- Gnosticism, Indo-European Studies, Greek Papyrology, Alchemy, Meditation, Taoism, and 118 moreTheognis, Early Greek Hexameter Poetry, Ancient Near Eastern Religions, Ancient Indo-European Languages, Nostratic, Classical Mythology, Etruscology, Egyptology, Coptic Magic, Syriac Studies, Ugaritic Language, Sindonology, Holy Shroud of Turin, Synoptic Gospels, Gospel of Mark, Secret Gospel of Mark, Jesus in India, Jesus Sutras, Notovich Ms., Orphism, Late Antique Magic, Ancient Egyptian Magical Texts, Phoenicians, PHOENICIANS IN THE WEST, TARSHISH-TARTESSOS Ph. D. scholarship in History. Official acknowledgment of educational and research capability by the University of Huelva, Spain, Magic and Divination in the Ancient World, Ancient Egyptian Magic, Archaeology of Ritual and Magic, Witchcraft, Religion and Magic, Magic, Runic inscriptions, Elder Futhark Runes, Runestones, Runic Amulets, Greek magic. Magic Gems. Defixionis Tabellae. Lamellae. Comminatory Language in magic acts and exorcism., pagan monotheism; magic and religion in antiquity; Greek magical papyri, Greek Magical Papyri, Ancient magic and divination, Contextualizing Ancient Magic, Ancient magic, Ancient Greek Magic, Ancient Egyptian Magical Practices, Egyptian magic & mythology, Egyptian demonology, Roman Empire, Papias, Papyrology, Early Christianity, Patristics, Classics, Greek Epigraphy, Ancient Greek Religion, New Testament, Historical Jesus, Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Ancient Jewish magic, Orphic poems, Greek Patristics, Ancient Rhetoric and Poetics, Early Christian Papyri and Inscriptions, History of Reception of Biblical Texts, Demonology in early Christianity, Spirit Possession (Anthropology), Diabolic Possession, Greek Magic. Magic Gems. Defixionis Tabellae. Lamellae. Comminatory Language In Magic Acts and Exorcism, Exorcism, Anthropology, Exorcisms, Demonology, Egyptian Demonology: Names, Classification of the Demonic, Archaic Greece, Greek and Near Eastern Contacts, Cultural Exchange, Colonization, Orientalizing Phenomenon, North West Semitic Studiesst, Gold Tablets, Thurii, Mystic Cults, Eastern Philosophy, Mysticism, Zoroastrianism, Vedanta, Hermeticism, Manichaeism, Neoplatonism, Comparative Philosophy and Religion, Ancient Mediterranean Basin, Apotropaic Practices, Classical Archaeology, Ancient World History and Trading Systems, Defining Magic, Theorizing magic, Magic Discourse, Greek Magic, Roman Magic, Magic Lamellae, Orphic Tablets, Afterlife, Salvation. Healing Formulas, Magic Incantations. Classical Greece, Graeco-Roman Religion, Greek and Roman Epigraphy, Greek and Roman Social History, Near Eastern Archaeology, Incantations, Ancient Religion, Bart D. Ehrman, Amulets, Orphic lamellae, New Testament and Christian Origins, New Testament Studies, New Testament Textual Criticism, Sumerian, Sumerian Incantation Literature, Bantu Linguistics, Greek Amulets. Lamellae, Sicily’s Malophoros Megaron, and Demeter Malophorosedit
- I am a scholar of Classics, Biblical Studies / Languages, and Ancient Magical Traditions.edit
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Review article of Jeff W. Childers, Divining Gospel: Oracles of Interpretation in a Syriac Manuscript of John (Manuscripta Biblica 4; Berlin: de Gruyter, 2020), xi + 230 pp. ISBN 978-3-11-061721-4.
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A re-examination of the 'Orphic' gold leaves, starting with the Getty B-text from Thessaly, shows that Zuntz's view that the shorter B-texts from Crete represented the older prototype to which the earlier ms. versions of the longer... more
A re-examination of the 'Orphic' gold leaves, starting with the Getty B-text from Thessaly, shows that Zuntz's view that the shorter B-texts from Crete represented the older prototype to which the earlier ms. versions of the longer B-group had added material is correct. A closer look at the dialogic nature of the Getty text points to an aboriginal dialogue between the life-giving Spring and the deceased 'initiate.' To this archetypal version, the bricoleurs added, often incongruently, material relative to a second source of water (a 'Spring of Forgetfulness') to create a more complex philosophical eschatology of metempsychosis.
