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

Sanzo, Joseph E.

doi:10.1353/earl.2016.0044

Journal of Early Christian Studies

2016

DOI: 10.1353/earl.2016.0044

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

Joseph E. Sanzo¹

Abstract: This essay offers the first sustained interpretation of the poetics of P. Oxy. VIII 1077-a sixth-or seventh-century C.E. healing amulet in which the presumably Christian practitioner constructs efficacy through scriptural citation, visual features, material peculiarities, and performative action. Drawing on literary and material evidence and utilizing insights from diverse disciplines, this paper argues that the practitioner attempted to heal the client by ritually wrapping him or her (through the amulet's dra… Show more

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Cited by 4 publications

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Appropriation: A New Approach to Religious Transformation in Late Antiquity

Dijkstra

2020

Numen

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In this article, I propose the concept of “appropriation,” widely used in cross-cultural contexts, as a new approach to the process of religious transformation in Late Antiquity. This approach has the advantage that it encompasses the entire spectrum of individual responses to the impact of Christianity that characterizes the period. It is thus a particularly dynamic concept, as it accurately takes into account the interactive nature of the process and views it “from the bottom-up,” highlighting human agency. The variety of responses is illustrated by three case studies from Egypt — literature, monumental architecture (temples and churches), and magic — which can be regarded as exemplary for studying similar aspects of the religious transformation process in other areas of the (Eastern) Roman Empire. In each of these cases, the topic has until quite recently been viewed in terms of a “pagan” vs. Christianity framework, which has now been replaced by a more complex picture that exposes to the fullest extent the different forms of appropriation.

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Appropriation: A New Approach to Religious Transformation in Late Antiquity

Dijkstra

2020

Numen

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At the Crossroads of Ritual Practice and Anti-Magical Discourse in Late Antiquity: Taxonomies of Licit and Illicit Rituals in Leiden, Ms. AMS 9 and Related Sources

Sanzo¹

2019

Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft

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Narratives and statements against illicit ritual or "magic" in the ancient Mediterranean world have received considerable scholarly attention over the past several decades. 1 Such scholarly attention is not without intellectual justification; the so-called "discourse of ritual censure" penetrated numerous genres and cultural contexts and in fact constituted one of the primary discursive registers through which ancient writers promoted, maintained, and reflected their social identities. 2 This scholarly trend has not been lost on the study of early Christianity. Indeed, several helpful surveys of late antique Christian discourses against illicit or "magical" rituals have emerged over recent years. 3 These more recent studies largely reject the approach of prior researchers, such as Alphons A. Barb, who took ecclesiastical testimonies against magic at face value and thus allowed these polemical sources to shape their portraits of late antique apotropaic and curative 1 E.g.

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More than text: Approaching ritual papyri from Oxyrhynchus as inscribed objects

Possiel¹

2020

Archiv Für Religionsgeschichte

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Although papyri serve as critical forms of evidence for the study of ritual in the late antique Mediterranean, much about their function and significance in ritual performance remains unknown. This paper investigates this dimension of ritual texts through an examination of three papyri from Oxyrhynchus (P.Oxy. 4242, 2833, and 5304) – a horoscope, a sortes collection, and a magical formulary. Pairing close readings with an object-centered approach to the study of ritual in the ancient world, this paper addresses the text of each papyrus as well as its visual and physical characteristics including size, columniation, layout, evidence of wear, and marginalia. This analysis illuminates not only the role of each papyrus within the practice of astrology, divination, or magic, but also its influence on ritual performance. By mediating the experience of ritual participants, these papyri exert object-agency. Therefore, this paper argues that such texts are not simply passive instruments consulted by practitioners but rather active participants and collaborators in the performance of ritual.

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