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sheets. Most of the plaques found in archeological sites in areas corresponding to ancient
Palestine are taken from graves dated to the late Roman and the Byzantine periods. The
terracotta figurines were found in similar archeological contexts to the mirror plaques; in
fact they were often found together, especially in Syria. Apparently, they served the same
function, and are therefore included in this chapter as magic artifacts.

Only two of the metal sheets serving as amulets and found in Palestine have figurative
decorations accompanying the text. Analysis of the amulet sheets reveals different artistic
media, including engraving and bass relief on the metal tablets. This art is classified as an
independent entity, albeit with artistic links to the other magic artifacts.

Analysis of the mirrors focuses, among other things, on their design, the magical
essence of the mirror plaques, and their religious symbolism. The analysis reveals a
schema for their preparation and decoration according to religious affiliation, and the
artistic milieu in which they were made. The figurines as magic artifacts are grouped with
the mirror plaques, and sometimes the work on them appears similar. Discussion of the
figurines is therefore juxtaposed to discussion of the mirror plaques.

Comparison between local and Jewish magic art reveals that the Jews adopted
iconography from their non-Jewish neighbors. The incantation bowl paintings and
decorations on the mirrors and amulets were not the fruit of an exclusively Jewish
imagination, but rather are clearly linked to the local culture of the region in which they were
made. In Mesopotamia they were influenced by ancient Mesopotamian and contemporary
Persian traditions, while in Palestine they were influenced by Eastern, Hellenistic tradition
and by Christian art.

CHAPTER FIVE: MAGIC ART: BETWEEN BABYLONIA TO PALESTINE
This chapter deals with two questions arising in the course of the research, answers to
which are essential to understanding of Jewish magic art in Late Antiquity: What are the
characteristics of magic art, based on the artifacts examined in this book, in comparison
with other kinds of art? What was the attitude of Judaism towards magic and figurative art
as apparent from the research presented in the previous four chapters. Does the essential
difference between visual-artistic expressions of magic in the two regions derive from
different approaches of the communities to art and magic, or from the geographic distance
between them, each coming under local influences? Are the existence and characteristics
of figurative portrayals on the Jewish magic artifacts place independent of religion or
culture or do they derive from them?