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Silver magic lamella, 3.94 x 2.60 cm (inv. 30664), in Berlin, acquired in 1917 from the widow of German diplomat in Israel and Syria, Julius Loeytved-Hardegg (1874-1917). Roman period amulet with magic names, moon / stars, including... more
Silver magic lamella, 3.94 x 2.60 cm (inv. 30664), in Berlin, acquired in 1917 from the widow of German diplomat in Israel and Syria, Julius Loeytved-Hardegg (1874-1917). Roman period amulet with magic names, moon / stars, including IAREOBAZ, IAO SABAOTH IAIOTH, ... IAIA IAO HO ON ("Iaia Iao, the-One-Who-Is" = Ex. 3:14) + Tetragrammaton IHIH, etc.
Co-authored with Jaime Curbera / Barbara Niemeyer
Co-authored with Jaime Curbera / Barbara Niemeyer
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A ceramic cup recovered in 2006 during maritime explorations of Alexandria is thought to record a reference to Christ as a "sorcerer". Dated to ca. the 1st cent. BCE / 1st cent CE, a modestly restored version of the text more likely... more
A ceramic cup recovered in 2006 during maritime explorations of Alexandria is thought to record a reference to Christ as a "sorcerer". Dated to ca. the 1st cent. BCE / 1st cent CE, a modestly restored version of the text more likely preserves a gnomic phrase, "By a creditor is the complainer!" Or, "By a usurer (comes) the grumbler!" -- a reading that has nothing to do with magic. Analogies with ancient "drinking songs" (skolia) are examined that often promote such sayings. Other examples, introduced in passing, include the famed Nestor's Cup inscription, which may also be proverbial, and a mimic composition finely etched on a painted glass beaker (also possibly from Alexandria) that preserves fragments of a scene, with text. Plausible lyric features of the gnomic cup are also examined.
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Three texts, an inscribed blue cameo, an iambic trimeter on a silver phylactery, and an inscribed Eros ring, are offered up in memory of David R. Jordan.
Research Interests: Magic, Greek Lyric Poetry, Eros, Engraved gems, Cameos, and 14 moreAmulets, Iambic Poetry, Greek Magical Papyri, Fitzwilliam Museum, Greek Iambic Poetry, Magical Spells, Gold and Silver Lamellae, Corinthians, Ananke, Roman Cameos and Gemstones, Adespota, Greek afterlife, David R. Jordan, and Isles of the Blessed
A silver votive plaque, 2nd cent. CE, offers a new example of a Greek "Prayer for Justice," addressing a case of slander involving witchcraft/ poisoning.
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An unusual magic gem carved on obsidian preserves on its beveled edge a Greek invocation to an otherwise unidentified "lofty-throned" Creator God, asking to provide health and salvation for its wearer and to check every evil and... more
An unusual magic gem carved on obsidian preserves on its beveled edge a Greek invocation to an otherwise unidentified "lofty-throned" Creator God, asking to provide health and salvation for its wearer and to check every evil and malevolent demonic force. On its two other surfaces there is preserved a series of seemingly 'magic' syllables that, upon closer inspection, contain, inter alia, hermeneutical glosses in Greek of a number of transcribed, foreign words from other languages, mostly Hebrew/Aramaic, but also others, including possibly Sanskrit (called "Indian"). The text also shows evidence of embedded scribal glosses, as well as references to Egyptian deities, especially Min, along with a handful of new angel-names.
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A close examination of the readings of the 2nd and 3rd century papyri of the Gospels, along with an analysis of the neglected "gospel-parallel" variants, shows more textual fluidity in the early period than is often assumed.
Corrected upload 2019. See below (2017).
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A survey of the development of 'unlettered' amulets to fully written amulets from earliest Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Phoenician times on through to the Greek and Roman periods, with particular attention paid to the birth of Babylonian... more
A survey of the development of 'unlettered' amulets to fully written amulets from earliest Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Phoenician times on through to the Greek and Roman periods, with particular attention paid to the birth of Babylonian cuneiform amulets; the Pharaonic mortuary texts and decree capsules; the Punic gold lamellae; the early Hebrew amulets; and the first inscribed Greek incantations, emphasizing the continuity and continuance of these amuletic traditions well into the Roman period.
This review article evaluates John H. Elliott's four-volume opus, "Beware the Evil Eye." For a PDF copy, kindly request it from the author at: iamkotansky@yahool.com.
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The 1964 published magic gem is re-read to refer to the "Cross-beam of the Redeeming Son" in a probable Christian baptismal invocation containing pre-orthodox terminology, 'magic' ciphers, and iambic metrical verses. The formula probably... more
The 1964 published magic gem is re-read to refer to the "Cross-beam of the Redeeming Son" in a probable Christian baptismal invocation containing pre-orthodox terminology, 'magic' ciphers, and iambic metrical verses. The formula probably stems from a late 2nd century heterodox Christian group using an early depiction of Jesus not based specifically on the canonical gospels. The inscription of the gem on the reverse is the work of a secondary hand better informed by the standard magical literature.
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Review and new analysis of the Getty Hexameters, with updated drawings, restored text (translation), and new readings based on the author's forthcoming monograph.
