CONTROLLING DEMONS

Magic and Rituals in the Jewish Tradition from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Cairo
Genizah
Emma Abate

Armand Colin | « Revue de l’histoire des religions »

2013/2 Volume 230 | pages 273 - 295

ISSN 0035-1423
ISBN 9782200928643
This document is the English version of:

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Emma Abate, « Contrôler les démons », Revue de l’histoire des religions 2013/2
(Volume 230), p. 273-295.
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Translated from the French by Cadenza Academic Translations
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 EMMA ABATE
EA 4116 [Knowledge and Practices from the Middle Ages to the Nineteenth Century]
École pratique des Hautes Études, Paris

Controlling Demons
Magic and Rituals in the Jewish Tradition
from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Cairo Genizah

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This paper examines ritual texts of Jewish origin and antidemonic
purpose, dating from the Hellenistic period to the Early Middle Ages.
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Distinctive features of exorcist prophylaxis are described, taking into ac-

count formulae belonging to different contexts: instructions included in the
Greek Magical Papyri, apotropaic prayers from the Dead Sea Scrolls, and
fragments from the Cairo Genizah. Thanks to the analysis of traditional
material that was codified under Second Temple Judaism, it is possible to
indicate some formal patterns of texts and practices of demon expulsion
existing for many centuries in Judaism across a wide area of the eastern
Mediterranean.

Contrôler les démons. Formules magiques et rituelles dans la tradition

juive entre les sources qumrâniennes et la Genizah

Cet article examine des pratiques d’écriture rituelle d’origine juive des-
tinées à des prophylaxies antidémoniaques et qui s’étendent de l’époque
hellénistique au Moyen Âge. En comparant des formules provenant de
sources diverses, notamment des instructions tirées de Papyrus Magiques
Grecs, des prières apotropaïques qumrâniennes et des fragments de la
Genizah du Caire, apparaissent des traits distinctifs de la procédure exor-
ciste. À travers l’analyse d’un patrimoine traditionnel qui fut codifié dans
le judaïsme du Second Temple, il est possible de décrire des schémas
récurrents d’expulsion démoniaque qui traversent les siècles dans une zone
assez vaste de la Méditerranée orientale.
 This study aims to analyze various types of documents from
Mediterranean and Eastern Jewish tradition, showing ritual writ-
ing practices intended to control invisible beings known as shedim
(demons) and ruhot (spirits).
Writing appears as an extremely powerful and effective tool in
exorcisms and exorcist prophylaxis. The documents studied include
apotropaic prayers, spells, and instructive texts from domestic,
didactic, or liturgical contexts. The features of such texts reflects
the diversity of situations in which these practices were used from
the Hellenistic period to the Middle Ages, although it is difficult to
reach definitive conclusions, because of the fragmentation of the

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sources, and due to temporal and spatial unknowns. From their form
and structure, it is clear that the sources belong to a multisecular
traditional heritage, formed during Second Temple Judaism (from
the sixth century BC to the first century AD), which remained stable
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and almost unchanged for centuries.

The aim here is to show both the differences and the continuities
within this type of text. Firstly, this study will examine two cases of
Judeo-Hellenistic instructions preserved in the Greek Magical Papyri
(Papyri Graecae Magicae, hereafter PGM)1 (second century AD).
These are the fullest sources which remain from late Antiquity.2 By
examining them, it is possible to reconstitute the phases of exor-
cism rituals, and to describe the structure of antidemonic conjuring.
After explaining these elements, we will compare them to less com-
plete and more fragmentary sources from earlier Jewish tradition.
We will also examine fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls found
at Qumran,3 which contain hymns and texts in Hebrew and Aramaic
dating from the first century BC to the first century AD.

1. Corpus of papyri compiled from the second to the fifth centuries, containing
magic spells for various occasions; see Karl Preisendanz, Papyri Graecae Magicae:
Die Griechischen Zauberpapyri (Stuttgart: In aedibus B.G. Teubneri, 1973-1974)
and Hans Dieter Betz, The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, including the
Demotic Spells (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986), 41-48.
2. Specifically, PGM 4:1227-1264 and 4:3007-3086.
3. Maurice Baillet, Discoveries in the Judean Desert VII, Qumrân Cave 4.III
(4Q482-4Q520) (Oxford: Clarendon, 1982), 215-262; Esther Chazon et al, eds.,
Discoveries in the Judean Desert XXIX, Qumran Cave 4.XX: Poetical and Liturgical
Texts, Part 2 (Oxford: Clarendon 1999), 367-378; Florentino García Martínez,
 CONTROLLING DEMONS III

From the ancient to the medieval period, the presence of magical

practices for controlling demons and spirits is above all evident in
archaeological finds, such as tools for domestic protection, includ-
ing the Babylonian magic bowls (fourth to seventh centuries),4
and (in indirect documentation) Judeo-Hellenistic, rabbinical, and
mystical writings.5 Although we lack direct sources about exor-
cism rituals, there seems to be a direct line of continuity between
medieval sources from the Cairo Genizah6 and the tradition from
late Antiquity. I will conclude this paper by examining two unusual
fragments (held at the Oxford Bodleian Library) of exorcism rituals
from the Genizah magic manuscripts, which can be dated back to
the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. These show both continuity and
change in this genre, within the medieval Judeo-Egyptian context.7

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I will begin with an initial introduction to the nature of demons
and to Jewish imagery about demons and magic.

Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar, and Adam S. van der Woude, Discoveries in the Judean
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Desert XXIII, Qumran Cave 11.II: (11Q2-18, 11Q20-31) (Oxford: Clarendon

