CONFERENCE: Egyptian and Jewish Magic in Antiquity, 5-9 July 2015 (BONN)

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Under the auspices of the Minerva Stiftung, Bonn and Tel Aviv Universities have embarked on the bold initiative to bring together, for the first time, Egyptologists and Hebraists in an international conference aimed at studying ancient magic in an interdisciplinary perspective.

The EJMA Conference will be a four days forum for scholars to exchange their innovative work in ancient Egyptian and Jewish magic. The focus will be on the historical continuity and change of ancient Egyptian and ancient Jewish magical practices from antiquity to the early middle ages. Particularly, we will study the similarities, the differences, and the points of contact between these two magical traditions, with a strong emphasis on the impact of Pharaonic magic on early medieval (Coptic, Jewish and Islamic) magical practices.
We believe that, by studying two different ancient magical traditions from an historical perspective and with a view to a territorial continuity (in the land of Egypt), we will attain a more accurate and fluid overview of the Egyptian and Jewish magical lore throughout the centuries.

Programme

18.00-22.00
Opening Session and Reception Venue: Egyptian Museum.
Special Exhibition: “Ägyptische Magie neben Kunst und Schrift”
Ludwig D. Morenz, Greetings
Gideon Bohak, Rita Lucarelli, “Methodological Introduction”

 06.07.15 Monday (Heussallee 18-24)
“Language, Scripts, Scribes, and Priests”
CHAIR: Jaques van der Vliet

09.30-10.10
Ludwig D. Morenz, “Magic vs. Heka. Approaches a Terminological Issue”
10.10-10.50

Alessandro Roccati, “Script(s) and Magic in Ancient Egypt”
10.50-11.30

Kirsten Dzwiza, “Magical Signs in Ritual Manuals from Egypt – The Greek, Demotic, and Coptic sources”
11.30-11.50
COFFEE BREAK
CHAIR: Alexandra von Lieven
11.50-12.30

Jacques van der Vliet, “Preserving Power: The Textual Transmission of a Late-Antique Prayer the Virgin Mary”
12.30-13.10

Joseph Emanuel Sanzo, “Did the Bible Change Magic in Egypt? Continuity and Change in the of Authoritative Traditions for Ritual Power in Egypt during Late Antiquity”
13.10-14.40
LUNCH
CHAIR: Joachim Friedrich Quack
14.40-15.20

Alexandra von Lieven, “Joy of Sex and Male Progeny. Two Magic Spells in Funerary Adaptation”
15.20-15.40

Avigail Manekin Bamberger, “Legal Formulae Ancient Jewish Magic”
15.40-16.40

Laboratory: Bill Rebiger and Tonio Sebastian Richter, “Hebrew-Coptic Alphabet Charts in Magical Fragments from the Cairo Genizah”

 07.07.15 Tuesday (Heussallee 18-24)
“Cross-cultural Contacts”
CHAIR: Richard Gordon
09.30-10.10

Michael Zellmann-Rohrer,
“Multicultural Influences in Greek Fever Amulets”
10.10-10.50

Erika Zwierlein-Diehl, “The Snake-Legged God of the Magical Gems: Nature, Egyptian and Jewish Influences, Afterlife”
10.50-11.30

Franziska Naether, “Lot Oracles in a Graeco-Egyptian-Judaic Tradition”
11.30-11.50
COFFEE BREAK
CHAIR: Alessia Bellusci
11.50-12.30

Joachim Friedrich Quack, “The Historical Development of Demotic Egyptian Magic”
12.30-13.10

Bill Rebiger, “How much Egypt is in Sefer Ha-Razim?”
13.10-14.30
LUNCH
14.30-15.30

Laboratory: Richard Gordon, “Seminar Discussion on PGrMag IV 930-1114”
Activity:
Visit to the Collection of Magical Gems at the
Akademisches Kunstmuseum of the University of Bonn
 (Guide: Erika Zwierlein-Diehl)

 08.07.15 Wednesday (Heussallee 18-24)
“Texts, Objects and Materiality”
CHAIR: Christopher Faraone
09.30-10.10

Panagiotis Kousolis, “The Materiality of the Egyptian Magical and Popular Beliefs in the Early Iron Age Eastern Mediterranean: Questions on Cultural and Local Adaptations of the Religious Aegyptiaca”
10.10-10.50

Angelika Berlejung, “Amulets from Ancient Israel/Palestine in the Persian Period”
10.50-11.30

Árpád Miklós Nagy, “Hós Prokeitai. Magical Gems and Papyri”
11.30-11.50
COFFEE BREAK
CHAIR: Gideon Bohak
11.50-12.50

Laboratory: Alessia Bellusci, “The Cairo Genizah: Texts and Material Objects”
12.50-14.30
LUNCH
CHAIR: Angelika Berlejung
14.30-15.10

Christopher Faraone, “A Copper Plaque in the Louvre
(inv. AD 003732): Amulet or Handbook?”
15.10-15.50

Jacco Dielemann, “Egyptian and Jewish Textual Amulets in Antiquity”
15.50-16.10
COFFEE BREAK
16.10-17.10

Laboratory: Gideon Bohak, “Editing a Fifteenth-Century
 Manuscript of Jewish Magic”

 09.07.15 Thursday (Heussallee 18-24)
“Demons and Gods”
CHAIR: Ida Fröhlich
09.00-10.00

Laboratory: Kasia Szpakowska, “Experiential Workshop on Classification and Deconstruction of Demonic Entities”
10.00-10.40

Susanne Beck, “Sāmānu: A Demon goes West”
10.40-11.20

Rita Lucarelli, “Ancient Egyptian Demonology: A Comparative Perspective”
11.20-11.40
COFFEE BREAK
CHAIR: Rita Lucarelli
11.40-12.20

Ida Fröhlich, “Qumran Demonology”
12.20-12.50

Emma Abate, “Azazel and the Fallen Angels in the
magical Fragments from the Genizah”