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    14 views11 pages

    The Story of Bguzan Lilith Daughter of Z

    Uploaded by

    Виктория Фар

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    THE STORY OF BGUZAN-LILIT, DAUGHTER OF ZANAY-LILIT* (Corista MULLER-KESsLeR Barun ‘A lurge Mandaic magic bow fiom the Yale Babylonian Collection is re-edited here, since the dis: covery of « parallel Mandaic formula on a lad amulet in the Department of Western Asiatic Ai Ligutes of the British Moseum sheds new light on many passages. The presen article offers new readings and interpretations ofthe inscription with its iniguing story of a demoness of infertility, fone Bguzur-Lilit, who not oaly endangers the life of the children of the house but also wreaks havoc on the whole premises. The most unusual feature of the incantation is thatthe succubus replaces the woman ofthe house. ‘Tue Yau BABYLONIAN COLLECTION HAS in its pos- session an earthenware bow! inseribed with an incanta- tion in a fine Mandate script. The bow! is unusually large, measuring 29.21 x 13,30 em. Raymond P. Dough- ‘erty purchased this bowl in Iraq; its specific provenance remains unknown, Edwin M. Yamauchi published the ‘bowl in 1967 in his revised dissertation, Mandaic In ‘cantation Texts, and republished the bowl subsequently jn the same year as an article, this time with a com: mentary? His readings and interpretation of the in- scription were hampered by the many textual difficulties ‘and by the fact that, in several paris of the bowl, the script is faded. ‘Therefore, most of the text remained incomprehensible, “Twish to thank the Caratorof the Yale ahyioian Colleton, ‘Ulla Kasten, fr er kind permission to publish the photograph of ‘the bow, YBC 2364, A pat of led oll BM 132948 is published With pesnission ofthe Trustees ofthe Bish Museum, My work ‘on ts bowl was made ponsble by Fedor Lyn Fellowship of ‘he Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung. Lam aso indebted to M.J. Geer for his serous help in collating the magic bowl daring his stay at Yale in 1993. The readings ate the soe responsibility of te sathor ‘Thefollowing sbbevitions ae used: APT=Montgomery 1913 C-~ Prower Colleton, Rodan Lieiny, Oxford; 4D = rower ‘and Macuch 1963; MG = Noldeke 1875; MIT'= Yamauchi 1967 ' Specimens of comparable size are known from the magle bose collection of the British Muscam alone. Their prove nance is Kutha, and they have not yet been published 2 Yomauehit tacaliteration and translation of MIT 33 are dential to those in his aticle (1967). Iss Dring prepaation of « catalogue of the world’s larg: est collection of Mandaic lead rolls, that of the De partment of Westem Asiatic Antiquities of the British ‘Museum. a text parallel to the Yale how! was identified by the present anthor on a lead roll (BM 132948). This second inseription, together with the howl text, sheds now light on the understanding of most of the content, although the bowl is in many ways textually superior t0 the lead rol Tsolated elements and even complete formulae can ‘appear in both magic bowls and lead rolls, as has been showa by Greentield nd Nave (1985, 102-4): apart from slight variations, one finds a single incantation Formula in a Mandaic lead roll and on two Babyl Jewish Aramaic bowls.