In this series, we will take a look at the biblical story of the bleeding woman from Capernaum, the Haemorrhoissa, and its reception in the magical context. In this first post of the series, we will discuss the biblical narrative of her healing and its reception in selected Coptic sources. The story of the bleeding woman appears in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 9:20‑22; Mark 5:25‑34; Luke 8:43‑48) and recounts the pain and healing of a woman who had been suffering from uterine bleeding until she was cured by touching Jesus’ garment. The Latin term Haemorrhoissa, used to designate this woman in later literature, comes from the Greek γυνὴ αἱμορροοῦσα, “a…
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Angels in Coptic Magic II: The Twenty-Four Presbyters
For the second post in this series, we look into one of the most prominent groups of angels in Coptic magical texts, namely the Twenty-Four Presbyters. Their name, from the Greek presbuteros, means “priest”. In the Christian Egyptian and affiliated traditions (such as the Ethiopian and Nubian Churches), they were understood as the angelic priests who carry out the divine liturgy in the Church of the Firstborn in heaven. In the Bible, they first appear in the vision of heaven from Revelation 4.4–11: Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four presbyters. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads … [they]…
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Three Healing Prescriptions from a Now-Lost Codex III: Prayer for Healing Deafness
In the previous posts in this series, we discussed a parchment sheet from a now-lost codex kept at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF), BnF Copte 129 (20) fol. 178, dated to around the 10th century, which contains several healing prescriptions, including the already-discussed fumigation prescription for a quick childbirth. In this post, we will take a closer look at a prayer for healing deafness, which mentions Malchus, the servant of the Jewish High Priest Caiaphas, and appears on page 23 of the codex. BnF Copte 129.20 fol. 178 (135), verso ll. 1–7: ⲕ̅ⲅ̅ ⲙ̣ⲁ̣ⲁϫⲉ̣ ⲙ̇ⲙⲁⲗⲭⲟⲥ ⲧⲉⲛⲟⲩ ⲇⲉ ⲡ̣ϫ̣ⲟⲉ̅ⲥ ⲓ̅ⲥ̅ ⲡⲉⲭ̅ⲥ̅ ⲉⲕⲉⲥⲟⲟⲩⲧ̣ⲛ̇ ⲛ̇ⲧⲉ̣ⲕϭⲓ̇ϫ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲛⲟⲩ̣ⲛⲁⲙ̣ ⲛⲉⲕϫⲱϩ · ⲉⲡⲉⲓ̇ⲁⲗ ϭⲣⲁϩ ·…
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Three Healing Prescriptions from a Now-Lost Codex II: A Fumigation Prescription and Prayer for Childbirth
In the previous post in this series, we discussed a parchment sheet from a now-lost codex kept at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF), BnF Copte 129 (20) fol. 178, dated to around the 10th century, which contains several healing prescriptions. In this blog post, we will have a closer look at the first one, a fumigation prescription, which is followed by a prayer for quick childbirth: BnF Copte 129 (20) fol. 178 (134), recto ll. 1–12: ⲟⲩⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ ⲉⲥϩⲟⲥⲉ ⲙⲉⲥⲉ ⲕⲁⲡⲛⲓⲍⲉ ⲙⲙⲟⲥ ⲉⲥⲛⲁⲙⲓⲥⲉ ⲧⲁⲭⲏ ⲧⲁⲩⲉ̇ ⲡⲉⲓϣⲗⲏⲗ ⲉϫⲉ̣ⲛ ⲟⲩⲁⲡⲟⲧⲛⲏⲣ̇ⲡ ⲧⲥⲟⲟⲥ ϩⲓⲱϥ ⲥⲛⲁⲙⲓ/ⲥⲉ | ϩⲙ ⲡⲣⲁⲛ ⲛ̇ⲓ̣̅[ⲥ̅ · ⲛ]ⲡ̣ⲉ̣ⲥⲙⲁϩ ⲛⲉⲗⲟⲟⲗⲉ · ⲛⲧ̣ⲁ̣ϥ̣ⲱ̣ⲃ ⲙ̇ⲙⲟϥ ⲉ̣ϫⲙ̇ ⲡϣⲉ · ⲉ̅ⲧ̣̅[ⲟ̅ⲩ̅]ⲁ̣̅ⲁ̅ⲃ̅ [ⲛ̣?]ⲡ̣ⲉⲥ⳨ⲟⲥ ⲉⲕⲉⲃⲟⲏ̅ⲑ̣[ca. 2] [ⲉ]ⲧⲉ̣ⲕϩⲙ̇ϩⲁⲗ ϫⲉ…
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Three Healing Prescriptions from a Now-Lost Codex I: Introduction to the Manuscript
In this series of blog posts, we will look at a parchment sheet kept at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF), BnF Copte 129 (20) fol. 178. On April 3rd, 1894, a modern codex was bound in France, comprising various miscellaneous, but mainly liturgical and biblical, texts. The Coptologist Émile Amélineau had acquired the manuscripts and catalogued them for the BnF a few years earlier. In the modern codex, the preceding and the following sheets are written in a different hand, and no other sheets in the codex resemble this one. Because its recto is numbered as page 22 and its verso as 23, we can assume that it originally…
