Magic and the Supernatural in Fourth Century Syria

Silke Trzcionka

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2006
• eBook ISBN: 9781134163830
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Ancient History
• Index: History

Magic and the Supernatural in Fourth Century Syria presents an in-depth investigation of a variety of 'magical' practices with a focused study in the late antique Syria and Palestine.

Offering new research using both archaeological and literary sources, and blending Classical, Jewish, and Christian traditions from both regions, Silke Trzcionka examines a myriad of magical activities such as:

• curses, spells and amulets
• accusations related to chariot races, love and livelihood
• methods involved in protection, healing, possession and exorcism.

The information is provided with clarity and theoretical sophistication which enables students to develop an understanding of these beliefs and their place within the social context of the time.

Altogether, a useful, enlightening and enjoyable book which students studying religion and/or social history will find invaluable.

1
INTRODUCTION

This study began with a simple desire to understand more about the mystical, exciting and frightening world of ‘ancient magic’. The work that follows emerges from this original intention having, in the process, been subjected to considerable reflection, realignment and refinement. Its aim now is to convey the excitement, the fear and the power so intrinsic to this field of spells, charms and curses, and to do so with a full appreciation of the society that accommodated it.

Given the broad range of practices, periods and regions which the wider subject of magic covers—including all regions and periods of Graeco-Roman history, from the time of Homer through to Byzantium—finding a focus for this study was a priority, and required careful consideration of preceding scholarship. The foci of this scholarship varied, as did the influences upon it, for as a field of study ‘ancient magic’ has interested a range of scholars since the nineteenth century and the discovery of the first magical papyri. Since then there has been a variety of work carried out on the subject, influenced both by the availability of evidence and by prevailing trends of academic thought regarding magic and its place within society.¹

The early part of last century saw an increasing amount of activity in the field. Of particular note at this time was the work of Preisendanz who in his Papyri Graecae Magicae translated and examined hundreds of Greek papyri from Egypt.² However, despite the activity, magic and its study was not assigned scholarly status by many academics who appeared to view it as a pollution of the idealised image of the ancient past.³ Such culturally tainted and even pejorative attitudes towards magic were sustained for many decades and were considerably influenced by the works of Tylor and Frazer, the latter particularly affected by Darwinian notions.⁴ Frazer, and others with similar ideas, believed that cultures ‘evolved’ in much the same way as the physical human form had evolved. Thus it was believed that there were ‘primitive’ societies and beliefs, and there were more ‘evolved’ cultural forms. Within this framework, any practices which were deemed magical were primitive and reflected a lower, less-evolved form of ‘superstitious’ belief not to be found in more evolved cultural entities. Such pejorative notions of ancient belief systems were to pervade scholarship for many decades, and in some instances their influence is still apparent.⁵

A revival and renaissance in scholarship on magic has been evident since the early 1990s with significant scholars such as Faraone, Gager, Graf, Jordan, Kotanksy, Luck, Meyer, Mirecki, Shaked, Schaefer and Swartz providing varied and often insightful studies into various aspects of the field.⁶ The interest of many of these recent studies in the social contexts of magical practices, and their increasing dismissal of the pejorative ideas of the past, has spurred on a broader acceptance of magic as a legitimate and note-worthy aspect of mainstream socio-historical studies.

Amongst this wide-ranging, extensive, and often enlightening scholarship, there are still many areas and aspects of Graeco-Roman magic deserving of attention. The physical, temporal and geographical nature of the evidence means that most studies of the material have either covered a broad geographical area and a lengthy period of time, or focused their attention on specific forms or functions of practice. These are issues that will receive more considered attention in the following chapter; it suffices to say here that there is scope for more temporally and regionally focused studies of the material, especially as the social context becomes increasingly acknowledged and examined. In line with this argument this work offers a study clearly defined both geographically and temporally, which addresses the antique evidence with a primary concern for the social context which produced it.

