Envisioning Magic : : A Princeton Seminar and Symposium / / Peter Schäfer and Hans Kippenberg.

• Superior document: Numen Book Series ; Volume 75
• VerfasserIn: Schäfer, Peter, 1943-; Kippenberg, Hans G.
• TeilnehmendeR: Kippenberg, Hans G.
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, The Netherlands : : Koninklijke Bntl NV,, [1997]; ©1997
• Year of Publication: 1997
• Edition: First edition.
• Language: English
• Series: Numen numerus ; Volume 75.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource.

This collection of twelve articles presents a selection of papers delivered in the course of a seminar 1994-95 and its concluding international symposium at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. The common theme is the interrelation between magic and religion, focussing particularly on the Mediterranean world in Antiquity - Egyptian, Graeco-Roman and Jewish beliefs and customs - but also treating the early modern period in Northern Europe (the Netherlands and Germany) as well as offering more general reflections on elements of magic in language and Jewish mysticism. The volume is characterized by an interdisciplinary approach and the use of varied methodologies, emphasizing the dynamic nature of the often contradictory forces shaping religious beliefs and practices, while dismissing the idea of a linear development from magic to religion or vice versa. The contributors are outstanding scholars in their fields: Ancient, Medieval and Modern History, Religious Studies, Jewish Studies, Classical Studies, Early Christianity, Islamic Studies, Anthropology, Egyptology and Comparative Literature. Without a doubt this re-evaluation of a fascinating age-old subject will stimulate scholarly discussion and appeal to educated non-specialist readers as well.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material / Peter Schäfer and Hans G. Kippenberg -- Magic and Theology in Ancient Egypt / Assmann Jan -- Magic and Religion in Ancient Judaism / Peter Schäfer -- Jewish Magic in the Greek Magical Papyri (PGM VII.260-71) / Hans Dieter Betz -- Reporting the Marvellous: Private Divination in the Greek Magical Papyri / Richard Gordon -- How to Cope with a Diff1cult Life. A View of Ancient Magic / Fritz Graf -- Ritual Expertise in Roman Egypt and the Problem of the Category ‘Magician’ / David Frankfurter -- Magic in Roman Civil Discourse: Why Rituals Could be Illegal / Hans G. Kippenberg -- Rising to the Occasion: Theurgic Ascent in its Cultural Milieu / Sarah Iles Johnston -- On Judaism, Jewish Mysticism and Magic / Moshe Idel -- Miracle, Magic, and Disenchantment in Early Modern Germany / Philip M. Soergel -- Between Rellgion and Magic: An Analysis of Witchcraft Trials in the Spanish Netherlands, Seventeenth Century / Gurno Marnef -- Language, Signs and Magic / Thomas M. Greene -- Index of Sources / Peter Schäfer and Hans G. Kippenberg -- Index of Names and Subjects / Peter Schäfer and Hans G. Kippenberg -- Studies in the History of Religions Numen Book Series / Peter Schäfer and Hans G. Kippenberg.