Jewish Legal Formulae in the Aramaic Incantation Bowls

Abstract

In the Aramaic incantation bowls there is extensive use of legal formulae known also from rabbinic literature and from archaeological findings. Such formulae can be found in oaths, vows, pronouncements of excommunication and especially pronouncements of divorce. In this article, I shall describe the nature of this common legal language by pointing out verbal parallels in the divorce formulae found in the bowls, the Talmud, and the archaeological findings of divorce documents. I will then suggest what can be learned from these parallels.