SUMMA DÆMONICA BIBLIOGRAFIA

LUCARELLI 2017a 1SDB2019

Rita Lucarelli 

„The Donkey in the Graeco-Egyptian Papyri”, în

Languages, Objects, and the Transmission of the Rituals

An Interdisciplinary Analysis on Ritual Practices

in the Graeco-Egyptian Papyri (PGM)

Edited by Sabina Crippa/ Emanuele M. Ciampini,

Edizioni Ca`Foscari, 2017, pp. 89-103. (pdf.)

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”.