A Centre for the Study of Magical Text Traditions of West Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean in Antiquity
Texts labeled as ‘magical’ in modern scholarship figure prominently in the written legacy of all ancient cultures in West Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean, presenting a key source for the history of religions and ideas in antiquity.
Egyptian and Greek papyri, cuneiform texts in various languages, and many other texts transmit ritual instructions, recitations, and recipes, but also explanatory texts of various kinds and written documents that were themselves part of magical ritual practices.
The texts shed light on religious beliefs, concepts of the world, learned traditions, and early forms of science. They provide insight into social and cultural norms, but also conflicts and the precarious existence of the individual in pre-modern societies. The Centre for Advanced Studies (Kolleg-Forschungsgruppe: KFG) MagEIA is dedicated to the interdisciplinary and comparative study of these textual traditions.
The MagEIA Centre is led by a team of three scholars from Egyptology (Martin Stadler), Ancient Near Eastern Studies (Daniel Schwemer), and Comparative Philology (Daniel Kölligan). As PIs, they are the contact persons for all academic questions concerning the MagEIA Centre. Daniel Schwemer acts as speaker of MagEIA.
An essential part of MagEIA are fellows from various disciplines who work on their own projects within MagEIA for a certain period of time and contribute to the interdisciplinary collaboration. Fellows' expertise may be in any of the philologies relevant to the magical text traditions of West Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean in antiquity; historians of religion, ethnologists, or archaeologists who specialize in the study of magic and wish to engage with ancient textual traditions are equally welcome.
