Fellowship Report
From 11th March to 8th June 2024, I held the position of Visiting Senior Fellow within the MagEIA project (Magic between Entanglement, Interaction, and Analogy – A Centre for the Study of Magical Text Traditions of West Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean in Antiquity, DFG Kolleg Research Group 42). The project, entitled "Hittite magical terminology and phraseology", is centred on the investigation of the terminology and phraseology of Hittite magical texts, with the overarching aim of defining and highlighting the historical paths that allowed the emergence of the Hittite lexicon and phraseology of magic. The importance of Hittite magical texts has long been recognised and has been the subject of extensive research. Previous studies have mostly been conducted from a philological approach, leaving room for a strictly linguistic view of their results. The question of language as it relates to magical texts, and in particular their phraseological structures, has received much less attention, perhaps in part because the primary focus of Ancient Near Eastern philologists has inevitably been on the reconstruction and processing of the textual material itself.
My contribution to the MagEIA project has benefited from the existing literature and, building on it, shifted the focus to a linguistic approach. This represents an innovative perspective in the study of Hittite magical texts, aiming to combine the perspective of the philologist with that of the linguist. The basic theoretical assumption is that phraseology, i.e. the study of the structure, meaning and use of word combinations, conveys information about the peculiarities of the historical and cultural environment. Thus, all linguistic production can be seen as an obvious and privileged object of analysis in order to study world views and religious traditions, social and cultural norms.
In the course of my research stay, I recorded and analysed the terminology and phraseology related to magic that occur in the following Hittite rituals:
CTH 390 Rituale und Beschwörungen der Ajatarša, Wattiti und Šuššumaniga
CTH 391 Ritual der Ambazzi
CTH 392 Ritual der Anna aus Kaplawija gegen unfruchtbare Weingärten
CTH 393 Ritual der Anniwijanni für die DKAL-Gottheiten
CTH 394 Ritual des Ašḫella aus Ḫapalla gegen Seuche im Heer
CTH 395 Ritual der Ḫantitaššu aus Ḫurma
CTH 396 Ritual der Ḫatija aus Kanzapida gegen die dämonische Wišurijant
CTH 397 Ritual der Ḫebatarakki aus Zuḫaruwa
CTH 398 Ritual des Auguren Ḫuwarlu
CTH 399 Ritual des Jarri aus Lallupija gegen Verunreinigungen
CTH 400 Ritual des Irija für die Reinigung einer Stadt
The analysis of this corpus of texts is aimed at producing a glossary of the Hittite lexicon of magic. This glossary will include not only individual lexemes, but also collocations and phrasemes characteristic of the Hittite magic. So far, I have identified two lines of research that seem particularly promising:
- The first line of research is the core phraseology of magic. A verb commonly used for magical practices is ḫamank- ‘to tie, to bind’, which is used in both literal and figurative meanings. This use reflects the widespread concept of illness as a state of being bound and unclean. A stronger semi-synonym of ḫamank- is išḫiya- ‘to bind, wrap’ with the extended figurative meaning of ‘to bind with, impose upon’ (see išḫiul- ‘binding, obligation, injunction, decree; treaty’). The verb ḫamank- is more restricted and specific in usage than išḫiya-. The antonym of both verbs is lā- ‘to loosen, untie; release from sorcery, free from a spell’ (often with appa or arḫa).
- A second promising line of research is offered by the verbs of saying used in magical practices. Magical practice aimed to achieve a desired effect by symbolic means, usually in the form of a verbal utterance (such as a spell) that could be accompanied by a ritualised action involving an object or a particular combination of ingredients. A fruitful research perspective in this respect is the comparison between ḫuek- ‘to conjure, to treat by incantation’ (with either dat. or acc.; see also the figura etymologica ḫūkmain ḫuek- ‘to utter an incantation’), ḫurt-/ḫuwart- ‘to curse’, mema- ‘to recite (an incantation or prayer)’, and utnaliya-, uddanaliya- ‘to speak about, conjure, bewitch’. The analysis is carried out at two levels, the lexical level, which analyses the lexical system (i.e., the vocabulary), and the pragmatic level, which examines how language is used to achieve goals in specific situations.
During my fellowship, I took part in a reading of ancient magical texts from different traditions. I also read and commented on an ancient Hittite text called "The Ritual of the Augur Ḫuwarlu" (CTH 398). I did this in two sessions on 29th April and 6th May. On 6th May, I gave a short presentation about the topics of my research at a conference in the Welz-Haus. The title of my presentation was "The language of the Hittite magical texts".
The highly interdisciplinary approach of the MagEIA project has enriched my work, as it has allowed me to come into contact with disciplinary fields that constitute important terms of comparison with the Hittite documentation, in particular the Mesopotamian, Greek, and Egyptian documentation. The highly interdisciplinary approach is demonstrated by the fact that during the two weekly meetings the texts were directly read and commented upon. The suggested way of analysing texts, using a system of interlinear glossing, allowed us to read the document directly, without using modern translations. This method of comparing different cultures allows us to explore the connections, interactions and similarities between different types of magical texts, allowing for a detailed analysis.
The extremely friendly atmosphere of the working environment and the continuous exchange with colleagues (not limited to the two weekly meetings), are the aspects that I appreciated most during my fellowship. As a guest at the Welz-Haus, I also appreciated the culture of exchange between the different disciplines and academic cultures that make up the scientific community.
In the second part of my research stay (1st April – 31th May 2025), I plan to carry on collecting and analysing the lexemes and locutions used in Hittite rituals (CTH 401-463). At the end of the second part of my stay, I would like to continue working with the research group by taking part in a symposium and other ways of working together on the glossary of Hittite magical terminology.
The first results of this research were presented in the paper “Indo-European magic” that I gave at the symposium “Reconstructing Indo-European Prehistory: Lessons from Linguistics, Archaeology and Genetics” (Pisa, 30-31 October 2024) at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (Pisa). I am finishing an essay on the etymology of Hitt. alwanzena- 'practising witchcraft'. The title of the paper is “Hitt. alwanzena- ‘practising witchcraft’ and its cognates in Hittite”. I am also preparing an essay on the verbs of speech used in magical practices, with the working title “Spell and speech act: the magic of the spoken word in Hittite Anatolia”.
