David Frankfurter ed., "Guide to the Study of Ancient Magic" (Brill, 2019)

Feb 19, 2026

David Frankfurter, a Boston University scholar of ancient Mediterranean religions and magical texts, guides a tour of how scholars define and study ancient magic. He outlines the book's three-part structure and key sources. Short, lively takes cover language, material amulets, protective figurines, and why simplistic magic-to-modernity stories mislead.

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INSIGHT

Words Mark Social Boundaries

Different cultures use hostile terms to mark practices as illegitimate or other.
Words like Hebrew keshav label practices as impure and signal social rejection rather than descriptive content.

INSIGHT

Roman Stereotypes Shape 'Magic'

Roman terms like superstitio and magia carry notions of foreignness and excess.
Roman portrayals of witches were sexualized and stereotyped rather than literal reports of practices.

ADVICE

Read Formularies As Ritual Manuals

Treat Egyptian formularies as ritual manuals rather than simply 'magical' texts.
Read them for healing, vision, cursing, and diverse ritual functions across millennia.

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In the midst of academic debates about the utility of the term “magic” and the cultural meaning of ancient words like mageia or khesheph, this Guide to the Study of Ancient Magic seeks to advance the discussion by separating out three topics essential to the very idea of magic. The three major sections of this volume address (1) indigenous terminologies for ambiguous or illicit ritual in antiquity; (2) the ancient texts, manuals, and artifacts commonly designated “magical” or used to represent ancient magic; and (3) a series of contexts, from the written word to materiality itself, to which the term “magic” might usefully pertain.
The individual essays in this volume cover most of Mediterranean and Near Eastern antiquity, with essays by both established and emergent scholars of ancient religions.
In a burgeoning field of “magic studies” trying both to preserve and to justify critically the category itself, this volume brings new clarity and provocative insights. This will be an indispensable resource to all interested in magic in the Bible and the Ancient Near East, ancient Greece and Rome, Early Christianity and Judaism, Egypt through the Christian period, and also comparative and critical theory.
Contributors are: Magali Bailliot, Gideon Bohak, Véronique Dasen, Albert de Jong, Jacco Dieleman, Esther Eidinow, David Frankfurter, Fritz Graf, Yuval Harari, Naomi Janowitz, Sarah Iles Johnston, Roy D. Kotansky, Arpad M. Nagy, Daniel Schwemer, Joseph E. Sanzo, Jacques van der Vliet, Andrew Wilburn.

David Frankfurter holds the William Goodwin Aurelio Chair of the Appreciation of Scripture at Boston University. He joined the faculty of B.U. in the fall of 2010. A scholar of ancient Mediterranean religions with specialties in Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature, magical texts, popular religion, and Egypt in the Roman and late antique periods, Frankfurter’s particular interests revolve around theoretical issues like the place of magic in religion, the relationship of religion and violence, the nature of Christianization, and the representation of evil in culture.

Caleb Zakarin is CEO and Publisher of the New Books Network.

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