* The seribes who produced such ‘objects presumably drew their texts from & specific cor- us of incantations. ‘To show the similarity between the bowl text nd that of the lead rol, transliterations of both are juxtaposed. ‘The Yale bowl text is presented here with its corrected reading inthe left hand column, The amulet text, which ‘comprises only a third of the 203 lines on the lead sheet, receives full commentary in my forthcoming text edi tions of the lead rolls in the British Museum, 1 Aide tex material is unpolished, xcept 3 few quota: tion io the fotnotes of Lieb (1915). "a tartar upeblished “Syriac” bow! in pot Manichaan secpt rom he Louve incades he sme forsaa ad elaies the iterprettion of some iegUlarvarbs and doubtful ps sages. [shall publish the text in & frbcoming ticle 00 Dowie fom the Lowe Journal of the American Oriental Society 116.2 (1996) Yale YBC 2364 (A) b&iem? d-hyy? rby? sovkryylh mx “ty? dnhwr? ytyry? (2) dlp? bob Sirbdy? owt? whit? wre? kw? wns? 1B OPP reheat oyth Pwr skill \wbyn"yrb vehywnth wasn ynb deproke?d br kwm’y (8) ahve PPoguen “bw ge nd -Dylpvt *1b°b qubry” WIG” rap'bwn daly’ mdm aply? byd'y (5) kaye? 90 whe? Iowans bi Pry Iylyt? Ba! yb? byl? AF rb71 dtgme 4 hy? win yy Swrb't? (6) dy? watlom? wytym Wr HEP degree HEP wan? w'SP9n Surbr? Hy? dtgmrsZhwyhyn dehy O) Weber? NEV Buary Sibi w72Pt wey bt Inerh dy? wrokon? tygPt yeh IE? wl? wixtyn IP br? wytb%e (8) hn Wrsy” mn PK pwhi? d-syqt myn Fer8y? balm rayne! d-dnowe? Klpt Dba? were? (Pr gb oe wibby? d-Swhr In’sgy? bier wewbdy?™ won degbr? Sapot wow? der yy? wg (10) Sim? d-phg? FETPY mn BYP] Bd mbwgr gal? may? why? sdvgP? wy" mighy!™ wna brlyhyn “1 r9 metal? “preg ldybr® gb “gpul (11) BFF? ptr? Snyil npr? [bree] Yag'8? 1 bu? way weygr? wb) Payee OURLah 2a JBUr2)bwe ab” won?t? wg dn dybr? “igyyl w2Pt wt ghr? (12) hye Dbyth 0 7%SREF Boop (9) min th wn? DEwdedy” yb hor? PP way bet ghe? Wonk -gbr? Hrsg? “hdlwn Ibrer? dP mPbdy? bby gb? gytPt wore dSPP (13) bhiyiy? 1b1g"P wmswr wir yee mn hay? wEPTntridln “pyat Dhusy wiwhdy kd m'nzy” gysP? whbyn? sya? TPP man by? F Conventions here ased arly lgibe levers ( 1 = legible letters; = Serial omission; [ BM 132948 obverse (tome dk awe? howl (2) Woyoh (J wl wth X3)8) ibmy'n' wh wtb lon] 8) Ld pyr br Padwkde 2? Mw] () baton Purge dhipy (Tb qwbry? w5l grape" OD deepy’ v? meaty wary (8) layon” “ye 78? Togve(9)>n br’ pren'y (10) bby? don’ dim mgr AAD) kd bew?n yb? pt erty (12) d¥ry°b? vedo bot m(13)°r° dey? ween? Sight (14) myn? Sd h°2°h tem? SQ HCAS myn? mnie d-dmowt? hip(6yt wPmr? 2? mn Sat? pe 17) wba? dIner? P ney 1)h ‘on? gpol mynb woe? BIDDAYY? PF SSbwg hm? L-pLWI20)g nar ra byt? (58). Pump °° bby(S9W? d-p-yr nwkr’y” br *b°nd(6O)vekt WEE Bskpe?. 1d mz? (21) 21K? whe KB? svg? laters above te Hines (..) = adltone inthe ) = superflucus word in the translation plus > translation; MULLER-KESSLER: The Story of Bgucan-Lilit 187 wey??? mglyl? w'yiP (14) Pram 1 [ry min? bby” gbr™ (Tomb wr yh iFag@vn [w\dbw°'yn bhyy? Boglwn w+ sarypl?e quid bowery mP wma heya wpa? mn (18) shy? Abn? Fade) sds? woven? velyly°? Stain Wy? Lbn’y [gpl b? whe’e’y Dilys? Mybgy? 4°6Pt ‘pudih (P-bwor’y mPR d-hbun doe “rarboan mer? bsiry? dywy? whamry wily? dealin ma mT wmpgy? (46) wn? wim DEPP db? “tgyl whe? Bhyy? "bg? [oH BY Fwmepgth wns tgb"g dow” (whgn0Cg yr wemrlivm “29 wpyQP EPP wpb? ‘E-bmyhwn Seten wbn'twn Bhyy? glo a gil (17) moyreyon bcar’y pit n'y yy? ry bbe pwn wmsgrlyP. ib aryth wmsienvt? wed FP born Syn Ebb? werly? wily” Phy? btkly? (18) d-bnyun mypel ai? “mypet bn ym won’o0n bb yen gen (s°4 minh gm Teta" dy? ryan kl wy? wk? Use? ay pt bglym beth d-mry? gh'r? kd y"tb? Hey? wn? wiytyn (19) BPbr7P Serb? we? Pyne imrble why? mL BL... Agewly? gwbq ddyw? ryP in d-kallvon sry? wdswy” wnehy? whwmry? wil? yenly” 4 dy? we In -bven'y MPR @-kulloan lg Bday? 20) d-aydily't wl ap? shypl? Fda? ma mosh? Phypl? wit wre mPhyIl wh? fgmb™ rgyP wn. PE one wrayi-n bkwlyn RE bpwn? wdy “rP) WL kb WL kwlye? hyn dom’pyay myn? gbg dyw? Swe bnb debwarey mPR d- yn (1) thyn leolion homey? wary wdywy? why? anya? na eave wmitg Ly? mn) bk? demps? demn dn? ding? wily? dnp? Pap? prvgh? win Be? d-br? lovke” bow? gor!” sem tyrb? Umer? ry? vedyw? “qty wsylgt girth 22) w°ePe (22) wye? “Er? mont? BRI)? ghr? wey ll {wegh?) (24) wgh?a? “1 