-charms they will arrest the atten-
name means love, and Dlibat, a form of girl that her lover come to her 4piovra
tion of many who have no interest in
archaeology.
the Oriental Venus. And as in Theo- Pao-avttclilevov itypvirvavra or 43(7o'vra
critus, we have the magic herbs. So far iu,atvOlutvov gaa-avttOeu,evov, "loving,
One of these is a charm effected by a
as their names can be interpreted, they tormented, wakeful," or "loving, mad, tor-
woman to gain the love of her husband.
are all pungent in character, and so sym- mented." This trinity of terms3 corre-
The text is badly mutilated, but it appears
bolize the heat of passion. sponds to our text "that he be inflamed
that the woman is childless and desires a
For the same reason fire is a proper and kindled and burn." Also, the ob-
woman's blessing of children. The merely
element in these amatory incantations, at scure references to the "heart" betray
prophylactic character of bowl magic has
least in the Greek and Arabic charms. Greek origin, as to the Semite the heart
been ignored, and the bowl has been used
In an erotic charm published by Doutte, is not the seat of love.
as a piece of convenient magical material.
Magie et religion dans l'Afrique du Nord, The inscription thus represents the
But the other inscription is worth quot-
p. 253, the recipe is coriander, caraway, reaction of western magic upon that of
BABYLONIAN SECTION. ing at length. The translation reads as
gum of terebinth, lime, cummin, ver- Babylonia. I have found other similar
follows :
A LOVE CHARM ON AN INCANTATION BOWL. digris, myrrh, blood, and a piece of a clues, but this is the most evident case.
"In the name of the Lord of heaven
HE incantation bowls from Babylonia and earth. Appointed is this bowl in re- broom from a cemetery,in which, how- J. A. MONTGOMERY.
T are mostly of a prosaic and monot-
onous character. As one of the bowls
in the Museum finally proves,these vessels,
gard to Anur-' son of Parkoi, that he be
inflamed and kindled and burn after
Ahath, daughter of Nebazak.
ever, the principle of selection is not evi-
dent.
The inscription is too obliterated to as-
"Presses of eternity ( ?) which have certain the modus operandi. Is the magic
properly inscribed, were inverted, dupli-
only been pressed ( ?) . . .2 a man in compound to be sprinkled over the person
cates being placed at the four corners of
his heart. (3) One takes hrk and hot- of the beloved? Or are we to understand
the house, so that by the process of sym-
herbs, which they call sunwort, mtlln, and a wax. image of the object of passion,
pathetic magic the demons might be im-
peppers . . . and the mysteries of love which is to be peppered with the hot herbs
prisoned. The exorcisms are of a do-
which she has sprinkled upon . . she as the lady in Theocritus cruelly burns the
mestic character, for the banishing of all
shall sprinkle upon this Anur, son of Par- wax figure in fire ? This would be in line
ill spirits from the house and bed and
koi, so that he be inflamed and kindled with old Babylonian magic.
persons of the family concerned. By a
and burn after Ahath, daughter of The inscription is unique in the Semitic
natural development we find certain bowls,
Nebazak, and in passion and in the mys- field, outside of the Arabic, as it is the
not represented, however, in our collec-
teries of love . . . pieces from his only erotic charm of the kind that is
tion, destined for use in the graveyards,
heart. . . . known. This arouses the suspicion that
to lay the ghosts of the dead.
The inscriptions are tiresome repeti- it is of occidental origin, and is to be con-
'The latter part of the name is lost. nected with the widespread love-magic of
tions of the names of the evil spirits and 'These dots indicate lacunae or unintelli- 'It is found also in an erotic papyrus in-
of the formulas which are efficacious to the Graeco-Latin world, vouched for by its scription published by Wessely.
gible passages.