{"id":52428,"date":"2026-04-17T09:47:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T07:47:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de\/?p=52428"},"modified":"2026-04-17T09:47:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T07:47:57","slug":"angels-in-coptic-magic-ii-the-twenty-four-presbyters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de\/index.php\/2026\/04\/17\/angels-in-coptic-magic-ii-the-twenty-four-presbyters\/","title":{"rendered":"Angels in Coptic Magic II: The Twenty-Four Presbyters"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Douce Apocalypse<\/em> in Bodleian Library MS. Douce 180, p. 39 (1265\u201370 CE). Depiction of God surrounded by angels, the Four Bodiless Living Creatures, and the Twenty-Four Presbyters. Bodleian Library, Oxford. CC-BY-NC 4.0<\/a>. [Source<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n


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<\/em>, means \u201cpriest\u201d. 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\u201311:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four presbyters.\u00a0They were dressed in white\u00a0and had crowns of gold on their heads \u2026 [they] fall down before him\u00a0who sits on the throne\u00a0and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: \u201cYou are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created and have their being\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Because of their place in heaven, surrounding and worshiping God, the Twenty-Four Presbyters became very important in early Christian traditions, for example, in literary works, liturgical hymns and prayers, and wall paintings. Two apocryphal homilies dedicated to them survive in Coptic. One is attributed to Proclus of Constantinople and was supposedly written for the commemoration of the Twenty-Four Presbyters on the 24th of the month of Hathor (20 November). The second work is On the Honour of the Twenty-Four Presbyters<\/em><\/a>, attributed to Cyril of Jerusalem and preserved in Coptic in three manuscripts dating from the 10th\u201311th centuries. In this work, Cyril has a conversation with an old priest from Jerusalem, who recounts a dream he had about the Twenty-Four Presbyters:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Listen, and I will tell you the names of these bodiless honoured ones. There are twenty-four letters in the alphabet, according to the interpretation of the name of the Lamb. Thus are the names of these bodiless Presbyters, from alpha to omega, according to the way we heard them called and according to what we heard from the mouth of the Lamb, who named them in this way: Acha\u0113l, Banou\u0113l, Gana\u0113l, Dathi\u0113l, Ebde\u0113l, Zardi\u0113l, \u0112le\u0113l, Thida\u0113l, Iocha\u0113l, Kardi\u0113l, Labda\u0113l [Mirapha\u0113l Nira\u0113l Xiphu\u0113l Ouchati\u0113l Pithy\u0113l Rhoia\u0113l Soura\u0113l Toura\u0113l Umnou\u0113l Phulali\u0113l Chrestou\u0113l Psulaphi\u0113l and Olithi\u0113l \u2026].
(Bodleian Library, Clarendon Press B 4.2, fr. 42, folio 81 verso)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

According to the old priest, the Presbyters were named by Christ himself (the Lamb), and each of their names starts with one of the twenty-four letters of the Greek alphabet. A Coptic liturgical Ode to the Twenty-Four Presbyters<\/em>, preserved in later 14th-century manuscripts (Cairo, no. 92 I and 93), further claims that it is John the Evangelist who \u201cheard the Lamb reciting their names from the first, the alpha, to the last, the omega\u201d. This idea is relatively ancient, as it is attested, for example, in the work of bishop Andrew of Caesarea, writing in Greek at the end of the 6th or beginning of the 7th century (Commentary on the Apocalypse, <\/em>4.10). There were several alphabetical lists of names for the Twenty-Four Presbyters, with the simplest form created by adding the ending \u201c-a\u0113l\u201d to each of the twenty-four Greek letters (Aa\u0113l, Ba\u0113l, Ga\u0113l, Da\u0113l, etc.). These names were sometimes used as legends in wall paintings from Egypt, for example, in one representation of the Presbyters from the church of the Monastery of St. Simeon in Aswan.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Fresco of the Twenty-Four Presbyters from the Monastery of St. Simeon (Deir Anba Hadra) in Aswan (11th century), with the alphabetical names as legends. From left to right: Ea\u0113l, Za\u0113l (?), \u0112a\u0113l, Tha\u0113l. Photo: Roxanne B\u00e9langer Sarrazin, 3 March 2023.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n


Another passage of Pseudo-Cyril\u2019s On the Honour of the Twenty-Four Presbyters<\/em> may explain why the Presbyters, and in particular their names, became popular in Coptic magical texts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

And after he (the old priest) told me (Cyril) these great, wonderful names one by one, he turned to me and said to me: \u201cThese such names must not be pronounced, for the Lamb revealed them, but they will be a phylactery for everyone who is sick with various diseases, and the Lord will grant them healing.\u201d