1998), 181-205; Esther Eshel, “Genres of Magical Texts in the Dead Sea Scrolls,”
in Die Dämonen-Demons: Die Dämonologie der israelitisch-jüdischen und
früchristlichen Literatur im Kontext ihrer Umwelt, ed. Armin Lange, Hermann
Lichtenberger, and K. F. Diethard Römheld (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003).
4. Joseph Naveh and Shaul Shaked, Amulets and Magic Bowls: Aramaic
Incantations of Late Antiquity (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, Hebrew University,
1985); Joseph Naveh and Shaul Shaked, Magic Spells and Formulae: Aramaic
Incantations of Late Antiquity (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, Hebrew University,
1993).
5. Philip S. Alexander, “Incantations and Books of Magic,” in The History of
the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C-135 A.D.), ed. Emil Schürer
(Edinburgh: Clark, 1986), 3:342-379; Gideon Bohak, Ancient Jewish Magic. A
History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 70-142.
6. The term genizah refers to a storeroom in a synagogue where all kinds of
written sources in Hebrew are kept. These sources are no longer usable, but can-
not be destroyed, because they may contain letters of the divine name and because
Hebrew language and writing are considered sacred. While the genizot in other syn-
agogues have been emptied periodically, the genizah of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in
Fustat (Old Cairo) has conserved its treasure of manuscripts, which grew and was
enriched from the eleventh to the nineteenth century. See: Solomon D. Goitein,
A Mediterranean Society. The Jewish Community of the World as Portrayed in
the Documents of the Cairo Genizah (Berkeley: University of California Press,
1967-1993), 1:1-15; Stefan Reif, A Jewish Archive from Old Cairo: The History of
Cambridge University’s Genizah Collection (London, 2000), 1-14; Adina Hoffman
and Peter Cole, Sacred Trash: The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza (New
York: Nextbook, 2011).
7. Cf: ms Heb. e. 44, ff. 78-79 and ms Heb. f. 61, ff. 40-41, in Adolf Neubauer
and Arthur E. Cowley, Catalogue of the Hebrew Manuscripts in the Bodleian
Library (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906), 2:65 and 2:336.
 IV EMMA ABATE

Demons in Jewish Imagery and the Magical Tradition

Ancient and Medieval Jewish thought is highly ambivalent

regarding the use of magic as a whole, and demonological ritu-
als in particular, despite their appearing in the list of forbidden
magical practices in Deuteronomy 18: 9-15, Leviticus 19: 26, and
Numbers 23:23.
Classical, biblical, and Talmudic texts show the belief in spirits
and demons. Shedim, ruhot, Lilith, ‘Aza’zel, and rebel angels are
first seen in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms.8
The belief in a hierarchical universe which works through the
intervention of cosmic powers dependent upon the divine will came
into Second Temple Judaism via Persian contamination.9 In this

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view, the world is seen as a complex inhabited by angelic, infer-
nal, and demonic forces, which are responsible for its different
processes. Demonology mostly developed during the Hellenistic
period, during the transition of the Jewish magical texts from oral
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to written form. The authors of these texts, who mostly belonged to

scribal or rabbinic tradition, claimed to be professionals in magic.10
The Writings, apocryphal literature, and the texts found at Qumran
contain the first references to demonic figures, including the most
known and feared among them, such as Satan, Belial, Asmodeus,
Samael, and Mastema,11 who compete, across various traditions, for
the position of lords and sovereigns over the infernal legions. In
addition to this, new categories emerge, such as the “bastard” spirits

8. See in particular Leviticus 16:8, 10, 26; Deuteronomy 32:17; 1 Samuel

19:8; Isaiah 34:14; and Psalm 91:6 and 106:37. See also Philip S. Alexander, “The
Demonology of the Dead Sea Scrolls,” in The Dead Sea Scrolls After Fifty Years:
A Comprehensive Assessment, ed. Peter W. Flint, James C. Vander Kam (Leiden:
Brill, 1998-1999), 2:331-353; Dan Ben Amos, “On Demons,” in Creation and Re-
creation in Jewish Thought. Festschrift in Honor of Joseph Dan on the Occasion
of his Seventieth Birthday, ed. Rachel Elior and Peter Schäfer (Tübingen: Mohr
Siebeck, 2005), 27-37.
9. Paolo Sacchi, Storia del Secondo Tempio. Israele tra VI secolo a. C e I secolo
d.C. (Torino: Società editrice internazionale, 2002), 143 and 148-156.
10. Bohak, Ancient Jewish Magic, 135-144.
11. For references to Satan, see Job 1:6-2:10 and 1 Enoch 53:3 and 54:6 (cf.
James H. Charlesworth, ed., The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1, Apocalyptic
Literature and Related Works (New York: Doubleday, 1983), 37-38; for Asmodeus,
cf. Tobit 3:8-17; Belial appears in the Book of Jubilees 1:20 and 15:33, Samael in
3 Baruch and 3 Enoch 14:2 (see Charlesworth, The Old Testament, 1:223-315 and
1:653-678). It should be noted that 3 Enoch is much later than the other sources.
 CONTROLLING DEMONS V

of Qumranian sources,12 and evil spirits called maziqin, first seen in

the Mishnah (Avot 5:6).
The beings which inhabit the upper and lower spheres of the
divine realm are highly prevalent in various literary traditions, with
progressive change in their profiles and roles: their power to interact
with men and their autonomy from the divine being increase.13 The
horde of angels watches over the astral bodies, meteorological con-
ditions, natural order and well-being, and social change. The legions
of demons and spirits influence the world of men and can take over
the bodies of natural elements, animals, or plants, thus endangering
their physical health, and even corrupting them.14 Together, these
groups also include foreign divinities from polytheistic traditions,
reclassified as demons or planetary spirits.15

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Despite the clear analogies with Neoplatonic representations,
Jewish tradition reinterprets cosmology and the Hellenistic panthe-
ons, dismissing their incompatible elements. The will of the only
creator God is unquestioned, and the celestial or infernal beings,
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despite having supernatural powers and prerogatives resembling

those of God, cannot be placed on the same level as the divine
being.16
Certain basic elements of this thought on demons appeared in
apocryphal, apocalyptic, and Enochian texts, and remained con-
stant in later tradition. A legend first appearing in the Book of the
Watchers tells of the creation of demons and evil spirits, and their
angelic origins (1 Enoch 6-8): demons parted from angels after
rebelling against God and falling to Earth, then the nephilim (giants)
were born of a union of the fallen angels with women.17 In particu-
lar, the story of the fallen angel ‘Aza’zel, chained up and imprisoned

12. Alexander, “The Demonology,” 331-353.

13. Saul M. Olyan, A Thousand, Thousands, Served Him: Exegesis and the
Naming of Angels (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1993); Nathaniel Deutsch, Guardians
of the Gate, Angelic Vice Regency in Late Antiquity (Leiden: Brill, 1999).
14. Joshua Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk
Religion (London: Behrman’s Jewish Book House, 1939), 25-77.
15. Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic, 44-60; Bohak, Ancient Jewish Magic, 247-257.
16. Rebecca Macy Lesses, Ritual Practices to Gain Power: Angels, Incantations
and Revelations in Ancient Jewish Mysticism (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press
International 1998), 36-55.
17. Charlesworth, The Old Testament, 15-16. Archie T. Wright, “Evil Spirits
in the Second Temple Judaism: The Watcher Tradition as a Background to the
Demonic Pericopes in the Gospels,” Henoch 28 (2006): 141-159.
 VI EMMA ABATE

in the infernal abyss by the angel Raphael, becomes a paradigm and

(as we will see later in this paper) appears in antidemonic rites.18
The human heroes described in these works are chosen people,
who through secret practices manage to enter into contact with the
angelic or demonic powers, for purposes ranging from the prophetic
to the divinatory or the therapeutic.
A passage from Flavius Josephus, which lists the positive effects
of these forms of knowledge on humans, encapsulates the benevo-
lent attitude of Hellenized Judaism in the first century towards mag-
ical specialists:
God also enabled him [Solomon] to learn that skill which expels
demons, which is a science useful and sanative to men. He composed
such incantations also by which distempers are alleviated. And he left