bn? won’? deb(25)bye? °F 1 wate vwnp(26)t qwd?n? q-bwien’y Pe 21) wm (aw?) dyw? gwbg how 28) P mtg” damskynt? wig29)ryt? EdDYCY FPL" lal. 130) pyr mekr?y? br °b°ndw Dt wiF bly? wm’ly? wikly 32) went? yi? 85) WP? wEK(36)? Uy? pe en?y pr B17) m DPE denry? gb? d- kd (38) mrbk? bby? (bby?) d-p5yr (39) br 4b? nde weal byw? (40) (wld?) WP? m’ty? gwe'g dyw(4ly? Dr devas? Igt? BC gbKdghy” E4A2)gaely? WT Pap? shyp? (43) wd? ma mh? sPpih? wt (49) pwn? “eet? rhyt? w°pyla) (45) myni gwb%9 dey? (br) dmwe? nylwI(46)? wedhylt? wpswgt? w?P mn (47) IK bok? d-myn"h™ npg wneB)2¢ wesgly? min Wk wk? denpsh? 49) dnp? whwkyt? denptte (30) “ph? pralk? wm Sd? d-b(S1)7° biskr? bywr? gyPril? (52) wo orb? Emr? Ph (53) w0's?9 gtrt? wc 188 Journal of the American Oriental Society 116.2 (1996) qvsdmis d-bwen'y mikyhwn d-kowthan sire? wayuy? why? d-mye? (rpg mesg wm? wk? nypg?t my] kU] wbytt som mood (wdyny nb A proked br kom?y ghr? d-bmb Sygtyl whnth “inks (22) wbr°ynen WPrb°t wawrlg}-yen (23) *sdart mpwrtt? pyrpt Bb yn d- anbry wdinby” weZlt hee abr?) kb?P Dedymikle bet °C] Pbdwn) br°ywn ayil?t wn twn diy’ P SbePutwn whey? wwbdy? imPsgy° Fer? “balwn wing? FPP mn gbr° d- Pmyl? Smynpt dh? “bln brsy? why? pr (IMpy? PP mn (24) gbr° emngr? frymbwn tm kersy? “bd by? APP? mn gbr? tpr> J hrs L Jt? wbl?riy? wewbdy® mm hat? Py? Wb?9? mir? mn Ieriy? w'wbdy? Pst wmngrt “ehwpr winynd'm bbye? Bybq?t kd yt“ 7° gwb°g 5) ry mP Swe buh, d-bvean’y mPkyan d-kvthyn LV yn byPP “bal” 8? 1p? (.... P wm?bdy? wml...) kd pygtynien mn bth d-prwked ‘br kumey "sw? whe tml ibys waders why whyn’ynh d-prwke°d br kwmr’y d-haemry™ sedywy? wohry? wily? whumry? (26) ds SL pryky? wmytayry? uery? wnehrby? by? EL. APA? wmytgyry? bape? wary? wmgry? byt? kd lyn bye kolhyn 2bdyP? bienth aye shit vwnypa?t mn byih d-prwke"a br koum?y kd bry? awr? whd meyP bit? vwlyPn? (27) ray? THA)? fiom Tbyti d-prwke'd br kwm?y [ 1m whys? hyn exterior: BLJ62gu fw [yr] (54) Iquead’me vam nt) Py mPe “Wht? pg? mn bo? d- (66) nor’? br “nave won STAN? Ebnk? dp*yr br “bndeSBynkt Spal d-F°47e bby SO)? pyr nskry? br *bnd(6Owkt wiskd?t Beskope (G1) whye? d-awkr rb? Ld 62) Dsdigh't wpwrtgit? byt? pri63)P1 4 gbr? skb(64y"t wl nit? drier (65) wen? dnt? Sat? g1Pt whn?A1 66) Dy? PP &bg?s “I gbr? mswr61? sam St? [JP ant de (68) fo) at? ra gbr(69)° vwmae dil. J wrmy? TP (70) wrt hy wale mu) gbr? 1y(7)pdwry? SwhdCTa) why? wiangr eh? POE Irie *Dbye? wkd npg?t (TA) myn? wp?s't wmaget skoypt(75)? wmnd-m byt? P Sgt (16) wn pgs myn d-byth depyr kd beth? CTT pwr? wkd mgly°U? POT wiyePa? “I dy? ry? MOLLER-KESSLER: The Story of Bguzan-Lilit [TRANSLATION OF YBC 2368, In the name of the great, alien Life from the out- standing Worlds of Light, which is above all deeds. Healing and sealing and arming of the Truth and the great Guardian of Realty willbe forthe house, the dwelling-place, the residence and the building and the animals and the possessions of FarrukzAd, son of Kumay. Tam Babgun Abugdand who slipped over the door of the graves and over the skulls of the Xalled ones (and) Tom holding in my bands something of the killed ones. I came and found Buznay, daughter of Zanay-Lili® when she was staying inthe house which she demolished, which she destroyed, she and the three hundred sixty tribes belonging to her. And of the three hundred sixty female companions, she isthe one who destroyed, she and her three hundred sixty tribes, she isthe fone who destroyed... of all es female companions, because she, Buznay(-Li- Ti, dwelted in there. And she went and slept with the master of the house and took the semen from him, she and her thee hundred sixty female com- ppanions. And she sat performing sorceries against them; she took (that) semen from him by performing sorceries against them because she had changed her appearance