{"id":3452,"date":"2021-04-24T16:26:42","date_gmt":"2021-04-24T23:26:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/?p=3452"},"modified":"2024-04-24T16:43:13","modified_gmt":"2024-04-24T23:43:13","slug":"locating-james-alan-montgomery-and-richard-gotheils-lost-amulet-no-42","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2021\/04\/locating-james-alan-montgomery-and-richard-gotheils-lost-amulet-no-42","title":{"rendered":"Locating James Alan Montgomery and Richard Gotheil’s lost Amulet No. 42"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had a bit of good fortune today. I was able to reunite an orphaned transcription with the manuscript from which it was originally derived! <\/p>\n

When there is no stable reference provided in a published transcription to the manuscript or artifact from which it was made, it may reasonably be called orphaned. Such was the case for “Amulet No. 42” — a transcription of which was made over a hundred years ago by the scholar Richard Gottheil (1862-1936) and published by James Alan Montgomery (1866-1949) in Aramaic Incantation Texts from Nippur, The [University of Pennsylvania] Museum Publications of the Babylonian Section. Vol. 3 (Philadelphia, 1913).<\/p>\n

Lucky for me, the manuscript was acquired by the Columbia University Hebrew Manuscripts collection at some point in the past, catalogued, digitized, and the scan uploaded to the Internet Archive. The collection runs a bot which regularly tweets images of the items in its catalogue with links to their entries at the Internet Archive. <\/p>\n

Long after I had given up of ever locating the original amulet manuscript, I just happened to see this amulet tweeted today. Last year, I had made a full digital transcription of the amulet based upon the text published (with errors) by Montgomery. Even stranger, it was only this last Thursday that I reviewed this amulet text with my \u1e25avrutah in Jewish magic. (I have a very irrational feeling that numinous powers were at work in reuniting transcription and source, so that all the errors could be identified and corrected.)<\/p>\n

If you’d like to read the entire text with a translation, you can do so here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