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behind him the manner of using exorcisms, by which they drive away
demons, so that they never return (Antiquities of the Jews VIII, 45).19

Certain heroes from biblical tradition (for example, Noah, David,

and Solomon) are said to have obtained esoteric knowledge during
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meetings with supernatural figures.20 The composition of the secret

texts to which aspiring theurgists must have referred for magical
practices is attributed to these heroes.21 From late Antiquity and in
Hekhalot literature,22 they become associated with the main figures
in rabbinic tradition, Rabbi ‘Aqivah and Rabbi Yishma’el, who lived
between the first and second centuries.
Talmudic literature, particularly haggadic sources, is more pre-
cise concerning the nature of spirits and demons, while confirming

18. See 1 Enoch 10 (cf. Charlesworth, The Old Testament, 17).

19. Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews VIII, trans. William Whiston
(Digireads.com, 2010), 247, www.digireads.com.
20. See Roy Kotansky, “Greek Exorcistic Amulets,” in Ancient Magic and
Ritual Power, ed. Marvin Meyer and Paul Mirecki (Leiden: Brill, 1995), 257 and
270-271.
21. Theodore Schrire, Hebrew Amulets: Their Decipherment and Interpretation
(London: Routledge & K. Paul 1966), 110.
22. The first mystical tradition of Judaism, which tells of the celestial ascen-
sions of legendary rabbis, their meetings with the angels, and the magical tech-
niques for use in making the journey and returning to the earthly world; cf. Karl
Erich Grözinger, “The Names of God and the Celestial Powers: Their Function
and Meaning in the Hekhalot Literature,” in Proceedings of the First International
Conference of the History of Jewish Mysticism, ed. Joseph Dan (Jerusalem: The
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1987), 53-69; Rachel Elior, “Mysticism, Magic,
and Angelology: The Perception of Angels in Hekhalot Literature,” Jewish Studies
Quarterly 1 (1993-1994): 3-53.
 CONTROLLING DEMONS VII

already-established categories and hierarchies. Spirits are seen

as integral parts of divine creation: their numbers are constantly
increasing, and they are even represented as more numerous than
men.23 The best-known legend concerning their origins depicts them
as beings created on the last day of Creation who were left evanes-
cent and incomplete by God on the coming of the Sabbath.24 Evil
spirits are generally seen as the souls of the godless dead. Along
with the evil eye, they are depicted as the main causes of night-
mares, illness, social disorder, and the disgraces that infect everyday
communal life.25 Although they are invisible, they can be met or
summoned. They may attack at certain times of day (dawn, sunset,
or night), at times of crisis, at certain moments in life (birth, illness,
or burial), or in certain places where they reside or gather (such as

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ruins, isolated places, wells, bodies of water, or streams).26
In the Sanhedrin (Treatise X of the Talmud)27 demonological
magic, forbidden to members of the community by the decree issued
in Deuteronomy (18:10-12), does not simply refer to the most serious
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forms of witchcraft, punishable with death by stoning.28 The magical

rites are not considered to be criminal actions in themselves, and the
ban actually only condemns witches and those behaviors which are
sullied by blasphemous or idolatrous behavior. It is not so much the
essence of magic that matters, as the nature of the person performing
it. Magic and exorcism are considered acceptable if they are carried

23. Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 6a.

24. Mishnah, Avot 5:6.
25. See: James A. Montgomery, Aramaic Incantation Texts from Nippur
(Philadelphia: University Museum, 1913), 67-94; Chester Charlton McCown, The
Testament of Solomon, Edited from Manuscripts at Mount Athos, Bologna, Holkham
Hall, Jerusalem, London, Milan, Paris and Vienna, (Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, 1922),
43-48; Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic, 61-68; Maureen Bloom, Jewish Mysticism and
Magic: An Anthropological Perspective (London: Routledge, 2007), 128-138.
26. Cf. Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 3a; Babylonian Talmud, Hulin 105a;
Babylonian Talmud, Pesahim 112a.
27. Mishnah, Sanhedrin 6:4 and 7; Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 17a, 65a,
and 67b-68a.
28. See Jonathan Seidel, “Charming Criminals: Classification of Magic in the
Babylonian Talmud,” in Meyer and Mirecki, Ancient Magic, 145-166; Brigitte
Kern-Ulmer, “The Depiction of Magic in Rabbinic Texts: The Rabbinic and the
Greek Concept of Magic,” Journal for the Study of Judaism 27 (1996): 289-303;
Philip S. Alexander, “The Talmudic Concept of Conjuring (‘Ahizat ‘Einayim) and
the Problem of the Definition of Magic (Kishuf),” in Elior and Schäfer, Creation
and Re-creation, 7-26.
 VIII EMMA ABATE

out by worthy and respectable figures, who adhere to the command-

ments and the Law. Rabbinic sources recommend the writing and
distribution of spells and amulets to ward off spirits, as long as they
are composed and prepared by “experts.”29 In such cases, they are not
to be considered an expression of marginality or heterodoxy at vari-
ance with the dominant culture. The members of the rabbinic tribu-
nal are allowed to study magic, so that they can distinguish between
licit and illicit magical arts. Moreover, authoritative figures in the
Talmudic tales (Hanina Ben Dosa, Shimon Ben Yokhai, and so forth)
are personally involved in carrying out exorcisms and miracles.30
The magical and therapeutic values of prayer, be it individual or
collective, represent the community response to the risk of attacks
by spirits, spells, and the evil eye.31 Knowledge of the Writings

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and the sacred language, combined with particular charisma, can
exempt certain figures (just and wise men considered to be crown-
ing achievements of divine creation) from prescriptions that apply
to the majority. They are allowed to actively participate in maintain-
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ing the cosmic order and social peace.

