{"title":"Religious Lives of Image-Things, Avodah Zarah, and Rabbis in Late Antique Palestine","authors":"R. Neis","doi":"10.1515/arege-2015-0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/arege-2015-0006","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Drawing on rabbinic sources redacted in the early third and late fourth/ early fifth centuries, this paper tracks the intertwined lives of divine image-things and rabbis living in late Roman and Byzantine period Palestine. The paper argues that the religious image-things of others (or avodah zarah, in rabbinic terms) pressed in different ways on rabbinic notions of animation, materiality, agency, and representation, as well as on the boundaries between the thing, the human, and the divine. Additionally, the paper argues that while rabbis attempted to neutralize the claims of such image-things, in part by exposing their materiality, their excess nonetheless escaped such rabbinic efforts. Finally, the paper argues that in the fourth century, along with the “material turn” in the Roman world inspired by Christian engagement, we find not only a greater sense of the excess in the things of avodah zarah, but also a concomitant thingification of the rabbinic sage.","PeriodicalId":29740,"journal":{"name":"Archiv fur Religionsgeschichte","volume":"17 1","pages":"122 - 91"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/arege-2015-0006","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67354127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Omen and Anti-omen: The Rabbinic Hagiography of the Scapegoat’s Scarlet Ribbon","authors":"Mira Balberg","doi":"10.1515/arege-2015-0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/arege-2015-0003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article proposes that the place and meaning of various objects among religious communities can be explored in terms of “hagiography,” that is, through the narratives constructed around sacred objects sometimes long after their physical disappearance. It takes as its point of departure the assumption that in the same way that written accounts of saints’ lives disclose more about the authors of these accounts than about the protagonists, so narratives regarding “things” reveal the concerns and debates of their authors, and in particular their concerns about materiality and divine presence within physical objects. The article explores the rabbinic narratives concerning the scarlet ribbon tied to the scapegoat of the Day of Atonement, its function and its vicissitudes, as developed in the Mishnah and in the Palestinian and Babylonian Talmuds. Using both a synchronic and a diachronic lens, the article shows how the scarlet ribbon is utilized in the rabbis’ attempts to define their own times vis-à-vis earlier times, and to grapple with pressing religious uncertainties.","PeriodicalId":29740,"journal":{"name":"Archiv fur Religionsgeschichte","volume":"17 1","pages":"25 - 54"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/arege-2015-0003","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67353800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Early Histories Written in Stone: Epigraphy and Mythical Narratives","authors":"F. Graf","doi":"10.1515/arege-2014-0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/arege-2014-0012","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Mein Aufsatz will zeigen, wie im Hellenismus und der Kaiserzeit mythische Erzählungen, die sich in öffentlichen Inschriften niedergeschlagen haben, die traditionelle Funktion des Mythos als Begründung für politische und religiöse Institutionen aufrecht erhalten und weiterleben lassen. Eine Inschrift aus Aigai in Kilikien (spätes 2. oder frühes 3. Jh. n.Chr.), welche die Rede des Sophisten Antiochos von Aigai enthält, begründet die enge Bindung dieser Stadt mit Argos, und mithin ihren griechischen Charakter,mit der Gründungdurch Perseus. Eine inschriftlicher Brief der Prytanen von Tlos an ihre Kollegen in Sindyma (TAM II 174, unter Commodus) enthält eine Rede oder einen Traktat eines lokalen Aristokraten, Hieron, der die Beziehungen zwischen den drei Städten Tlos, Sindyma und Pinara aus der mythischen Gründungsgeschichte erklärt und kultische Aitologien und Wundergeschichten anfügt. Das jüngst publizierte mittelhellenistische Epigramm von Halikarnass, „Der Stolz von Halikarnass,“ verbindet die mythische Geschichte von Halikarnass seit der Geburt des Zeus, die sich in kultischen und politischen Institutionen niedergeschlagen hat,mit der literarischen Geschichte der Stadt und unterstreicht ebenso stark wie die beiden späteren Inschriften, wie sehr lokale Identität sich in der „historischen“ Kontinuität seit der mythischen Vorzeit ausdrücken kann, und wie gerne individuelle Städte diese Ansprüche in öffentlichen und monumentalen Inschriften dokumentieren.","PeriodicalId":29740,"journal":{"name":"Archiv fur Religionsgeschichte","volume":"16 1","pages":"209 - 224"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2015-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/arege-2014-0012","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67352832","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Innovative Use of Biblical Traditions for Ritual Power: The Crucifixion of Jesus on a Coptic Exorcistic Spell (Brit. Lib. Or. 6796[4], 6796) as a Test Case","authors":"J. Sanzo","doi":"10.1515/arege-2014-0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/arege-2014-0007","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In this paper, I explore the creative use of biblical traditions in so-called “magical” texts through a detailed analysis of the crucifixion tradition on Brit. Lib. Or. 6796(4), 6796, a seventh-century CE spell for exorcism. I examine three overlapping ways in which the practitioner interacts with the crucifixion story: selection and arrangement of pre-existing traditions; invention of new elements of the story; and the juxtaposition of word and image. I then reflect on the implications of the crucifixion tradition in this spell for analyzing the relationship between biblical traditions and metonymy in “magical” texts, more generally.","PeriodicalId":29740,"journal":{"name":"Archiv fur Religionsgeschichte","volume":"16 1","pages":"67 - 98"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2015-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/arege-2014-0007","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67352695","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Echo and the Historiola: Theorizing the Narrative Incantation","authors":"D. Waller","doi":"10.1515/arege-2014-0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/arege-2014-0015","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Narrative incantations known as historiolae appear frequently in many magical traditions, but scholarship on the subject is sparse, and current descriptions of the historiola’s mechanism are inadequate. This study addresses this lacuna. It examines and synthesizes the existing scholarly literature and develops a theory of echo in relation to the historiola. It explores two unusual ‘transubstantiative’ historiolae that demonstrate the value of this theory. The concept of echo advanced by this study not only expands upon our current understanding of the historiola but-together with the two case-studies-allows for several conceptual, formal, and pragmatic distinctions to be made within the primary literature.","PeriodicalId":29740,"journal":{"name":"Archiv fur Religionsgeschichte","volume":"16 1","pages":"263 - 280"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2015-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/arege-2014-0015","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67353225","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Aperçus sur la religion romaine de l’époque républicaine, à travers les comédies de Plaute","authors":"Sarah Rey","doi":"10.1515/arege-2014-0017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/arege-2014-0017","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract La palliata est d’abord et avant tout religieuse, dans son cadre de représentation, dans ses décors et dans une partie de ses intrigues. Ainsi le théâtre de Plaute fourmille de renseignements sur l’histoire religieuse de Rome, ses cultes et ses pratiques autour de 200 av. J.