Studies in the Syriac Magical Traditions

The study of the Syriac magical traditions has largely been marginalised within Syriac studies, with the earliest treatments displaying a disparaging attitude towards both the culture and its magical practices. Despite significant progress in more recent scholarship in respect of the culture, its magical practices and their associated literatures remain on the margins of the scholarly imagination. This volume aims to open a discussion on the history of the field, to evaluate how things have progressed, and to suggest a fruitful way forward. In doing so, this volume demonstrates the incredible riches contained within the Syriac magical traditions, and the necessity of their study.

Marco Moriggi (PhD 2003, Università di Firenze) is Associate Professor in Semitic Philology at the Università di Catania. His research interests include Syriac incantation bowls, Syriac language, Aramaic epigraphy in late antique Mesopotamia and the Gulf, and Aramaic dialectology.

Siam Bhayro (PhD 2000, University College London) is Associate Professor in Early Jewish Studies at the University of Exeter. His research interests include the Bible, Semitic languages, medicine in the Christian and Islamic orient, and Jewish magic.