Ancient magic has been a focus of great interest since the the early 1990s. Although much has been written on the concept of magic itself, its origin, its various genres, formulas, etc., there has thus far been little attention to the fact that magical knowledge became enshrined in certain types of material, such as lead, stone, gems and papyrus-material that sometimes was used for specific genres of magic.
It is the aim of the conference to take the material as the point of departure for a discussion of various types of magic. The centre of the discussion is antiquity, but the conference will also include discussions of preceding and subsequent eras in order to supplement, compare, and contrast the classical material.
The Materiality of Magic
24.–25.05.2012
Audio recordings
Jacco Dielemann (UCLA): From Papyrus to Metal in Amulet Production from Pharaonic to Greaco-Roman Egypt
Chris Faraone (chicago) Voodoo Dolls in Greek and Roman Antiquity
Arpad M. Nagy (Budapest): Developing Ancient Amulets: the Magical Gems of the Roman Imperial Period
Jan N. Bremmer (Munich/Groningen): From Book with Magic to Magical Books
Richard Gordon (Erfurt): Magic and Materiality: Where Do We Stand Now
Andrea Zeeb-Lanz (Speyer) Magic in Prehistory
Willem de Blecourt (Amsterdam): Bewitchment by Body-Parts. Love Magic in Late Medieval Flanders
Peter Forshaw (Amsterdam): Amulets, Seals and Talismans in Early Modern Europe
Heike Behrend (Cologne): Photo-Magic
Owen Davies (Hertfordshire) The Materiality of Magic Today