DAY ONE: Cult Practices in Ancient Literatures: Egyptian, Near Eastern and Graeco-Roman Narratives in a Cross-Cultural Perspective
Heroic stories and novels, tales, travel fictions and wisdom texts in the ancient world, from Egypt to Greece, from Anatolia to Rome, they contained rituals, magic and divination. In this two-day workshop on May 16-17, 2016, we will discuss phenomena of such cult practices and their functions in regard to ritual and literary studies. Topics include secret knowledge, presentations of the divine and of fate, sacred justice and practitioners of cult practices as protagonists in the narratives.
Chair, Morning Sessions: Beate Pongratz-Leisten, ISAW
10:00am - Franziska Naether, ISAW Visiting Research Scholar
Welcome, Introduction, Methodology and Case Studies from Egypt
10:30am - Gina Konstantopoulos, ISAW Visiting Assistant Professor
Wise Women and Benevolent Magic in Old Babylonian Literary Texts
11:00am - Ainsley Hawthorn, Yale University
The Fish and the Tamarisk: Symbolism and Ritual Instruction in “Lugalbanda and the Anzu Bird”
11:30am - Coffee Break
12:00pm - Rita Lucarelli, University of California, Berkeley
The Magician as a Literary Figure in Ancient Egyptian Texts
12:30pm - Lunch Break
Chair, Afternoon Sessions: Franziska Naether, ISAW Visiting Research Scholar
2:00pm - Gil Renberg, Harvard University
Incubation in Egyptian Literary Texts
2:30pm - Edward Love, University of Oxford and University of Heidelberg
Ritual Reality or Fictitious Fantasy? The Conceptualisation and Narration of Magical Practice in Setne I and II and Their Relationship to the Practices of the Demotic and Greek Magical Papyri
3:00pm - Philippe Matthey, Université de Liège and Université de Genève
A wizard’s Spell, a Priest’s Ritual, a Pharaoh’s Duty? Deciphering Pharaoh Nectanebo’s “lekanomanteia” and Other Spells in the Alexander’s Romance
3:30pm - Coffee Break
4:00pm - Lucas Livingston, The Art Institute of Chicago
Alcohol's Magic in Antiquity or How to Be the Ass of Athens
Please check isaw.nyu.edu for event updates.
Registration is required at isaw.nyu.edu/rsvp
Please note that separate registration is required for each day of the workshop: May 16th (10:00am-4:30pm) and May 17th (9:30-11:30am).