{"id":13189,"date":"2020-05-02T17:48:43","date_gmt":"2020-05-02T15:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de\/?page_id=13189"},"modified":"2025-10-24T09:18:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T07:18:07","slug":"kyprianos-help-page","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de\/index.php\/kyprianos-help-page\/","title":{"rendered":"About the Kyprianos Database"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Kyprianos Database of Ancient Ritual Texts and Objects<\/a><\/strong> is intended to serve as a resource for the study of magical, alchemical, astrological and other ritual and related texts from the ancient and medieval Mediterranean world. At present our focus is on magical texts written in Coptic, Greek, and Demotic from Egypt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This project builds upon previous work, notably that of Franziska Naether<\/a> on Trismegistos Magic<\/a>, and on the checklist of published Coptic magical texts<\/a> created by Roxanne B\u00e9langer Sarrazin<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The database is regularly updated. Click here<\/a> to see a list of updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Contents<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

1. Database Structure<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. General Notes and Searches<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Manuscripts Table<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Archives Table<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Texts Table<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Downloadable Data<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. List of editors<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Usage Policy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1. Database Structure<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The structure of the Kyprianos database<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The database is divided into six tables<\/strong>, each containing information on different aspects of the objects it contains. These are: Archives<\/a>, Manuscripts<\/a>, Texts<\/a>, Images, Toponyms,<\/strong> and <\/em>Hands<\/strong>. <\/em>The first three of these are currently public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manuscript<\/a>: <\/strong>A <\/strong>manuscript <\/em>is a physical object onto which at least one or more images or texts have been inscribed. A manuscript may take many forms, including (but not limited to) sheet, roll, codex, ostracon or a rotulus<\/a>. In the Kyprianos database, manuscripts are referred to as KYP M<\/strong>[number] (e.g. KYP M7). Numbers are assigned based on date of entry to the database, and therefore have no relationship to date or content. Manuscripts are often identified by one or more sigla<\/em>, that is, modern names assigned to them based on their inventory number in a museum collection (e.g. Chicago OIM E13767), publication number<\/a> (e.g. BKU I 1), and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Text<\/a><\/strong>: Manuscripts contain one or more textual units, known as \u2018texts\u2019. Applied manuscripts<\/a> will generally contain only a single text, since the entire object has a single purpose. Formularies <\/a>will often contain multiple independent recipes for different purposes, which will each be designated as different texts. Manuscripts may contain additional non-magical texts which were copied onto the same manuscript. These texts are numbered sequentially (1, 2, 3 etc.) to represent the apparent order of their writing, and are referred to by a description of their position in the manuscript, in terms of recto\/verso or page number and lines (e.g. Ro ll. 1-10), and by a text identifier, in the form KYP T<\/strong>[number]. Numbers are assigned based on date of entry to the database, and therefore have no relationship to date, content, or manuscript.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Archive<\/a><\/strong>: An \u2018archive\u2019 designates a shared find-spot or collection common to several manuscripts. These designations may be based on archaeological reports of a shared find-spot, or reconstructed based on information concerning the papyri\u2019s acquisition history, form, or content. Strictly speaking, only some of these are archives in the papyrological sense – those found in a single archaeological site (such as a monastery) may not have belonged to a single individual – while those with shared hands but uncertain findspots may correspond more closely to the papyrological category of dossiers. In the Kyprianos database, archives are referred to as KYP A<\/strong>[number] (e.g. KYP A5). Numbers are assigned based on date of entry to the database, and therefore have no relationship to date, content, or other features. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note that many of these archives are speculative, so for now they should generally be considered groupings of texts with possible relationships to one another, which may be confirmed or rejected by further research.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aramaic Incantation Bowls<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

As of 1 October 2021, Kyprianos<\/em> contains a number of entries drawn from the Prosopographic Database of Magical Bowls<\/em> produced by Ortal-Paz Saar<\/a> as part of the project “Aramaic Magical Texts from Late Antiquity” (2009-2014) conducted by Dan Levene<\/a> (University of Southampton) and Gideon Bohak<\/a> (Tel Aviv University) and sponsored by the Britain\u2013Israel Research and Academic Exchange Partnership (BIRAX). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2. General Notes and Searches<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Question marks indicate uncertainty. A question mark placed within brackets indicates uncertainty about the bracketed information, whereas a bracketed question mark after the whole entry indicates uncertainty about all of the information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, \u2018magical (unclear) (?)\u2019 indicates that the designation of the manuscript as magical is questionable, whereas \u2018magical (formulary ?)\u2019 indicates that the manuscript is certainly magical, but it is unclear whether it is a formulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Search Operators<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The Freetext\/Keyword<\/strong> search bar is not<\/em> case sensitive. It searches for words anywhere in the current table (Manuscripts, Texts, or Archives).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AND<\/strong> may be used to ensure that an entry has two words searched for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n