International Hybrid Conference

The Intertwining of Magic and Knowledge/Sciences in the Premodern Mediterranean (and Beyond)

Paris, 18-19 May 2023

Sponsored and organized by the research network
Between Encyclopaedia and Epitome: Talmudic strategies of knowledge-making in the context of ancient medicine and sciences
(Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, University College London, Freie Universität Berlin)

In past scholarship magic has often been discussed as the “eternal other” or complete opposite of either religion or rationale and scientific thought  — or both. These dichotomies have been thoroughly revised during the past decades and researchers substantially broadened and nuanced our understanding of ancient magic.  This conference enquires into magic but not as part of any dichotomy. Rather, the focus lies on ‘magic’ as a branch of knowledge of its own which was part of the ancient landscape of sciences, arts, crafts, and general know-how, closely entangled with other fields.  Papers will discuss how magical texts, artefacts, practices, or concepts intertwine with those in other branches of knowledge such as medicine, alchemy, celestial knowledge, liturgy and others. Contributors will examine how ‘magic’ was involved in the often subtle or indirect transmission and transformation of knowledge. Analysis will be based on sources from a variety of magical traditions, from the Near East and Europe in ancient and medieval periods.

Conference organisers:
Lennart Lehmhaus (Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen), Markham J. Geller (Institute of Jewish Studies, University College London), David Hamidovic (Université de Lausanne), Wissem Gueddich (École pratique des hautes études, Paris), Florentina Badalanova Geller (Institut d'études avancées de Paris / Royal Anthropological Institute, London), Judith Olszowy-Schlanger (École pratique des hautes études, Paris)

Participants:
Emma Abate (University of Bologna), Monika Amsler (University of Bern), Alessia Bellusci (Ca Foscari, Venice), Gideon Bohak (Tel Aviv University), Thomas Galoppin (University of Toulouse), Wissem Gueddich (École pratique des hautes études, Paris), David Hamidovic (Université de Lausanne), Lennart Lehmhaus (Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen), Paolo Lucca (Ca Foscari, Venice), Yakir Paz (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Caroline Petit (University of Warwick), Stefanie Rudolf (MPIWG, Berlin/ Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen), Eleonora Serra (Université de Lausanne/University College London)

The conference is co-sponsored by the Institut des Étude Avancée de Paris (IAE-Paris Institute for Advanced Study) and the École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE)

To join online please go to:
Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83489844239?pwd=eGlLdTF5NkYyMEMzeDhmejR5TG1ZZz09
Meeting ID: 834 8984 4239
Passcode: 007464

For in-person attendance, please register with:
journeepaleohebephe@gmail.com

Conference schedule

FIRST CONFERENCE DAY: THURSDAY, 18 MAY 2023
Co-sponsored by the Paris Institute for Advanced Study (IEA/IAS)

Venue: La Fondation Victor Lyon (Auditorium)
29 Boulevard Jourdan, 75014 Paris, France

15:30 Arrival/Welcome

16:00 Session 1:
Transmission, Scribal Knowledge and Intertextuality

David Hamidovic (Université de Lausanne)
The Ritual of the Woman in Adultery in the Damascus Document (4Q266 12; 4Q2704): An Example of Transmission and Recontextualization

Eleonora Serra (Université de Lausanne / University College London)
Intertextuality in the Magic Bowls

17:30 Break

18:00 Session 2:
Practical Medicine, Recipes and Animal Parts

Caroline Petit  (University of Warwick)
Galen, Empiricism, and The Fragments of Xenocrates of Aphrodisias

Lennart Lehmhaus (Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen)
(Don’t) Stop the Magic – Magic Rituals, Performance, and Expertise as Practical Medicine in late Antique Rabbinic Texts

19:30 Dinner (at the FVL): for participants only

SECOND CONFERENCE DAY: FRIDAY, 19 MAY 2023
Co-sponsored by École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE)

Venue: INHA, Institut National d'Histoire de l'art  (Salle Vasari)
2 rue Vivienne, Paris 75002

9:00 Session 3:
Ritual Techniques and the Knowledge of Animals and Other Species

Thomas Galoppin (University of Toulouse)
The Names of the Beasts: Zoological Knowledge and Magical Language

Paolo Lucca (Ca Foscari, Venice)
Roaring Demons and Hunting Saints. Typology and function of the historiola in the Armenian magical texts

10:30 Coffee Break (Salle Warburg)

11:00 Session 4 (zoom):
Divination, Demons, and Drugs

Stefanie Rudolf (MPIWG, Berlin/ Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen)
Demons of Infertility in a Pharmacological Garden: King Solomons Dialogue with the Angel of the Spirit in Syriac Sources

Gideon Bohak (Tel Aviv University)
Divination and Magic in Late-Antique Judaism

12:30 Lunch Break (Salle Warburg): for participants only

14:00 Session 5:
Materialities of Magic

Monika Amsler (University of Bern)
Some Thoughts on the Materiality and Affordances of Babylonian Incantation Bowls

Wissem Gueddich (École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris)
A Hebrew Parchment from Clermont l'Hérault?

15:30 Coffee Break (Salle Warburg)

16:00 Session 6 (zoom):
Compilation and Appropriation of Traditions and Artefacts

Emma Abate (University of Bologna)
Amulets and Recipes: A pinch of Magic from the Hebrew manuscripts collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF)

Yakir Paz (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Translating Jannes and Jambres into Rabbinic Literature

17:30 Short Break

17:45 Session 7
Sleep Well: Dream Magic in Religion, Liturgy, and Medicine

Alessia Bellusci (Ca Foscari, Venice)
The longue durée of dreams in Jewish culture: Between magic, medicine, and religion

Final Discussion
From 19:00 / 19:30 Conference Dinner at a restaurant (for participants only)