withthe help of magic ats, and she sai: “I shall separate the man from his woman, and 1, with the help of magic facts, shall bind her, and he, with ‘evil’ mechina- tions of the ‘ways, will not be prolific. With the help of sorceries and magic acts, (and) T shall Kall the sons of the man and not Keep alive the daughters of the woman Until the woman will leave the housfe, whille ‘MWGR is shaving her hair and tearing her gar- rent and revealing her evil and putting her hands by their hooks(?) to her head. I shall zo out into the wilderass, I shall kill the man with lst and eal, shall swear to him: “You wil tio her to her (daughters) and you will bewitch fer soas and you will speak and shout and listen tohim with the .... of the sons and ofthe daugh- ters and of the man who were killed from the wil derness.” And sho (Buznay-Lilit) went to the man, . sinned against his house and did wrong against his th(reshold]; she lay with the woman and slept ‘with the man, performing sorceries against the sons of the maa, evil deeds against the daughters ‘of the woman; she killed the sons of the man, and she did not keep alive the daughters of the ‘And strife and contentifon ... from one another and she said to them: “You drove the woman out fof the house by the help of sorceries and evil deeds while she shaved her hair and tore her gar ‘ment and revesled her evil and put both her hands to her (helad.” The man weeps [over his sons and the woman ....] over her daughters because their sons were killed [and] their daughters were not kept ave. And she went and fell before Buznay, the king, and said to him: “Look at me and save me from Sahirs and Devs and Humartas and Lilits who be- came # menace to me because my sons [were Lallled and my daughters were not Kept alive She was received in front of Buznay, the king of all, commanding all Sahirs (and) Déws and Hu- smaras and Lili. With his word and utterances ‘and... and his listening fo the woman whose sons were killed and whose daughters were not kept alive. [....] him and got him out and sent Gulag-Dew, Sahir.... und said to them: “Go and get her out on account of the woman and the msn ‘whose sons Were killed and whose daughters were not Kopt alive, as they were killed by them." Buznay(-Lili), daughter of Zsnay-Lilit, ‘who dwells in their house and callfs herself his [... J, his mishap and poverty and bad Iuck that inhabit their house as they sit mourning and, ‘wailing and moaning, with wailing about their children because of her (and) because their sons and their daughters welte killed) in their houses [....] was destroyed. Gubag-Déw, the head of all,[.. and he came and found Zanay-Lilit, daughter of Baglim, daughter of the mighty lord, when she and her three hundred . sity female companions, her tribes, sat with er, Drecause she knelt and sought to f...-] and to kill ‘7 Names of demons ae transcribed, not wansated. Ip late antiquity they ate to be considered proper zames, having pe sumably lost thelr actual meaning in the magic texts where they are till used. Gubag-Daw, the head of all Sahies and Dews and Ruhas and Humartas and Lilits, And Gubag-Dew (and) “Uz, sons of Buznay, the king of all, are coming t Kill. She is grasped by the bunches 190 Journal of the American Oriental Society 116.2 (1996) 20. of her locks and thrown on her face and tufts of hair are plucked from the top of her head, and she is hit on her mouth and bound on her back and L..