Gideon Bohak, *Ancient Jewish Magic: A History* (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008) By Gideon Bohak

https://www.academia.edu/1101579/Gideon_Bohak_Ancient_Jewish_Magic_A_History_Cambridge_Cambridge_University_Press_2008_?email_work_card=title&li=0 Ancient Jewish Magic is a pioneering attempt to write a broad history of ancient Jewish magic, from the Second Temple to the rabbinic period (or, roughly, from the Hellenistic period to the Muslim conquests). The roots of the Jewish magical tradition lie in the Second Temple period -- and sometimes even in the First Temple period -- but it reached maturity only in late antiquity, and as a result of its contacts with the Greco-Egyptian magical tradition. It is based both on the ancient magicians’ own compositions and products (exorcistic hymns, amulets, curses, erotic spells and so on) 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. Its 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 cultural creativity. Another major issue is the place of magic within Jewish society at the time, the Jewish attitudes to magic -- from the Hebrew Bible, through the Second Temple period literature, to the rabbinic literature -- and the identity of its practitioners. Throughout, it seeks to explain the methodological underpinnings of any sound research in this demanding field, and to point out areas where further research is likely to prove fruitful. ...