The materiality of magic / edited by Dietrich Boschung and Jan N. Bremmer.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Boschung, Dietrich, editor.

Bremmer, Jan N., editor.

Series:

Morphomata ; 20.

Morphomata ; 20

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Magic, Ancient--Cross-cultural studies.

Magic, Ancient.

Magic--Cross-cultural studies.

Magic.

Amulets.

Talismans.

Cross-cultural studies.

Genre:

Cross-cultural studies.

Physical Description:

422 pages, 15 pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Paderborn : Wilhelm Fink, [2015]

Summary:

"In the last two decades we have had many books and proceedings of conferences on the history, formulas and incantations of magic in antiquity, both in East and West, but this is the first book of its kind that focuses on the material aspects of magic, such as gems, rings, drawings, grimoires, amulets and figurines. In recent years scholars have focused not only on the discourse and practices of magic in antiquity, but also on its practitioners, literary stereotypes and historical shifts. Much less attention, however, has been paid to the material that was used by the magicians for their curses and incantations. Yet there is no magic without materiality. The practice of magic required a specialist expertise that knew how to handle material such as lead, gold, stones, papyrus, figurines or voodoo dolls. That is why we present new insights on the materiality of magic by studying both the materials used for magic as well as the books in which the expertise was preserved"-- Publisher.

Contents:

The materiality of textual amulets in ancient Egypt / Jacco Dieleman

Monstrous figurines from Mesopotamia : textuality, spatiality and materiality in rituals and incantations for the protection of houses in first-millennium As̆s̆ur / Laura Feldt

From the magician's workshop : notes on the materiality of Greek curse tablets / Jaime Curbera

A "voodoo doll" from Keos in Berlin's Antikensammlung / Jaime Curbera and Sergio Giannobile

Appendix to A "voodoo doll" from Keos in Berlin's Antikensammlung / Jochen Vogl and Martin Rosner

From substances to texts : three materialities of "magic" in the Roman Imperial Period / Richard L. Gordon

Probaskania : amulets and magic in antiquity / Véronique Dasen

Engineering ancient amulets : magical gems of the Roman imperial period / Árpád M. Nagy

From books with magic to magical books in ancient Greece and Rome? / Jan N. Bremmer

The interplay between image and text : on Greek amulets containing Christian elements from late antique Egypt / Jitse Dijkstra

The curse inscriptions and the Materia magica of the Anna-Perenna-Nymphaeum at Rome / Jürgen Blänsdorf

More lucky wearers : the magic of portable inscriptions / Annewies Van Den Hoek, Denis Feissel, John J. Herrmann, Jr.

Magical material & material survivals : amulets, talismans, and mirrors in early modern Europe / Peter J. Forshaw

The material culture of post-medieval domestic magic in Europe : evidence, comparisons, and interpretations / Owen Davies.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9783770557257

3770557255

OCLC:

891030744