Jewish magic in late Antiquity was consciously based on these
premises: writing played a central role and had great power, and it
drew on the performative and theurgical use of sacred names, bibli-
cal verses, and letters of the alphabet.32 In magical tradition, Bible
stories are used like spells, verses are used in conjunction with pow-
erful names, and magicians can in some cases consciously manipu-
late the sacred sources, to meet the needs of the rite.33
The widespread nature of these practices is apparent from archaeo-
logical discoveries: dozens of Jewish amulets, ostraca, and lamellae,
in Hebrew and Aramaic, dating back to a period from the third to the

29. Mishnah, Shabbat 6:2.

30. Meir Bar-Ilan, “Exorcism by Rabbis: Talmudic Sages and Magic,” Da’at
34 (1995): 17-31.
31. Bloom, Jewish Mysticism, 36-37, 47-53, and 122-123.
32. See Bohak, Ancient Jewish Magic, 298-314; Madalina Vârtejanu-Joubert,
“The Letter as Object: The Written Word between Reification and Hermeneutics
in Rabbinic Judaism,” Écritures Rituelles 1 (2010), http:// mondesanciens.revues.
org/index129.html.
33. Cf. David Frankfurter, “Narrating Power: The Theory and Practice of the
Magical Historiola in Ritual Spells,” in Meyer and Mirecki, Ancient Magic and
Ritual Power, 457-76; Bohak, Ancient Jewish Magic, 309-314; Dorothea M. Salzer,
Die Magie der Anspielung. Form und Funktion der biblischen Anspielungen in den
magischen Texten der Kairoer Geniza, (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010).
 CONTROLLING DEMONS IX

seventh century, have been found in archaeological digs in Egyptian

and Syro-Palestinian areas. Around a hundred magical bowls of
Babylonian origin (terracotta bowls dating back to the fourth to sev-
enth centuries) have been discovered during archaeological digs in
Iraq and Persia. In particular, bowls and amulets have been found
around houses and synagogues, showing the existence of widespread
personal, domestic, or community protection methods.34 The amulets
combine prayers, biblical verses, and magical names (of angels and
God), engraved into different materials (copper, stone, and metal),
for apotropaic and therapeutic purposes. The inscriptions inside the
bowls include expulsion spells targeting groups of demons or a sin-
gle spirit, invocations of divine and angelic names, and references in
Hebrew and Aramaic to biblical and Talmudic passages.

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The Genizah magical manuscripts (in Hebrew, Aramaic, or Judeo-
Arabic) are part of this tradition.35 The abundance and variety of
instructions for magic and rituals, found particularly among docu-
ments from the Ben Ezra medieval synagogue in Fustat (Old Cairo),
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show the central role of these practices in medieval Jewish culture.36

The magical genres offer substantial documentation in the form
of amulets and incantation formulae. Moreover, finds at the Cairo
Genizah offered the first direct proof of angelological and demono-
logical books and treatises. These were very widespread throughout
the Middle Ages, and included Harba’ de-Mosheh and Sefer ha-
Razim, or the Shimmush Tehillim, on the magical use of the Psalms.37

34. Cf. Naveh and Shaked, Amulets and Magic Bowls, 13-29 and 40-214;
Joseph Naveh and Shaul Shaked, Magic Spells and Formulae, 43-143.
35. Lawrence H. Schiffman and Michael D. Swartz, Hebrew and Aramaic
Incantation Texts from the Cairo Geniza (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1992); Steven
M. Wasserstrom, “The Magical Texts in the Cairo Geniza,” in Genizah Research
After Ninety Years: Papers read at the Third Congress of the Society for Judeo-
Arabic Studies, ed. Joshua Blau and Stefan Reif (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1992), 160-166; Peter Schäfer and Shaul Shaked, Magische Texte aus der
Kairoer Geniza, 3 vols. (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1994-1999).
36. Cf. Gideon Bohak, “Reconstructing Jewish Magical Recipe Books from
the Cairo Genizah,” Ginzei Qedem 1 (2005), 9-29; Emma Abate, Manoscritti della
Genizah alla biblioteca dell’ Alliance Israélite Universelle: uno sguardo sulla ma-
gia ebraica, (Palermo: Officina di Studi Medievali).
37. See Mordechai Margalioth, Sefer ha-Razim (Jerusalem, 1966); Yuval
Harari, Harba de-Moshe (The Sword of Moses): A New Edition and a Study
(Jerusalem: Aqademon, 1997); Bill Rebiger and Peter Schäfer, Sefer ha-Razim I
und II: Das Buch der Geheimnisse I und II (vol. 1) (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck,
2009); Bill Rebiger, Sefer Shimmush Tehillim: Buch vom magischen Gebrauch der
Psalmen: Edition, Übersetzung und Kommentar (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2009).
 X EMMA ABATE

The most frequent written features of these formulae include

powerful names and a magical use of the Bible. Some instructions
only prescribe invocation in God’s name, or writing the names of
supernatural creatures, thus entailing a graphic and phonic ontol-
ogy.38 “I conjure” (“ani mashbia” in Hebrew) is the most wide-
spread performative (and, one might say, canonical) expression
for conjuring and invoking the celestial powers.39 Knowing the
names and the Writings guarantees the effectiveness of the magi-
cal procedure and the existing credentials of the magician, who
is considered an intermediary and channel for the divine power.
The main authors and writers of magical texts included scribes
and wise men. Protective amulets and antidemonic spells for the
sick, be they Jewish or not, were often written by rabbis of the

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synagogue themselves.40
The forms and textual elements of exorcism practices documented
in the fragments from the Cairo Genizah, although transposed into a
partly Arabized Jewish context, still reflect the Hellenistic and rab-
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binic mother culture in which the antidemonic literary tradition was

formed.41

38. The names are composed of both indecipherable sequences of letters and
alphabetical sequences; each letter can be considered a name in itself. The iden-
tification of the name, along with the essence and power of the being invoked is
the condition for this conception of magic. Cf. Grözinger, “The Names of God
and the Celestial Powers,” 53-69; David Frankfurter, “The Magic of Writing and
the Writing of Magic: the Power of the World in Egyptian and Greek Tradition,”
Helios 21 (1994): 189-221; Vârtejanu-Joubert, “The Letter as Object.”
39. The spell aims to force the angels or demons, as well as the divinity, to do
the sorcerers’ bidding.
40. Cf. Shaul Shaked, “On Jewish Magical Literature in Muslim Countries
Notes and Examples,” Pe’amim 15 (1983): 15-26 [heb.]; Shaul Shaked,
“Medieval Jewish Magic in Relation to Islam: Theoretical Attitudes and Genres,”
in Judaism and Islam: Boundaries, Communication, and Interaction: Essays in
Honor of William M. Brinner, ed. Benjamin H. Hary, et al. (Leiden: Brill, 2000),
97-109.
41. Cf. Peter Schäfer, “Jewish Magic Literature in Late Antiquity and Early
Middle Ages,” Journal of Jewish Studies 41 (1990): 75-91 and 163-180; Bohak,
Ancient Jewish Magic, 215-221. On the formal coherence of the content of the
Genizah texts with earlier magical tradition and on the language of spells, see also
Emma Abate, “Theory and Practice of Magic. Two manuscripts from the Alliance
Israëlite Universelle’s Genizah Collection,” Henoch 34, (2012): 368-397.
 CONTROLLING DEMONS XI