(IB 13.40 recto = MONB.DC<\/a>, p. 15)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The work attributed to Cyril therefore describes a magical practice: writing down the names of the Twenty-Four Presbyters on some support, for example, a piece of papyrus or parchment, and using it as an amulet for healing diseases. This specific practice is also attested in magical texts from Late Antique and Early Islamic Egypt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Coptic magic, the Twenty-Four Presbyters appear in nineteen different magical texts dated between the 4th and 11th centuries, most of which are amulets or prayer texts for healing and protection. Some texts only mention them briefly as a group, among other angels invoked to accomplish various requests. For example, the charm for a good singing voice P. CtYBR inv. 1791<\/a> (8th century; PCM<\/em> I 17) features a series of salutations to various groups of angels, such as the archangels, powers, principalities, authorities, the cherubim and seraphim, and the Twenty-Four Presbyters. Other texts include more elaborate physical descriptions, which often draw upon that from Revelation. For example, in the healing prayer from the manuscript Berlin P. 11347<\/a> (10th\u201311th centuries), the Presbyters are described as \u201cthose who sit upon twenty-four thrones, with twenty-four crowns upon their heads, and twenty-four censers in their hands\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most significantly, several Coptic magical texts provide lists of names for the Twenty-Four Presbyters. This is not surprising, considering the importance in ancient magical practices of knowing the true names of the celestial beings invoked. Two main lists were used in Coptic magic. The first corresponds to the alphabetical names from the work attributed to Cyril of Jerusalem and appears in five magical texts: the amulets Berlin P. 8330<\/a> (7th\u20138th centuries) and Vienna Nationalbibliothek K 07090<\/a> (10th century), a charm for favour in the formulary British Library MS Or 5899.1<\/a> (10th century), the healing prayer of Berlin P. 11347 mentioned above, and one version of the prayer for healing and protection known as the Endoxon of the Archangel Michael<\/em>, in Coll\u00e8ge de France 2<\/a> (11th century).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Coll\u00e8ge de France 2, p. 11 (11th century; KYP M573).\u00a0Page of the Endoxon of Michael<\/em> with the names of the Twenty-Four Presbyters.\u00a0Photo: Coll\u00e8ge de France.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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I adjure you today, by these Twenty-Four Presbyters, whose names are Acha\u0113l, Banou\u0113l, Gardi\u0113l, Dathi\u0113l, Efti\u0113l, Zardi\u0113l, \u0112li\u0113l, Thara\u0113l, I\u014dcha\u0113l, Karti\u0113l, Laba\u0113l Mer\u014dpha\u0113l Nara\u0113l Xephe\u0113l Oukathi\u0113l Pithi\u0113l Ryra\u0113l Tauri\u0113l Umn\u0113ou\u0113l Phalali\u0113l [Chresto]u\u0113l Psalaphi\u0113l \u014clithi\u0113l.
(Coll\u00e8ge de France 2, p. 11 l. 11 \u2013 p. 12 l. 2)
<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The second list is the so-called Beth-Betha logos<\/em>, whose names show greater variation than the alphabetical list, but always start with B\u0113th B\u0113tha (and sometimes B\u0113thai). While shorter versions of the logos <\/em>could refer to other celestial beings (for example, the so-called \u201cNine Guardians\u201d), sequences with twenty-four names appear for the Twenty-Four Presbyters in five additional Coptic magical texts: the healing amulet for a pregnant woman preserved in British Library MS Or 5525<\/a> (9th\u201311th centuries), as well as four versions of the prayer for healing and protection known as the Prayer of Mary at Bartos<\/em>, in the manuscripts Coptic Museum 4958<\/a> (5th\u20139th centuries), British Library MS Or 6796.1\u20133<\/a> (6th\u20137th centuries), P. Iand. Inv. 9 A\u2013B<\/a> (8th century), and P. Heid. Inv. Kopt. 685<\/a> (10th century; PCM <\/em>I 25).<\/p>\n\n\n

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P. Iand. Inv. 9 A\u2013B, A verso, p. 2\u20133 (8th century; KYP M134). Section of the Prayer of Mary at Bartos<\/em> with the invocation by the Twenty-Four Presbyters. Universit\u00e4tsbibliothek Gie\u00dfen [Source<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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I adjure you by the Twenty-Four Holy Presbyters, those who sit upon their twenty-four thrones, with twenty-four crowns upon their heads, whose names are B\u0113th, B\u0113thaei, Marmarou\u0113l, Th\u0113ma\u0113l, Salat\u0113l, Eischal, Mim\u014dl\u014d, Lad[\u2026], [\u2026]r\u0113l, B\u0113tthatha\u0113l, M[\u2026]adi\u0113l, Chaba\u0113th, Marma, Aba\u0113l, Eiri\u0113l, Mach\u0113l, \u014cr\u0113l, Marou\u0113l, Oueri\u0113l, Aon\u0113, Abaee, Semn\u0113\u0113l, Abcha\u0113l, Amel.
