Making Amulets Christian: Artefacts, Scribes, and Contexts

— —

Theodore de Bruyn (Associate Professor, Department of Classics and Religious Studies, Associate Professor, Department of Classics and Religious Studies, University of Ottawa)

Making Amulets Christian

Artefacts, Scribes, and Contexts

Theodore de Bruyn (Associate Professor, Department of Classics and Religious Studies, Associate Professor, Department of Classics and Religious Studies, University of Ottawa)

$231

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Oxford University Press
10 August 2017

The Early Church; Magic, alchemy & hermetic thought

Series: Oxford Early Christian Studies

Making Amulets Christian: Artefacts, Scribes, and Contexts examines Greek amulets with Christian elements from late antique Egypt in order to discern the processes whereby a customary practice--the writing of incantations on amulets--changed in an increasingly Christian context. It considers how the formulation of incantations and amulets changed as the Christian church became the prevailing religious institution in Egypt in the last centuries of the Roman empire. Theodore de Bruyn investigates what we can learn from incantations and amulets containing Christian elements about the cultural and social location of the people who wrote them. He shows how incantations and amulets were indebted to rituals or ritualizing behaviour of Christians.

This study analyzes different types of amulets and the ways in which they incorporate Christian elements. By comparing the formulation and writing of individual amulets that are similar to one another, one can observe differences in the culture of the scribes of these materials. It argues for 'conditioned individuality' in the production of amulets. On the one hand, amulets manifest qualities that reflect the training and culture of the individual writer. On the other hand, amulets reveal that individual writers were shaped, whether consciously or inadvertently, by the resources they drew upon-by what is called 'tradition' in the field of religious studies.

By: Theodore de Bruyn (Associate Professor Department of Classics and Religious Studies Associate Professor Department of Classics and Religious Studies University of Ottawa)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 240mm, Width: 170mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 1g
ISBN: 9780199687886
ISBN 10: 0199687889
Series: Oxford Early Christian Studies
Pages: 308
Publication Date: 10 August 2017
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

List of Abbreviations A Note on References Introduction 1: Normative Christian Discourse 2: Materials, Format, and Writing 3: Manuals of Procedures and Incantations 4: Scribal Features of Customary Amulets 5: Scribal Features of Scriptural Amulets 6: Christian Ritual Contexts Conclusion Bibliography

Theodore de Bruyn is Associate Professor in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa. He has studied aspects of Christianity from antiquity to the early modern period. He is the co-editor of Patristic Studies in the Twenty-First Century (Brepols, 2015).

Reviews for Making Amulets Christian: Artefacts, Scribes, and Contexts

De Bruyn's book is a substantial contribution to the study of Early Christianity and the formation of ritual practices not necessarily controlled by the institutional church...the impact of de Bruyn's book is expected toextend to disciplines beyond Papyrology and Early Christian Studies * Eirini Afentoulidou, Austrian Academy of Sciences, De Gruyter * Making Amulets Christian is a valuable addition to this field that has something to offer everyone. Its introductory chapters, especially chapter two, would work well in a graduate level course on ancient magic. Moreover, with its numerous detailed analyses of specific amulets, the book can serve as a rich sourcebook of primary sources. Finally, de Bruyn's contributions to the question of classifying these rituals and his focus on 'lived ancient religion' and agency brings much to the table for future research. * Andrew M. Henry, Ancient Jew Review * Making Amulets Christian: Artefacts, Scribes, and Contexts is an enjoyable book. Theodore de Bruyn sifts through a vast amount of material and curates a selection from which we can really get a sense of the rich cultural milieu that existed in Egypt in the Late Antique period. The book challenges us to move past envisioning Christianity and the earliest Christian practices in a monolithic manner and instead suggests an immense amount of nuance with variation by time, region, social positioning, and individual interpretation. This is a valuable and worthwhile read for anyone interested in the development of Christianity in Late Antiquity. * Melody Everest, Reading Religion *