KYPRIANOS DATABASE OF ANCIENT RITUAL TEXTS search icon
MANUSCRIPTS
TEXTS
ARCHIVES
HELP


KYPRIANOS M3

Sigla: question mark icon Modern names for the manuscript, including inventory and publication numbers.

PGM IV
P. Bibl. Nat. Suppl. gr. no. 574
BNF gr. no. 574
Anastasy 1073 (1857)
Great Magical Papyrus of Paris

Category: question mark icon Classification of the contents, e.g. magical (formulary or applied), alchemical, liturgical, documentary or medical.

Magical (formulary)
Contents:

1. p. 2, 1-4: Magical names
2. p. 3, 5-6: Invocation for protection (?)
3. p. 3, 11-25: Invocation to Osiris (divination)
4. p. 3, 26-51: Initiation ritual
5. pp. 3-4, 52-85: Divination ritual (ritual of apparition)
6. p. 4, 88-93: Solar divination with medium
7. pp. 4-5, 94-153: Love spell of Isis
8. pp. 7-9, 154-285: Letter of Nephotes to Psammetichos, initiation and bowl divination rituals
9. p. 9, 286-295: Instructions for plant gathering
10. pp. 9-13, 296-466: Love spell to bind lover
11. p. 13, 467-468: Ritual to restrain anger using Homeric verse
12. p. 13, 469-470: Ritual to get friends using Homeric verse
13. p. 13, 471-474: Homeric verses for uncertain purposes
14. pp. 13-20, 475-829: “Mithras Liturgy” Rituals for initiation, anagoge (ritual ascent), divination (ritual of apparition)
15. p. 20, 830: Homeric verse for uncertain purpose
16. p. 20, 831-832: Ritual to restrain anger using Homeric verse
17. p. 20, 833-834: Ritual to gain friends using Homeric verse
18. p. 20, 835-849: Astrological work discussing influence of the planets on the body.
19. pp. 20-22, 850-929: “Solomon’s Collapse” divination ritual using possessed medium (ritual of apparition)
20. pp. 22-25, 930-1114: Personal vision (lamp divination, ritual of apparition)
21. pp. 25-26, 1115-1166: “Hidden Stela”: invocation for unclear purposes
22. 26-27, 1167-1226: “Stela”: Invocation for unclear purposes
23. pp. 27-28, 1227-1264: Exorcism (protection from demons)
24. p. 28, 1265-1274: “Aphrodite’s name”: Love spell
25. pp. 28-29, 1275-1322: “Praxis of the Bear”: Dream oracle (?) (divination, ritual of apparition?)
26. p. 29, 1323-1330: Another: Dream oracle (?) (divination, ritual of apparition?)
27. pp. 29-30, 1331-1389: “Powerful praxis of the Bear”: Invocation for any (?) purpose
28. pp. 33-34, 1390-1495: Love spell
29. pp. 35-36, 1496-1595: Love spell spoken over myrrh
30. pp. 37-39, 1596-1715: Ritual of consecration of amulet (for protection?)
31. pp. 39-42, 1716-1870: “Sword of Dardanos”: Love spell which uses dream-sending
32. pp. 42-43, 1872-1927: Love spell
33. pp. 43-45, 1928-2005: “Pitus’ Agoge”: Ritual to acquire paredros (divination, ritual of apparition)
34. pp. 45-47, 2006-2125: “Pitus’ Agoge”: Ritual to acquire paredros (divination, ritual of apparition)
35. p. 47, 2125-2139: Restraining Seal for skulls
36. p. 48, 2140-2144: Pitus ritual for questioning corpses (divination, ritual of apparition?)
37. pp. 48-50, 2145-2240: Creation of paredros in the form of an amulet with Homeric verses, contains specific instructions for divination, cursing, restraining, love and favour spells, fetching (i.e. love) spell
38. pp. 50-52, 2241-2358: Invocation to the moon
39. p. 52, 2359-2372: Ritual for good business
40. pp. 52-53, 2373-2440: Ritual for good business
41. pp. 51-57, 2441-2621: Love spell, with secondary purposes of causing illness (curse), healing illness, sending dreams, divination
42. pp. 57-59, 2622-2707: Invocation of the moon goddess, may be used for love spell, to cause illness (curse), divination
43. pp. 59-60, 2708-2784: Invocation of the moon goddess, love spell
44. pp. 60-62, 2785-2890: Invocation of the moon goddess for any purpose
45. p. 63, 2891-2942: Love spell
46. p. 64, 2943-2966: Love spell
47. pp. 64-65, 2967-3006: Instructions for plant gathering
48. pp. 65-66, 3007-3085: Exorcism of Pibechis (protection from demons)
49. p. 67, 3086-3124: “Oracle of Kronos” (divination, ritual of apparition)
50. pp. 67-68, 3125-3171: Ritual for good business
51. pp. 68-69, 3172-3208: Dream oracle (divination)
52. pp. 69-70, 3209-3254: Bowl divination ritual
53. p. 70, 3255-3274: Love spell
See all texts in this manuscript.