(P. Iand. Inv. 9 A\u2013B, p. 2\u20133)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Finally, while most of the Coptic magical texts referred to above have apotropaic goals such as healing and protection, these are not the only situations in which one could invoke the Twenty-Four Presbyters. In some cases, they also appear in more aggressive spells, such as the applied curse of Bodleian MS. Copt. c (P) 4<\/a> (4th\u20135th century), in which Jacob appeals to several celestial beings, including the \u2018Twenty-Four Presbyters who sit in the presence of the Father\u2019, to gain vengeance against Maria, Tatore, and Andreas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other cases, the Presbyters are mentioned in ritual prescriptions. For example, the formulary BM EA 10391<\/a> (8th\u20139th centuries) contains several short invocations and prayers, all followed by a series of instructions on how to use them. For one of these prayers, eight prescriptions instruct the ritualists to write down the names of the Twenty-Four Presbyters, for goals such as gaining favour, cursing, and causing separation and destruction. As the names themselves are not provided in the prescriptions, the ritualists were likely expected to know them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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BM EA 10391 back (flesh), ll. 61\u201398 (8th\u20139th centuries; KYP M302). Section of the formulary featuring the prescriptions mentioning the Twenty-Four Presbyters \u00a9 <\/strong>The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence<\/a>. [Source<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n






\u2026 Friends whom you wish to divide against each other: write (the names of) the Twenty-Four Presbyters with their powers, contemplate the prayer over wild mustard, bury them in the place where they pass by \u2026
(BM EA 10391, ll. 82\u201384)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

In sum, whether they were invoked for healing and protection, as prescribed in the homily attributed to Cyril of Jerusalem, or for more aggressive purposes, it seems that the most important thing was to know the names of the Twenty-Four Presbyters. Due to their holy origin, and for increased magical efficacy, it was also better to write them down, rather than speak them aloud. And while there was variety in the names used in Coptic magical texts, some lists and naming conventions, as well as the physical descriptions of the angels with their thrones and crowns, were shared across literary genres and iconography, showing that magical practices were not isolated from wider traditions about the Twenty-Four Presbyters.


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Bibliography and Further Readings<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Campagnano, A., A. Maresca, and T. Orlandi. Quattro omelie copte<\/em>. Milan, 1977.\u00a0
Pages 45\u2013104 for editions and translations of the Coptic homilies on the Twenty-Four Presbyters.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evelyn White, H.G. The Monasteries of the Wadi \u2018n Natr\u00fbn<\/em>. Part 1:\u00a0New Coptic Texts from the Monastery of Saint Macarius<\/em>. New York, 1926.\u00a0 URL<\/a>
Page 226 for the manuscripts with the Ode to the Twenty-Four Presbyters.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grosjean, P. \u201cLes vingt-quatre vieillards de l\u2019Apocalypse. \u00c0 propos d\u2019une liste galloise\u201d, Analecta Bollandiana<\/em> 72 (1954): 192\u2013212. URL<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kropp, A. Der Lobpreis Des Erzengels Michael (Vormals P. Heidelberg Inv. Nr. 1686)<\/em>. Brussels, 1966.
