healing history » stealing history (Expand Search), reading history (Expand Search), rearing history (Expand Search)
human healing » human dwelling (Expand Search), human being (Expand Search), human health (Expand Search)
Zar : spirit possession, music, and healing rituals in Egypt /
:
"Zar is both a possessing spirit and a set of reconciliation rites between the spirits and their human hosts: living in a parallel yet invisible world, the capricious spirits manifest their anger by causing ailments for their hosts, which require ritual reconciliation, a private sacrificial rite practiced routinely by the afflicted devotees. Originally spread from Ethiopia to the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf through the nineteenth-century slave trade, in Egypt zar has incorporated elements from popular Islamic Sufi practices, including devotion to Christian and Muslim saints. The ceremonies initiate devotees-the majority of whom are Muslim women-into a community centered on a cult leader, a membership that provides them with moral orientation, social support, and a sense of belonging. Practicing zar rituals, dancing to zar songs, and experiencing trance restore their well-being, which had been compromised by gender asymmetry and globalization.This new ethnographic study of zar in Egypt is based on the author's two years of multi-sited fieldwork and firsthand knowledge as a participant, and her collection and analysis of more than three hundred zar songs, allowing her to access levels of meaning that had previously been overlooked. The result is a comprehensive and accessible exposition of the history, culture, and waning practice of zar in a modernizing world"--Front flap of book jacket.
:
xi, 180 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : color illustrations ; 24 cm. :
Includes bibliographical references (pages 161-171) and index. :
9789774166976
Medicine and society in Ptolemaic Egypt /
:
Current questions on whether Hellenistic Egypt should be understood in terms of colonialism and imperialism, multicultural separatism, or integration and syncretism have never been closely studied in the context of healing. Yet illness affects and is affected by nutrition, disease and reproduction within larger questions of demography, agriculture and environment. It is crucial to every socio-economic group, all ages, and both sexes; perceptions and responses to illness are ubiquitous in all kinds of evidence, both Greek and Egyptian and from archaeology to literature. Examing all forms of healing within the specific socioeconomic and environmental constraints of the Ptolemies' Egypt, this book explores how linguistic, cultural and ethnic affiliations and interactions were expressed in the medical domain.
:
1 online resource (xii, 318 pages) : illustrations, maps. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004235519 :
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.
Herbal medicine in Yemen : traditional knowledge and practice, and their value for today's world /
:
Traditional medical lore along with its practitioners - druggists and healers - survives in Yemen today. Owing to the country's rich biodiversity, the main body of the medicines is plant-based. This book features fourteen scholars from Europe, North America and the Middle East (three of them from Yemen) who represent both humanities and natural sciences. They address the topic of herbal medicines and their multifaceted applications within traditional Yemeni society across boundaries of disciplines, such as Islamic studies, history, social anthropology, pharmacy and agriculture. The approaches are based on textual analysis, empirical research and laboratory experiment. Both historical and contemporary issues are covered. Contributors include: Mohammed Al-Duais, Jacques Fleurentin, Amin Al-Hakimi, Ingrid Hehmeyer, Gottfried Jetschke, Efraim Lev, Ulrike Lindequist, Miranda Morris, Ester Muchawsky-Schnapper, Frédéric Pelat, Mikhail Rodionov, Petra Schmidl, Daniel Martin Varisco and Anhar Ya'ni.
:
1 online resource (xv, 249 pages) : illustrations, maps. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004232075 :
0929-2403 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Ascetic Passions : Emotions in Early Christian Egypt /
:
Ascetic Passions: Emotions in Early Christian Egypt reveals the role of emotions in shaping early Christian theology, community, and monastic practices in Egypt. Drawing from biblical interpretation, theological treatises, and Coptic monastic and apocryphal literature, Crislip explores how emotions such as envy, anger, sadness, and joy influenced Christian life and thought. The book highlights how early Christians saw emotions as both spiritual challenges and tools for moral growth. Discussions of figures like Evagrius of Pontus and Shenoute showcase how emotional regulation, community, and identity were central to monastic life. The volume offers new insights into the emotional landscape of late antiquity.