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This article examines a previously unpublished gold lamella of unknown provenance, datable on palaeographical grounds to the 1st century BCE, give-or-take a half century, either side. The tablet preserves three words written in Greek... more
This article examines a previously unpublished gold lamella of unknown provenance, datable on palaeographical grounds to the 1st century BCE, give-or-take a half century, either side. The tablet preserves three words written in Greek letters that may contain a Greco-Persian formula of protection in the afterlife for its bearer, Abalala, a name of pre-Islamic extraction. The study compares the formula with those on a number of shorter 'Orphic' gold lamellae to show that the tiny piece represents a 'Totenpaß' for the beneficent dead, rather than a protective charm (phylactery) with the usual voces magicae, although the distinction between magic words and meaningful text is not always clear in such instances.
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In un'epoca in cui si impone sempre più la necessità di una 'global history' e di un sapere critico aperto alle intersezioni tra culture altre, è ormai fuorviante una cesura tra storia antica e storia orientale, frutto di superati... more
In un'epoca in cui si impone sempre più la necessità di una 'global history' e di un sapere critico aperto alle intersezioni tra culture altre, è ormai fuorviante una cesura tra storia antica e storia orientale, frutto di superati pregiudizi accademici. Sulla base di questa convinzione e con l'intento di promuovere un proficuo dialogo scientifico tra studiosi provenienti da diverse formazioni, nasce Diádema. La collana raccoglie contributi, di singoli autori e miscellanei, dedicati allo studio di singole tematiche e di argomenti di più ampio respiro.
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* Per altre opere qui non elencate si è fatto riferimento alle sigle di uso comune.
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The Getty Hexameters preserves a 5th century BCE set of incantations, written on lead, from ancient Selinous, in Sicily. They describe, among other things, a ritual narrative related to the ancient Mysteries, magical syllables from the... more
The Getty Hexameters preserves a 5th century BCE set of incantations, written on lead, from ancient Selinous, in Sicily. They describe, among other things, a ritual narrative related to the ancient Mysteries, magical syllables from the celebrated "Ephesia Grammata," and instructions for protection of both individual household and the Polis. [N.B. For a properly formated version of this file click on the TITLE of the article, rather than the DOWNLOAD. Then click on "FILES" and click the second (URL) link. This will bring you to the "PAGE NOT FOUND" of the OCD page. Type "GETTY HEXAMETERS" in the search box (upper right), and click on the TITLE itself to open the article. Enjoy, it's free].
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This blog briefly explores some new features of the Getty Hexameters by examining its text in the context of the Carthaginian's attack and destruction of the polis in 409 BCE, asking whether there are any specific hints on the tablet of... more
This blog briefly explores some new features of the Getty Hexameters by examining its text in the context of the Carthaginian's attack and destruction of the polis in 409 BCE, asking whether there are any specific hints on the tablet of impending doom. It also looks at the inevitability of plague at Selinous, based on the well-known references in Diogenes Laertius to Empedocles' staying the noisome riverine waters of the polis, as well as the importance of the Ephesia Grammata in the mythological narrative of the verses. [For a better formatted version, CLICK on URL, above, please].
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A previously unread Greco-Hebrew amulet from Aquincum (= GMA I, no.21) has been newly deciphered, based on Péter Prohászka's recently found photographs and archival notes, to show a spell, reading: "(Charaktēres), O <A>braôth Sabaô<th>,... more
A previously unread Greco-Hebrew amulet from Aquincum (= GMA I, no.21) has been newly deciphered, based on Péter Prohászka's recently found photographs and archival notes, to show a spell, reading: "(Charaktēres), O <A>braôth Sabaô<th>, king over sickness, protect from the migraine headache." The article identifies the Hebrew (or Aramaic) letters for "(the) king", along with Hebrew etymologies for Abraaôth (= "the One of the Hebrews") and Sabaôth (= "the Mighty One"), situating the whole within a local Jewish milieu similar to that of the Halbturn gold lamella.
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This article compares the pre-Pauline summary of 1 Cor. 15, which mentions no resurrection appearances to the women at the tomb, with the Gospel accounts that feature the women prominently, especially in John 20, where Mary Magdalene... more
This article compares the pre-Pauline summary of 1 Cor. 15, which mentions no resurrection appearances to the women at the tomb, with the Gospel accounts that feature the women prominently, especially in John 20, where Mary Magdalene plays a predominant role. There, however, textual variants suggest a re-working of the tradition so that Mary is made to hurry back to fetch the male disciples first, who can thus enter the tomb before her. The truer account originally told of Mary's initial arrival alone, with a vision of Jesus as the gardener, and his subsequent ascension (untold). She then runs to tell the disciples. When Peter and the other disciple arrive, they find only the shroud and the separate face-cloth, which they, no doubt, preserve as backup proof of Jesus's resurrection and ascension. Stories of visions of angels, not Jesus, at the tomb were further meant to deprive the women of any claim of first sightings, just as the duplication of the number of angels ensures that it is not Jesus that they saw. The oldest, most reliable account, therefore, is the post-resurrection appearance to Mary in John, with no secondary scene with angels. This is the closest we get to verifying the untouched historicity of Jesus's resurrection, but it remains testimonially troubling to the male-dominant narrators who must leave us with a record emphasizing the dominance of their role. Despite the variableness in the accounts, the article affirms the authenticity of Mary Magdalene's meeting with the resurrected Jesus and, by extension, that of the others.
