Hans Dieter Betz (Eds.)
The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation
Including the Demotic Spells: Texts
authors
data
Product: Book
ISBN-10: 0-226-04447-5
ISBN-13: 9780226044477
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
Country:
Year: January 1, 1997
Edition: 1
Size: 17.81 x 25.20 x 2.39cm
Number of pages: 406
Weight: 739gr
Binding: Paperback
ISBN-10: 0-226-04447-5
ISBN-13: 9780226044477
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
Country:
Year: January 1, 1997
Edition: 1
Size: 17.81 x 25.20 x 2.39cm
Number of pages: 406
Weight: 739gr
Binding: Paperback
editions
0.) Greek Magical Papyri in Translation
Hans Dieter Betz (Eds.)
University of Chicago Press; 1986
Hardcover
1.) The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, Including the Demotic Spells, Volume 1
Hans Dieter Betz (Eds.)
University Of Chicago Press; 1992
Hardcover
order
catalog
description
Product Description
»The Greek magical papyri« is a collection of magical spells and formulas, hymns, and rituals from Greco-Roman Egypt, dating from the second century B.C. to the fifth century A.D. Containing a fresh translation of the Greek papyri, as well as Coptic and Demotic texts, this new translation has been brought up to date and is now the most comprehensive collection of this literature, and the first ever in English.
»The Greek magical papyri« is a collection of magical spells and formulas, hymns, and rituals from Greco-Roman Egypt, dating from the second century B.C. to the fifth century A.D. Containing a fresh translation of the Greek papyri, as well as Coptic and Demotic texts, this new translation has been brought up to date and is now the most comprehensive collection of this literature, and the first ever in English.
The Greek Magical Papyri in Transition is an invaluable resource for scholars in a wide variety of fields, from the history of religions to the classical languages and literatures, and it will fascinate those with a general interest in the occult and the history of magic.
»One of the major achievements of classical and related scholarship over the last decade.«--Ioan P. Culianu, Journal for the Study of Judaism
»The enormous value of this new volume lies in the fact that these texts will now be available to a much wider audience of readers, including historians or religion, anthropologists, and psychologists.«--John G. Gager, Journal of Religion
»[This book] shows care, skill and zest. … Any worker in the field will welcome this sterling performance.«--Peter Parsons, Times Literary Supplement
reviews
wonderful 
A wonderful book in the old system of magic. some of these spell are abel to be use in these moderm time while other's spell need to be brought useing different method. The prayer to the god's and goddess's are ver poetic and wonderfull to read and say, and most shocking expect some of these force comeing into your life and to your occult work. real pure magic of our ancestor. Divine blessing :)
A wonderful book in the old system of magic. some of these spell are abel to be use in these moderm time while other's spell need to be brought useing different method. The prayer to the god's and goddess's are ver poetic and wonderfull to read and say, and most shocking expect some of these force comeing into your life and to your occult work. real pure magic of our ancestor. Divine blessing :)
Wonderful!
A must have for anyone interested in Hermetic magick, this edition of PMG is fantastic, easy to read , very tidy clean work with many useful notes and references. Even if you're not into to the occult this edition of PMG will help you uderstand what religion was for people back then. Great work I really enjoyed reading it.
A must have for anyone interested in Hermetic magick, this edition of PMG is fantastic, easy to read , very tidy clean work with many useful notes and references. Even if you're not into to the occult this edition of PMG will help you uderstand what religion was for people back then. Great work I really enjoyed reading it.
Important work. Recommended
The Greek Magical Papyri have had a profound impact on a wide range of historical topics, from esoteric traditions of magic to the shaping of Christianity (see Morton Smith's book »Jesus the Magician«). Hence this work is invaluable for anyone studying the history of religious and magical thought. I found the translations here to be accessible and to the point, Some of the charms were rather amusing (to have an erection anoint your »thing«---translator's words!---with a mixture of honey and pepper), to fairly well outside what I would consider ethical (large numbers of charms requiring the drowning of animals). All in all though this is an unappreciated and important work. I would highly recommend it.
The Greek Magical Papyri have had a profound impact on a wide range of historical topics, from esoteric traditions of magic to the shaping of Christianity (see Morton Smith's book »Jesus the Magician«). Hence this work is invaluable for anyone studying the history of religious and magical thought. I found the translations here to be accessible and to the point, Some of the charms were rather amusing (to have an erection anoint your »thing«---translator's words!---with a mixture of honey and pepper), to fairly well outside what I would consider ethical (large numbers of charms requiring the drowning of animals). All in all though this is an unappreciated and important work. I would highly recommend it.
Greek Magicians or Egyptian Kheri-Heb [Lector Priest] ?
