Exorcism, Illness and Demons in an Ancient Near Eastern Context: The Egyptian Magical Papyrus Leiden I 343 + 345

222 Pages·2018·26.32 MB·English

by  Susanne Beck

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EXORCISM, ILLNESS AND DEMONS A
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IN AN ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CONTEXT CIS
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Papyrus Leiden I 343 + 345 is one of the most extraordinary NL
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manuscripts providing a deeper insight into magic and medicine in AN
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Ancient Egypt. ES
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The main part of the papyrus deals with the ancient Near Eastern S A
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disease demon Sāmānu, who is well known from Sumerian and EN
RD EXORCISM, ILLNESS
Akkadian incantations and medical texts. In addition, a broad range N
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of other conjurations and spells against any pain and feet swelling are OE
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included. The papyrus also contains two curious spells dealing with N
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AND DEMONS
‘falling water from the sky’. EN
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TS

Eight out of fourteen incantations against the demon Sāmānu
were incorporated twice in this papyrus. The texts are not only
IN AN ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CONTEXT
presented as parallel text edition but also with photographs of
the papyrus. This re-edition of papyrus Leiden I 343 + 345 is a
The Egyptian magical Papyrus Leiden I 343 + 345
revised transliteration, transcription, translation and up-to-date
commentary.
Susanne Beck
18
ISSBNid 97e8-s90t-o88n90e-53 9P-1ress
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ISBN: 978-90-8890-539-1 i
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to PALMA 18 PAPERS ON ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE
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EXORCISM, ILLNESS
AND DEMONS
Sidestone Press

EXORCISM, ILLNESS
AND DEMONS
IN AN ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CONTEXT
The Egyptian magical Papyrus Leiden I 343 + 345
Susanne Beck
PALMA 18
PAPERS ON ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE
LEIDEN MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES
© 2018 Rijksmuseum van Oudheden; Susanne Beck
PALMA: Papers on Archaeology of the Leiden Museum of
Antiquities (volume 18)
Volume editor: Maarten J. Raven
Published by Sidestone Press, Leiden
www.sidestone.com
Lay-out & cover design: Sidestone Press
Photograph cover:
The Egyptian magical Papyrus Leiden I 343 + 345,
photo: Karsten Wentink
Photographs book: Robbert-Jan Looman (National Museum
of Antiquities)
ISBN 978-90-8890-539-1 (softcover)
ISBN 978-90-8890-540-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-90-8890-541-4 (PDF e-book)
ISSN 2034-550X
Contents
Preface 7

PART I

Introduction 11

PART II

Text with transliteration, translation and commentary 21

Abbreviations 107
Bibliography 111
Appendix I: Glossary 123
Appendix II: Present appearance of the papyrus 137
Indices 139
Sketch of the papyrus 145
Plates 146

Preface

I first had the pleasure of dealing with the extraordinary papyrus Leiden I 343 + 345 during
my PhD thesis Sāmānu. Ein vorderasiatischer Dämon in Ägypten (Ludwig-Maximilians-
Universität, Munich, 2014/2015) under the supervision of Friedhelm Hoffmann, Hans-
Werner Fischer-Elfert, Walter Sallaberger and Manfred Krebernik. This manuscript was
a major source for the object of my study, the ancient Egyptian disease demon Sāmānu.
During the analysis of this remarkable demonic being, it soon became clear that a new
edition of papyrus Leiden I 343 + 345 could not be feasibly worked into my dissertation,
which focused on an analysis of the Mesopotamian and Egyptian forms of Sāmānu
from a modern perspective and the transfer of knowledge from the Ancient Near East
to Egypt.1 Maarten J. Raven and I therefore agreed to give the re-edition the space and
time it deserves.2 I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to him for giving me the
opportunity to prepare a re-edition of papyrus Leiden I 343 + 345 for the Papers on
Archaeology of the Leiden Museum of Antiquities (PALMA) series.
I would also like to thank Katherine E. Davis and Ramadan B. Hussein for their
input on Egyptological terminology in English. Last but not least I would like to thank
Michael Jumic for proofreading the manuscript.
1 Beck 2015b.
2 For an overview of all previous publications and mentions of the papyrus in the literature, see Chapter I.
preface 7