The Donkey in the Graeco-Egyptian Papyri

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DC Field	Value
dc.identifier	ECF_chapter_1096
dc.contributor.author	Lucarelli Rita
dc.title	The Donkey in the Graeco-Egyptian Papyri
dc.type	Chapter
dc.language.iso	en
dc.description.abstract	In ancient Egyptian religion, the donkey is generally associated to Seth and to its manifestation as a donkey and in the Graeco-Egyptian papyri Seth and the donkey are also commonly identified with Typhon. However, in a few spells the donkey occurs as a ritual and sacrificial animal, not necessarily in relation to the god Seth but just as an example of materia magica. In this article, on the basis of Betz’s English translation of the Graeco-Egyptian magical papyri, those spells of the PGM corpus, where the mention of the donkey or of parts of its body and fluids occurs, are listed and discussed in relation to the magical and ritual meaning of the donkey/ass within the PGM. In particular, two thematic groups of spells will be distinguished: those where the donkey is clearly associated to the Egyptian god Seth and the Greek Typhon, and those where the animal seems to be only an example of “material magica”.
dc.relation.ispartof	Antiquity Studies
dc.relation.ispartof	Storia ed epigrafia
dc.publisher	Edizioni Ca’ Foscari - Digital Publishing
dc.issued	2017-07-12
dc.dateAccepted	2016-12-08
dc.dateSubmitted	2016-11-08
dc.identifier.uri	http://edizionicafoscari.it/en/edizioni4/libri/978-88-7543-439-7/the-donkey-in-the-graeco-egyptian-papyri/
dc.identifier.doi	10.14277/6969-180-5/ANT-11-8
dc.identifier.issn	2610-8828
dc.identifier.eissn	2610-9344
dc.identifier.isbn	978-88-7543-439-7
dc.identifier.eisbn	978-88-6969-180-5
dc.rights	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
item.fulltext	with fulltext
item.grantfulltext	open
dc.peer-review	no
dc.subject	Ancient Egyptian Magic
dc.subject	Ancient Egyptian Magic
dc.subject	Donkey
dc.subject	Donkey
dc.subject	Graeco Egyptian Papyri
dc.subject	Graeco Egyptian Papyri
dc.subject	Materia Magica
dc.subject	Materia Magica
dc.subject	Seth
dc.subject	Seth
dc.subject	Typhon
dc.subject	Typhon

Chapter
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The Donkey in the Graeco-Egyptian Papyri

Rita Lucarelli Berkeley, University of California, USA

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abstract

In ancient Egyptian religion, the donkey is generally associated to Seth and to its manifestation as a donkey and in the Graeco-Egyptian papyri Seth and the donkey are also commonly identified with Typhon. However, in a few spells the donkey occurs as a ritual and sacrificial animal, not necessarily in relation to the god Seth but just as an example of materia magica. In this article, on the basis of Betz’s English translation of the Graeco-Egyptian magical papyri, those spells of the PGM corpus, where the mention of the donkey or of parts of its body and fluids occurs, are listed and discussed in relation to the magical and ritual meaning of the donkey/ass within the PGM. In particular, two thematic groups of spells will be distinguished: those where the donkey is clearly associated to the Egyptian god Seth and the Greek Typhon, and those where the animal seems to be only an example of “material magica”.

Published

July 12, 2017

Accepted

Dec. 8, 2016

Submitted

Nov. 8, 2016

Language

ISBN (PRINT)

978-88-7543-439-7

ISBN (EBOOK)

978-88-6969-180-5

Keywords: Typhon • Seth • Graeco Egyptian Papyri • Donkey • Ancient Egyptian Magic • Materia Magica

permalink: http://doi.org/10.14277/6969-180-5/ANT-11-8

Copyright: © 2017 Rita Lucarelli. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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