Professor H. D. Betz has filled a lacuna in ancient Graeco-Egyptian scholarship for the English speaking world. At last, the formidable erudition of the Papyri Graecae Magicae [»Greek Magical Papyruses«], edited by the German scholar Preisendanz with German translation, is made available to the vulgar human herd. This unruly herd still will not understand the content and context of the majority of these magical spells, incantations, charms and wish-fulfilments by the ignorant and under-educated people of late antiquity. As the purpose of Egyptian 'magic' [Eg. heku] was to learn the 'law of the god' [Eg. hp n ntr], as one was 'pursuing wisdom' [Eg. mre rhw], so as to (1.) control the world, (2.) learn timeless secrets, and (3.) see the divine; this was the core of Egyptian scribal culture from its beginnings (c. 3000 BCE) to its collapse in the 4th century ACE [After the Common Era]. The vile superstitions of the people of the book, Hebrew, Christian & Islamic, destroyed this magnificent perspective, which when mingled with Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Indian learning, eventually gave us our scientific revolutionary experimental culture. To understand properly this devolution in cognition and perception, one must go back to the lector priests or 'reading' priests of the ancient Egyptian temples and shrines. These were the elite magicians of ancient Egypt [2700 BCE to c. 600 BCE]. They literally wrote their rites, rituals, and incantation spells on the walls of their great temples, for the Pharoah or Hem-Netjer Tepey [High Priest] to enact or perform. This was the source of these fantastic spells and magical incantations---ten centuries before our present texts were committed to writing. There were, of course, seventeen centuries before these ten centuries, as this magical priestly culture built up from its crude African beginnings. My suggestion is mastery of competence in Egyptian Hieroglyphics [Classical Egyptian of the Eighteenth Dynasty, New Kingdom, 1567-1320], BCE], as well as Classical Attic Greek before you devour this delicious treatise. You will then have the mental framework to enjoy these tidbits which Professor Betz gives you. The author of the first review here gave young scholars correct insight as to the strength and weaknesses of this particular edition. We still do not have a competent Egyptologist to review this material to paginate the ancient magical formulae [Eg. hp] that monotonously re-appear over and over in these scattered texts of two centuries (essentially, 4th and 5th centuries ACE). This would require twenty years of concentrated scholarship by a savant; this should not be too demanding of a task in our filthy, ignorant age---what else do savants have to do? So, beside editorial scholarship (copyists, redactors, etc.), this massive amount of erudite, arcane information requires a brilliant Commentator. The intellectual Research Scientist, Garth Fowden, has begun the task in his charming Princeton University Press »mythos« treatise, »The Egyptian Hermes«. Now we need an Isaac Casaubon! [See his 1614 treatise, "De rebus sacris et ecclesiasticis exercitationes XVI. Ad Cardinalis Baronii prolegomena in Annales.] What he did for the Hermetic literature needs to be done for this magical literature. Respectfully, John E.D.P. Malin, Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive Officer Informatica Corporation Executive Division P.O. Drawer 460 Cecilia, Louisiana 70521-0460 [ … ] --
Professor H. D. Betz has filled a lacuna in ancient Graeco-Egyptian scholarship for the English speaking world. At last, the formidable erudition of the Papyri Graecae Magicae [»Greek Magical Papyruses«], edited by the German scholar Preisendanz with German translation, is made available to the vulgar human herd. This unruly herd still will not understand the content and context of the majority of these magical spells, incantations, charms and wish-fulfilments by the ignorant and under-educated people of late antiquity. As the purpose of Egyptian 'magic' [Eg. heku] was to learn the 'law of the god' [Eg. hp n ntr], as one was 'pursuing wisdom' [Eg. mre rhw], so as to (1.) control the world, (2.) learn timeless secrets, and (3.) see the divine; this was the core of Egyptian scribal culture from its beginnings (c. 3000 BCE) to its collapse in the 4th century ACE [After the Common Era]. The vile superstitions of the people of the book, Hebrew, Christian & Islamic, destroyed this magnificent perspective, which when mingled with Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Indian learning, eventually gave us our scientific revolutionary experimental culture. To understand properly this devolution in cognition and perception, one must go back to the lector priests or 'reading' priests of the ancient Egyptian temples and shrines. These were the elite magicians of ancient Egypt [2700 BCE to c. 600 BCE]. They literally wrote their rites, rituals, and incantation spells on the walls of their great temples, for the Pharoah or Hem-Netjer Tepey [High Priest] to enact or perform. This was the source of these fantastic spells and magical incantations---ten centuries before our present texts were committed to writing. There were, of course, seventeen centuries before these ten centuries, as this magical priestly culture built up from its crude African beginnings. My suggestion is mastery of competence in Egyptian Hieroglyphics [Classical Egyptian of the Eighteenth Dynasty, New Kingdom, 1567-1320], BCE], as well as Classical Attic Greek before you devour this delicious treatise. You will then have the mental framework to enjoy these tidbits which Professor Betz gives you. The author of the first review here gave young scholars correct insight as to the strength and weaknesses of this particular edition. We still do not have a competent Egyptologist to review this material to paginate the ancient magical formulae [Eg. hp] that monotonously re-appear over and over in these scattered texts of two centuries (essentially, 4th and 5th centuries ACE). This would require twenty years of concentrated scholarship by a savant; this should not be too demanding of a task in our filthy, ignorant age---what else do savants have to do? So, beside editorial scholarship (copyists, redactors, etc.), this massive amount of erudite, arcane information requires a brilliant Commentator. The intellectual Research Scientist, Garth Fowden, has begun the task in his charming Princeton University Press »mythos« treatise, »The Egyptian Hermes«. Now we need an Isaac Casaubon! [See his 1614 treatise, "De rebus sacris et ecclesiasticis exercitationes XVI. Ad Cardinalis Baronii prolegomena in Annales.] What he did for the Hermetic literature needs to be done for this magical literature. Respectfully, John E.D.P. Malin, Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive Officer Informatica Corporation Executive Division P.O. Drawer 460 Cecilia, Louisiana 70521-0460 [ … ] --
Jade Sol Luna
You should check out Jade Sol Luna's »Hecate: Death, Transition and Spiritual Mastery«. He swears by the INVOCATIONS IN THIS book!
You should check out Jade Sol Luna's »Hecate: Death, Transition and Spiritual Mastery«. He swears by the INVOCATIONS IN THIS book!
keywords
related products
Christopher A. Faraone (Eds.), Dirk Obbink (Eds.)
Oxford University Press, USA; 1997
Paperback
John G. Gager (Eds.)
Oxford University Press, USA; 1999
Paperback
Daniel Ogden
Oxford University Press, USA; 2009
Paperback
© 1994–2010 Sascha Hendel
last update: 3/13/2010
URL: http://www.book-info.com/isbn/0-226-04447-5.htm
- search