The Long Life of Magical Objects : : A Study in the Solomonic Tradition / / Allegra Iafrate.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn State University Press Complete eBook-Package 2019
• VerfasserIn: Iafrate, Allegra,
• Place / Publishing House: University Park, PA : : Penn State University Press, , [2021]; ©2019
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Series: Magic in History
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (248 p.) :; 19 illustrations
• Other title: Frontmatter --; CONTENTS --; List o f Illustrations --; Acknowledgments --; Solomon's Cabinet of Curiosities: Objects from an Uncanonical Collection --; 1. Magical Objects and Where to Find Them --; 2. The Signet Ring --; 3. Bottles for the Demons --; 4. Much Ado About Knotting --; 5. The Metamorphic Shamir --; 6. Carpets and Other Flying Devices --; Conclusion: "Of the Cosmopolitan Destiny of Magical Objects" --; Notes --; Bibliography --; Index
• Format: Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
• ISBN: 9780271085357; 9783110745207
• DOI: 10.1515/9780271085357?locatt=mode:legacy
• Access: restricted access
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: Allegra Iafrate.

This book explores a series of powerful artifacts associated with King Solomon via legendary or extracanonical textual sources. Tracing their cultural resonance throughout history, art historian Allegra Iafrate delivers exciting insights into these objects and interrogates the ways in which magic manifests itself at a material level.Each chapter focuses on a different Solomonic object: a ring used to control demons; a mysterious set of bottles that constrain evil forces; an endless knot or seal with similar properties; the shamir, known for its supernatural ability to cut through stone; and a flying carpet that can bring the sitter anywhere he desires. Taken together, these chapters constitute a study on the reception of the figure of Solomon, but they are also cultural biographies of these magical objects and their inherent aesthetic, morphological, and technical qualities.Thought-provoking and engaging, Iafrate's study shows how ancient magic artifacts live on in our imagination, in items such as Sauron's ring of power, Aladdin's lamp, and the magic carpet. It will appeal to historians of art, religion, folklore, and literature.