Magical practice in the Latin West : papers from the international conference held at the University of Zaragoza, 30 Sept.-1 Oct. 2005 /
:
How different was the practice of magic in the Latin West from that of the eastern Mediterranean basin? Was it just derivative from Greek practice, or did it have its own originality? The recent discovery of important new curse-tablets in Mainz and in the Fountain of Anna Perenna at Rome has made the question newly topical. This volume contains the first commented editions in English of most of these new texts as well as major surveys of new prayers for justice. Other sections are devoted to the discourse of magic in the West, to the linguistics and aims of cursing, and to the major field of protective and eudaemonic magic up to and including the Visigothic slates and the Celtic loricae. The essays are by well-known scholars in the field as well as by established and younger Spanish scholars.
:
1 online resource (xxvi, 676 pages, [28] pages of plates) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047441397 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The wisdom of Thoth : magical texts in ancient Mediterranean civilisations /
:
This volume represents a selection of contributions on Mediterranean themes from a wider international interdisciplinary conference on Magical Texts in Ancient Civilizations, organised by the Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilizations at Jagiellonian University in Krakow.
:
Conference proceedings. :
1 online resource : illustrations (black and white, and colour). :
Specialized. :
9781784912482 (PDF ebook) :
Continuity and innovation in the magical tradition
:
This volume brings together thirteen studies by as many experts in the study of one or more ancient or medieval magical traditions, from ancient Mesopotamia and Pharaonic and Greco-Roman Egypt to the Greek world, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It lays special emphasis on the recurrence of similar phenomena in magical texts as far apart as the Akkadian cuneiform tablets and an Arabic manuscript bought in Egypt in the late-twentieth century. Such similarities demonstrate to what extent many different cultures share a "magical logic" which is strikingly identical, and in particular they show the recurrence of certain phenomena when magical practices are transmitted in written form and often preserve, adopt and adapt much older textual units.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004215269 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Guide to the study of ancient magic /
:
In the midst of academic debates about the utility of the term "magic" and the cultural meaning of ancient words like mageia or khesheph , this Guide to the Study of Ancient Magic seeks to advance the discussion by separating out three topics essential to the very idea of magic. The three major sections of this volume address (1) indigenous terminologies for ambiguous or illicit ritual in antiquity; (2) the ancient texts, manuals, and artifacts commonly designated "magical" or used to represent ancient magic; and (3) a series of contexts, from the written word to materiality itself, to which the term "magic" might usefully pertain. The individual essays in this volume cover most of Mediterranean and Near Eastern antiquity, with essays by both established and emergent scholars of ancient religions. In a burgeoning field of "magic studies" trying both to preserve and to justify critically the category itself, this volume brings new clarity and provocative insights. This will be an indispensable resource to all interested in magic in the Bible and the Ancient Near East, ancient Greece and Rome, Early Christianity and Judaism, Egypt through the Christian period, and also comparative and critical theory.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004390751 :
0927-7633 ;
Jewish love magic : from late antiquity to the Middle Ages /
:
Jewish Love Magic: From Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages is the first monograph dedicated to the supernatural methods employed by Jews in order to generate love, grace or hate. Examining hundreds of manuscripts, often unpublished, Ortal-Paz Saar skillfully illuminates a major aspect of the Jewish magical tradition. The book explores rituals, spells and important motifs of Jewish love magic, repeatedly comparing them to the Graeco-Roman and Christian traditions. In addition to recipes and amulets in Hebrew, Aramaic and Judaeo-Arabic, primarily originating in the Cairo Genizah, also rabbinic sources and responsa are analysed, resulting in a comprehensive and fascinating picture.
:
Based on the author's thesis (doctoral) -- Universiṭat Tel-Aviv, 2009. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004347892 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Demons and illness from antiquity to the early-modern period /
:
In many near eastern traditions, including Christianity, Judaism and Islam, demons have appeared as a cause of illness from ancient times until at least the early modern period. This volume explores the relationship between demons, illness and treatment comparatively. Its twenty chapters range from Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt to early modern Europe, and include studies of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. They discuss the relationship between 'demonic' illnesses and wider ideas about illness, medicine, magic, and the supernatural. A further theme of the volume is the value of treating a wide variety of periods and places, using a comparative approach, and this is highlighted particularly in the volume's Introduction and Afterword. The chapters originated in an international conference held in 2013.