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Podcast #9: Coptic Pharmacological Texts with Anne Grons
In this episode of the podcast, we are discussing Coptic pharmacological texts with Anne Grons, who is currently finishing her thesis on the topic. Pharmacological texts offer a window into ancient medical practices. The pharmacological prescriptions are aimed at healing various issues, often by applying remedies made of plants, animals, minerals or other substances, to the body. Coptic pharmacological texts are crucial for understanding Coptic magical prescriptions – often, the boundaries between the two genres are blurred, as they tend to use the same formulations or ingredients. Anne Grons has studied Egyptology and was the assistant/lexicographer at the project Dictionary and Database of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC) (Freie Universität…
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Coptic Amulets V: “Oh Lord God Almighty, may you take away every pain and every wind from the leg of Beres”
This week’s post takes a deep dive into another healing amulet from Kyprianos, our database of Coptic magical texts. P. Vienna K 08638, now housed in the collection of the Nationalbibliothek in Vienna, is a small rectangular sheet of parchment, 8.5cm in height and 6.8cm in width. The recto (front) of the sheet was filled with an applied text, whose 13 lines covered the surface, with the name of its client written upon it. With three clear vertical creases and perhaps five horizontal creases, the sheet was perhaps folded from the outside in, leaving all of its outer edges folded within a neat parcel of about 2cm by 2.5cm. This…
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Coptic Charms II: Horus and the Fish of the Sun God
In this series we’re discussing charms – spells in the form of short stories which mirror and resolve problems in the real world. In the first post of this series we discussed a text from an eighth-century CE manuscript which, although from a Christian context, contained a story in which the Egyptian god Horus eats a bird which is mysteriously three birds at the same time, and has a stomach ache which is healed by his mother Isis. As we mentioned, this Coptic text has a very close parallel in a much older Egyptian charm, which is the subject of this post. Leiden I 348 is a roll 360 cm…
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Coptic Amulets IV: Jesus Christ, give healing, quickly, quickly!
This week’s post takes a deep dive into another healing amulet from Kyprianos, our database of Coptic magical texts. This tall thin sheet of parchment, 30.5cm in height but only 4.5cm in width, was filled with an applied text, a text with the name of its client written upon it. The amulet was produced to protect a man named Mina, son of Euprepri and Zoe, from all manner of illnesses through the names and powers of Jesus Christ. Although dated by its first editor, Viktor Stegemann, to the 5th century CE, some of the ways certain words in the text are spelled suggest it could be later. The photograph of…
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Coptic Amulets III: Take fever away from Thōthphe, the son of Giōrōgia!
This week’s post takes a deep dive into another example of a healing amulet from Kyprianos, our database of Coptic magical texts: Vienna, Nationalbibliothek K 08637 is a sheet of parchment, cut into a rough rectangle measuring 10cm by 8cm. 7 or 8 horizontal creases suggest that this sheet was folded multiple times, or rolled and then squashed. The text’s eight lines of text and two lines of characters (magical signs) were inscribed upon the flesh side of the parchment, the inward-facing side of the skin, while the hair side, which would have faced outwards, was left blank. This parchment was edited by Viktor Stegemann in 1934, but since then…