-] om her mouth and she is bound by all the ‘molars in her mouth, and her hand is put on her ‘afl bladder] and on her liver and on her kidneys. ‘Those who are brought out from her, Gubag-Dew and) “Us, sons of Burney, the king who judges 21, all Humartas and Sahirs and Dews and Lilts who emerged from her and bawled (like babies). And she drinks [of] her own first-born who is of her ‘own blood, and she delivers her own fetus on ber face, and, as bribery, se ties the first-born to her neck and throws some of his fat into the fire ‘And (so) Dw was killed and his smoke rose up 22, and resched Buznay, the king of all Sahirs and ews and Litits who emerged from her, .... and she is given something to drink and something to eat. She left the residence and the house and the lodgings and the building of Farrukz&d, son of Kuray, the man, whose sons were killed and whose daughters were slaughtered, and she de- rolished their houses and tore 23. their dwellings apart and wreaked havoc in the houses of the men and of the women, and she went and slept with the man and lay’ with the ‘woman and she killed their sons and did not keep alive the daughters, and with many sorceries and magic acts she performs evil practices against them; and because she performs sorceries against them, she brings strife between woman and man, {and} (as) she wishes to separate wornan 24, from man and will bring destruction to them. ‘Then by performing sorceries against them and seeking to separate woman from man {., J she renews the sorceries and magic acts and loys ‘waste in the houses by sorceries and magic acts. She demolished and destroyed the threshold and left nothing behind in the house. When I, Gubag-Dew, 25. the chief angel (and) “Uz, sons of Buznay, the king of all, came against her, she committed these evil deeds, sorceries.... and misdeeds when I drove them out of the house of Fasrak= 28d, son of Kumay, there was healing and sealing for the house, the dwelling and the residence and the building of Farrukzad, son of Kumay. Regarding Humartas and Dews and Sahirs and Lilits and Humertas 26, who dwell on the shrines—which are called Ekurs —and the destroyers of the houses who ... . who are called “curse” and “invocation,” ers of the house.” When all evil deods had been done with her apreement, she boasted with her talk but went out from the house of Farrukzid, son of Kumay, after her throat had been slit {and} her evil had been revealed and her tongue 27. had been tossed onto her breast. Then to the house of Farrakzad, son of Kumay, (....J. Thea [4] the house of Parrukzad, son of Kumay. And Life is victorious over all deeds. ‘exterior: Babgun is [bound] 1. nykryyb is spelled here with the expected w after the m and with f at the end, in contrast to MIT, 33:1, which has nkr?yp. The writing of words like mwkr’yyh and q’do’yyh with b is uite common in such texts, as can be seen from ther bowls (Fitzwilliam Il 1, 45 (collated); BM 117880:11, unpublished) or examples from Head rolls, and similar spellings in the words w°yyb Sinner" and br°yyh “exterior” (Caquot 1972, 74, Ul, 16%, 18%). The spelling ~“yyh represents the plural *-ayy@ of the noun ending with suffix -ay. ‘The standard grammars do not discuss this pho- etic writing, as only the early written material ‘These notes deal only with some of the readings which lifer fom thse of Yarnauelis two editions. * Gordon 1941, 244-45 = MID 2 {magical owls and males) seems to indicete this ending with the eter this fine, the reading of the preposition as Sy'y (MIT, 38:2)is wo be cortected to Tuy” The Introduction, Dsism™ dingy? rby? mwkryyh mn “imy? -nbwr? yey? dlw’y kalo “wha is used as a frequent doxolopial formula in Mian- sic texts. The plural adjestive y°iyry refers to the plural noun “my”, 20 mle? (MIT, 33:2) Jn keeping with the classic Mandsic text, one would expect Pre Phy” diPP, “the great safeguard of stability” (MD, 282) rather than mir? 1 ds? “the great guardian of reality but the introductory formulas in early magic texts tend to hae n°}? (Litzbarski 1909, 352:2) wp 1b? (BM 91708: exterior 1, unpublished). 