The aim of the study is to present and discuss people’s utilisation of techniques involving the supernatural in Syria and Palestine in the fourth century of the common era. The study considers the evidence from both regions for practices involving methods such as curses, spells, invocations and the use of amulets. Such a focus allows for a concentrated study excluding assumptions in regard to the homogeneity of Graeco-Roman practice and belief. It also facilitates the social aspect of the investigation which considers the evidence within the fourth-century social setting of Syria and Palestine, drawing upon ideas presented by sociological and anthropological studies that offer insight into understanding the social place of practices involving the supernatural.

Following this introduction, Chapter 2, ‘The Status Quaestionis’, briefly addresses the reasoning behind the delineations and ambitions of the study. This discussion includes a review of scholarship regarding ‘magic’, and presents an argument for the inapplicability of the term and its consequent exclusion from the investigation. In the absence of such a generic label, the subject matter to be incorporated in the study covers those activities involving people’s communication with the supernatural⁷ for the purposes of protection, or assistance in beneficent or maleficent action. The discussion then focuses on the restriction of the investigation both to the specific time period of the fourth century of the common era and to the two regions of Syria and Palestine. Thereafter consideration is given to the work that has already been done on the fourth century, and particular regard is also paid to various methods of interpretation and their applicability to the subject of this study.

Chapter 3, ‘Syria and Palestine: a fourth-century background’, outlines some of the major political, economic, religious and social changes to affect fourth-century Syria and Palestine.

Chapter 4, ‘Curses for courses: heavy tactics in the hippodrome’, begins the investigation of fourth-century practices involving the supernatural in Syria and Palestine. Extant evidence relating to the chariot races in both regions is presented and includes curse tablets and hagiographical accounts that illustrate the use of methods involving the supernatural to enhance, inhibit, or protect horses and charioteers. It is argued in the course of the discussion that the agonistic context of the sporting event, individual financial concerns, as well as the social perception of the charioteer, all contributed to appeals to supernatural agents in this sporting arena.

Chapter 5, ‘Supernatural sabotage: ensuring a successful livelihood’, addresses the methods people used to ensure their success or survival in areas of livelihood and career. This included curses, the assistance of holy men, as well as the use of sorcery accusations. This chapter is divided between the evidence dealing with livelihood and career, and that dealing specifically with the sorcery accusations. It is proposed in the discussion of the various forms of evidence that social, economic and political factors, as well as concepts of honour, envy and limited good can be seen as having contributed to the use, or alleged use, of practices involving the supernatural in relation to livelihood in this period.

Chapter 6, ‘Demanding desire: rituals of love and lust’, relies heavily on hagiographical accounts in its investigation of love spells and curses. It is argued that in this evidence can be seen the influences and provocations of social constructs of gender, family, behaviour, honour and shame, as well as an attempt to reassert and manipulate social norms and expectations.

Chapter 7, ‘The Apotropaic: protecting good fortune’, investigates the pervasive practice of protecting the individual and his/her property from misfortune. The predominant threat of misfortune lay in the fear of the evil eye, a complex belief closely related to ideas on envy. It is proposed in the discussion of the apotropaic practices that the prevailing social structures and belief systems create a sense of vulnerability, fostered by the notion of limited good and of envy, that brings about this need for apotropaic security from the daimonic and deleterious.

Chapter 8, ‘Illness and healing: threats and retaliation in a discourse of power’, considers the role of the supernatural in the healing practices of the fourth century. It is argued from an examination of the evidence that the fourth-century mindset associated illness with the malevolent intervention of supernatural forces and that these forces consequently also provided a medium for the healing of maladies. Furthermore, it is asserted that the practice of healing provided a powerful forum for the promotion of effective supernatural and religious prowess, particularly by contemporary Christian authorities.

