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When I began researching third-century Babylonia for my historical novel, Rav Hisda’s Daughter, I had never imagined that the subtitle would be “A Novel of Love, the Talmud and Sorcery.” But I soon learned that magic, whose etymology comes from Magi, the scholar-priests of Zoroastrian Babylonia, was pervasive not only in Persia, but throughout the Roman Empire as well. My initial glimpse of this world came when, looking for historical sources of names to give my female characters, I discovered a corpus of research on something called Babylonian Incantation Bowls.

These were ordinary pottery with inscriptions inside whose purpose was to protect the people under whose home the vessels were buried. Thousands of these bowls had been unearthed in what is now Iraq and dated to the 4th-6th century. At first my interest in the inscriptions, written in the same Aramaic language as the Talmud, was purely as a source of authentic women’s names. But upon careful reading, I saw that the lengthy incantations, unique to each bowl, must have been produced by educated Jews.

Most were for benevolent purposes – healing the sick, protecting children and pregnant women from harm, guarding against demons and the Evil Eye. The spells often contained biblical verses and drawings of bound demons. One even quoted Talmud. The bowl pictured here, one of two I own, includes the verse from Zechariah 3:2, “May the LORD rebuke you, O Satan.”

Archeologists have also found amulets with similar, albeit shorter, incantations written by Jews, Christians, and pagans throughout the Persian and Roman empires. They discovered Hebrew magic instruction manuals that list an astonishing variety of spells, some benevolent and some not. My favorites were the love spells, along with one for winning at chariot races.

Magic in the Ancient World [and today]

Now that I have an official publicist at Plume, the two of us brainstormed for over an hour on how to best publicize "Rav Hisda's Daughter." For my Jewish audience, and others who are familiar with "Rashi's Daughters," our task is more a matter of letting them know of my new novel's existence and pub date. For that, I will be sending out an e-blast to my over 3000 email contacts. Plus Plume will mail 12,500 post cards to my mailing list of JCC's, synagogues, and folks who signed up at my many lectures.

But what about the vast majority of potential readers who have never heard of me, or my historical novels? My publicist thinks that exploiting the magic and sorcery in "Rav Hisda's Daughter" could bring my writing to a whole new audience. Unlike the supernatural feats of Harry Potter or the Twilight vampires, the spells and incantations in my novels are real. That is, we have historical evidence for them, and scholars of Late Antiquity have shown that amulets and other such objects were ubiquitous throughout the Persian and Roman empires.

These were used by Jews, Christians and pagans; the educated and ignorant; men, women and especially children. The clients who ordered them consulted learned professionals, women included, not scary-looking hags in black pointy hats. Amazingly, some of them, like the Jewish traveler's blessing created by Rav Hisda, are still popular today. My next few posts will include excerpts from an essay that my publicist asked me to write about the subject.

Join me this week to study and daven with Rachel Adler

As some of you may recall, my original Talmud teacher Rachel Adler has been the rabbinic intern at Beth Chayim Chadashim [6090 W Pico Blvd, LA 90035] this year. This Tuesday and next, she will be teaching two classes on her favorite sugyot [Talmud passages] there at 7:30 pm. I want to invite and encourage everyone who can to join me at her final two study sessions before her ordination. Those who can't be there in person can call in and learn with us via speakerphone. Just dial 702-851-4044, and when prompted punch in 2, then the pass code, bccla (22252#).

In addition, I want to invite you all to come to BCC's Shabbat services on April 20 at 8 pm, when Rachel will grace the bima for the last time as BCC's intern. This post is not just directed at those in the Los Angeles area, because folks out of town can attend via live-stream. In fact, anyone can go back in time and watch BCC services for up to a week after they occurred.

Please join Rachel [and me] at any, and hopefully all, of these three events.

Last minute tasks for RAV HISDA'S DAUGHTER

Ten days ago I sent back the galley of RAV HISDA'S DAUGHTER: BOOK 1 - APPRENTICE with my "final changes," at least the last changes until eagle-eyed readers find the mistakes we missed in the first printing. So just when I thought I'd be done working on it and have plenty of time to get ready for Passover, emails from my publisher kept appearing in my inbox with new tasks for me.

First came the prospective back-cover copy to review - a critical task. For once the front cover intrigues potential readers the next thing they do is turn the book over and read the back cover. So what's written there, in less than 150 words, is vitally important to getting that book sold. Of course the draft could stand some improving, and this had to be done asap.

No sooner was that sent back than the email arrived from the art department with a draft ad for the Assn of Jewish Libraries convention booklet. The layout was great, but the text needed to be tweaked to make it better appeal to this specific audience. Again I had only a few days in which to do so. This was followed by an email announcing that ARC's [advance reader's copies] were ready to send out for blurbs, which necessitated a short letter from me that would accompany each book, thanking the prospective blurbers for their efforts and hoping they'd have something nice to say about it.

Last, and certainly not least, the copy editors had some questions about the changes I'd made in the galley, as well as some last-minute changes of their own. Thirteen pages of text to go over, approve or not, and explain why - due back in 3 days. And that's what authors do once their books are written.