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A preliminary reading of the remarkable late 5th century BCE Getty Hexameters, written on a folded up piece of lead found at Selinous, Sicily. The text preserves an early house-amulet meant to protect from harm brought by land or sea, as... more
A preliminary reading of the remarkable late 5th century BCE Getty Hexameters, written on a folded up piece of lead found at Selinous, Sicily. The text preserves an early house-amulet meant to protect from harm brought by land or sea, as well as instructions for use of its "sacred" and "immortal verses" for the salvation of the polis. The power of the hexametric incantations rests in their citation of a narrative about a she-goat being lead from a mountain top out of the Garden of Persephone to be milked of its ever-lasting flow. The nighttime ritual, involving Demeter, Persephone, Hecate, and a mysteriuos Child (pais) may have associations with unnamed Mysteries.
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"The Star of the Magi" explores a new chronology of Jesus, based upon historical considerations of Nikos Kokkinos' that prove that John the Baptist died in 35 CE. Since Jesus' ministry is subsequent to that of John's, his own death... more
"The Star of the Magi" explores a new chronology of Jesus, based upon historical considerations of Nikos Kokkinos' that prove that John the Baptist died in 35 CE. Since Jesus' ministry is subsequent to that of John's, his own death cannot be placed earlier than 36 CE. Attempts to date it earlier have always been predicated upon false assumptions about what astronomical event, or series of events, could explain the appearance of the Star of the Magi, approximately 33 years earlier, provided that Jesus indeed was "about 30," when he began his ministry (Luke 3:23). But there are no viable stellar events corresponding to the traditional date of Jesus' birth in ca. 6-4 BCE. Rather, the only probable astronomical event associated with the Nativity can be that of the appearance of the great comet, Halley's, in the year 12 BCE, the true approximate date of the Birth of the Messiah -- a saviour (saošyant) expected from Zoroastrian sources to inaugurate a new Golden Age. The reference in Luke is corrupt (an incomplete sentence), and the remark on Jesus' age in John 8:57 ("not yet 50 years old") fits more perfectly a birth of Jesus in 12 BCE and a death in 36 CE (thus, 12 + 36 = 48 years old, sc., the "not yet 50" complicit with John and other sources). The article further discusses the rôle of Zoroastrianism in science and star-lore (but not zodiacal astrology), and the interface between cometology and the body of ancient magical and apocryphal literature. The contribution concludes with a presentation of a hypothetical pre-Matthean version of the birth narrative and the rôle of entheogenic drugs in Zarathustrian revelation, which may have contributed to the events surrounding the Magi's historical discovery of the Child.
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A comparison between references in the Greek Magical Papyri to lettered, semi-lettered, and unlettered amulets of stone, metal, and papyrus with the actual realia of such amulets from the archaeological record, with special attention paid... more
A comparison between references in the Greek Magical Papyri to lettered, semi-lettered, and unlettered amulets of stone, metal, and papyrus with the actual realia of such amulets from the archaeological record, with special attention paid to the categories of diseases addressed, especially fever, along with the malevolent spirits thought to engender such maladies.
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Research Interests: Near Eastern Archaeology, Anthropology, Demonology, Spirit Possession (Anthropology), Ancient magic, and 9 moreGreek and Roman Epigraphy, Exorcism, Diabolic Possession, Demonology in early Christianity, Exorcisms, Gorgon, Greek and Roman Social History, Graeco-Roman Religion, and Greek Magic. Magic Gems. Defixionis Tabellae. Lamellae. Comminatory Language In Magic Acts and Exorcism
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A previously published papyrus, of unidentified poetic authorship, has now been assigned to the Theognidea, providing a new reading of a previously troublesome passage with a new addendum to the Greek lexicon. The reading is supported,... more
A previously published papyrus, of unidentified poetic authorship, has now been assigned to the Theognidea, providing a new reading of a previously troublesome passage with a new addendum to the Greek lexicon. The reading is supported, too, in part by a late 15th cent. Ms. K.
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Romans. A Commentary (Hermeneia). By Robert JEWETT. Assisted by Roy D. KOTANSKY. Edited by Eldon Jay EPP.
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[N. B. For a preview of this research, please see above, "The Getty Hexameters," 2017 Updated Version].