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Magic and Divination in the Ancient World

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Magic and Divination in the Ancient World refers to the practices, beliefs, and rituals employed by ancient cultures to manipulate supernatural forces or gain knowledge of the future. This field examines the cultural, social, and religious contexts of these practices, exploring their significance and impact on ancient societies.
lightbulbAbout this topic
Magic and Divination in the Ancient World refers to the practices, beliefs, and rituals employed by ancient cultures to manipulate supernatural forces or gain knowledge of the future. This field examines the cultural, social, and religious contexts of these practices, exploring their significance and impact on ancient societies.
by Alberto Montaner and 
1 more
MONTANER, Alberto, y LARA, Eva, «Magia, hechicería, brujería: deslinde de conceptos», en Señales, Portentos y Demonios: La magia en la literatura y la cultura españolas del Renacimiento, Salamanca, Sociedad de Estudios Medievales y... more
Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach to a variety of material, textual, and literary evidence, the aim of this thesis is to shed light on the realities –rather than stereotypes- of an important aspect of late ancient women’s... more
The past decade has witnessed a huge expansion of research on the “archaeology of ritual,” but the field is still grappling with serious theoretical and methodological issues, concerning everything from the definition of “ritual” itself... more
Even though the concept of “magic” has sufffered severe criticism in academic discourse, the category continues to be used in many disciplines. During the last two decades, classicists in particular have engaged in a lively discussion... more
Throughout history, the Druids have always been seen as sorcerers who had a strong bond with nature. Ancestral knowledge holders within Celtic society, directed all religious activity as the highest authority linked to the gods, practiced... more
TOPIC This is an in-depth study of the accusations, the evolution, and the progression of Witchcraft and Sorcery that was believed to have been practised in the Ancient Greek and Roman World. This will be achieved by the analysis of... more
https://www.mohr.de/en/book/maidens-magic-and-martyrs-in-early-christianity-9783161544507 In this work, Jan N. Bremmer aims to bring together the worlds of early Christianity and those of ancient history and classical literature – worlds... more
Jewish Love Magic: From Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages is the first monograph dedicated to the supernatural methods employed by Jews in order to generate love, grace or hate.

https://brill.com/abstract/title/21914
A deep study of the magical aspects of ritual, both anthropological, social as wel a psychological. Various models about how rituals works, how the mind deals with magic, how rituals help to overcome time and space limitations, can help... more
Le principali tecniche della divinazione antica 1. Il mondo in un fegato Ossa oracolari cinesi Il fegato di Piacenza 2. Il segno e il prodigio Il sistema KIN 3. Un battito d'ala Le Tavole Iguvine 4. La sorte e le sorti La dea Fortuna... more
This is a discussion of the textual evidence for the practice of dream interpretation in the Ramesside Period. The context and dating of the Ramesside Dream Book (Papyrus Chester Beatty III, rt. 1-11) is also discussed.
Overview of the history of Chinese Buddhist astrology with a special focus on Iranian elements in the Qiyao rangzai jue 七曜攘災決. Kotyk, Jeffrey. "Iranian Elements in Late-Tang Buddhist Astrology." Asia Major 30, no. 1 (2017): 25-58.
The early Israelites practised just like the neighbouring nations different forms of divination; however, we have no indication that ornithomancy was actually one of them. In the Rabbinic period the Jews living in an Hellenistic... more
For know the controversial history of the Druids in the Celtic world, will investigate the sources of its origin, through stories of classic texts and medieval legends of Gaul, Britain and Ireland. His role in Celtic society surpassed the... more
The document presented here is a fragment of a magical text held in the papy-rus collection of Macquarie University, Sydney. This fragment preserves a part of one or more magical recipes, perhaps for love, favour, and/or protection, as... more
This thesis examines the evidence for divinatory practices in Roman Egypt, focusing rituals for questioning deities, and using the so-called ‘Theban Magical Library’ as the core corpus within which this practice is examined. The first... more
This chapter explores the literature of the nascent Jesus movements and emergent Christianity with its varying attitudes toward illegitimate ritual, in particular with such terms as magos, pharmakeia, manteuomai, and perierga. The chapter... more
In her contribution, Victoria Altmann-Wendling presents on the one hand the practical application of the lunar phases for the calendar, the regulation of religious festivals and the priests’ services. These indirect pieces of evidence... more
This thesis examines divination at Rome and its role in Roman historiography, with particular reference to Livy and Tacitus. The focus of the thesis is why and how they used divination and the extent to which divination supported their... more
This article explores the similarities and differences between Babylonian incantation bowls and Graeco-Roman binding spells and ‘prayers for justice’. It does not intend to demonstrate a direct historical link between the two, but rather... more
Consideration is given to how elements of the occult: witchcraft, magic and sorcery may be identified in the archaeological record. Working definitions of occult terminology are established before proceeding to propose a new approach,... more
Webpage with the bibliography of my PhD dissertation "Gli esperti (ummânu) nel periodo neo-assiro" (Roma, 2004)
For the interpretation of mythological subjects In the Roman funerary art the author systematically applies the analysis of the Key of Dreams by Artemidorus of Daldis, Greek author of the Antonine period. The funerary art was studied... more
The Jewish Bible emerged against a backdrop of paganism and astrolatry, surrounded by the greatest civilizations of the ancient world. A millennium later, in enclaves of the Sasanian Empire of pre-Islamic Iran, a melting-pot of... more
Mesopotamian Medicine and Magic: Studies in Honor of Markham J. Geller is a thematically focused collection of 34 brand-new essays bringing to light a representative selection of the rich and varied scientific and technical knowledge... more
In ancient Egyptian religion, the donkey is generally associated to Seth and to its manifestation as a donkey and in the Graeco-Egyptian papyri Seth and the donkey are also commonly identified with Typhon. However, in a few spells the... more
This course is designed to introduce the student to the evidence available for seafaring from earliest times to the beginning of the Iron Age, ca. 1000 BC, primarily, although not exclusively, in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The course... more
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 80(2), (2017), pp. 191-231.
A very popular form of ancient divination relies on reading the signs delivered by the human body, such as quivering or skin irregularities. A treatise attributed to Melampous lists predictions and psychological interpretations drawn from... more
The subject of this article is the ancient Mesopotamian omen series dealing with the observation of malformed human and animal births (teratomancy) that is known in the field as &umma izbu "If a malformed foetus". 2 We will concentrate on... more
A magical gem in the Cabinet des Médailles (Paris) shows, on the obverse side, the divine snake Chnoubis and, on the reverse, a bird flying over a fish. This latter is a sole, which was called psetta in Greek, whereas the bird is a... more
A reanalysis of the early 4th C. BCE cuneiform texts BM 53282 and BM 47494 and the evidence they provide for early, personal zodiacal divination. It is suggested that the 2½° "ki" rising or setting at the moment of birth served to... more
O.BYU Mag., a Coptic love spell written continuously over three successive ostraca, consists largely of a narrative in which Horus asks for the help of his mother Isis to win the love of a woman whom he meets in the underworld. It is one... more
Given here are the final proofs, following the editor's and the publisher's requirements.
The index to the entire book is included.

Some more information:
ISBN  9025613055 9789025613051
= Lexis Supplement nr. 70
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