This Super Bowl Sunday, I’d like to introduce you all to the magical curse bowls used in Upper Mesopotamia and Syria in late antiquity. Written in Mandaic (as here) or Syriac Aramaic, they trap demons who trespass on a household by sucking them in with spiraling spells to the center of the bowl.
February 8, 2026 at 2:28 PM
This Super Bowl Sunday, I’d like to introduce you all to the magical curse bowls used in Upper Mesopotamia and Syria in late antiquity. Written in Mandaic (as here) or Syriac Aramaic, they trap demons who trespass on a household by sucking them in with spiraling spells to the center of the bowl.
Mandaic
January 5, 2026 at 12:52 AM
Mandaic
Great interview of Dr. Charles Häberl on Mandaïc and other forms of Aramaïc and his work on them.
youtu.be/UJLZBMGxjZ4?...
youtu.be/UJLZBMGxjZ4?...
Concerning Mandaeans, Mandaic, and other matters | A conversation with Professor Charles Häberl
YouTube video by Near East by Midwest Podcast
youtu.be
October 16, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Great interview of Dr. Charles Häberl on Mandaïc and other forms of Aramaïc and his work on them.
youtu.be/UJLZBMGxjZ4?...
youtu.be/UJLZBMGxjZ4?...
#Mandaic is an #Aramaic derived script. It is used to write Mandaic in Ahvaz, Khūzestān (modern-day #Iran), and used liturgically in #Mandaeism.
Full page: matuww.github.io/script_info/...
#writingscripts
#linguistics
#history
#art
#map
#matuww
Full page: matuww.github.io/script_info/...
#writingscripts
#linguistics
#history
#art
#map
#matuww
November 27, 2024 at 7:49 AM
#Mandaic is an #Aramaic derived script. It is used to write Mandaic in Ahvaz, Khūzestān (modern-day #Iran), and used liturgically in #Mandaeism.
Full page: matuww.github.io/script_info/...
#writingscripts
#linguistics
#history
#art
#map
#matuww
Full page: matuww.github.io/script_info/...
#writingscripts
#linguistics
#history
#art
#map
#matuww
Oooh we are posting super bowls?
Here is an example from the British Museum's collection of incantation bowls. These would be inscribed by magicians for a client who would place it upside down on the corners or at the entrance to a house to ward off evil spirits. 6th to 8th century. Mandaic. Iraq.
Here is an example from the British Museum's collection of incantation bowls. These would be inscribed by magicians for a client who would place it upside down on the corners or at the entrance to a house to ward off evil spirits. 6th to 8th century. Mandaic. Iraq.
February 8, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Oooh we are posting super bowls?
Here is an example from the British Museum's collection of incantation bowls. These would be inscribed by magicians for a client who would place it upside down on the corners or at the entrance to a house to ward off evil spirits. 6th to 8th century. Mandaic. Iraq.
Here is an example from the British Museum's collection of incantation bowls. These would be inscribed by magicians for a client who would place it upside down on the corners or at the entrance to a house to ward off evil spirits. 6th to 8th century. Mandaic. Iraq.
