Making Amulets Christian

Artefacts, Scribes, and Contexts

Theodore de Bruyn

Oxford Early Christian Studies

Offers the first comprehensive investigation of magical practices--and how they changed--as Christianity became the dominant form of religion in the Roman Empire
Investigates what can we learn from incantations and amulets containing Christian elements about the cultural and social location of the people who wrote them
Analyzes different types of amulets and the ways in which they incorporate Christian elements

Making Amulets Christian

Artefacts, Scribes, and Contexts

Theodore de Bruyn

Oxford Early Christian Studies

Description

Making Amulets Christian: Artefacts, Scribes, and Contexts examines Greek amulets with Christian elements from late antique Egypt in order to discern the processes whereby a customary practice--the writing of incantations on amulets--changed in an increasingly Christian context. It considers how the formulation of incantations and amulets changed as the Christian church became the prevailing religious institution in Egypt in the last centuries of the Roman empire. Theodore de Bruyn investigates what we can learn from incantations and amulets containing Christian elements about the cultural and social location of the people who wrote them. He shows how incantations and amulets were indebted to rituals or ritualizing behavior of Christians.

This study analyzes different types of amulets and the ways in which they incorporate Christian elements. By comparing the formulation and writing of individual amulets that are similar to one another, one can observe differences in the culture of the scribes of these materials. It argues for 'conditioned individuality' in the production of amulets. On the one hand, amulets manifest qualities that reflect the training and culture of the individual writer. On the other hand, amulets reveal that individual writers were shaped, whether consciously or inadvertently, by the resources they drew upon-by what is called 'tradition' in the field of religious studies.

Making Amulets Christian

Artefacts, Scribes, and Contexts

Theodore de Bruyn

Oxford Early Christian Studies

List of Abbreviations
A Note on References
Introduction
1. Normative Christian Discourse
2. Materials, Format, and Writing
3. Manuals of Procedures and Incantations
4. Scribal Features of Customary Amulets
5. Scribal Features of Scriptural Amulets
6. Christian Ritual Contexts
Conclusion
Bibliography

Making Amulets Christian

Artefacts, Scribes, and Contexts

Theodore de Bruyn

Oxford Early Christian Studies

Author Information

Theodore de Bruyn is Associate Professor in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa. He has studied aspects of Christianity from antiquity to the early modern period. He is the co-editor of Patristic Studies in the Twenty-First Century (Brepols, 2015).

Making Amulets Christian

Artefacts, Scribes, and Contexts

Theodore de Bruyn

Oxford Early Christian Studies

Reviews and Awards

"Making Amulets Christian is a valuable addition to this field that has something to offer everyone. Its introductory chapters, especially chapter two, would work well in a graduate level course on ancient magic. Moreover, with its numerous detailed analyses of specific amulets, the book can serve as a rich sourcebook of primary sources. Finally, de Bruyn's contributions to the question of classifying these rituals and his focus on 'lived ancient religion' and agency brings much to the table for future research."-- Andrew M. Henry, Ancient Jew Review