Edition and German translation of P. Iand. Inv. 9 A\u2013B.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141ajtar, A. and J. van der\u00a0Vliet. Empowering the Dead in Christian Nubia: The Texts from a Medieval Funerary Complex in Dongola<\/em>. Warsaw, 2017. URL<\/a>
Pages 180\u201390 for a discussion of the names of the Twenty-Four Presbyters.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meinardus, O.F.A. \u201cThe Twenty-four Elders of the Apocalypse in the Iconography of the Coptic Church\u201d, Studia Orientalia Christiana, Collectanea<\/em> 13 (1968): 141\u201357. URL<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mih\u00e1lyk\u00f3, \u00c1.T. \u201cMary, Michael and the Twenty-Four Elders: Saints and Angels in Christian Liturgical and Magical Texts.\u201d In\u00a0Proceedings of the 29th International Congress of Papyrology. Lecce, 28 July-3 August 2019<\/em>, ed. by M. Capasso, P. Davoli, and N. Pell\u00e9. Lecce, 2022, 722-773.\u00a0URL<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viaud, G. \u201cLes 24 Presbytres de l’Apocalypse dans la tradition copte\u201d, Bulletin de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 d\u2019arch\u00e9ologie copte<\/em> 29 (1990): 123\u201345.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zellmann-Rohrer, M. \u201cCatalogue: Hay 1\u20137.\u201d In The Hay Archive of Coptic Spells on Leather: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Materiality of Magical Practice<\/em>, ed. by E.R O\u2019Connell.London, 2023, 78\u2013178. URL<\/a>\u00a0
Pages 79\u2013100 for the edition of BM EA 10391 (Hay 1).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 \u201cpriest\u201d. 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\u201311: Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four presbyters.\u00a0They were dressed in white\u00a0and had crowns of gold on their heads \u2026 [they] fall down before him\u00a0who sits on the throne\u00a0and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: \u201cYou are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created and have their being\u201d. Because of their place in heaven, surrounding and worshiping God, the Twenty-Four Presbyters became very important in early Christian traditions, for example, in literary works, liturgical hymns and prayers, and wall paintings. Two apocryphal homilies dedicated to them survive in Coptic. One is attributed to Proclus of Constantinople and was supposedly written for the commemoration of the Twenty-Four Presbyters on the 24th of the month of Hathor (20 November). The second work is On the Honour of the Twenty-Four Presbyters, attributed to Cyril of Jerusalem and preserved in Coptic in three manuscripts dating from the 10th\u201311th centuries. In this work, Cyril has a conversation with an old priest from Jerusalem, who recounts a dream he had about the Twenty-Four Presbyters: Listen, and I will tell you the names of these bodiless honoured ones. There are twenty-four letters in the alphabet, according to the interpretation of the name of the Lamb. Thus are the names of these bodiless Presbyters, from alpha to omega, according to the way we heard them called and according to what we heard from the mouth of the Lamb, who named them in this way: Acha\u0113l, Banou\u0113l, Gana\u0113l, Dathi\u0113l, Ebde\u0113l, Zardi\u0113l, \u0112le\u0113l, Thida\u0113l, Iocha\u0113l, Kardi\u0113l, Labda\u0113l [Mirapha\u0113l Nira\u0113l Xiphu\u0113l Ouchati\u0113l Pithy\u0113l Rhoia\u0113l Soura\u0113l Toura\u0113l Umnou\u0113l Phulali\u0113l Chrestou\u0113l Psulaphi\u0113l and Olithi\u0113l \u2026]. (Bodleian Library, Clarendon Press B 4.2, fr. 42, folio 81 verso) According to the old priest, the Presbyters were named by Christ himself (the Lamb), and each of their names starts with one of the twenty-four letters of the Greek alphabet. A Coptic liturgical Ode to the Twenty-Four Presbyters, preserved in later 14th-century manuscripts (Cairo, no. 92 I and 93), further claims that it is John the Evangelist who \u201cheard the Lamb reciting their names from the first, the alpha, to the last, the omega\u201d. This idea is relatively ancient, as it is attested, for example, in the work of bishop Andrew of Caesarea, writing in Greek at the end of the 6th or beginning of the 7th century (Commentary on the Apocalypse, 4.10). There were several alphabetical lists of names for the Twenty-Four Presbyters, with the simplest form created by adding the ending \u201c-a\u0113l\u201d to each of the twenty-four Greek letters (Aa\u0113l, Ba\u0113l, Ga\u0113l, Da\u0113l, etc.). These names were sometimes used as legends in wall paintings from Egypt, for example, in one representation of the Presbyters from the church of the Monastery of St. Simeon in Aswan. Another passage of Pseudo-Cyril\u2019s On the Honour of the Twenty-Four Presbyters may explain why the Presbyters, and in particular their names, became popular in Coptic magical texts: And after he (the old priest) told me (Cyril) these great, wonderful names one by one, he turned to me and said to me: \u201cThese such names must not be pronounced, for the Lamb revealed them, but they will be a phylactery for everyone who is sick with various diseases, and the Lord will grant them healing.