Here is an example of #Mandaic epigraphy:
#Pottery incantation bowl (6 - 8 c. CE) inscribed with a Mandaic #incantation to protect Shrula son of Duktanuba and Qaqay daughter of Kaspasta against evil spirits
Sources:
tinyurl.com/2ynma8sr
#history
#archaeology
#matuww
#epigraphy
#paleography
#magic
🏺
#Pottery incantation bowl (6 - 8 c. CE) inscribed with a Mandaic #incantation to protect Shrula son of Duktanuba and Qaqay daughter of Kaspasta against evil spirits
Sources:
tinyurl.com/2ynma8sr
#history
#archaeology
#matuww
#epigraphy
#paleography
#magic
🏺
November 27, 2024 at 7:51 AM
Here is an example of #Mandaic epigraphy:
#Pottery incantation bowl (6 - 8 c. CE) inscribed with a Mandaic #incantation to protect Shrula son of Duktanuba and Qaqay daughter of Kaspasta against evil spirits
Sources:
tinyurl.com/2ynma8sr
#history
#archaeology
#matuww
#epigraphy
#paleography
#magic
🏺
#Pottery incantation bowl (6 - 8 c. CE) inscribed with a Mandaic #incantation to protect Shrula son of Duktanuba and Qaqay daughter of Kaspasta against evil spirits
Sources:
tinyurl.com/2ynma8sr
#history
#archaeology
#matuww
#epigraphy
#paleography
#magic
🏺
A chance to learn about Mandaic from someone who knows 😎
Concerning Mandaeans, Mandaic, and other matters | A conversation with Professor Charles Häberl
YouTube video by Near East by Midwest Podcast
youtu.be
October 17, 2025 at 3:20 PM
A chance to learn about Mandaic from someone who knows 😎
Including five Mandaic incantation bowls 👀
New issue of the Journal of Semitic Studies Vol. 70, No. 1 (2025) academic.oup.com/jss/issue/70/1 @herbert-haberl.bsky.social
Volume 70 Issue 1 | Journal of Semitic Studies | Oxford Academic
The official journal of the University of Manchester. Publishes items of interest to specialists in the main Semitic languages and in both Biblical and Islamic Studies. Extensive reviews of selected b...
academic.oup.com
February 7, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Including five Mandaic incantation bowls 👀
If you read Mandaic or Samaritan Aramaic, you probably have Macuch to thank, at least in part.
I didn't know about the planet named for him!
I didn't know about the planet named for him!
#OTD 106 years ago, Rudolf Macúch (1919–1993) was born 🥳 A scholar of Semitic languages, specializing in Neo-Syriac, and an expert on Mandaeism and Samaritanism. In 1998, a minor planet in the asteroid belt was named 24974 Macúch in his honor 🪐
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
October 16, 2025 at 10:33 AM
If you read Mandaic or Samaritan Aramaic, you probably have Macuch to thank, at least in part.
I didn't know about the planet named for him!
I didn't know about the planet named for him!
INTRODUCING: Near East by Midwest Podcast, hosted by the department of Near Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures at OSU! First episode discusses Mandaic, Mandaeans, and other matters with Prof. C. Häberl. Don’t miss it!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJLZ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJLZ...
Concerning Mandaeans, Mandaic, and other matters | A conversation with Professor Charles Häberl
YouTube video by Near East by Midwest Podcast
www.youtube.com
October 16, 2025 at 6:02 PM
INTRODUCING: Near East by Midwest Podcast, hosted by the department of Near Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures at OSU! First episode discusses Mandaic, Mandaeans, and other matters with Prof. C. Häberl. Don’t miss it!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJLZ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJLZ...
A 2nd article is also out today, w/Michele Scarlassara!
We present a previously unpublished Syriac incantation bowl from the Penn Museum, w/a formula paralleling several Mandaic bowls, w/intriguing social-historical implications
1st bowl published using spectral imaging!
brill.com/view/journal...
We present a previously unpublished Syriac incantation bowl from the Penn Museum, w/a formula paralleling several Mandaic bowls, w/intriguing social-historical implications
1st bowl published using spectral imaging!
brill.com/view/journal...
October 22, 2025 at 11:19 AM
A 2nd article is also out today, w/Michele Scarlassara!
We present a previously unpublished Syriac incantation bowl from the Penn Museum, w/a formula paralleling several Mandaic bowls, w/intriguing social-historical implications
1st bowl published using spectral imaging!
brill.com/view/journal...
We present a previously unpublished Syriac incantation bowl from the Penn Museum, w/a formula paralleling several Mandaic bowls, w/intriguing social-historical implications
1st bowl published using spectral imaging!
brill.com/view/journal...
Reposting this fantastic interview with Kevin van Bladel on his vision of the "Classical Near East", talking a lot about languages like Greek, (Christian) Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, Syriac, Mandaic, and Middle Persian. Also very interesting in terms of career paths and how our fields are structured.
