SUMMA DÆMONICA BIBLIOGRAFIA

ROCCATI 2011 1 SDB 2019

Alessandro Roccati

„Demons as reflection of human society”, în

Ancient Egyptian Demonology:

Studies on the boundaries between the Demonic and the

Divine in Egyptian Magic

P. Kousoulis (ed.), OLA 175, Leuven, 2011, pp. 89-98. (pdf.)

Fragment

„The ancient Egyptians organised the divine world according to the patterns of mankind, therefore an enquiry into its arrangement may convey some additional evidence in order to implement our knowledge of trends related to the ancient cultural anthropology. The various categories of demons were associated with the lower people in the Egyptian society or the enemies. The demons are mostly observed under a negative light and they were executed during the courses of specific execration rituals, which were equally performed against divine demons and the opponents of the pharaoh. The performative role of the pharaoh is a feature that originated in the earliest periods of the Egyptian history and was maintained under a ritual perspective throughout thousands of years. Among the rituals against demons, the Apopis Book must be highlighted. It is dated in the Ramesside period, according to a copy preserved at Turin, regardless of variations in use and meaning. At that time it was echoed by some spells in the Book of the Dead, with the purpose to ward off dangerous beings in the thereafter. Also, relevant curses are found in “magical books” from the same environment, e.g. P. Chester Beatty VIII, book V.3 They are not yet demons in the hell, what they will eventually become later: they have a function, like armed guards, but they have no hopeless existence, like damned souls” (p. 89).