“As Dry Trees That Have No Fruits” A Mandaean Spell against Childlessness from the Schøyen Collection (MLSC 18, 19)

Abstract

This article publishes the surviving parts of a hitherto unknown Mandaean spell for the protection of a woman from childlessness. The spell has been reconstructed from two fragmentary amulets that were written on lead lamellae in the Sasanid period (MLSC 18 and 19). The overlapping sections of the two amulets show some linguistic differences but are otherwise clearly parallel copies of the same formula. The spell is narrated in the name of Iauar son of Iauar and mentions other figures known from the Mandaean canonical literature. Iauar witnesses the unnatural behavior of the demons, who cause barrenness and infertility by the purloining of male and female seed, and cause infant mortality through acts of demonic violence. The text breaks off at the point where the narrator binds the demons. The formula adds several words to the Mandaic lexicon and a previously unattested form of the 1 c.s. personal pronoun.