DFG Centre for Advanced Studies MagEIA -

KFG 42 MagEIA: Magic between Entanglement, Interaction, and Analogy

A Centre for the Study of Magical Text Traditions of West Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean in Antiquity

Texts labeled as ‘magical’ in modern scholarship figure prominently in the written legacy of all ancient cultures in West Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean, presenting a key source for the history of religions and ideas in antiquity.

Egyptian and Greek papyri, cuneiform texts in various languages, and many other texts transmit ritual instructions, recitations, and recipes, but also explanatory texts of various kinds and written documents that were themselves part of magical ritual practices.

The texts shed light on religious beliefs, concepts of the world, learned traditions, and early forms of science. They provide insight into social and cultural norms, but also conflicts and the precarious existence of the individual in pre-modern societies. The Centre for Advanced Studies (Kolleg-Forschungsgruppe: KFG) MagEIA is dedicated to the interdisciplinary and comparative study of these textual traditions.

Team

Dr. Beatrice Baragli (Ancient Near Eastern Studies)
Prof. Dr. Daniel Kölligan (PI, Comparative Philology)
Dr. Svenja Nagel (Egyptology)
Prof. Dr. Daniel Schwemer (PI, speaker, Ancient Near Eastern Studies)
Prof. Dr. Martin Stadler (PI, Egyptology)
Saverio Dalpedri, MA (Comparative Philology)

Address and Contact

Post address:
Kolleg-Forschungsgruppe MagEIA
Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
Residenzplatz 2, Tor A
97070 Würzburg

Visiting address:
MagEIA-Haus
Domerschulstraße 1; access also from Bibrastraße 14
(at the site of the Mutterhaus der Schwestern des Erlöser)
97070 Würzburg

Contact Administration & Contact Research

News and Events

May 06

SCIAS Event: The language of the Hittite magical texts. & Seeing the Unseen: The Hittite Ritual Tradition and Its Side Characters.
Prof. Dr. Paola Dardano & Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sevgül Çilingir Cesur

May 13

Bote, chthonische Gottheit, Fürsprecher, Vollstrecker: zur Polyvalenz des nekydaimōn in der griechisch-römischen Ritualwelt
PD Dr. Sara Chiarini (Universität Hamburg)

May 27

Götter und Dämonen in griechischen Zaubertexten aus der Levante
Dr. Robert Daniel (Universität Köln)

Jun 17

„Der mit verdrehtem Gesicht und gewalttätiger Stimme“: Wohlwollende Beschützer mit unheimlichem Namen und wie man im alten Ägypten über „Dämonen“ denkt
Prof. Dr. Rita Lucarelli (University of California Berkeley)

Jul 01

The Mesopotamian Grim-reaper: Images of Namtar in Cuneiform Incantations and Rituals
Dr. Jon Beltz (Universität Würzburg)

Jul 08

Unruhestifter und Kindsmörder - Dämonen und andere böse Wesen in den koptischen magischen Papyri
Dr. Korshi Dosoo (Universität Würzburg)

KFG MagEIA – Research, People, Events

At the weekly MagEIA Research Seminars, all researchers of MagEIA work together on texts that are the focus of the core teams' and fellows' current research.

From the regular lecture series to the annual research symposium, various forms of events serve to present, discuss, and disseminate our research addressing various audiences.