3. n°hwy is spelled with = instead of y. © sometimes replaces y to indicate the vowel i in Mandac MULLER-KessLin: The Story of BguzancLilit wt ‘The writer of this bowl made frequent use of this vowel indicator ‘The spelling, byn”>mk (aot byny7nb (MIT, 33:2), like gym’ynl, seems 10 be a seribal error. After byr'ynh comes whywnth “is animals,” a comupted spelling af Fywnyth, not bynth (MIT, 33:2), Animals are mentioned quite frequently in the sequence of the client's dwelling places and possessions The personal name kwin?y is attested here for the second time. From Pognon (1894, Il 18, 21) Joomy is known as the name of a client's mother: wk nwbke pt kms. Ia only one other instance ‘on a Mandaic bowl does kym’y appeat as a female client's name: km pe xdehorg (BM 91779:1 [unpublished 4, The clearly legible b°Dgwn, “Bubgua,” not r°b- gon (MIT, 33:4), is the epithet of the storyteller, “bwed’n’. Babgun itself is not yet known from the late incantation Iiterature of Mesopotamia, Only the term °bygdn” is encountered in Man- éaic bowls (eg, Lidzbarski 1902, bow 5:1) an in the Babylonian Jewish Aramaic variant bydr ills 1853, bowl :4).° ‘The root mtr in the po“el is closer in meaning to Akkadian falapu, “to slip under, over” than to Mandaic “to pass by: 5. “yrand “pt (lead roll, 8) are well known vari- tant spellings of the verb rv “to come.” The expression “1t w°vkr°, “T came and found her.” is a typical phrase in Mandaic magic texts to in troduce @ story about demons. Cf. tye w7A7th (ideberski 1909, 352:8/9); yt w°8'y'n0n, “TL came and found them’ (Naveh 1975, 48). [n cox trast to the text here, the storyteller in most ‘other exses remains anonymous. Calling the demoness of infertility bw.r"y fy instead of Bewz'n yy as in ts parallel (lead rol 1. 8-9) seems to be a scribal eror, as bw21"y is employed as an epithet for her master bwzn’y mE (eI. 14, 19). Moreover a Nippur bowl mentions Byzn'y fyiy? and bwen’y mP% (ATT, 40;17, 18) ia the same phrase The bowl BM 91724 (© Budge 1908, 113 = MIT, 28) has @ male demon bwor'y mP’IP (L 6), but two unpublished British Museum bowls from Kutha have bwzr"y as a female demon, “yr? bwzr’y “bound is Buznay" (BM 91775:10, exterior L. 3; BM 917796), ‘The demon name, zy Iyly?, also occurs in a Nippur bowl (AIT, 38:5, emended reading). 9 See also below, note 16 Although the story ia the bowl is told in the perfect tense, the durative state in the subelauses Jgytn? and yt is correctly expressed by an ac: tive participle or present participle.” ‘The text reads bbyld)? d-A¥ rb", not. (MrT, 335), Instead of “igmr*t, the parallel text has Som’ng”r ead roll, 1 10). The verbal root mG is new to the Mandaic lexicon, but well attested as MOK “to destroy” in Babylonian Jewish Aramaic and Sy inc. MGR, the dissimilated form of Mow, ean be compared to other dissimiated verbs in Mandaic such a HMBL, ANGR, SNDR, und RNDD. “imng’r is a tied person masculine singular perfect it- pa‘al, In line 24 and in the lead roll lines 72, 74, mgr, third person feminine singular per- fect pa‘el of the same verb is used. The bowl text has a clear g, not ¢ (MIT; 33:6). An active participle peel of the verb wm makes no sense this context. The meaning of mngr"t, “she destroyed” parallels p°s%, “she demolished.” 7. The bowl text makes use of the perfect instead of the active participle which isthe usual form in the lead roll, e.g, tbh and d-Pry°b? lead roll 12) Note that the scribe of the bowl added a °2/"t before wdymk 8, hn” here means “semen,” as is clear from an- ‘other similar text on a lead roll: ¢©yr°yw p'sg?? moywn “she removes their semen from them” (BM 1358001 obv. Il. 19/20" [unpublished In connection with this line, compare the pas- sage, w'syr? “str? d-y"Hb? bgbry? dsygqry? mapt d-dnwr? hip, “and bound is “Astara, who stays the graves of sigriya while(?) changing her appearance” (lead roll BM 132954 rev. Il 12-14 [unpublished)) Instead of “kiyp (MIT, 33:8), read ptt, “Tshall separate” The right curved half of the fis visi bie, and the original bow! shows traces of a full + (collated). 