The Prayer of Hamnuna Sava

The Prayer of Hamnuna Sava (Tefilat Hamnuna Sava), a two-part mystical prayer that synthesizes magical ritual with liturgical tradition, first appeared in the geonic period. The first part is a Sar Torah (“Prince of the Torah”) ritual preparation—a magical practice that grants a better understanding of Torah—similar to other geonic Hekhalot texts (mystical literature that likely emerged in late talmudic and early geonic Babylonia) and Babylonian amoraic incantation bowls. The second part is an incantation prayer. There are twelve distinct manuscript fragments (from the eleventh to the fourteenth century) of Tefilat Hamnuna Sava found in the Cairo Geniza, which are essentially the same text. These differ from versions found in the Book of the Name (Sefer ha-shem) by Eleazar of Worms (ca. 1176–1238), which was popular among the German Pietists (Ḥasidei Ashkenaz), where the prayer evolved into a recipe for punishing those who harm Israel. Unbracketed ellipses indicate lacunae in the manuscript.