Chapter 9, ‘Possession and expulsion: experiencing and expelling the daimonic’, investigates the activities and rituals related to daimonic possession and expulsion. It is proposed in the discussion that the perception of deviant behaviour, the assertion of religious differentiation, social change, the social perception of vulnerability, as well as issues of power and control, are all evident factors in the quite dramatic context of possession and expulsion.

Chapter 10, the conclusion, reflects on the aims of the study and the methodology which directed it, while also considering the interdependence of social context and belief systems and their role in the use of methods involving the supernatural in the fourth century.

2
THE STATUS QUAESTIONIS

This chapter discusses the problem of the label of ‘magic’ and its definition, the parameters of the investigation, and the methods for approaching and understanding the material.

‘Magic’

The discussion must begin with a clear delineation of the subject matter, and thus, as suggested earlier, with the term ‘magic’. The use of this term without definition of meaning places any study at the mercy of each researcher’s and reader’s variable understanding of what magic is. However, definition itself does not necessarily help the situation. Consider, for instance, the difficulty that must be faced when using a definition such as that proposed by Luck which utilises the concept of the ‘soul’—a term which is itself open to various problems of interpretation. Luck writes:

I would define magic as a technique grounded in a belief in powers located in the human soul and in the universe outside ourselves, a technique that aims at imposing the human will on nature or on human beings by using supersensual powers. Ultimately, it may be a belief in the unlimited powers of the soul.¹

Unclear terminology is not, however, the only difficulty of definition. The label ‘magic’ is loaded with the cultural and social meanings, both positive and negative, which have been assigned it over the course of the last millennia. Hence it is necessary to find a definition which proposes a meaning suitably stripped of modern preconceptions and judgements. Yet, even having found this description, it is also imperative that the understanding and conceptions of the period in question are considered. As will be shown, the antique notion of magic can be variable and is not readily restricted to the one label so often sought for it. Thus the term ‘magic’ itself and its use pose significant dilemmas for the investigation and must receive due consideration in order to determine a manageable and academically viable approach for the study.

The issue of magic in regard to its relation to religion and its definition has been thoroughly discussed and debated in books and journals for well over a century. However, this discussion has waned in past years and scholars have largely followed the individual approaches deemed most appropriate and culturally responsive to the material and periods under investigation. Recent trends in scholarship display a shift away from traditional pejorative views, distinctions and labels, yet the approaches of scholars do not present a conclusive solution or an easily applicable precedent.

The traditional definition of magic rested largely on scholarly interpretations of its relation with and to religion and, to a lesser degree for the ancient world, science. The dichotomy created a plethora of articles, each providing new markers upon which to place that all important dividing line, crucial to separating magical practice from what were considered the more respectable fields of religion and even science.² The hugely influential works of Frazer and Tylor,³ for example, which were heavily influenced by a scientific view of the world and subsequent social studies deriving from theories of evolution, were not surprisingly largely focused on separating the ‘primitive’ rites of magic from the more ‘pure and civilised’ forms of Christian religion. The impact of these views can be traced in scholarly studies in the field through to the later part of last century, weighed down as they were by definitions reflecting long-defunct scholarly trends, ethnocentric assumptions, pejorative and subjective attitudes, and anachronistic analyses.⁴

The anthropologist Émile Durkheim dealt extensively with the issues of magic and religion and their definitions. To Durkheim, Frazer, by failing to define religion, was not able to recognise the profoundly religious character of various beliefs and rites, which he had classified as primitive and magi...

Table of contents

• CONTENTS
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• ABBREVIATIONS
• 1 INTRODUCTION
• 2 THE STATUS QUAESTIONIS
• 3 SYRIA AND PALESTINE
• 4 CURSES FOR COURSES
• 5 SUPERNATURAL SABOTAGE
• 6 DEMANDING DESIRE
• 7 THE APOTROPAIC
• 8 ILLNESS AND HEALING
• 9 POSSESSION AND EXPULSION
• 10 CONCLUSION
• NOTES
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• INDEX