9, The expression “bye? d-“whr’t, “the machina- tions of the ways” is obscure. There can be no doubt about the reading, bhyy? Fsbyoq. “T shall not keep alive.” Cf, the mean: ingless “yy? !“idwm (MIT, 38:9). So s demon, idivm, suggested by Macuch'" and laer discussed boy Fauth,! does not exist in this ext. The same expression is repeated later in different tenses dah MG, 374 "Apu Yamauchi 1967, 59. "2 Fant 1986, 82. Journal of the American Orientat Society 116.2 (1996) and persons corresponding to “T shall ill” in the following Hines: bhc)y" Lityb'q’"P, “she did not keep alive” (. 13); bhyy? "bg? “she does not keep alive.” bhyy? Is baglwn, “they were not kept alive” (L. 16); bkyy? PSbq°tiwn, *she did not keep them alive” (1.23). This line was miscead by Yamauchi (MIT, 3:10) although it is quite fegible. sdyg?? from the root ‘S09, “To tear garments ete.” is common in Man. dic, A plural variant, Aydw"r, is attested in Mandaie, but the masculine singular form, kbyn” for Bn? (lead roll |. 21) “belt” “garment” is new for the dialect. The g in mgly!? is smudged. There is some difficulty in the interpretation of the following passage (the same phrase is re- peated in line 13). It is still not quite clear in Which way the hands are put to the head, since wwe have no illustration ia the bowls of this pre- cise gesture, In the parallel passage, the word, btlyhyn, is replaced by £°rthn. For the oceurrence of #*h° wplPr? and the mean. ing “lust and passion," see Navel 1975, 48; and further in the Iate version of the incantation, Shaita q-Pisha q-Ainia (DC 21), yh? pyr? (Drower 1933-38, 5) ‘The writing 6r°sy17th must be a scribal error: ‘such a root does not exist in Mandaic. Only #° gyt°Us from swr “to listen,” “to hear” makes sense in this connection. The following two words can: not be made out clearly, which makes under- tanding of the rest of the line difficult. ‘The boginning of line 12 is parallel to lines 58~ 60 in the lead rol For the attestation of the word pait_mswi? wine), cf. the incantation Shafts ¢-Pishra Ainia (DC 21), Drower 1937-38, 6) line 708 gr? wmswi imi°k*is translated here, "king” rather than “angel,” despite the orthography, since ber") must in this context be a higher demon; see above the descrip- tion of Abugdna presiding over al the demons. In line 22, Buznay is called mlkyhwr, “their king.” Jnvzy’n and pwerg?n are good examples of peal Imperatives with the object suffix of the first pee= son singular. ‘The wading, d-bnyhwn d-g¢ hn by” Whgbwn, comesponds to line 16, parallel, “gel, aban 16. 18, 19. interchange of 1 and » is a frequent phenomenon in Mandsic. ‘This line reads gib¢ dyw? (wlewb("Ig shyr in contrast to the following lines 19 and 20 which hhave gwb7a dyw? Swa wt? wmihy” are two parallel sctive participles comparable to line 19, °ty? wmygpyly. Wis likely that the scribe omitted here the expected bury Iylyt pt as in the parallel text which has lst? pe Zr°y (1. 36). Otherwise one is forced to assume that another Lilit arrives on the scene. Delym, or as written in the lead roll (Il, 36-37) bigl'm, might be connected with the disease b7ig’m, coming from the Greek word, @iéyHa. I is quite usual for a demon to be given the name of a disease. Seizing an underworld god or demon by its hair is an old idea. In the Mesopotamian myth of [Nergal and Eretkigal, Fretkigal, the Lady of the Netherworld, is torn by her hair from the throne. ‘This image persists end is found in several late in- ccantetion formulas. Gordon published x Mandaic bow! with the