Cultural Plurality in Ancient Magical Texts and Practises

This conference intends to discuss various examples of plurality and fusion in ancient magical texts and practices from the Mediterranean and the Near East. Discussions of cultural “hybridity” have by now evolved beyond the naïve assumption that globalisation will result in increasing and finally total homogeneity. Still, the complex processes of partial integration of foreign elements clearly need more detailed attention. In principle, there can be many different models, and even within one culture, there can be a variety of responses to ‘foreign’ elements, depending on the specific discourse and factors such as public visibility or secrecy. Accordingly, we prefer the heuristic terms of fusion and plurality (as different but often contemporaneous attitudes) since they are less loaded with previous models.

In order to achieve a better understanding of the different facets of transcultural encounters, it is important to expand our views beyond the borders of academic disciplines. This is especially true both for the complex socio-cultural history of the ancient Mediterranean and the Near East, and even more for the study of ancient magic, in which foreign elements could be considered appealing and powerful just because of their alterity. The cultural background of spells and ritual techniques is often multifarious, especially in Late Antiquity. The best example is the corpus of Greek and Demotic magical papyri from Roman Egypt in which it is possible to recognize elements from Egyptian, Jewish, and Greek culture, plus even some Mesopotamian, Iranian, and Christian traits. This is not only the product of the various religious/textual sources that may have been employed to compile these papyri, but also a reflection of the multicultural society of the period.

Is it actually possible to trace different elements back to different cultural traditions? How did these different cultural elements interact among each other? Why were some elements from a specific culture chosen or preserved and others not? And how were they integrated in their new context? Is it possible to identify logical patterns? And how were the different cultural contributions conceived by the compilers of the magical texts? And what about the actual users of the spells? Were they still able to differentiate between various cultural influences? Or was this heterogeneous amalgam conceived as ‘mysterious’ in itself and thus inherent in the magical nature of these texts?

Keeping in mind that these questions can be applied to other ancient contexts, we welcome papers not only dealing with the Greek and Demotic magical papyri from Roman Egypt but also with other magical handbooks (such as the Sepher ha-Razim), as well as with applied magic (such as defixiones) and magical implements which were used in connection with a specific magical practice.

Contact:

Prof. Joachim Friedrich Quack
Ägyptisches Institut
Marstallhof 4
69117 Heidelberg
Germany

Tel.:+49-6221-54 25 32
Email: b08@ix.urz.uni-heidelberg.de