\u201d (IB 13.40 recto = MONB.DC, p. 15) The work attributed to Cyril therefore describes a magical practice: writing down the names of the Twenty-Four Presbyters on some support, for example, a piece of papyrus or parchment, and using it as an amulet for healing diseases. This specific practice is also attested in magical texts from Late Antique and Early Islamic Egypt. In Coptic magic, the Twenty-Four Presbyters appear in nineteen different magical texts dated between the 4th and 11th centuries, most of which are amulets or prayer texts for healing and protection. Some texts only mention them briefly as a group, among other angels invoked to accomplish various requests. For example, the charm for a good singing voice P. CtYBR inv. 1791 (8th century; PCM I 17) features a series of salutations to various groups of angels, such as the archangels, powers, principalities, authorities, the cherubim and seraphim, and the Twenty-Four Presbyters. Other texts include more elaborate physical descriptions, which often draw upon that from Revelation. For example, in the healing prayer from the manuscript Berlin P. 11347 (10th\u201311th centuries), the Presbyters are described as \u201cthose who sit upon twenty-four thrones, with twenty-four crowns upon their heads, and twenty-four censers in their hands\u201d. Most significantly, several Coptic magical texts provide lists of names for the Twenty-Four Presbyters. This is not surprising, considering the importance in ancient magical practices of knowing the true names of the celestial beings invoked. Two main lists were used in Coptic magic. The first corresponds to the alphabetical names from the work attributed to Cyril of Jerusalem and appears in five magical texts: the amulets Berlin P. 8330 (7th\u20138th centuries) and Vienna Nationalbibliothek K 07090 (10th century), a charm for favour in the formulary British Library MS Or 5899.1 (10th century), the healing prayer of Berlin P. 11347 mentioned above, and one version of the prayer for healing and protection known as the Endoxon of the Archangel Michael, in Coll\u00e8ge de France 2 (11th century). I adjure you today, by these Twenty-Four Presbyters, whose names are Acha\u0113l, Banou\u0113l, Gardi\u0113l, Dathi\u0113l, Efti\u0113l, Zardi\u0113l, \u0112li\u0113l, Thara\u0113l, I\u014dcha\u0113l, Karti\u0113l, Laba\u0113l Mer\u014dpha\u0113l Nara\u0113l Xephe\u0113l Oukathi\u0113l Pithi\u0113l Ryra\u0113l Tauri\u0113l Umn\u0113ou\u0113l Phalali\u0113l [Chresto]u\u0113l Psalaphi\u0113l \u014clithi\u0113l.(Coll\u00e8ge de France 2, p. 11 l. 11 \u2013 p. 12 l. 2) The second list is the so-called Beth-Betha logos, whose names show greater variation than the alphabetical list, but always start with B\u0113th B\u0113tha (and sometimes B\u0113thai). While shorter versions of the logos could refer to other celestial beings (for example, the so-called \u201cNine Guardians\u201d), sequences with twenty-four names appear for the Twenty-Four Presbyters in five additional Coptic magical texts: the healing amulet for a pregnant woman preserved in British Library MS Or 5525 (9th\u201311th centuries), as well as four versions of the prayer for healing and protection known as the Prayer of Mary at Bartos, in the manuscripts Coptic Museum 4958 (5th\u20139th centuries), British Library MS Or 6796.1\u20133 (6th\u20137th centuries), P. Iand. Inv. 9 A\u2013B (8th century), and P. Heid. Inv. Kopt. 685 (10th century; PCM I 25). I adjure you by the Twenty-Four Holy Presbyters, those who sit upon their twenty-four thrones, with twenty-four crowns upon their heads, whose names are B\u0113th, B\u0113thaei, Marmarou\u0113l, Th\u0113ma\u0113l, Salat\u0113l, Eischal, Mim\u014dl\u014d, Lad[\u2026], [\u2026]r\u0113l, B\u0113tthatha\u0113l, M[\u2026]adi\u0113l, Chaba\u0113th, Marma, Aba\u0113l, Eiri\u0113l, Mach\u0113l, \u014cr\u0113l, Marou\u0113l, Oueri\u0113l, Aon\u0113, Abaee, Semn\u0113\u0113l, Abcha\u0113l, Amel. (P. Iand. Inv. 9 A\u2013B, p. 2\u20133) Finally, while most of the