Ancient Jewish Magic: A History
Gideon Bohak
(ISBN-13: 9780521874571)
# 15 halftones
# Page extent: 496 pages
# Size: 228 x 152 mm
$135.00 (R)

This is a pioneering history of ancient Jewish magic, from the Second
Temple to the rabbinic period. It is based both on the ancient
magicians' own compositions (and products) in Aramaic, Hebrew, and
Greek, and on the descriptions and prescriptions of non-magicians, in
an effort to reconstruct a historical picture that is as balanced and
nuanced as possible. The book's main focus is on the cultural make-up
of ancient Jewish magic, with special attention paid to processes of
cross-cultural contacts and borrowings between Jews and non-Jews and
to inner-Jewish creativity. Another major issue is the place of magic
within Jewish society at the time, contemporary Jewish attitudes to
magic and the identity of its practitioners. Throughout, it seeks to
explain the methodological underpinnings of all sound research in this
demanding field, and to point out areas where further research is
likely to prove fruitful.
Contents

1. Jewish magic: a contradiction in terms?; 2. Jewish magic in the
Second Temple period; 3. Jewish magic in late antiquity - the
'insider' evidence; 4. Non-Jewish elements in late-antique Jewish
magic; 5. How 'Jewish' was ancient Jewish magic?; 6. Magic and
magicians in rabbinic literature; Epilogue.