Scriptural Incipits on Amulets from Late Antique Egypt

Abstract

Scriptural Incipits on Amulets from Late Antique Egypt: Text, Typology, and Theory (Studien Und Texte Zu Antike Und Christentum / Studies and Texts in Antiquity and Christianity) Joseph Emanuel Sanzo The use of biblical and parabiblical texts on amulets and other apotropaic objects was ubiquitous in late antique Egypt. Among the passages most frequently cited were the opening lines (incipits) of the Gospels, the Psalms, and other scriptural texts. Scholars have repeatedly observed the apotropaic use of such incipits , but have yet to subject them to thorough and focused analysis. In the present volume, Joseph E. Sanzo addresses this scholarly need by offering the first sustained study of the scriptural incipits on Greek and Coptic amulets and other apotropaic objects from late antique Egypt. In addition to providing a catalog and edition of these texts, the author draws on insights from cognitive linguistics, ritual studies, and the history of the book to establish a typology of the incipits and to determine their ritual functions.

Wrapped up in the Bible: The Multifaceted Ritual on a Late Antique Amulet (P. Oxy. VIII 1077)

“…To take just one example, the citation of biblical texts for apotropaic, curative, and exorcistic purposes during late antiquity was probably shaped by the physical limitations of the media used (e.g., papyrus, parchment, ostraka, bowls, bracelets). 103 Often by necessity, biblical citations on such magical objects were short and sometimes even fragmentary. 104 As a result, the physical limitations of amulets and the like both reflected and contributed to a vision of the Bible as a collection of disparate thematic units.…”

“…104 As a result, the physical limitations of amulets and the like both reflected and contributed to a vision of the Bible as a collection of disparate thematic units. 105 It would be interesting to trace how material supports on amulets, on the one hand, and authoritative traditions, on the other hand, intersected within various religious communities and cultures and in different historical periods.…”

Ritual Boundaries: Magic and Differentiation in Late Antique Christianity

“…G 1101), which highlighted the motif of the persecuting "Jews. " A version of this paper was eventually published in the Festschrift for S. Scott Bartchy, my other doctoral advisor (Sanzo 2014b). Needless to say, the overlaps and relationships between ancient magic and early Jewish-Christian relations-as well as the significance of these respective fields of inquiry for late antique religious history, more generally-have continued to motivate my research, figuring into a coauthored essay with Ra'anan Boustan (Boustan and x Preface Sanzo 2017) and forming the analytical center of my European Research Council Project (Early Jewish and Christian Magical Traditions in Comparison and Contact; grant agreement no.…”

“…51. For source-critical analyses of this phrase, see Maltomini 1982, 152-56;Fiaccadori 1986;Mazza 2007, 444-45. Concerning its anti-Jewish invective, see Sanzo 2014b. 52.…”

Treatment by Medicine and Magic in Coptic Texts "A Linguistic and Cultural study"

“…1104 Translation: Meyer andSmith 1994: 322. with slight modifications. 1105Sanzo 2014 Moreover, the amulets contain a direct invocation to Jesus Christ, such as the above mentioned ACM, 101, no. 55, which invokes the Christ birthday, the crucial juncture in Christian history to keep the wearer protected from venomous reptiles.…”