following phrase: shytynyn nsy bynyn Bday? dene nzy’yhyn derys-yhyn wepergly? amwh?yn, “they are seized, taken by the tufts of halr of their heads and the tresses of zheit pates”” (Gordon 1937, 96). It also appears in a similar text mgrymyn b'dgy” d-eydhwhy?oyn, “they are bound by the tresses of their plats” (Lidzbarski 1902, bowl 2:7). Another example comes from ‘Babylonian Jewish Aramaic bowl: biO° FO nggyt Dsys-othon ebomny tmny bedylohwn, “seven times seven T grasped them by their tosses and eight times by their plats” (Smelik 1978, 176). lar expressions appoar in the Mandaie howls in ‘MIT, but Yamauchi did not understand this Hine. No singulere tantum is known for IPR “molar.” ‘The singular must be a mistake for hy? ayg (ead rol, Il 4748, reads 727g), an af“el active participle from aroot zoc, is not yet attested in Mandaie. In Syriac it means either “to ring, sound” or “to shout, baw.” One has to assume in {his context that Dew is erying like a newborn baby. According to the Iead roll text (Il. 46~48) Buznay-Lilit eats and drinks from her first-born ‘Suh (MIT, 33:15) is to be read “dh, al- though the verb derives from StiiM “to fight”; the "Ck Gurney 1960, 126, cok vill 31,33 ie-barsima na uprith.. ipba-si-ma [ina ab)-bu-u--5a, “be seized hee by her coir... he seized er (by) er tresses.” 'S Noe thatthe reprinted text in Yamauchi 19674, 222-24 up, 2116 oes not indicate the actual line numbering ofthis bowl MULLER-Kessucr: The Story of Bgucam-Lilit 193 (Dew) before she gives birth to him. Ibis unclear ‘what is meant b fon her face” and why “ first born to her neck.” The noun, ger, with the third person masculine singular suflix, must be a feminine noun grt? derived from the root rR “to smoke,” “to light incense.” A feminine variant occurs only in the Wostem Aramaic dialect of Palestinian Jewish Aramaic: ANUP (Sokoloff 1990, 489), 22, Read mwkayh, not mkny” (MIT, 33:22). The usual form would be the defectively spelled kn’, ‘which occurs rarely in the sequence of the cl ent’s dwelling-places and possessions. There are fonly a few altostations from magic texts, one from bow! (Pognon 1898, bow! 10:2) and oth- xs from lead rolls (Lidzbarski 1909, 364:189): ‘minh. Two further examples come from unpub- Fished smmulets (BM 135848 aby: IL 56-37) mx and (BM 132949 rev. 1. 43) mn “she delivers her own embryo bribery, she ties her ‘The text under discussion here tells a magic story Which focuses on four major demon figures. The first figure is the storyteller, one Babgun Abugdani, who is either a kind of higher being or a demon leader, slip- ping over the door of graves, over skulls, and having a hold over the bodies of the dead, Abugdana himself is a well-known figure in the magic literature of late an tiquty and represents a high-ranking demon." Babgun Abugdind speaks about himself in the first person sin {gular and then tells about the misdeeds of Buznay (Bguzan)-Lilit and her helpers, her tribes, and her fe sale friends T6 That he presides ove other demons is clear from the ‘contents of severl incantations on bows in Mandtic, Babylo nian Jewish Aramaic, and Syrie where be scaled “Bugdn? lke d-dywy? ust? 1b? Gvthyn BPP Mandi, Lide- ‘arnki 1902, 5:1); bmn? Le ely? wily? rb? lye? (Mandsic, BM. 10383834 [unpoblished); “bade? mln dry? wl ? ey? (Mandaic, BM 917601 3 funpablished)), eda? mln diy wddywy wip? rb dhisth (Babylonian Jewish Aramaic, BM 917104, revised reading of the orginal = BINS 1853, 314; tho readings given bby Lewy 1885, 514 are also incorrect); and jd? mI? 1b? vaSie? (Syriac, Gignoax 1986, 133) The raan ieaning ‘of abugdand/bgdr? was recently analyzed by Shakod in an stele on various demon names of Irian origin occurting in Aramaic magic tens (1985, 514-20)

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