-C., époque où, dans un climat d’affirmation de la puissance romaine en Méditerranée, le panthéon et le personnel sacerdotal s’étoffent et se reconfigurent. De pièce en pièce, les rites religieux, par-dessus tout le sacrifice, envahissent l’action et le souci de leur bonne exécution distingue les individus entre eux : d’un côté, ceux qui pratiquent la religio d’une manière juste et pondérée, de l’autre les superstitieux qui n’en finissent pas de chercher le divin là où il n’est pas, au risque du ridicule.","PeriodicalId":29740,"journal":{"name":"Archiv fur Religionsgeschichte","volume":"16 1","pages":"311 - 336"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2015-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/arege-2014-0017","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67353661","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An Anatomy of Tradition: The Case of the Charitêsion","authors":"T. Bruyn","doi":"10.1515/arege-2014-0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/arege-2014-0005","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper traces continuity and change in the structure and formulation of Demotic, Greek, and Coptic charitêsia (“good luck charms”) in Roman Egypt. Drawing on the theoretical work of Roy Rappaport and Catherine Bell, it argues that the producers of these charms created a sense of tradition by echoing and modulating pre-established forms of incantation. The resulting products combined both elasticity and specificity so as to be at once recognizable in a broad cultural context and relevant to specific audiences.","PeriodicalId":29740,"journal":{"name":"Archiv fur Religionsgeschichte","volume":"16 1","pages":"31 - 50"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2015-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/arege-2014-0005","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67352720","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Lost Epics and Newly Found Vases: Sources for the Sack of Troy","authors":"H. Shapiro","doi":"10.1515/arege-2014-0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/arege-2014-0013","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The Ilioupersis was a component of the Epic Cycle that is lost to us but for some fragments and later re-workings such as Euripides’ Troades. But the visual tradition of the Sack of Troy starts very early, with the famous relief pithos found on Mykonos in the 1960’s and dated to the early seventh century, probably close in date to the epic. This paper focuses on an Attic red-figure cup that came to light in the 1980’s and gives us the fullest panorama of many episodes that comprised the Sack. It was made at a time when the Ionian Revolt and the Persian threat to Greece gave the story a new currency in Athens.","PeriodicalId":29740,"journal":{"name":"Archiv fur Religionsgeschichte","volume":"16 1","pages":"225 - 242"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2015-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/arege-2014-0013","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67352891","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Authority of Greek Mythic Narratives in the Magical Papyri","authors":"S. Johnston","doi":"10.1515/arege-2014-0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/arege-2014-0006","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract I begin by summarizing work that has been done concerning a persistent question in the study of ancient magic: how did practitioners balance empirical reality against their own imaginations? I go on to suggest that my recent work on Greek myths, which uses ideas developed in media studies and social psychology, can help. This work suggests that myths’ authority rested in large part on their effectiveness as lively, cognitively-engaging narrations, which in turn enabled audience members to build strong relationships with the myths’ characters, who were the gods and heroes worshipped in cult. For purposes of the present article, the most important point to emerge from my work is that each name of a mythic character instantly evokes for the audience a large, vivid history of that character and of his or her interactions with other characters. I then go on to examine what amounts to ‘Greek myth’ in many magical papyri of later antiquity-not stories per se, but the listing of characters’ names. Extending my earlier observations, I suggest that the vivid story-world that these names created for each person who spoke, read or heard the spells, gave those spells enormous authority by evoking larger narratives or complexes of narratives. To illustrate this, I examine PGM IV.1390 -1495, a spell that lists a large number of Underworld divinities. I offer variations of my approach by examining PGM IV.3209-54, a ‘Saucer Divination of Aphrodite,’ and PGM IV.2891-2942, a ‘Love Spell of Attraction.’","PeriodicalId":29740,"journal":{"name":"Archiv fur Religionsgeschichte","volume":"6 1","pages":"51 - 66"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2015-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/arege-2014-0006","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67352806","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ancient Wilderness Mythologies—The Case of Space and Religious Identity Formation in the Gospel of Matthew","authors":"Laura Feldt","doi":"10.1515/arege-2014-0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/arege-2014-0010","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article discusses the nexus of religion and wilderness by analyzing the reception and transformation of wilderness mythology from The Hebrew Bible in early Christian literature. It focuses on the impact of the Torah wilderness space on religious identity formation in the gospel of Matthew. Drawing on theories of social space and narrativity, the article compares the Torah wilderness space with that of Matthew and argues that wilderness mythology is of central importance for how the gospel of Matthew becomes effective as a religious text, which strives to form religious identity and practice.","PeriodicalId":29740,"journal":{"name":"Archiv fur Religionsgeschichte","volume":"16 1","pages":"163 - 192"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2015-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/arege-2014-0010","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67353226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}