Exorcisms in the Greek Magical Papyri

Descriptions of exorcism techniques based on the therapeutic use

of the divine name and angels, can be found in Judeo-Hellenistic,
evangelical, or late Antique sources.42 The popularity of Jewish
magicians as healers was recognized in non-Jewish societies or
“nations.” For example, the story of Flavius Josephus tells of the
reputation of the Jew, Eleazar, who became famous for successfully
performing an exorcism before the Emperor Vespasian (Antiquities
of the Jews VIII, 247). Another example is the words of Origen, who
in Contra Celsum (IV, 33), emphasizes the effectiveness of names of
Hebraic origin in practices to banish demons.43
In the Greek Magical Papyri, exorcism spells often use Jewish

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magical names. Two sets of instructions, recorded in PGM 4:1227-
1264 and 4:3007-3086, refer to traditions which, although syncretic,
are at least partly of Jewish origin.44 Both texts feature a conjura-
tion in the name of the God of Israel, transcriptions of great names,
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and references to the Bible and Midrashic and Judeo-Hellenistic

sources. In these documents, the name “Iesus” defined as “God
of Jews” in PGM 4:3020, indicates diffusion within a polytheis-
tic environment which did not distinguish between the Jewish and
Christian religions.45
The exorcism procedures in these sources contain several dis-
tinct phases. That in PGM 4:1227-1264 can be broken down into
five parts:

42. Cf. Kotansky, “Greek Exorcistic Amulets,” 243-277; Katell Berthelot,

“Guérison et exorcisme dans les textes de Qumrân et les Évangiles,” in La guérison
dans l’aire méditerranéenne, de l’Antiquité à nos jours, ed. Françoise Gaide et
al. (Aix en Provence: Publications de l’Université de Provence, 2006), 135-148;
Reimund Leicht, “Mashbia’ ani ‘alekha: Types and Patterns of Ancient Jewish and
Christian. Exorcism formulae,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 13 (2006): 319-343.
43. Cf. Niese, Flavii Josephi, 2:186-187; Dennis C. Duling, “The Eleazar
Miracle and Solomon’s Magical Wisdom in Flavius Josephus’s Antiquitatae
Judaicae 8.42-49,” Harvard Theological Review 78 (1985): 1-25; Origène, Contre
Celse, vol. 2 (books 3 and 4), French introduction, critical text, translation and
notes by Marcel Borret (Paris: Éd. du Cerf, 1968), 266-269.
44. Cf. Samson Eitrem, Some Notes on the Demonology of the New Testament
(Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 1966), 15-30; Daniel Sperber, “Some Rabbinic Themes
in Magical Papyri,” Journal for the Study of Judaism 16 (1985): 93-103; Kotansky,
“Greek Exorcistic Amulets,” 261-266.
45. Kotansky, “Greek Exorcistic Amulets,” 264.
 XII EMMA ABATE

1) Invocation by name: the invocation technique based on know-

ing the personal names of the divinity, giving the magician the
power needed to conduct the ritual:
Hail God of Abraham; hail, God of Isaac; hail, God of Jacob; Jesus
Chrestos, the Holy Spirit, the Son of the Father, who is above the Seven,
who is within the Seven.46

2) Specification of the beneficiary: the name of the patient, not

given here, because it is an instruction in which the ritual is merely
described:47
may your power issue forth from him, NN,48

3) The purpose of the invocation: the powers invoked are called

upon to directly expel the demon (the sorcerer is just an intermediary):

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until you drive away this unclean demon Satan, who is in him.49

4) Conjuration in the first person: the magician, invested with

the same powers as the god, can confront the demon in the first
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person, using the performative and compelling function of the verb

“conjure.”50
I conjure you, daimon, whoever you are, by this God,
SABARBARBATHIOTH SABARBARBATHIOUTH SABARBAR­
BATHIONETH SABARBARBAPHAI.51

5) Driving away the demons: attempts to expel the demon are

expressed as commands, via the repetition of the imperatives “come
out” and “stay away.”
“Come out, daimon, since I bind you with unbreakable adamantine
fetters, and I deliver you into the black chaos in perdition.”52

The binding of the demon is reminiscent of the imprisonment of

‘Aza’zel and the rebel angels in Hell, as described in the Book of
the Watchers.53

46. PGM 4:1232-1235 (Betz, The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation).

47. For the use of the Hebrew expression for NN ([name], son of [name]) in
the Genizah magical texts, see Abate, “Theory and Practice of Magic,” 368-397.
48. PGM 4:1235-1236 (Betz, The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation).
49. PGM 4:1237 (Betz, The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation).
50. On the correspondence between the Greek ε̉ξορκίζειν and the Hebrew verb
‫עבש‬, see Kotansky, “Greek Exorcistic Amulets,” 251.
51. PGM 4:1240-1242 (Betz, The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation).
52. PGM 4:1245-1248 (Betz, The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation).
53. 1 Enoch 10 (cf. Charlesworth, The Old Testament, 17).
 CONTROLLING DEMONS XIII

The structure of the second ritual (PGM 4:3007-3086) is similar.

