Late Antique Syro-Palestinian Amulets

Babylonian incantation texts from late antiquity far outnumber extant Palestinian incantation texts. Nevertheless, the Jews of Roman Palestine had their own amulet tradition. Palestinian amulets, most of which date from the fourth to seventh centuries CE, were written on thin plaques of metal and were then rolled up and worn as phylacteries on the body or placed in private homes or synagogues. The medium of metal and the fact that the amulets were meant to be worn may explain the fragmentary nature of the surviving texts.