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Coptic Magical Papyri Podcast

Coptic Magical Papyri Podcast

By Coptic Magical Papyri Podcast

The Coptic Magical Papyri: Vernacular Religion in Late Roman and Early Islamic Egypt is a five-year research project (2018-2023) based at the Chair of Egyptology of the Julius Maximilian University Würzburg. The team consists of Korshi Dosoo (research group leader), Markéta Preininger, and Julia Schwarzer (formerly also Edward O.D. Love). We bring you what we know about Coptic magic in the form of academic publications, blogs and podcast episodes!

www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de/
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Case Study: Praise of the Archangel Michael

Coptic Magical Papyri PodcastJun 29, 2021

00:00
55:52
Looking Back at the Five Years of the Coptic Magical Papyri Project

Looking Back at the Five Years of the Coptic Magical Papyri Project

In this episode, I discuss the results of the Coptic Magical Papyri project with Korshi Dosoo, the project leader. We also discuss our new book, Papyri Copticae Magicae, which is available for sale in printed and electronic format on the De Gruyter website.

Feb 01, 202459:18
Magic in the Byzantine World with Michael Zellmann-Rohrer

Magic in the Byzantine World with Michael Zellmann-Rohrer

In this episode, Michael Zellmann-Rohrer introduced us to Byzantine magic. Michael Zellmann-Rohrer has an undergraduate degree in classical philology from Harvard University. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on late ancient and medieval Greek and Latin magical texts at the University of California. Between 2016 and 2021, he was a research associate on the Lexicon of Greek Personal Names at the University of Oxford. Currently, Michael Zellmann-Rohrer is part of the ERC project "Zodiac - Ancient Astral Science in Transformation", in which he is dealing with a corpus of texts and practices related to his earlier interest in magic. Astrology is another form of easily transmissible folk knowledge with a foundation in religious thought, which has survived on papyri thanks to the favorable climate in Egypt, allowing us to trace the details of its application by practitioners from different social classes. During his research, he has worked with various artifacts of manuscript cultures: Inscriptions on stone, jewelry, amulets made of precious stones and metal leaves, books and formulas on papri, and in parchment and paper codices.

Mar 23, 202301:02:51
Talking Ancient Magic with David Frankfurter

Talking Ancient Magic with David Frankfurter

In this episode, the well-known scholar of ancient Mediterranean religion David Frankfurter not only introduces the into the basic questions concerning magic in the ancient world, but also shares his memories of magic studies during their revival in the 1990's. David Frankfurter specializes in Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature, magical texts, popular religion, and Egypt in the Roman and late antique periods. Frankfurter’s particular interests revolve around theoretical issues like the place of magic in religion, the relationship of religion and violence, the nature of Christianization, and the representation of evil in culture

Sep 27, 202244:04
 Intersection between Christian and Jewish Magic with Joseph Sanzo
Jun 01, 202233:37
Greek and Egyptian Deities in Coptic Magical Texts with Roxanne Bélanger Sarrazin
Jan 20, 202245:47
Coptic Pharmacological Texts with Anne Grons

Coptic Pharmacological Texts with Anne Grons

In this episode of the podcast, we are discussing Coptic pharmacological texts with Anne Grons, who is currently finishing her thesis on the topic. Pharmacological texts offer a window into ancient medical practices. The pharmacological prescriptions are aimed at healing various issues, often by applying remedies made of plants, animals, minerals or other substances, to the body. Coptic pharmacological texts are crucial for understanding Coptic magical prescriptions - often, the boundaries between the two genres are blurred, as they tend to use the same formulations or ingredients. Anne Grons has studied Egyptology and was the assistant/lexicographer at the project Dictionary and Database of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC) (Freie Universität Berlin). Currently, she is a researcher at the Institute of the History of Pharmacy and Medicine (in formation) at Philipps-Universität Marburg led by Prof. Dr. Tanja Pommerening. 

Aug 18, 202148:48
Case Study: Praise of the Archangel Michael

Case Study: Praise of the Archangel Michael

This episode was created to celebrate the new edition of the "Praise of the Archangel Michael" (P. Heid. Inv. Kopt. 686), produced by the Coptic Magical Project, a praise written on a parchment codex in Coptic and dated to the 10th century CE. The text is unique, as it is one of the longest magical texts, and it provides many details on the cosmology of Egyptian Christians of that era who were using and producing the magical text. In the first part of the podcast, the text is presented and this is followed by an interview with Korshi Dosoo who clarifies various aspects of the praise (5:02). Next, you'll hear the praise recoded by Edward Love (36:27). Lastly, technical details regarding the podcast are given (54:05). Thank you for listening and enjoy! For any feedback, feel free to contact us through Facebook or through our website.