However, it is more elaborately formulated, with many references to
history and biblical figures. It includes different conjurations to be
made by the divine name, with hymn-like glorification of its attrib-
utes and miracles, and a celebration of its power to create, destroy,
and control natural phenomena and the angelic forces. Again with
clear echoes of the Legend of the Watchers, the divinity is called
upon to send his angel to confront the demon, whose angelic origin
is emphasized (PGM 4:3025-3028).54 The demon is urged to reveal
its name, and ordered to obey and submit:
I conjure you, whatever demonic spirit you are, to tell me what
type you are, because I conjure you with the help of God who brings
the light, unfailing, who knows all things in the hearts of all living

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creatures.55

These exorcisms begin and end with instructions on how to pre-

pare them, describing the symbolic power of the tools and numbers
which will help them to succeed.56 In the final part of the second
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ritual (PGM 4:3083-3086), abstinence from pork and preservation

of purity is prescribed, based on a “Jewish tradition passed down
by wise men.” There are also instructions on procedures for pre-
paring amulets, engraved with a secret name (PGM 4:1254-1263
and 4:3014-3017). Amulets, considered indispensable for keeping
away demons and spirits, continued to be essential in antidemonic
rites until the early modern period. Once freed from the demon, the
patient wore the amulet around their neck, to prevent the spirit from
possessing their body again.57

54. There are other references to the Enochian Book of the Watchers: “I conjure
you thanks to He who reduced all the intractable giants to ashes, with a thunderbolt,
He who the skies of the skies honor, who the wings of Cherubs adore,” cf. PGM
4:3058-3060 [Translator’s note: Quotation back-translated from the from French-
language version of this article).
55. Translator’s note: Quotation back-translated from the French-language ver-
sion of this article.
56. Cf. PGM 4:1227-1230, 4:1248-1251, 4:3007-3010, and 4:3083-3086.
57. Cf. Kotansky, “Greek Exorcistic Amulets,” 243-277; Jeffrey H. Chajes,
Between Worlds. Dybbuks, Exorcists, and Early Modern Judaism (Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003) 57-95.
 XIV EMMA ABATE

Exorcisms in Ancient Jewish Sources

For the Second Temple period, despite rich Hellenistic literary

documentation, there are very few direct sources in Hebrew about
antidemonic practices, and those that exist are incomplete and dif-
ficult to interpret. Traces are found only in sources from caves in the
Judean desert. In particular, hymn scrolls exhibiting the main char-
acteristics of antidemonic and exorcism texts have been discovered
in the Qumranian fragments.
In the community, apocalyptic, and eschatological context of life
on the shores of the Dead Sea, antidemonic hymns were one of the
most powerful self-defense tools for followers of the sect against
attacks by enemy forces.58 The texts of 4Q510, 4Q511, and 4Q44459

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seem to have been written for this purpose, probably in order to be
recited at liturgical events for the collective purification and libera-
tion of members of the group from evil forces. Scrolls 4Q510 and
4Q51160 contain hymns with characteristics linked to aspects of
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sect organization and religiosity, for example hymn introductions

attributing them to the maskil, a charismatic figure at the head of the
community. These two manuscripts contain fragments which (when
reconstructed as far as possible) resemble songs of praise emphasiz-
ing the power and splendor of the divinity, his role as a creator, and
the panic and terror inspired by his control over the world. These
songs are accompanied by formulae addressed by name to the spir-
its and demons to be fought.

58. Cf. Bilhah Nitzan, Qumran Prayer & Religious Poetry (Leiden: Brill,
1994), 232-272; Esther Eshel, “Apotropaic Prayers in the Second Temple Period,”
in Liturgical Perspectives: Prayer and Poetry in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium of the Orion Center for the Study
of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, 19-23 January 2000, ed. Esther
Chazon (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 79-81.
59. Cf. Baillet, DJD VII, 215-262; Chazon et al., DJD XXIX, 367-378; García
Martínez, Tigchelaar, and van der Woude, DJD XXIII, 181-205.
60. The first manuscript contains twelve fragments in a calligraphic script dat-
ing back to the Herodian period. The second contains over two hundred fragments,
and is probably the end of the first, see Baillet, DJD VII, 215-262. The title of
the composition in 4Q511, fr. 8, l. 4 (Baillet, DJD VII, 224) links the text to the
preceding hymn: “Of the maskil, second hymn, to scare away those who frighten
him.”
 CONTROLLING DEMONS XV

In 4Q510, fr. 1, ll. 4-5, the maskil uses the first-person expression
“ani mashmia,” meaning “I proclaim:”61
I, the maskil, proclaim your Splendor and your Majesty, so as to
frighten and terrorize all the spirits, angels of destruction, bastard spir-
its, demons, lilith, howlers, and wild cats,62 and those who suddenly
strike to lead spirits of understanding astray and bewilder their hearts
and their souls.63

This formula is addressed to the two divine attributes of

“Splendor” (tiferet) and “Majesty” (hod), with the help of which the
maskil hopes to free the community’s hearts and souls from invasion
by demons. The fact that no particular individual is mentioned, and
that the text generally applies to all those who have been attacked
by demons, may indicate that it was used in a liturgical context.64

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The demons and spirits are not directly addressed as they are in
PGM 4:1227-1264 and 4:3007-3086, probably because their name
is already known. A list of names of spirits and demons is given in
the text of 4Q510; the use of such enumerations in a ritual is one of
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the most widespread characteristics in exorcism texts.65

Some lines feature an antecedent of the antidemonic formulations
of the PGMs, but it is not of the same order, and the beneficiary is
collective rather than individual. Nevertheless, the main elements
are present:
1) Conjuration in the first person;
2) Invocation using sacred names;
3) The purpose of the invocation;

61. Cf. Baillet, DJD VII, 216: 4Q510, fr. 1, l. 4. The reading “ani mashbia,”
“I conjure,” instead of “ani mashmia,” is also possible on a paleographical level.
The use of the specialized verb for vows may fit the typology of antidemonic for-
mulae drafted here. 4Q510, fr. 1, ll. 6-8, asks for the temporary, but not definitive,
destruction of evil beings, in line with a particular view of time as composed of suc-
cessive phases of clashes between “the sons of the Light” (the name for members
of the sect) and the forces of evil.
62. Cf. Isaiah 34:14.
63. Translator’s note: Quotation back-translated from the French-language ver-
sion of this article.
64. In support of this hypothesis, see Baillet, DJD VII, 215-262: in 4Q511, l.
63 col. IV. The expression, “they will bless all your works, forever, be blessed for
eternity, Amen, Amen,” can be seen as an antiphonal response from the congrega-
tion at the end of the hymn. [Translator’s note: Quotation back-translated from the
French-language version of this article.]
65. Cf. Kotansky, “Greek Exorcistic Amulets,” 243-277; Chajes, Between
Worlds, 57-95.
 XVI EMMA ABATE

4) The banishing of demons, whose names are known;

5) The specification of the beneficiary.
Scroll 4Q44466 belongs to the same set of texts, and contains frag-
ments of an apotropaic hymn which corresponds to a sectarian con-
text. Aside from the expressions of praise and the names of spirits to
be conjured, there is also an exhortation in the second person, which
appears as a generic instruction for members of the community:
Take strength, by respecting the divine laws and in order to fight the
spirits of iniquity.67

