PRACTICAL MAGIC MAKING AND USING OBJECTS IN ROMAN AND LATE ANTIQUE EGYPT

Abstract

The Greek and Egyptian Magical Formularies have preserved a collection of handbooks with a range of instructions to aid a practitioner in achieving a specific goal: gaining favour and success, binding a lover, or receiving a dream oracle. Many of these procedures involve making an object that will provide that aid, using an image of a supernatural agent created as a figurine, an image on a gem, or drawn on a support. This thesis studies these procedures as a means to understand the role of physical materials in the process of making an object magically effective. The handbooks are a rich source of information about the various materials, tools, and processes required to make a magical object. They provide an insight into the relationship between physical, supernatural, and human agents, mainly how these three actors were involved in ensuring a magical procedure worked. The procedures reveal that this relationship is complex and multi-faceted. Materials work together in groups, supernatural agents, and the practitioner to produce the desired result. This study breaks down the procedures into a distinct set of stages, allowing a more thorough analysis of how materials cemented the relationship between human and supernatural agents. It examines the wide range of materials involved in making a single object at each stage and how they operate together to create the desired outcome for the practitioner. This analysis provides a new perspective on the materiality of magic and a valuable complementary perspective to previous research in this rapidly growing field.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Todd Klutz (Supervisor) & Roberta Mazza (Supervisor)