Ritual Paraphernalia
Toward a Modular Approach to Coptic Magic
Abstract
This article explores the redactional strategies through which ritual experts in late antique and early medieval Egypt articulated their textual products. It adopts what is here heuristically termed a ‘modular approach’, which treats magical texts as assemblages of discrete textual segments that could be extracted, recombined, and adapted to different redactional agendas. Drawing on selected case studies from Coptic ritual manuscripts, the article offers a new model for understanding scribal practice and the transmission of ritual knowledge.
Presentato: 26 Maggio 2025 | Accettato: 24 Novembre 2025 | Pubblicato 08 Ottobre 2026 | Lingua: en
Keywords Late antiquity • Magic • Oral-written transmission • Redaction criticism • Coptic papyri
Copyright © 2025 Michele Scarlassara. 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.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/QU/3103-5450/2025/02/002