Language(s):

Greek
Egyptian (Coptic)
Script(s):

Greek
Old Coptic
Dialect:
Language/dialect notes:

Various dialectal features apparent in the Coptic; see Love (2016: §2).
Date: question mark icon Dates are CE unless preceded by a minus sign <->, in which case they are BCE. 301 – 400
Date notes:

Dosoo (2016: p. 255 n. 15); Love (2016: p. 4 with footnotes).
Archive/collection: question mark icon Larger collection to which manuscript belongs. KYP A1
Archive name: Theban Magical Library
State of edition:

Published; new edition in progress by the Transmission of Magical Knowledge project (Chicago).
Image: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b525030475

Form:

Codex
Material:

Papyrus
Dimensions (cm): Height: 30.5 Width: 13 Depth:
Dimensions (notes):

Height varies from 27-30.5 cm, width from 9.5-13 cm. cf. Love 2016: p. 4 n. 6
Folding pattern:
State of preservation:

Complete, some damage.
Pages/Columns: question mark icon Total surviving columns in the manuscript for rolls, sheets and rotuli; total number of pages for codices.

72
Pages/Columns (notes):

Single quire codex, 18 bifolios = 36 sheets, 72 pages, of which 66 have writing. Pages 1, 6, 31, 32, 71, 72 blank. 3274 lines.
Hand:

Findspot:

Thebes, Egypt

(TM places ID: 2355)
Place of purchase:

Luxor, Egypt

(TM places ID: 2355)
Writingspot:

Thebes, Egypt (?)

(TM places ID: 2355)
Present Location:

Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale
Collection History:

Acquired by Jean d’Anastasy prior to 1846, sold at auction to the Bibliothèque Nationale in 1857 (Dosoo 2016).
Trismegistos collection: question mark icon Page on the database Trismegistos collections for the institution which currently houses the manuscript. 270
Collection website: https://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cc24818d

Notes/Discussion:

Bibliography too extensive to be given in full here; some important works are noted.

Bibiliography
Editions:

Betz, Hans Dieter. The “Mithras Liturgy”: Text, Translation and Commentary. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005.

Dieterich, Albrecht. Eine Mithrasliturgie. Leipzig: B.G. Teubner, 1910.

DuQuesne, Terence. A Coptic initiatory invocation (PGM IV 1-25). Darengo, 1991.

Erman, Adolf. “Die ägyptischen Beschwörungen des großen Pariser Zauberpapyrus.” Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 21 (1883): 89-109.

Griffith, Francis Llewellyn. “The Old Coptic Magical Texts of Paris.” Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 38 (1900): 85-93.

Heitsch. E. Die griechischen Dichterfragmente der römischen Kaiserzeit. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1961.

Love, Edward O. D. Code-Switching with the Gods: The Bilingual (Old Coptic-Greek) Spells of PGM IV (P. Bibliothèque nationale supplement Grec. 574) and their Linguistic, Religious, and Socio-cultural Context in Late Roman Egypt. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2016.

Meyer, Marvin W. “The Love Spell of PGM IV.94-153: Introduction and Structure”, in Acts of the Second International Congress of Coptic Study [sic], edited by Tito Orlandi and Frederick Wisse. Rome: C.I.M., p. 193-201.

Miller, M.E. “Hymnes Orphiques.” In Mélanges de Littérature Grecque (1868), pp. 437-58.