A new episode of Byzantium & Friends: The Classical Near East, with Kevin van Bladel www.medievalists.net/2026/01/the-... #history #NearEast
The Classical Near East, with Kevin van Bladel - Medievalists.net
A conversation with Kevin van Bladel on his proposal regarding “The Classical Near East,” a constellation of fields defined by the classical literary…
www.medievalists.net
February 11, 2026 at 9:03 AM
Reposting this fantastic interview with Kevin van Bladel on his vision of the "Classical Near East", talking a lot about languages like Greek, (Christian) Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, Syriac, Mandaic, and Middle Persian. Also very interesting in terms of career paths and how our fields are structured.
1/2 #Mandaic #portrait clothing, pose and style references.
#artistjourney
#art
#artistprocess
#historicalart
#artnouveau #Tiffany
#iraq
#Mandaeism
#yourname
#matuww
#artistjourney
#art
#artistprocess
#historicalart
#artnouveau #Tiffany
#iraq
#Mandaeism
#yourname
#matuww
March 14, 2025 at 2:09 AM
1/2 #Mandaic #portrait clothing, pose and style references.
#artistjourney
#art
#artistprocess
#historicalart
#artnouveau #Tiffany
#iraq
#Mandaeism
#yourname
#matuww
#artistjourney
#art
#artistprocess
#historicalart
#artnouveau #Tiffany
#iraq
#Mandaeism
#yourname
#matuww
--in the Mandaic, Sumerian, and Akkadian” curse tablets.
Now, regarding Job iii 5, where I wrote “[Hebrew characters]”? Those characters make up a word whose root means “black,” which has resulted in the sentence being translated as follows:
26/
Now, regarding Job iii 5, where I wrote “[Hebrew characters]”? Those characters make up a word whose root means “black,” which has resulted in the sentence being translated as follows:
26/
November 10, 2023 at 5:35 PM
--in the Mandaic, Sumerian, and Akkadian” curse tablets.
Now, regarding Job iii 5, where I wrote “[Hebrew characters]”? Those characters make up a word whose root means “black,” which has resulted in the sentence being translated as follows:
26/
Now, regarding Job iii 5, where I wrote “[Hebrew characters]”? Those characters make up a word whose root means “black,” which has resulted in the sentence being translated as follows:
26/
Five earthenware Mandaic incantation bowls
Šafiʿī, Ibrāhīm. 2025. Five earthenware Mandaic incantation bowls in Ābgīne Museum, Tehrān. Journal of Semitic Studies 70 (1): 1-30. ĀM. 1 from three perspectives; Photo by ĀM This article presents the editio princeps of the Mandaic texts of five…
Šafiʿī, Ibrāhīm. 2025. Five earthenware Mandaic incantation bowls in Ābgīne Museum, Tehrān. Journal of Semitic Studies 70 (1): 1-30. ĀM. 1 from three perspectives; Photo by ĀM This article presents the editio princeps of the Mandaic texts of five…
Five earthenware Mandaic incantation bowls
Šafiʿī, Ibrāhīm. 2025. Five earthenware Mandaic incantation bowls in Ābgīne Museum, Tehrān. Journal of Semitic Studies 70 (1): 1-30. ĀM. 1 from three perspectives; Photo by ĀM This article presents the editio princeps of the Mandaic texts of five incantation bowls housed in Ābgīne Museum, Tehrān (627–S, 626–S, 110–S, 109–S and 108–S). Presumably dated to the 6th-7th centuries, the texts include protective formulae and name of the clients for whom they were written.
www.biblioiranica.info
February 10, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Five earthenware Mandaic incantation bowls
Šafiʿī, Ibrāhīm. 2025. Five earthenware Mandaic incantation bowls in Ābgīne Museum, Tehrān. Journal of Semitic Studies 70 (1): 1-30. ĀM. 1 from three perspectives; Photo by ĀM This article presents the editio princeps of the Mandaic texts of five…
Šafiʿī, Ibrāhīm. 2025. Five earthenware Mandaic incantation bowls in Ābgīne Museum, Tehrān. Journal of Semitic Studies 70 (1): 1-30. ĀM. 1 from three perspectives; Photo by ĀM This article presents the editio princeps of the Mandaic texts of five…
I get interested in languages that are not used today or endangered
Sogdian, Mandaic, etc.
