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Rare Magic Inscription on Human Skull
Biblical Archaeology Review 35:02 ^
| Mar/Apr 2009
| Dan Levene
Posted on 03/01/2009 5:44:01 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Only five skulls inscribed with Jewish Aramaic magic incantation texts have come to light, none from professional excavations. Like the others before it, this skull, acquired by collector Shlomo Moussaieff, raises more questions than it answers. Its relationship to the more common genre of incantation bowls and its use in a rite of magic seem clear enough. But until more information emerges, basic questions -- how this skull was used, for whom, by whom and for what reason -- remain unanswered. [Ardon Bar Hama] |
![TinyPic](http://i40.tinypic.com/et8j9k.jpg) |
The Moussaieff incantation skull arrived in two earthenware bowls that form a container. The bowls themselves are not inscribed. It appears that the skull and bowls constituted a single ritual object, with the inscribed skull as the magical focal point. [Ardon Bar Hama] |
"By Means Of A Skull." It is difficult to write on the idiosyncratic surface of a skull; reading a skull inscription can be equally difficult. Like the inscriptions on incantation bowls, the skull text is surrounded by a squiggly line. Although the inscription on the Moussaieff skull is very hard to decipher, one thing is clear: It contains names of people for whom the incantation was made. One of the names, Shilta, is derived from an Aramaic word meaning "after-birth." The skull itself was probably that of a woman. The exact manner in which this skull was used, however, remains a mystery. A contemporaneous source, the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 65b, offers a possible clue: "There are two kinds of necromancy: the one where the dead is raised by naming him, the other where he is invoked by means of a skull." [Andy Vowles] |
(Excerpt) Read more at bib-arch.org ...
TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: freepun; godsgravesglyphs; skullandbones
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1
posted on
03/01/2009 5:44:02 PM PST
by
SunkenCiv
To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; 31R1O; ...
2
posted on
03/01/2009 5:44:51 PM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/____________________ Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
To: SunkenCiv
3
posted on
03/01/2009 5:47:10 PM PST
by
dware
(3 prohibited topics in mixed company: politics, religion and operating systems...)
To: SunkenCiv
Thanks. I cancelled my subscription to BA.
4
posted on
03/01/2009 5:51:46 PM PST
by
blam
To: SunkenCiv
To: SunkenCiv
6
posted on
03/01/2009 5:56:52 PM PST
by
ForGod'sSake
(We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately. - B.Franklin)
To: ForGod'sSake; The Spirit Of Allegiance
Hairoglyphs???
...and if the dead guy's name was Ken, we could say we read ken...
7
posted on
03/01/2009 6:10:17 PM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/____________________ Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
To: blam
My pleasure. The article is bigger than those captions shown, but I wanted to use ‘em, and was having a aneurysm trying to get the three images to line up right, so I just said, well, something naughty, and did some resizing, cutting, pasting, and stuff.
8
posted on
03/01/2009 6:12:01 PM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/____________________ Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
To: mkmensinger
The worst part is, the guy actually had the inscription done *before* he died — talk about taking the concept of tattooing way too far...
;’)
9
posted on
03/01/2009 6:12:58 PM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/____________________ Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
To: SunkenCiv
There is article online by a guy who became a 33rd degree Mason and during the banquet they drank wine out of old skulls....the man said two former Presidents were there...hmmmm.
10
posted on
03/01/2009 6:21:19 PM PST
by
Kackikat
To: SunkenCiv
Just to place this in context. This was not an authorized Jewish practice, ever. Rather, this was a pagan magical practice that some Jews succumbed to, although the Rabbis tried to quash it — and eventually succeeded in quashing it.
The quotations from the Talmud are not Jewish law. Rather, the Rabbis were simply reporting the kinds of nefarious behaviors that were practiced, but they condemned and tried to stop.
11
posted on
03/01/2009 6:25:32 PM PST
by
ChicagoHebrew
(Hell exists, it is real. It's a quiet green meadow populated entirely by Arab goat herders.)
To: Kackikat
Hey, as long as there’s no live monkeys and chopsticks involved, I’m cool.
12
posted on
03/01/2009 6:29:48 PM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/____________________ Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
To: ChicagoHebrew; SJackson
13
posted on
03/01/2009 6:30:44 PM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/____________________ Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
To: SunkenCiv; ForGod'sSake; Rennes Templar; LexBaird; lowbridge; trooprally; Larry Lucido; ...
"Only five skulls inscribed with Jewish Aramaic magic incantation texts have come to light"
Hairoglyphs???
This skulduggery and Skull-and-Bones stuff...
Like everything else...
it's...
Bushmen's fault!
(Sorry. A little.)
Pun for All and All for Pun....
Funners & Punners &
Photoshoppers & Parodies Ping!
(see keyword FReePun)
If you want either on or off
this family-safe occasional ping list,
you must be out of your minds....
Let me know of any appropriate candidate threads.
I don't ping the list to threads that are sacreligious or tacky or seem likely to become so.
(on or off requests: FReepmail, enclosing a nominal $217.95 list processing fee).
14
posted on
03/01/2009 6:31:09 PM PST
by
The Spirit Of Allegiance
(Public Employees: Honor Your Oaths! Defend the Constitution from Enemies--Foreign and Domestic!)
To: The Spirit Of Allegiance; SunkenCiv
Hair today ....gone .......
15
posted on
03/01/2009 6:37:51 PM PST
by
Daffynition
("Beauty is in the sty of the beholder." ~ Joe 6-pack)
To: The Spirit Of Allegiance
This barely scrapes the surface...
16
posted on
03/01/2009 6:38:17 PM PST
by
tubebender
(99% of Lawyers give the rest a bad name...)
To: The Spirit Of Allegiance
TRANSLATION: “His mother told him to become a doctor, but did his listen? Nooooo...”
17
posted on
03/01/2009 6:38:45 PM PST
by
Slings and Arrows
("0bama talks, tanking stocks!"--WakeUpAndVote)
To: SunkenCiv; blam; The Spirit Of Allegiance
Keep this away from the O. He, or his cabal, needs no more tallymans to work his cabala.
This is not a reference to my tagline.
18
posted on
03/01/2009 6:45:44 PM PST
by
bigheadfred
(Negromancer !!! RUN for your lives !!!)
To: Slings and Arrows
I think it contains bowling scores.
19
posted on
03/01/2009 6:47:05 PM PST
by
Eleutheria5
(www.publishedauthors.net/benmaxwell/index.html. Donate to members.tripod.com/tva_israel/HOME.HTM)
To: tubebender
Just older version of Blackberry, when you run out of paper...
20
posted on
03/01/2009 6:49:30 PM PST
by
Leo Carpathian
(fffffFRrrreeeeepppeeee-ssed!)
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