Papyri Copticae Magicae. Volume 1. : Coptic Magical Texts / Korshi Dosoo [and five others].

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dosoo, Korshi, author.

Series:

Archiv für philosophie- und theologiegeschichtliche Frauenforschung ; Volume 48.

Archiv Für Papyrusforschung und Verwandte Gebiete - Beihefte Series ; Volume 48

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Christianity and literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (638 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Berlin, Germany : Walter de Gruyter GmbH, [2023]

Summary:

This volume is the first in a new series of editions of Coptic-language "magical" manuscripts from Egypt, written on papyrus, ostraca, parchment, and paper, and dating to between the fourth and twelfth centuries CE. Their texts attest to non-institutional rituals intended to bring about changes in the lives of those who used them – heal disease, curse enemies, bring about love or hatred, or see into the future. These manuscripts represent rich sources of information on daily life and lived religion of Egypt in the last centuries of Roman rule and the first centuries after the Arab conquest, giving us glimpses of the hopes and fears of people of this time, their conflicts and problems, and their vision of the human and superhuman worlds. This volume presents 37 new editions and descriptions of manuscripts, focusing on formularies or "handbooks", those texts containing instructions for the performance of rituals. Each of these is accompanied by a history of its acquisition, a material description, and presented with facing text and translations, tracings of accompanying images, and explanatory notes to aid in understanding the text.

Contents:

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 Oualēs 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.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

3-11-108010-2

OCLC:

1405862535