they‘re hard to research and study
Sogdian, Mandaic, etc.
they‘re hard to research and study
January 14, 2026 at 5:28 PM
I get interested in languages that are not used today or endangered
Sogdian, Mandaic, etc.
they‘re hard to research and study
Sogdian, Mandaic, etc.
they‘re hard to research and study
“Thus, just as the Mandaic text calls for the subduing and destruction of “demonized” units of time, so too does Job, realizing that the day of his birth brought him to a time of suffering, call for the utter destruction of his day, a day ultimately afflicted by the Satan.”
31/
31/
November 10, 2023 at 5:53 PM
“Thus, just as the Mandaic text calls for the subduing and destruction of “demonized” units of time, so too does Job, realizing that the day of his birth brought him to a time of suffering, call for the utter destruction of his day, a day ultimately afflicted by the Satan.”
31/
31/
We’ll have to see if a Mandaic scholar shows up because I’m not sure.
February 8, 2026 at 5:07 PM
We’ll have to see if a Mandaic scholar shows up because I’m not sure.
Call for papers: submit your abstract on #Semitic reading traditions (like #Hebrew, #Arabic, #Aramaic including #Syriac and #Mandaic) for our panel at the 35th Deutscher Orientalistentag (8-12 September, Erlangen) by 23 February. If you please. www.academia.edu/127430195/Cf...
February 3, 2025 at 11:05 AM
I'm particularly pleased that I was able to demonstrate that the appendix to the #Mandaic Book of the Zodiac must have been composed after the mid-tenth-century, because it presumes the plausibility of #Byzantine attacks on Aleppo (Mandaic Glab < Arabic Halab). That makes it a #medieval source!
February 21, 2026 at 4:27 AM
I'm particularly pleased that I was able to demonstrate that the appendix to the #Mandaic Book of the Zodiac must have been composed after the mid-tenth-century, because it presumes the plausibility of #Byzantine attacks on Aleppo (Mandaic Glab < Arabic Halab). That makes it a #medieval source!
My book on the Pearlsong, inaugurating a new series (4T), is available for pre-ordering 😎
Has (vocalized) Syriac and 2 Greek texts w/ facing English translations, glossaries, and a wide-ranging commentary.
Come for the story, Syriac, and Greek — stay for the Coptic, Mandaic, Parthian, and more!
Has (vocalized) Syriac and 2 Greek texts w/ facing English translations, glossaries, and a wide-ranging commentary.
Come for the story, Syriac, and Greek — stay for the Coptic, Mandaic, Parthian, and more!
The Pearlsong — Harvard University Press
The Pearlsong is an ancient poem that recounts the story of a Parthian prince sent by his parents on a mission to Egypt to retrieve a pearl from the clutches of a giant serpent. Along the way, the pri...
www.hup.harvard.edu
May 23, 2025 at 10:26 AM
My book on the Pearlsong, inaugurating a new series (4T), is available for pre-ordering 😎
Has (vocalized) Syriac and 2 Greek texts w/ facing English translations, glossaries, and a wide-ranging commentary.
Come for the story, Syriac, and Greek — stay for the Coptic, Mandaic, Parthian, and more!
Has (vocalized) Syriac and 2 Greek texts w/ facing English translations, glossaries, and a wide-ranging commentary.
Come for the story, Syriac, and Greek — stay for the Coptic, Mandaic, Parthian, and more!
2/2 #Mandaic #portrait #timelapse
#artistjourney
#art
#artistprocess
#historicalart
#artnouveau #Tiffany
#iraq
#Mandaeism
#yourname
#matuww
#artistjourney
#art
#artistprocess
#historicalart
#artnouveau #Tiffany
#iraq
#Mandaeism
#yourname
#matuww
March 14, 2025 at 2:10 AM