Jun 29, 202155:52
Ancient Christian Liturgy and Magic with Ágnes Mihalykó

Ancient Christian Liturgy and Magic with Ágnes Mihalykó

Ágnes Mihálykó is a specialist on Christian liturgical papyri. She has recently published a book on the topic, The Christian Liturgical Papyri: An Introduction, with Mohr Siebeck, in which she offered an extensive introduction into the topic, and she discussed the earliest liturgical manuscripts preserved. In the podcast, we discuss the relationship between liturgical papyri and magical texts.

Ágnes spent her undergraduate years studying mostly in Hungary, and obtained her PhD in classics at the University of Oslo in 2017. Currently, Ágnes is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas at the University in Oslo, and she is working on a project in collaboration with the project „Euchologia. Daily Life and Religion: Byzantine Prayer Books as Sources for Social History” lead by Claudia Rapp, at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Ágnes’ project centers around collecting and editing Christian liturgical prayers in ancient Greek and Coptic, which have been preserved on papyrus from the third to the ninth centuries, and which testify to a variety of practices and record the early history of the Coptic Church’s liturgy. Most of them relate to the Eucharist or are intercessions for various occasions, but there are also prayers for the liturgy of the hours, for the ordination of a monk, and blessings as well. The project will bring together these prayers in one corpus as well as in digital publication with a reliable transcription, an English translation and commentary, with reflections on the text’s liturgical function and relation to the intellectual and theological currents of its time.

Jan 29, 202148:30
A Focus on Coptic with Edward Love

A Focus on Coptic with Edward Love

In this episode of The Coptic Magical Papyri Podcast, Edward O.D. Love offers a deeper look into how Coptic relates to Demotic, into the development of Old Coptic, Coptic. Please, listen to the previous episode with Edward, to get a full idea of development of Egyptian language. Edward Love also introduces us to his habilitation, which focuses on the letters to gods.

Edward Love is post-doctoral assistant on the project The Coptic Magical Papyri at the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg. Edward’s principal research interests include the conceptualisation, mechanics, and contexts of interaction with the divine in Egypt. A parallel research interest, stemming from the work of his doctoral thesis, is the obsolescence of the scripts of the Egyptian writing system during the Roman Period. Edward also gives an introduction into the various dialects of Coptic.

Nov 06, 202001:04:07
Egyptian Language Development with Edward Love

Egyptian Language Development with Edward Love

Edward O.D. Love talks about the development of Egyptian language and script, as the relation between Demotic and Coptic was the focus of his PhD research. Edward thoroughly explains the evolution from hieroglyphics, Hieratic, Demotic, to the Coptic writing, as well as the grammatical progress of the language. A particular focus is put also on the domains of writing and their explanation. Besides these topics, Edward discussed his academic background and his years in Oxford, where he obtained his BA, MSt and PhD.

Aug 27, 202057:23
Coptic Magical Papyri Project with Korshi Dosoo

Coptic Magical Papyri Project with Korshi Dosoo

For the next three podcast episodes, we have decided to bring the project closer to you by interviewing the three core members of the project. In this podcast episode, Korshi Dosoo, the leader of the project, talks not only about the origin of the Coptic Magical Papyri project, but about Coptic magic within the larger framework of the cultural context, as well as about the roots of his own interest in magic in general.

Jul 17, 202001:00:21
Koptische Magie und Alchemie mit Sebastian Richter

Koptische Magie und Alchemie mit Sebastian Richter

In our third podcast - exceptionally recorded in German -  we sat down with Prof. Sebastian Richter from the Free University of Berlin, to discuss the possible relationship between Coptic magical and alchemical texts. What does alchemy mean in the context of Byzantine and Islamic Egypt? What alchemical processes do the manuscripts professor Richter edited uncover and who wrote them? Listen and enjoy!


In unserem dritten Podcast - ausnahmsweise in deutscher Sprache aufgenommen - haben wir uns mit Prof. Sebastian Richter von der Freien Universität Berlin zusammengesetzt, um die mögliche Beziehung zwischen koptischen magischen und alchemistischen Texten zu diskutieren. Was bedeutet Alchemie im Zusammenhang mit dem byzantinischen und islamischen Ägypten? Welche alchemistischen Prozesse decken die von Professor Richter herausgegebenen Manuskripte auf und wer hat sie geschrieben? Hören Sie zu und genießen Sie!



May 14, 202001:10:18
Gnosticism and Coptic Magic with Dylan Burns

Gnosticism and Coptic Magic with Dylan Burns

Dylan Burns introduces us to basic conceptions of Gnosticism, as well as its core texts. The focus of our second podcast is on the relationship of magical and Gnostic texts in Roman Egypt. Enjoy!
Mar 27, 202001:24:54
Introduction to Coptic Magic with Jacques van der Vliet

Introduction to Coptic Magic with Jacques van der Vliet

In the first podcast episode, created by the Coptic Magical Papyri project based at the University of Würzburg, Germany, we discuss ancient magic with the Leiden professor Jacques van der Vliet. Who was the ancient magician and what were his practices?
Feb 20, 202040:48