Animals as magical ingredients in the Epigraphical Sources in the Area of Roman Empire Andrea Salayová, Masaryk University, Brno 24.7.2019 Kommission für Alte Geschichte und Epigraphik, Munich Written sources on magic in antiquity •Classical authors •Greek magical papyri •Curse tablets Classical authors on magic Pliny the Elder – Natural History •“The Natural History of Pliny the Elder is a voluminous survey of science, pseudoscience, art, and technology. Reflecting the state of knowledge of the late Hellenistic era, it is based on a hundred or so earlier authorities.” (Arcana mundi, p. 68.) Pliny vs. magicians • „Magorum vanitas perunctis adipe eo faciliorem gratiam apud populos regesve promittit, praecipue tamen eo pingui, quod sit inter supercilia, ubi esse nullum potest.“ (PLIN. Nat. 28. 25) • Magical ingredients within Natural history qhuman ingredients q animal ingredients qingredients against certain illnesses •Foreign animal species • Animals as magical ingredients in Greek magical papyri •"The Greek magical papyri" is a name given by scholars to a body of papyri from Greco-Roman Egypt containing a variety of magical spells and formulae, hymns and rituals. The extant texts are mainly from the second century B.C. to the fifth century A.D.“ (Betz, 1986, p.41) •„The Greek magical papyri are, however, original documents and primary sources. Their discovery is as important for Greco-Roman religions as is the discovery of the Qumran texts for Judaism or the Nag Hammadi library for Gnosticism.“ (Betz, 1986, p.42) PGM I. 247-62 - Invisibility spell •Ἀμαύρωσι<ς> δοκίμη. μέγα ἔργον· λαβὼν πιθήκου ὀφθαλμὸν ἢ νέκυος βιοθανάτου καὶ βοτάνην ἀγλαοφωτίδος (τὸ ῥόδον λέγει) ταῦτα τρίψας σὺν ἐλαίῳ σουσίνῳ, τρίβων δὲ αὐτὰ ἐκ τῶν δεξιῶν εἰς τὰ εὐώνυμα λέγε τὸν λόγον, ὡς ὑπόκειται· “ΑΝΟΚ ΑΝΟΥΠ ΑΝΟΚ ΟΥΣΙΡΦΡΗ ΑΝΟΚ ΣΟΣΩΤ ΣΩΡΩΝ ΟΥΙΕΡ ΑΝΟΚ ΠΕ ΟΥΣΙΡΕ ΠΕΝΤΑ ΣΗΤ ΤΑΚΟ· ἀνάστηθι, δαίμων καταχθόνιε ιω Ἐρβηθ ιω Φορβηθ ιω Πακερβηθ ιω Ἀπομψ, ὃ ἐὰν ἐπιτάξω ὑμῖν ἐγὼ ὁ δεῖνα, ὅπως ἐπήκοοί μοι γένησθε.” ἐὰν δὲ θελήσῃς ἄφαντος γενέσθαι, χρῖσόν σου τὸ μέτωπον μόνον ἐκ τοῦ συνθέματος, καὶ ἄφαντος ἔσῃ, ἐφ’ὅσον χρόνον θέλεις. ἐὰν δὲ θελήσῃς ἐμφαίνεσθαι, ἀπὸ δύσεως ἐρχόμενος εἰς ἀνατολὴν λέγε το ὄνομα τοῦτο, καὶ ἔσει δηλωτικὸς καὶ ἔποπτος πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις. ἔστιν δὲ τὸ ὄνομα· “Μαρμαριαωθ μαρμα ριφεγγη, ποιήσατέ με, τὸν δεῖνα, ἔποπτον πᾶσιν ἄνθρώποις ἐν τῇ σήμερον ἡμέρᾳ, ἤδη, ἤδη, ταχύ, ταχύ.” ἔχε<ι> λίαν καλῶς. • Why donkey? Curse Tablets CIL 8.12511, Carthago, 1st.-3rd. cent. CE •„Ὡς οὗτος ὁ ἀλέκτωρ καταδέδεται τοῖς ποσὶ καὶ ταῖς χερσὶ καὶ τῆ κεφαλῆ, οὕτως καταδήσατε τὰ σκέλη καὶ τὰς χῖρας καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ τὴν καρδίαν Βικτωρικοῦ τοῦ ἡνιόχου τοῦ βενέτου ἐν τῆ αὖριν ἡμέρα καὶ τοὺς Ἵππους ...“ • • Conclusion •Thank you for your attention! •asalayova@gmail.com • Sources: •BETZ, H.D.: Greek magical papyri in translation, 1986 •FARAONE, Ch.A., ORBINK, D.: Magika hiera, 1991 •JOHNSTON, S. I.: Ancient religions, 2007 •KITCHELL Jr., K.F.: Animals in the ancient world from A to Z, 2014 •LUCK, G.: Arcana Mundi, 1985 •PLINY The Elder: Natural History, John Bostock ed. •ROSSEL, S., MARSHALL, F. et al.: Domestication of the donkey: Timing, processes, and indicators, 2008 • SCHWARTZ, M.D.: The aesthetics of blessing and cursing: literary and iconographic dimensions of hebrew and aramaic blessing and curse texts •