This post was originally published on my Facebook page on 24 April 2021, here<\/a>. There in the comments, Columbia University librarian Michelle Moargolis provided the shelf number of the manuscript, MS General 194<\/a>. Michelle was kind enough to write about my discovery, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In April of 2021, Aharon Varady identified an amulet for a woman in labor (specifically, Mirk\u0323ada d.m V\u0323iadah bat Donah), as the same one that had been described by Richard James Horatio Gottheil (Professor of Rabbinical Literature and Semitic Languages at Columbia from 1890 until his death in 1936) as \u201cAmulet No. 42\u201d in James Montgomery\u2019s Aramaic Incantation Texts from Nippur (1913). As Varady tells the tale, Montgomery wasn\u2019t sure whether the text came from of an amulet bowl or something else, and even Gottheil himself couldn\u2019t remember where he saw it. Gottheil\u2019s collection was donated to Columbia in 1936, but this manuscript was added to a box \u2013 without identifying information. It was re-discovered and cataloged by Yoram Bitton in 2011 as part of a project to process the uncataloged Hebrew manuscripts, but it wasn\u2019t until it was digitized and made widely available online that it could be identified as Gottheil\u2019s Amulet No. 42!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I located an apotropaic amulet containing a prophylactic historiola of Eliyahu vs. Lilith, long lost whose transcription by Richard Gottheil was first published by James Montgomery in 1913, Now, finally, the transcription can be corrected against the actual manuscript held in the collection of Columbia University library. . . . → Continue reading: Locating James Alan Montgomery and Richard Gotheil’s lost Amulet No. 42<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,289],"tags":[204],"class_list":["post-3452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mythology","category-prayer-and-praxis","tag-open-siddur-project","odd"],"yoast_head":"\nLocating James Alan Montgomery and Richard Gotheil's lost Amulet No. 42 • Aharon's Omphalos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2021\/04\/locating-james-alan-montgomery-and-richard-gotheils-lost-amulet-no-42\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Locating James Alan Montgomery and Richard Gotheil's lost Amulet No. 42 • Aharon's Omphalos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I located an apotropaic amulet containing a prophylactic historiola of Eliyahu vs. Lilith, long lost whose transcription by Richard Gottheil was first published by James Montgomery in 1913, Now, finally, the transcription can be corrected against the actual manuscript held in the collection of Columbia University library. . . . → Continue reading: Locating James Alan Montgomery and Richard Gotheil’s lost Amulet No. 42\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2021\/04\/locating-james-alan-montgomery-and-richard-gotheils-lost-amulet-no-42\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Aharon's Omphalos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/aharonium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/aharonium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-24T23:26:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-24T23:43:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/CUL-MS-General-194-Montgomery-1913-Amulet-No.-42.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"507\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Aharon N. 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These copies then serve as the basis for individuals and groups to convert the images of prayers and related content into machine-readable (copyable, pasteable, searchable) text.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Judaica"","block_context":{"text":"Judaica","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/category\/yiddishkeit"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/A-Simplified-Summary-of-Public-Domain-Status-for-Creative-Works-in-US-Copyright-Law-excluding-audio-works-v2.1-Aharon-Varady-CC-BY-SA.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/A-Simplified-Summary-of-Public-Domain-Status-for-Creative-Works-in-US-Copyright-Law-excluding-audio-works-v2.1-Aharon-Varady-CC-BY-SA.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/A-Simplified-Summary-of-Public-Domain-Status-for-Creative-Works-in-US-Copyright-Law-excluding-audio-works-v2.1-Aharon-Varady-CC-BY-SA.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/A-Simplified-Summary-of-Public-Domain-Status-for-Creative-Works-in-US-Copyright-Law-excluding-audio-works-v2.1-Aharon-Varady-CC-BY-SA.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2725,"url":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2017\/04\/on-the-meaning-of-mimouna","url_meta":{"origin":3452,"position":2},"title":"On the Meaning of Mimouna","author":"Aharon N. Varady","date":"April 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2007, Dr. Yigal Bin-Nun wrote a provocative article in Haaretz \u05d4\u05d0\u05e8\u05e5 on the origins of the Moroccan Jewish post-Passover festival of Mimouna. In the article, Bin-Nun speculates that Mimouna was a Judaized festival originally derived from local customs celebrating gods of Fortune. I wish to present an alternate thesis\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mythology"","block_context":{"text":"Mythology","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/category\/yiddishkeit\/mythology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Praveen-Gupta-DSC04926-CC-BY-SA.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Praveen-Gupta-DSC04926-CC-BY-SA.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Praveen-Gupta-DSC04926-CC-BY-SA.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3119,"url":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2021\/03\/approbations","url_meta":{"origin":3452,"position":3},"title":"Approbations","author":"Aharon N. Varady","date":"March 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I received a very nice compliment, so I'm parking it here for just those times I might need to read it.","rel":"","context":"In "Reports from the Front"","block_context":{"text":"Reports from the Front","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/category\/adventure"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/you-are-a-gorgeous-bag-of-mostly-water.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/you-are-a-gorgeous-bag-of-mostly-water.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/you-are-a-gorgeous-bag-of-mostly-water.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/you-are-a-gorgeous-bag-of-mostly-water.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1997,"url":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2016\/03\/marcus-weisberg-d-1880","url_meta":{"origin":3452,"position":4},"title":"Marcus Weisberg or Weissberger or Veiszberger… (d. 1880)","author":"Aharon N. Varady","date":"March 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Some people ask me about my last name. \"Hey Aharon, where does your last name come from?\" etc. It's a question I've long wanted to know myself. I know Varady is a common Hungarian last name and I knew that it was probably something else before it became Varady (or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Family"","block_context":{"text":"Family","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/category\/adventure\/family"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/neolog-cemetery-gate.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/neolog-cemetery-gate.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/neolog-cemetery-gate.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/neolog-cemetery-gate.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/neolog-cemetery-gate.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/neolog-cemetery-gate.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2897,"url":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2018\/07\/adjusting-inner-margin-gutter-width-in-pdfs-intended-for-bound-printing","url_meta":{"origin":3452,"position":5},"title":"Adjusting inner margin (gutter) width in PDFs intended for bound printing","author":"Aharon N. Varady","date":"July 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I sought without success for instructions on how to modify the gutter width, to adjust the inner margins of pages in a PDF so that they may be printed properly. So I had to figure it out myself. This is the solution I've devised for use with Adobe Acrobat Professional.","rel":"","context":"In "Printing"","block_context":{"text":"Printing","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/category\/craft\/printing"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/191130_uhOH8kMKRjvRyqjl6VvukTWqv.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/191130_uhOH8kMKRjvRyqjl6VvukTWqv.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/191130_uhOH8kMKRjvRyqjl6VvukTWqv.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3452"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3458,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3452\/revisions\/3458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}