Intern
  • Auszüge aus magischen Texten aus Kulturen des Altertums (Griechisch, Hieratisch, Demotisch, Akkadisch): British Library P 122; British Museum P Chester Beatty 7 und P Leiden/London; BM 34065
DFG Kolleg-Forschungsgruppe MagEIA

Fellowship Report

On my arrival in Würzburg on 01.10.2024, I began work on my paper for the First International Symposium of the DFG Centre for Advanced Studies MagEIA (Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 2024). My paper concerned an unpublished Syriac magical text, in Manichaean script, inscribed on a ceramic bowl. The text consists of incantatory formulae which were written by a magician for some clients to “seal and protect” them against bad aggressors. While in Würzburg I have also continued my work on deciphering other magical bowls written in various Aramaic dialects of the 5th to 7th centuries AD, namely in Judeo-Aramaic, Mandaic and Syriac. At the same time, I have been working on modern Syriac amulets (of the 18th to 20th centuries AD), from various countries, including Iran, Iraq, Turkey and other lands to which Syriac communities have emigrated, such as Russia, Armenia and Georgia. These amulets, written on rolls of paper or in small booklets, are intended to protect people, their homes, possessions and children from all kind of demon, evil eye and from bad spirits. During our research seminar on magical literature in different civilizations, I presented two sessions of seminars on the magic bowls and the modern Syriac amulets and discussed the question of whether there is continuity or discontinuity between the two traditions? On 14.11.2024, as a guest speaker of SCIAS, I gave a talk entitled “Magical literature: bowls and amulets”. At the end of my journey in Würzburg, I completed an article concerning a magic pendant amulet, depicting a Phoenician deity, Ba‘lat, on the obverse and with an inscription in Phoenician on the reverse, which dates from the 7th century BC and was found in Lebanon.

The presence in the MagEIA Research Group of scholars from various disciplines engaged in interdisciplinary research into the ancient cultures of West Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as research into the history of religions and ideas in antiquity, has been extremely helpful for my own research. The seminar organized by MagEIA principal investigators was very important from the point of view of enriching my knowledge, as well as my work. The contact with different colleagues was profoundly helpful for my studies in Würzburg: the exchanges and discussions with them during the seminar, as well as in coffee and lunch breaks were so fruitful; they were always ready to answer seriously and with kindness: I would like to thank each one deeply.

From my personal perspective, I would like to say that MagEIA has the merit of bringing together scholars working in multiple disciplines, who are from different countries, cultures and universities around the word, and involving them to work on magic literature in the ancient and modern world: for example, from Iran, Mesopotamia, Armenia, Greece, Egypt, Ethiopia. Texts labeled as ‘magical’ and written on tablets, papyri, parchment or paper in various languages, are used to transmit ritual instructions and recitations, which continue in use in some Asian countries. The goal of MagEIA, to put this literature in relief deserves our admiration and our praise. Here I would like to present a special thanks to every MagEIA principal investigators: Profs. Daniel Schwemer, Daniel Kolligan and Martin Stadler.

Given that I work in the field of magical texts (in Aramaic, Syriac and Arabic), I intend to remain in contact with MagEIA and to collaborate with this research group in different ways: for example, by participating in symposiums, by publishing articles/books or by cooperating on projects dealing with magic literature or popular magic in the Middle East.

Publications

  • “A Syriac magical bowl in Manichaean script”, (Forthcoming).
  • “Une amulette gravée d’une inscription phénicienne”, Semitica 66, 2024, pp. 47-54.
  • “Arabic inscriptions in Deir as-Salib, Qadisha – Lebanon”, Eastern Christian Art 13, 2024, pp. 1-16.
  • “Graffiti on the Walls of the Monastery of the Holy Cross”, Archaeology & History in the Lebanon 60-61, 2024-2025, pp. 165-174.
  • “Anastase-Marie and the Yezidi Studies”, in: Khanna Omarkhali, Maria Six-Hohenbalken (eds.), Yezidi Studies in the Late 19th and Beginning of the 20th Century. Maximilian BITTNER: A Critical Review of his Work and his Contributions to Yezidi Studies, 2025, (Forthcoming).