Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Jewish Necromancy


In the Biblical Archaeology Review, a little piece on a fascinating artifact from the 3rd to 7th century AD: a human skull on which magical incantations had been scratched in Aramaic. At least four other such skulls of the same period are known, as well as hundreds of similar spells scratched on pottery. Many of the spells invoke demons, including Lilith, who at that period was known mainly as a demoness who attacked birthing mothers and newborn babies.

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