Fellowship Report

During my fellowship (October 2025–March 2026) at the Centre for Advanced Studies MagEIA, I was able to conclude my studies on the magical crisis rituals in 1 Samuel 6 (magical plague ritual) and 2 Samuel 21 (magical famine ritual).

These works will be published shortly in the form of an extensive monographic book contribution on crises (“Krisen und Krisenbewältigungen im alten Israel” in: Blumenthal/Dietrich/Hornung, Crises in Jewish-Christian Antiquity) and a book chapter (“Der verhüllte Vernunftkern in der Magie. Zur wissenschaftsgeschichtlichen Bedeutung des magischen Ritualexperiments von 1 Samuel 6” in: Bremer/Pyschny/Schäfers, Processes of Tradition and Transformation in the Context of Ancient Identity Construction).

Furthermore, the collaboration within MagEIA led me to co-author a paper with PI Daniel Kölligan titled “Σύμπτωμα ‘chance’ in Aristotle and the Septuagint.” We are currently finalizing this piece and will submit it to a journal for ancient textual criticism in the coming weeks. My time in Würzburg also resulted in an invitation to present a paper on “The Oath in Legal and Magical Texts” at the upcoming Third MagEIA International Symposium in Würzburg (December 2026).

I would like to sincerely thank the PIs of the research group, Prof. Daniel Schwemer, Prof. Daniel Kölligan, and Prof. Martin Stadler, for this outstanding opportunity and the excellent cooperation within the framework of the DFG Centre for Advanced Studies MagEIA.

My thanks also go to the entire team and all the fellows for the extremely stimulating discussions; I look forward to continuing this fruitful collaboration in the future.