religion 143
their epigraphy the situation of these amulets is somewhat more complex.
Both tablets were inscribed by an aramaean scribe. this is indicated by
the use of the aramaic script, aramaisms in the language, and regional
peculiarities such as mention of the god ashur, who does not appear in
phoenician inscriptions. thus, an aramaean scribe likely copied a Vorlage
written in phoenician and possibly even modified it. Moreover, the incan-
tations were found in a city populated by aramaeans and were therefore
part of the aramaean religion.
tablet i (Kai 232) mentions the god sasam as tutelary deity of the con-
tract, ashur, the chief deity of the pantheon, Baʿal, the wife of horon, the
wife of Baʿal Qdš, as well as two female demons called “the flyer” and “the
strangler.”75
the amulet tablet is perforated at the top presumably to hang it at the
house entrance. on the obverse is the image of a winged sphinx (“the
flyer”) and below it a wolf (“the strangler”) devouring a child. the reverse
shows a striding god (Baʿal?) brandishing an axe in his right hand and
fighting demons. When the amulet was suspended in the house entrance
the two demons, the sphinx and the wolf, probably faced outward while
the god faced inward into the house.
tablet ii’s shorter but contextually more difficult inscription76 men-
tions the god Baʿal and a demon Šyy. in terms of content the inscription
is an incantation against the evil eye. the subject of the evil eye eating
and drinking is already found in the late Bronze age in the northwest
semitic region in an incantation from Ugarit (KtU 1.96).77
this tablet is also perforated so that it could be hung. on its reverse
a human-shaped demon is in the process of devouring a man. this is a
visualization of the demon with the large evil eye, mentioned in the
inscription.
all in all, incantations are only sparsely documented within the ara-
maean culture of syria. this makes the philological edition of the amulet
tablets from arslan tash all the more difficult.
75 First edited in du Mesnil du Buisson 1939a; cf. other editions, especially caquot 1973;
Donner – röllig 3 – 51971–2002: 43–47; röllig 1974: 17–28; id. 2000b; gibson 1982: 82–88;
pardee 1998; conklin 2003; Kutter 2008: 236–245; Berlejung 2010.
76 First edited in caquot – du Mesnil du Buisson 1971; cf. other editions, especially röllig
1974: 28–36; gibson 1982: 88–92; pardee 1998.
77 cf. niehr 2008: 254 (with further literature).