Coptic magical texts referred to above have apotropaic goals such as healing and protection, these are not the only situations in which one could invoke the Twenty-Four Presbyters. In some cases, they also appear in more aggressive spells, such as the applied curse of Bodleian MS. Copt. c (P) 4 (4th\u20135th century), in which Jacob appeals to several celestial beings, including the \u2018Twenty-Four Presbyters who sit in the presence of the Father\u2019, to gain vengeance against Maria, Tatore, and Andreas. In other cases, the Presbyters are mentioned in ritual prescriptions. For example, the formulary BM EA 10391 (8th\u20139th centuries) contains several short invocations and prayers, all followed by a series of instructions on how to use them. For one of these prayers, eight prescriptions instruct the ritualists to write down the names of the Twenty-Four Presbyters, for goals such as gaining favour, cursing, and causing separation and destruction. As the names themselves are not provided in the prescriptions, the ritualists were likely expected to know them. \u2026 Friends whom you wish to divide against each other: write (the names of) the Twenty-Four Presbyters with their powers, contemplate the prayer over wild mustard, bury them in the place where they pass by \u2026(BM EA 10391, ll. 82\u201384) In sum, whether they were invoked for healing and protection, as prescribed in the homily attributed to Cyril of Jerusalem, or for more aggressive purposes, it seems that the most important thing was to know the names of the Twenty-Four Presbyters. Due to their holy origin, and for increased magical efficacy, it was also better to write them down, rather than speak them aloud. And while there was variety in the names used in Coptic magical texts, some lists and naming conventions, as well as the physical descriptions of the angels with their thrones and crowns, were shared across literary genres and iconography, showing that magical practices were not isolated from wider traditions about the Twenty-Four Presbyters. Bibliography and Further Readings Campagnano, A., A. Maresca, and T. Orlandi. Quattro omelie copte. Milan, 1977.\u00a0Pages 45\u2013104 for editions and translations of the Coptic homilies on the Twenty-Four Presbyters. Evelyn White, H.G. The Monasteries of the Wadi \u2018n Natr\u00fbn. Part 1:\u00a0New Coptic Texts from the Monastery of Saint Macarius. New York, 1926.\u00a0 URLPage 226 for the manuscripts with the Ode to the Twenty-Four Presbyters.\u00a0 Grosjean, P. \u201cLes vingt-quatre vieillards de l\u2019Apocalypse. \u00c0 propos d\u2019une liste galloise\u201d, Analecta Bollandiana 72 (1954): 192\u2013212. URL Kropp, A. Der Lobpreis Des Erzengels Michael (Vormals P. Heidelberg Inv. Nr. 1686). Brussels, 1966.Edition and German translation of P. Iand. Inv. 9 A\u2013B. \u0141ajtar, A. and J. van der\u00a0Vliet. Empowering the Dead in Christian Nubia: The Texts from a Medieval Funerary Complex in Dongola. Warsaw, 2017. URLPages 180\u201390 for a discussion of the names of the Twenty-Four Presbyters.\u00a0 Meinardus, O.F.A. \u201cThe Twenty-four Elders of the Apocalypse in the Iconography of the Coptic Church\u201d, Studia Orientalia Christiana, Collectanea 13 (1968): 141\u201357. URL Mih\u00e1lyk\u00f3, \u00c1.T. \u201cMary, Michael and the Twenty-Four Elders: Saints and Angels in Christian Liturgical and Magical Texts.\u201d In\u00a0Proceedings of the 29th International Congress of Papyrology. Lecce, 28 July-3 August 2019, ed. by M. Capasso, P. Davoli, and N. Pell\u00e9. Lecce, 2022, 722-773.\u00a0URL Viaud, G. \u201cLes 24 Presbytres de l’Apocalypse dans la tradition copte\u201d, Bulletin de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 d\u2019arch\u00e9ologie copte 29 (1990): 123\u201345. Zellmann-Rohrer, M. \u201cCatalogue: Hay 1\u20137.\u201d In The Hay Archive of Coptic Spells on Leather: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Materiality of Magical Practice, ed. by E.R O\u2019Connell.London, 2023, 78\u2013178. URL\u00a0Pages 79\u2013100 for the edition of BM EA 10391 (Hay 1).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[325],"tags":[112,8,78],"class_list":["post-52428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-angels-in-coptic-magic","tag-angels","tag-coptic-magic","tag-healing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pat5PQ-dDC","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52428"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52454,"href":"https:\/\/www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52428\/revisions\/52454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}