A Bowl Made for R. Ashi bar Maḥlafta
5th or 6th Century
Notes
Written: “Isaac.”
[May there be healing from heaven to] Rav Ashi son of Maḥlafta, and may he be healed by the mercy of [heaven . . .] and may there be removed from him [ . . . ] [ . . . ] of ailment [ . . . ] to seek [ . . . ] his name [ . . . ] . . . and lo, he beswears her and adjures her, David son of Jesse [ . . . ] Rav Ashi son of Maḥlafta [ . . . ] against [ . . . ] the pain that has power over Rav Ashi against all [ . . . ] and afflictions and divisions [ . . . ] [is] his name, Askita [ . . . ] son of Nifli. These are the ones that harm human beings that you, the spirit of So‘a (Missa‘ar) [ . . . ] suppressed, [ . . . ] and the spirit of Satan sent the corpse (?) [ . . . ]. The master of the spirits of spirits [ . . . ] and mighty one and [ . . . ] sdym’ of nypṣy and rypsy and nyt’y [ . . . ] and discourse (?) regarding any evil thing that is in the world [ . . . ] by your garment (?), the adjuration of water (?), [ . . . ] and I establish against you by the name and the speech of YHWH [ . . . ]
[ . . . ] lord of lords, [ . . . ] is his name, š is his name, Amoṣ is his name, rny is his name, Raziel is his name, Yiṭot Yiṭot is his name, Qamrusia is his name, Drusia is his name, ḥwnq‘l Pari’el is his name, [ . . . ] ḥrš is his name, Nora is his name, Ḥakham is his name, Ḥen is his name, tnsh is his name, Adon is his name, Adonekhem is his name, Adoniram is his name, King of the kings of kings is his name, mdwh [is his name . . .] which burns, he repairs (it) above and over the highest heavens, in the palace of fire and hail, over the chariots and all heaven and the uppermost (place), [ . . . ] I adjure [ . . . ] at night and in the day, Amen, Amen, Selah. For he is the supreme god, who shapes an embryo in the belly of a woman and endows her with hollow places, orifices, veins, bones, and flesh (that) is filled (with) blood [ . . . ] he stands over all these, he is the god of heaven and earth [ . . . ] Blessed be he for ever, Amen Selah. [ . . . ] I adjure you, you, the evil spirit, as the error of the idols, in which there is no substance. That is (to say) that they do not die of death, and do not perish by the angels of destruction, ’ydt I adjure you by the supreme and holy god, [ . . . ] and set apart (?) [ . . . ] his mouth a great word (?) by his will. Amen, Amen, Selah. I adjure you and beswear you, you, the evil spirit, by the name of the great God, by the god of Abraham, by the god of Isaac, by the god of Jacob,1 who rebuked the sea and its banks shook, as it is written: I cleft the sea and its waves roared, the Lord of Hosts is his name (Isaiah 51:15; Jeremiah 31:34). Now he lifted the hearts of the Egyptians towards the sea and they pursued the people (of Israel) up to the sea, and He made an appearance with great wrath over the sea, and they pursued the people up to the sea, and He made an appearance with great wrath over the sea, and they dissolved from His presence, and said in his presence: Not to us, O Lord, not to us (Psalm 115:1) but (?) by your great name, give glory and praise, why should the nations say: Where is our lord, (but) you are our lord. But by your great name I adjure . . . and beswear the evil spirit that has power over Rav Ashi son of Maḥlafta: May you pass away, be transported, be removed, be deported, be banished from Rav Ashi son of Maḥlafta, from this day and for ever. Amen, Amen, Selah.