:
1 online resource (340 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004744752
Paralysin cave : impotence, perception, and text in the Satyrica of Petronius /
:
This volume explores the literary representation of male sexual dysfunction and discusses the natural and supernatural elements of an ancient folk medical system based on conceptual associations between male sexuality and specific plants, animals and minerals. The work incorporates material from both literary and scientific sources to draw parallels between ancient and modern paradigms of healing. The literary depiction of attempts to remedy impotence demonstrates how an accessibility to cures contributes to the sexual and social reintegration of the sufferer. The Satyrica of Petronius echoes this process by means of the text itself and so effects similar ends. The book provides new insights into literature and the ancient belief systems underlying it with its original and integrative approach to disciplines such as philology, botany, mineralogy, zoology and medicine.
:
Revision of the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1993. :
1 online resource (x, 272 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 221-244) and indexes. :
9789004330962 :
0169-8958 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Hippocrates in context : papers read at the XIth International Hippocrates Colloquium, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 27-31 August 2002 /
:
This collection of papers studies the Hippocratic writings in their relationship to the intellectual, social, cultural and literary context in which they were written. 'Context' includes not only the Greek world, but also the medical thought and practice of other civilisations in the Mediterranean, such as Babylonian and Egyptian medicine. A further point of interest are the relations between the Hippocratic writings and 'non-Hippocratic' medical authors of the fifth and fourth century BCE, such as Diocles of Carystus, Praxagoras of Cos, as well as Plato, Aristotle and Theophrastus. The collection further includes studies of some of the less well-known works in the Hippocratic Corpus, such as Internal Affections , On the Eye , and Prorrheticon . And finally, a number of papers are devoted to the impact and reception of Hippocratic thought in later antiquity and the early modern period.
:
1 online resource (xvi, 521 pages) : illustrations, map. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004377271 :
0925-1421 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Self, Soul and Body in Religious Experience /
:
The papers in this volume were delivered at the first international colloquium by the Jacob Taubes Minerva Center for Religious Anthropology at Bar Ilan University, held in February 1995. Concepts of Self, Soul and Body are so close to the physiological layers of life that we may imagine them to be biological as well; but in fact, they are social constructs, and a source of fundamental metaphors for the classification of experience. They thus help organize the world, at the same time as they express basic human identity. They vary from culture to culture and can productively be compared and contrasted from one setting to another. We intend these papers to be a test case of the benefit to be gained from attention to Religious Anthropology.
:
Papers presented at the first international colloquium sponsored by the Jacob Taubes Minerva Center for Religious Anthropology at Bar Ilan University, held in Feb. 1995. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004379008 :
0169-8834 ;
Mesopotamian medicine and magic : studies in honor of Markham J. Geller /
:
Mesopotamian Medicine and Magic. Studies in Honour of Markham J. Geller is a thematically focused collection of 34 brand-new essays bringing to light a representative selection of the rich and varied scientific and technical knowledge produced chiefly by the cuneiform cultures. The contributions concentrate mainly on Mesopotamian scholarly descriptions and practices of diagnosing and healing diverse physical ailments and mental distress. The festschrift contains both critical editions of new texts as well as analytical studies dealing with various issues of Mesopotamian medical and magical lore. Currently, this is the largest edited volume devoted to this topic, significantly contributing to the History of Ancient Sciences.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004368088
Prayer and poetry in the Dead Sea Scrolls and related literature : essays on prayer and poetry in the Dead Sea scrolls and related literature in honor of Eileen Schuller on the occ...
:
The last major volume of articles devoted to the topic of prayer and poetry in the Dead Sea Scrolls comprised a collection of articles presented at a conference in the year 2000 ( Liturgical Perspectives: Prayer and Poetry in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls ). This collection reflects the state of research in the field broadly and on specific prayers and poetic texts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls; it also offers new insights into topics on which Eileen Schuller has written extensively.
:
1 online resource (xxiii, 482 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004215016 :
0169-9962 ; :
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.
Handbook of new religions and cultural production /
:
The cultural products of new religions and spiritualities are frequently ignored or dismissed within academia, often stemming from a hesitation to acknowledge these movements as genuine. This volume explores the impact of new religions upon cultural production, exemplifying the theological and spiritual principles of particular movements and demonstrating their substantial impact on wider society. Contributions explore the realms of music, architecture, food, art, books, films, video games, and more. This scholarship will be of interest to those who wish to explore the gamut of modern religious expression, and those who wish to broaden their knowledge of the spiritual origins of human culture.
:
Includes index. :
1 online resource (xxix, 789 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004226487 :
1874-6691 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
New Age Religion and Western Culture, Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought.