However, hymns do not seem to have been used for defensive

purposes alone: they probably also constituted an “active” and
“aggressive” antidemonic practice. If the formulae cursing the

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demons (preserved in the extremely fragmentary final part of the
scroll) belong to a single text, they may confirm this interpretation.
The structure of the hymn is similar to those of the later magic texts
in which a single spell includes both liturgical formulae, and formu-
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lae to excommunicate and curse.68

Finally, another text, scroll 11Q11,69 contains a fragmentary col-
lection of exorcisms for “those who have been struck by demons,”70
which probably served as models for individual rituals of demonic
expulsion following a procedure similar to PGM 4:1227-1264 and
4:3007-3086. It is likely, in fact, that this collection of texts circu-
lated outside of the community context, because they contain no
traces of sectarian elements. However,71 there is distinct evidence
of aspects common to the Judeo-Hellenistic magical tradition. One
of the formulae, attributed to Solomon,72 uses certain keywords that

66. From the Herodian period (first century), see Chazon et al., DJD XXIX,
367-378.
67. Esther Chazon et al., DJD XXIX, 367-378, fr. I-4 i. [Translator’s note:
Quotation back-translated from the French-language version of this article.]
68. Kotansky, “Greek Exorcistic Amulets,” 262-272.
69. The text in formal Herodian script from the first century is composed of
four fragments and six highly incomplete columns, partly reconstructed on pale-
ographic and philological bases; see García Martínez, Tigchelaar, and van der
Woude, DJD XXIII, 181-205.
70. See García Martínez, Tigchelaar, and van der Woude, DJD XXIII, 198:
11Q11, col. V, l. 2.
71. Eshel, “Apotropaic Prayers,” 69-88.
72. García Martínez, Tigchelaar, and van der Woude, DJD XXIII, 189: 11Q11,
col. II, l. 2-12.
 CONTROLLING DEMONS XVII

can be connected to the legend according to which he held secret

knowledge intended for therapeutic and apotropaic purposes and
obtained from demons.73 A further formula is attributed to David,74
an important figure in magical literature, because of his exorcist
powers in the biblical tale in which he frees Saul from the evil spirit
that torments him.75 Here, the magical technique is referred to using
the biblical term, lahash. This word, which means “enchantment,”
but also “whisper” and “breath,” may be a reference to the musical
performance staged by David, based around the hypnotic sound of
chanting and the kinnor, to which the exorcist may have referred
when performing the ritual.
The structure of the formulae is compatible with the schema
described in the paragraph above. The conjurations rely on invoking

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the divine name (in this case, the tetragrammaton) and the exalta-
tion of his power as creator.76 The hymn-like nature of the texts is
another element common to the documents from the Qumran and
the tradition of the Greek Magical Papyri.
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In one of the best preserved sections of 11Q11, there is a direct

address to the demon, who is asked his name, as in the text of PGM
4:3007-3064. The demon’s nature, semiangelic descent, and appear-
ance are also described:
Who are you [born of] a man and of the race of the Saints? Your
face is the face of wrongness, and your horns are of dreams and dark-
ness, you are not born of light or justice.77

Two of the conjurations invoke the intervention of an angel sent

directly from above, with words which again reflect the Enochian
tradition of ‘Azaz’el’s imprisonment.78
[YHWH] in his furious wrath [will send] upon you a powerful angel,
to carry out his orders without compassion for you, and who . . . will drag
you far below, into the great abyss and into the deepest depths of Sheol.

73. Solomon’s knowledge of plants and remedies goes back to biblical tradition
in 1R 5: 9-14.
74. García Martínez, Tigchelaar, and van der Woude, DJD XXIII, 198: 11Q11,
col. V, l. 4.
75. 1 Samuel 16: 14-23.
76. For the use of the form mashbi’a, see García Martínez, Tigchelaar, and van
der Woude, DJD XXIII, 181-205, col. I, l. 6, col. III, l. 4.
77. García Martínez, Tigchelaar, and van der Woude, DJD XXIII, 198: 11Q11,
col. V, ll. 6-8. [Translator’s note: Quotation back-translated from the French-
language version of this article.]
78. PGM 4:1245-1248 and 4:3025-3028.
 XVIII EMMA ABATE

The Prince of YHWH’s army will drag you into deepest Sheol and
close the bronze doors behind him.79

The last column of the manuscript contains a version of Psalm 91,

or shir shel pega’im in Hebrew tradition: a hymn for “those who
have been attacked [by demons].”80 The text varies in some ways
from the Masoretic Psalm tradition, in order to update and adapt its
contents to ritual demands: yet another device of magic practices.81

Conclusions: Antidemonic Formulae from the Cairo Genizah

The above examples aim to demonstrate the distinctive character-

istics of exorcism practices. These seem to follow a recurring model,

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which draws upon a codified, traditional, and formal heritage, and
remained stable for many centuries. In quite a large area of the east-
ern Mediterranean, a variety of sources (from contexts as different
as that of the Qumran and the Egyptian origin of the Greek Magical
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Papyri) preserve traditions which reflect a ritual procedure for expel-

ling demons. This procedure is part of a cosmologically and concep-
tually coherent system for representing and controlling the invisible.
It is likely that the texts in 4Q510-511 and 4Q444, which are
from the sectarian tradition, formed the basis for the maskil’s per-
formances during ceremonies directly involving community mem-
bers. The collection of exorcisms preserved in 11Q11 is closer to
the magical tradition seen in the Greek Magical Papyri, and was
probably for use in individual exorcisms.
It seems that Jewish exorcists-sorcerers played a determining
role in the transfer of ideas, techniques, and operative formulae.
They used part of the technological apparatus of Greco-Egyptian
magical literature, and in turn helped to influence the evolution of
the Hellenistic tradition,82 by enriching their own heritage of leg-
ends, characters, and archetypal figures (angels, demons, and divine

