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ArameansJewish Babylonian Aramaic Incantation Bowl
"...against Jewish demons (dēvs), and against Aramaean demons, and against Persian angels..."
This line comes from a Late Sasanian Jewish Babylonian Aramaic incantation bowl (ROM 931.4.2), published in Aramaic Bowl Spells from the Schøyen Collection (2013) by Shaked, Ford, and Bhayro. The original Aramaic reads ‘al dēwē yehudā’ē w-‘al dēwē armā’ē u-mal'akē pārsā'ē. The text is significant because it proves that "Aramaean" was a distinct, recognized ethnic identity in 3rd–4th century Babylonia, separate from both the Jewish community and the ruling Persians. It reveals a tripartite social worldview where the magician categorized spiritual threats by ethnicity, acknowledging that the local Aramaeans, the imperial Persians, and the Jews each possessed their own unique supernatural forces.
This line comes from a Late Sasanian Jewish Babylonian Aramaic incantation bowl (ROM 931.4.2), published in Aramaic Bowl Spells from the Schøyen Collection (2013) by Shaked, Ford, and Bhayro. The original Aramaic reads ‘al dēwē yehudā’ē w-‘al dēwē armā’ē u-mal'akē pārsā'ē. The text is significant because it proves that "Aramaean" was a distinct, recognized ethnic identity in 3rd–4th century Babylonia, separate from both the Jewish community and the ruling Persians. It reveals a tripartite social worldview where the magician categorized spiritual threats by ethnicity, acknowledging that the local Aramaeans, the imperial Persians, and the Jews each possessed their own unique supernatural forces.