Preisendanz, Karl, and Albert Henrichs. Papyri Graecae Magicae: Die Griechischen Zauberpapyri. 2 Vols. Stuttgart: Teubner, 1973–1974, vol. 1, pp. 64-180, no. IV.

Satzinger, Helmut. “An Old Coptic Text Reconsidered: PGM 94ff.” In Past, Present and Future: Studies in Honour of Rodolphe Kasser, edited by Rodolphe Kasser, Søren Giversen, Martin Krause and Peter Nagel. Leuven: Peeters, 1994, pp. 213-24.

Wessely, Carl. “Griechische Zauberpapyrus von Paris und London.” Denkschriften der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien 36 (1888): 127-139.
Translations:

Betz, Hans D. The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation. Including the Demotic Spells. Vol. 1. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986, p. 36-101.

Calvo Martínez, José Luis, and Dolores Sánchez Romero. Textos de Magia en Papiros Griegos. Biblioteca Clásica Gredos. Madrid: Editorial Gredos, 1987, p. 100-186, no. IV.

Luck, Georg. Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman worlds. Baltimore: Baltimore, 1985 [2006], nos. 18, 19, 21, 26, 27.

Martin, Michel. Les papyrus grecs magiques. Éditions Manuscrit-Université, 2002, no. IV.

Meyer, Marvin W., and Richard Smith. Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power. Princeton (New Jersey): Princeton University Press, 1999, p. 22-25, nos. 2-3 and p. 43-44, no. 19.
General:

Bortolani, Ljuba Merlina. Magical Hymns from Roman Egypt: A Study of Greek and Egyptian Traditions of Divinity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.

Deissmann, Adolf. Licht vom Osten. Das Neue Testament und die neuentdeckten Texte der hellenistisch-römischen Welt. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr, 1908.

Dosoo, Korshi. ‘A History of the Theban Magical Library’, Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 53 (2016): 251-274.

Hopfner, Theodor. Griechisch-ägyptischer Offenbarungszauber. Mit einer eingehenden Darstellung des griechisch-synkretistischen Daemonenglaubens und der Voraussetzungen und Mittel des Zaubers überhaupt und der magischen Divination im besonderen. Leipzig: H. Haessel Verlag, 1921-1924, 3 vols. (passim).

LiDonnici, Lynn R. “Compositional Patterns in PGM IV (= P.Bibl.Nat.Suppl. gr. no. 574).” Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 40 (2003): 141-178.

Love, Edward O.D. “Bilingualism and Mono-/Bigraphia at the Nexus of Magical Traditions: From Egyptian-Greek to Coptic-Arabic Magical Texts”, in Christians and Muslims in Early Islamic Egypt, edited by Lajos Berkes. Ann Arbor: American Society of Papyrologists, 2002, p. 178-179.

Zago, Michela. Tebe Magica e Alchemica: L’idea di biblioteca nell’Egitto romano: la Collezione Anastasi. Padova: libreriauniversitaria.it edizioni, 2010.

Trismegistos ID:

64343

 PAThs:
PGM: question mark icon Papyri Gracae Magicae

4

 SM: question mark icon Supplementum Magicum GEMF: question mark icon Greek and Egyptian Magical Formularies (forthcoming) 57 ACM: question mark icon Ancient Christian Magic

2; 3; 19
Bélanger Sarrazin: question mark icon Bélanger-Sarrazin. “Catalogue des textes magiques coptes” AKZ: question mark icon Ausgewählte koptische Zaubertexte CBd: question mark icon Campbell-Bonner Magical Gems Database Mert.-Pack: question mark icon Mertens-Pack online database

00746.000
02067.000
01865.000
Van H: question mark icon van Haelst, Catalogue des papyrus littéraires Bruyn-Dijkstra: question mark icon de Bruyn and Dijkstra, “Greek Amulets and Formularies (Checklist)" TheDefix: question mark icon Thesaurus Defixionum To Zodion:
Edit History:

KD (5/12/2018); MPS (18/11/2020); KD (19/9/2021); KD (21/3/2022); KD (6/6/2023)

How to cite:
Korshi Dosoo & Markéta Preininger (principal editors). "KYP M3," Kyprianos Database of Ancient Ritual Texts and Objects, www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de/index.php/manuscript/kyp-m3. Accessed on 05/11/2025

Found a mistake? Let us know!