:
Includes index. :
1 online resource. :
9789004338548 :
2211-016X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Aramaic incantation bowls in museum collections /
:
The Frau Professor Hilprecht Collection of Babylonian Antiquities at Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena houses one of the major European collections of incantation bowls. Forty bowls bear texts written in the Jewish, Manichaean Syriac or Mandaic scripts, and most of the rest (some twenty-five objects) in the Pahlavi script or in various pseudoscripts. The present volume comprises new editions of the Aramaic (and Hebrew) bowl texts based on high-resolution photographs taken by the authors, together with brief descriptions and photographs of the remaining material. New readings are often supported with close-up photographs. The volume is intended to serve as a basis for further study of magic in late Antiquity and of the Late Eastern Aramaic dialects in which the texts were composed.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004411838
Aramaic Bowl Spells : Jewish Babylonian Aramaic Bowls Volume Two /
:
The corpus of Aramaic magic bowls from Sasanian Mesopotamia is perhaps the most important source we have for studying the everyday beliefs and practices of the Jewish, Christian, Mandaean, Manichaean, Zoroastrian and Pagan communities on the eve of the Islamic conquests. The bowls published in this volume are from the Schøyen Collection, which has over 650 texts in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, Mandaic and Syriac, and forms the largest collection of its kind in the world. This volume presents editions of fifty-five Jewish Babylonian Aramaic texts, with accompanying introductions, translations, philological notes, photographs and indices. The themes covered are magical seals and signet-rings. It is the second in a multi-volume project that aims to publish the Schøyen Collection of magic bowls.
:
This volume presents editions of fifty-five Jewish Babylonian Aramaic magic bowls from the Schøyen Collection, with accompanying introductions, translations, philological notes, photographs and indices. The themes covered are magical seals and signet-rings. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004471719
9789004471702
Priests, tongues, and rites : the London-Leiden magical manuscripts and translation in Egyptian ritual (100-300 CE) /
: Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral--Leiden University, 2003) : xiv, 342 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm. : Includes bibliographical references (pages [317]-328) and indexes. : 9004141855 : 0927-7633 ;
Aramaic bowl spells : Jewish Babylonian Aramaic bowls. Volume one /
:
The corpus of Aramaic incantation bowls from Sasanian Mesopotamia is perhaps the most important source we have for studying the everyday beliefs and practices of the Jewish, Christian, Mandaean, Manichaean, Zoroastrian and Pagan communities on the eve of the Islamic conquests. The bowls are from the Schøyen Collection, which has some 650 texts in different varieties of Aramaic: Jewish Aramaic, Mandaic and Syriac, and forms the largest collection of its kind anywhere in the world. This volume presents editions of sixty-four Jewish Aramaic incantation bowls, with accompanying introductions, translations, philological notes, photographs and indices. The themes covered include the magical divorce and the accounts of the wonder-working sages Ḥanina ben Dosa and Joshua bar Peraḥia. It is the first of a multi-volume project that aims to publish the entire Schøyen Collection of Aramaic incantation bowls.
:
1 online resource (xxiii, 368 pages :) : illustrations (some color) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004229372 :
2211-016X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Magic and divination in Malay illustrated manuscripts /
:
This book offers an integrated study of the texts and images of illustrated Malay manuscripts on magic and divination from private and public collections in Malaysia, the UK and Indonesia. Containing some of the rare examples of Malay painting, these manuscripts provide direct evidence for the intercultural connections between the Malay region, other parts of Southeast Asia and the rest of the world. In this richly illustrated volume many images and texts are gathered for the first time, making this book essential reading for all those interested in the practice of magic and divination, and the history of Malay, Southeast Asian and Islamic manuscript art.
:
1 online resource (xxvii, 349 pages) : illustrations (chiefly color), maps. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [307]-331) and index. :
9789004301726 :
2213-3844 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Jewish Aramaic curse texts from late-antique Mesopotamia : "may these curses go out and flee" /
:
The corpus of Aramaic incantation bowls from Sasanian Mesopotamia is perhaps the most important source we have for studying the everyday beliefs and practices of the Jewish, Christian, Mandaean, Manichaean, Zoroastrian and Pagan communities on the eve of the Islamic conquests. In Jewish Aramaic Curse Texts from Late-Antique Mesopotamia , Dan Levene collects and analyses a selection of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic incantation bowls. While such texts are usually apotropaic or healing in purpose, those collected here are distinctive in that their purpose was to curse or return curses against human adversaries. This book presents new editions of thirty texts, of which fourteen are edited here for the first time, with an introduction, commentary, analysis and glossaries, as well as photographs. "In this valuable addition to the literature on the role of bowls with aggressive texts in magic practices in this period, Levene (Jewish history and culture, U. of Southampton, UK) presents a summary of newly edited and already published bowls with Aramaic transcription; English translation; its type (e.g., invocation of demons to attack a named person, counter-charm); publication source; formulaic parallels in other texts; and notes.\' Reference andamp; Research Book News, 2013.
:
1 online resource (xiv, 164 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789004257269 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Hidden intercourse : eros and sexuality in the history of Western esotericism /
:
From rumours about gnostic orgies in antiquity to the explicit erotic symbolism of alchemical texts, from the subtly coded eroticism of medieval kabbalah to the sexual magic practiced by contemporary occultists and countercultural translations of Asian Tantra, the history of Western esotericism is rich in references to the domains of eros and sexuality. This volume, which brings together an impressive array of top-level specialists, is the first to analyze the eroticism of the esoteric without sensationalism or cheap generalizations, but on the basis of expert scholarship and attention to textual and historical detail. While there are few other domains where the imagination may so easily run wild, the various contributions seek to distinguish fact from fiction--only to find that historical realities are sometimes even stranger than the fantasies. In doing so, they reveal the outlines of a largely unknown history spanning more than twenty centuries.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047443582 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.