Officina magica : : essays on the practice of magic in antiquity / / edited by Shaul Shaked.

• Superior document: IJS studies in Judaica, v. 4
• TeilnehmendeR: Shaked, Shaul.
• Year of Publication: 2005
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: IJS studies in Judaica ; v. 4.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (331 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

This book discusses various aspects of the theory and practice of magic in antique cultures around the Mediterranean. While some of its contributors address problems of methodology of research into magic and the definition of magic, others deal with specific historical and textual issues. Although a major focus is on Jewish texts ranging from antiquity to the medieval period, the book also includes studies of several magical texts from ancient Mesopotamia and their impact on later magical practice, and studies of Greek and Zoroastrian texts and artifacts. The approaches thus range from the examination of textual or visual sources to theoretical issues such as the history of research and the definition of magic.

Table of Contents

Foreword; Form and Purpose in Aramaic Spells: Some Jewish Themes (The poetics of magic texts) (Shaul Shaked); Incantations in Southern Mesopotamia-From Clay Tablets to Magical Bowls (Thoughts on the Decline of the Babylonian Culture) (Joachim Oelsner); Tablets and Magic Bowls (Markham J. Geller); Lunar and Snake Omens among the Zoroastrians (Antonio Panaino); What is a Magical Text? Methodological Reflections Aimed at Redefining Early Jewish Magic (Yuval Harari); Drawing and Writing: A Fourth-Century Magical Spell from Oxyrhynchus (Hagit Amirav)

(Re)Interpreting Magical Gems, Ancient and Modern (Simone Michel)Jewish Mysticism in the Geonic Period: The Prayer of Rav Hamnuna Sava (Klaus Herrmann); Some Observations on the Diffusion of Jewish Magical Texts from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages in Manuscripts from the Cairo Genizah and Ashkenaz (Reimund Leicht); Understanding Ritual in Jewish Magic: Perspectives from the Genizah and Related Sources (Michael D. Swartz); "Watermarks" in the MS Munich, Hebr. 95: Magical Recipes in Historical Context (Giuseppe Veltri)

The Unwritten Chapter: Notes towards a Social and Religious History of Geniza Magic (Steven Wasserstrom)Magic and Human Reason (Marcel Sigrist); Index