ZOROASTRIAN INCANTATIONS AGAINST DEMONS

MS 2056/12
MS Short Title ZOROASTRIAN INCANTATIONS AGAINST DEMONS
Text ZOROASTRIAN INCANTATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, INVOKING AMESHA SPENTA, WITH A QUOTE OF ATASH NIYAYESH, THE FIRE PRAYER: 'WORTHY OF SACRIFICE IN THE HOUSE OF .....'
Description MS in Zoroastrian Middle Persian on clay, Persia, 5th-7th c., 1 incantation bowl, 28,4x14,5 cm, 15+1+5 lines in Pahlavi script, drawing of 2 very large standing demons with feet chained.
Binding Amesha Spenta or Amahraspand (Holy Immortal) is 6 celestial beings, representing Ahura Mazda's spiritual powers. The major part of this very extensive text, written both inside and outside the present large bowl, has so far not been understood. What has been read is rather preliminary, communicated by a follower of Zoroaster, only reading from photographs. Incantation or magical bowls are also called demon traps. They were placed with the bottom up under the floors and thresholds of the houses in the Near East. The demons were then believed to be trapped inside the bowl with the magical spells written against them.
Published To be published by Prof. Shaul Shaked.
Place of origin Persia
Dates 5th-7th Century