PMich inv. 593 Egypt 4th to 7th century A.D.Papyrus Text: chararn larouth rourouth outh êthith

PMich inv. 593Egypt 4th to 7th century A.D.PapyrusText: chararn larouth rourouth outh êthith chôchôô … (2 pages of voces magicae).Pages 18 and 19 of a well-preserved, 20-page codex (i.e., booklet, not scroll), written in Coptic. This codex is one of several Coptic magical texts which came from one “workshop” and provide an interesting example of one text being copied and used by several different practitioners – note, for example, the change on p. 19, line 3, with a different handwriting and different word-divisions. The text itself begins with a spell, including an invocation of God and of the seven archangels, after which the practitioner introduces himself as Seth, the son of Adam, and performs a purification ritual. Next comes a long list of instructions on the various ways to use the spell – to cure reptile bites, recite it over some water and have him drink it; to relieve a headache, recite it over oil and anoint his temples; to treat insomnia, recite it over water and wash the area around the patient’s bed; to cure impotence, recite it over wine and have the patient drink it; to protect a house, recite it over water and sprinkle it throughout the house; to protect a ship at sea, write it on a clean papyrus sheet and tie it to the tip of the mast; to help a woman whose milk does not flow, recite it over something sweet and let her eat it when she comes out of the bath; etc. Next comes a second spell, which begins with a prayer to God and quickly moves on to a long string of voces magicae, including the ones shown here, after which the spell, and the text as a whole, come to an end.Although this is a Christian text, it incorporates many practices and motifs of pre-Christian magical traditions, such as the practitioner’s self-presentation as someone else (in this case, Seth the son of the biblical Adam; cf. no. 3: “I am Abrasax”), as well as many of the older voces magicae, such as the mutilated “sesengenbarpharangês” formula (for which see no. 40) at the second and third lines of p. 19, or the misspelled “ablanathanalba” (cf. no. 4, etc.) at the end of p. 19 and the beginning of p. 20. All the voces magicaeon these two pages contain none of those Coptic letters which find no parallel in the Greek alphabet, and must have been copied literatim from a Greek original.Bibl.: Paul Mirecki, “The Coptic Wizard’s Hoard,” Harvard Theological Review 87 (1994), pp. 435-460.(Source: Traditions of Magic in Late Antiquity) -- source link

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