79. García Martínez, Tigchelaar, and van der Woude, DJD XXIII, 195 and 198:
11Q11, col. IV, ll. 5-8, col. V, ll. 8-9. [Translator’s note: Quotation back-translated
from the French-language version of this article.]
80. Babylonian Talmud, Shevuot 15b, TY Shabbat 6.8b.
81. García Martínez, Tigchelaar, and van der Woude, DJD XXIII, 199: 11Q11,
col. VI.
82. Bohak, Ancient Jewish Magic, 196-209.
 CONTROLLING DEMONS XIX

names), via a selection of elements from Jewish and Hellenistic cul-

tures which did not, however, lead to a fusion. Traits which were
truly incompatible with Jewish religion at the time were omitted,
changed, or adapted in the Qumranian sources, thus creating this
specific form of an antidemonic ritual, with its own particular traits
which reappear in later sources.
From further on in late Antiquity, there are almost no direct
sources which identifiably served as frameworks for exorcism rituals.
Nevertheless, there are many indirect literary sources and archaeo-
logical finds (covering a period from the second to the seventh cen-
tury) showing the continuity of antidemonic practices of all kinds
in both public life and the private sphere. The existence of Jewish
amulets from the Syro-Palestinian area is proven, and magic bowls

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of Babylonian origin have been found buried in corners of the inter-
nal walls of homes, as traps for the demons that threatened them.83
Finally, I wish to describe two examples of Genizah fragments
kept at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, which have not yet been
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subject to specific study. The first is the manuscript Heb. 61,

ff. 40-41,84 which contains a long ritual to combat demons and evil
spirits. However, its aim is not explicitly expressed: the fragment
could just as easily be the introduction to a demonology tract as
a text to instruct sorcerers or an introduction to help them acquire
supernatural and exorcist powers.
The first lines begin with a reference to the celestial origins of the
demons and the need to know their descent and personal names in
order to control them:
If you wish to have power over shedim and ruhin bishin [evil spirits]
and over the twelve families who came down from the heavens at the

83. The engravings conform to a uniform typology: a spiral drawing, generally

ending with the representation of a demon in the central, concave part of the cup.
The demon, surrounded by the formulae, is trapped and cannot cause harm. Cf.
Naveh and Shaked, Amulets and Magic, 15-19; Michael D. Swartz, “The Aesthetics
of Blessing and Curses: Literary and Iconographic Dimensions of Hebrew and
Aramaic Blessing and Curse Texts,” Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religion 5
(2006): 187-211.
84. The Hebrew manuscript, the final section of which is damaged, is written
on paper in the informal script used in most of the private Genizah documents,
which date back to the eleventh to twelfth centuries. There is a similar fragment
in the Genizah collection at the Cambridge University Library, ms. TS. K 1.1. See
also Filip Vukosavovic, ed., Angels and Demons: Jewish Magic Through the Ages
(Jerusalem: Bible Lands Museum, 2010), 149.
 XX EMMA ABATE

time of Satan their father, you will learn this book in full, as well as
their names and the names of all their families and kinds.

The ritual describes a complex process, accompanied by cer-

tain preliminary operations: the magician must go to an uninhab-
ited place, “in the mountains, or a field, or an isolated house” (all
the places that the Talmud indicates are most vulnerable to attack
by demons)85 in order to prepare the space where the rite will be
performed by purifying it for two consecutive days, using fumiga-
tions. It also instructs them to draw a circle with four openings in
front of the door, allowing the “four spirits of the world” to enter,
and to write a list of magic names inside a square (an illustration
is provided in the manuscript). This passage contains instructions
for creating a great talisman-amulet, in order to bring the sorcerer

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the powers and energies needed for the rite. A long conjuring spell
is prescribed, which combines two literary sources: an adaptation
of the text of Isaiah 40:12, and a liturgical hymn resembling those
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identified in the antidemonic texts analyzed above, singing praises

in the “Name of God” and his immense powers to change the cos-
mic order, and natural, celestial, and infernal forces.
In the name of HW HW IH IH, rock of the worlds: the terror that he
provokes spreads fear throughout the world and the fear that he creates
has made the earth and its inhabitants quake, and the fear that he causes
has made the desert and the dark depths of Abaddon quake.

The second document is the manuscript Heb. e. 44, ff. 78-79,86

which contains a long spell to banish demons. The text begins and
ends with two lists of names and attributes, constituting a catalogue
of evil spirits. The significance of the content only becomes clear at
the end of the first recto, which bears the expression “ani mashbia.”
The purpose of the spell appears shortly afterwards: to drive away
spirits. A conjuration based on the divine name and on evoking the
power of divine fire is used. It employs literary images, such as the
self-fuelling fire which must descend from the divine throne and the
whole angelic, celestial realm, in order to combat and drive away
the evil spirit:

85. See § 3.
86. On paper, damaged at the beginning and end, in Hebrew, written in elegant
and neat, oriental, semicursive script, which can be dated back to around the thir-
teenth century.
 CONTROLLING DEMONS XXI

In the name of YHWH rock of worlds, whose name is of fire, and

whose throne is of fire, and whose home is of fire, and whose explicit
names are sealed in fire and before a circle of fire, and the angels, in their
sight, blaze with fire, and before him is an angel of fire, and at his sides
glimmers fire, and he is fire that devours fire, and the Lord is the creator
of the fire of all firmaments and the firmament is filled with armies of fire:
come out, fire and flame before the fire that devours fire, descend! And
may you burn the destroyer, so that he cannot return in a thunderbolt!

Both the angelic and demonic armies are listed and catalogued,
as if before an epic battle. This evocation creates a visionary rep-
resentation of the celestial world of angels and the demonic world,
which is reminiscent of passages from Hekhalot literature. In fact,
in the Genizah finds, a different and older branch of early-medieval
mystical tradition is seen. Its characteristics are not primarily liter-

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ary, but seem more closely linked to ancient magical tradition.87 The
visionary elements are related to practices for establishing direct
contact with the celestial forces, in order to control their actions.
It is likely that such texts from early Jewish mysticism refer to real
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practices by a small group of specialists: experts trained as scribes

or rabbis who used knowledge acquired in the study of the magic
arts (part of their curriculum) in order to carry out, where required,
a community role comparable to that of the authors of antidemonic
hymns in earlier periods.
The text described here could belong to this category of sources.
In this case, the invocation of supernatural forces would have been
used for a practice with concrete consequences. The names of angels
and demons, and the divine fire, come down from the heavens. They
are displaced to a terrestrial, liturgical context, partaking in a sort
of angelomachy (battle of angels) provoked and orchestrated by the
exorcist’s power. During the ritual, conjuration spells would have
been recited, in order to free a person, a house, or even a whole com-
munity from a demon.

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87. Peter Schäfer, “Merkavah Mysticism and Magic,” in Gershom Scholem’s

Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism 50 Years After, ed. Peter Schäfer and Joseph Dan
(Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 1993) 59-78; Rebecca Macy Lesses, “Speaking with
Angels: Jewish and Greco-Egyptian Revelatory Adjurations,” Harvard Theological
Review 89 (1996): 41-60.