:
Recent years have seen a spectacular rise of the New Age movement and an ever-increasing interest in its beliefs and manifestations. This fascinating work presents the first-ever comprehensive analysis of New Age Religion and its historical backgrounds, thus providing the reader with a means of orientation in the bewildering variety of the movement. Making extensive use of primary sources, the author thematically analyses New Age beliefs from the perspective of the study of religions. While looking at the historical backgrounds of the movement, he convincingly argues that its foundations were laid by so-called western esoteric traditions during the Renaissance. Hanegraaff finally shows how the modern New Age movement emerged from the increasing secularization of those esoteric traditions during the 19th century. This ground-breaking publication is compulsive reading for all those involved or interested in the New Age movement.
:
1 online resource. :
9789004378933
Papyri copticae magicae = Coptic magical texts. Volume 1, Formularies
:
Intro
Foreword
Table of Contents
List of Plates
List of Critical Signs
Introduction
1. Situating Coptic Magical Texts
2. The Study of Coptic Magical Texts
3. The Corpus of Coptic Magical Texts
4. The Presentation of Texts in this Volume
5. The Contents of Papyri Copticae Magicae I
Text Editions
PCM I 1. Letter of Ouale?s to Psais containing separation spell
PCM I 2. Healing prescription to stop uterine bleeding
PCM I 3. Two aggressive procedures targeting women
PCM I 4. Miniature codex
PCM I 5. Procedure for the healing of internal organs PCM I 6-8. The Schmidt Coptic Magical Dossier
PCM I 9. Formula for sleep
PCM I 10. Prayer for pregnancy
PCM I 11. Leiden Anastasy Codex
PCM I 12. Rossi's Tractate
PCM I 13. Rossi's Fragmentary Tractate
PCM I 14. Invocation for unclear purposes
PCM I 15. Narrative charm for healing the eye
PCM I 16. Ostraca containing Horus-Isis narrative love charm
PCM I 17. Spell for a good singing voice and a love spell
PCM I 18. Curse to cause sickness
PCM I 19. Adjuration to protect virginity and marriage
PCM I 20. Love spell in the form of a Horus-Isis narrative charm PCM I 21-29. The Heidelberg Coptic Magical Library
PCM I 30. Two destructive curses drawing on the Testament of Solomon
PCM I 31. Two separation spells
PCM I 32. Parchment bifolio with two preserved love spells
PCM I 33. Formulary with healing procedures
PCM I 34. Bifolio with bowl divination procedure and silencing curses
PCM I 35. Fragmentary formulary with various curses
PCM I 36. Three healing prescriptions on paper
PCM I 37. Parchment sheet with various prescriptions
Indices
Glossary
Concordance of texts in this volume
Index locorum
Bibliography Word Indices for PCM I 1
Plates
Medicine in Ancient Assur : A Microhistorical Study of the Neo-Assyrian Healer Kiṣir-Aššur /
:
In Medicine in Ancient Assur Troels Pank Arbøll offers a microhistorical study of a single exorcist named Kiṣir-Aššur who practiced medical and magical healing in the ancient city of Assur (modern northern Iraq) in the 7th century BCE. The book provides the first detailed analysis of a healer's education and practice in ancient Mesopotamia based on at least 73 texts assigned to specific stages of his career. By drawing on a microhistorical framework, the study aims at significantly improving our understanding of the functional aspects of texts in their specialist environment. Furthermore, the work situates Kiṣir-Aššur as one of the earliest healers in world history for whom we have such details pertaining to his career originating from his own time.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004436084
9789004436077
Ritual imagination : a study of tromba possession among the Betsimisaraka in eastern Madagascar /
:
Ritual Imagination is a study of spirit possession and ritual dynamics. Based on fieldwork in eastern Madagascar, Hilde Nielssen shows how tromba possession works as a flexible and fluid force, whose ritual imaginary playfully draws together elements from radically different cultural and social domains, thereby constituting human realities and creating ways of relating to changing and disjunctive circumstances. Tromba's strength lies in its fluid capacities to relate to ongoing social change by altering its own practices, while at the same time continuing to heal person and cosmos. The book critically addresses the still dominant perspective in anthropology, where rituals are understood as representations of culture and society. Using tromba as a pivotal case in the critique of ritual as representation, this book offers a fresh perspective on ritual and spirit possession.
:
1 online resource (xi, 326 pages) : color illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004223875 :
0169-9814 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.