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Title: 'I, Deacon Iohannes, Servant of Michael'
Subtitle: A New Look at P. Heid. Inv. Kopt. 682 and a Possible Context for the Heidelberg Magical Archive
Author(s): GARDNER, Iain , JOHNSTON, Jay
Journal: Journal of Coptic Studies
Volume: 21    Date: 2019   
Pages: 29-61
DOI: 10.2143/JCS.21.0.3285802

Abstract :
P. Heid. Inv. Kopt. 682 was purchased in 1930 amongst a group of productions in Coptic on parchment and paper that form the core of an important ‘magical archive’ held at Heidelberg University. It was published in 1934 as P. Bad.V 137. A new consideration of the text, design features and ritual instructions enables a better understanding of the function of the artefact, especially in relation to the contemporary development of related practices in early Islamic Egypt. Further, whilst this piece evidences the same scribal hand as a number of others in the archive, including two of the best-preserved and substantial grimoires of the period, it is the only one to contain a scribal colophon. The authors use their reading of the colophon to suggest a possible origin for P. Heid. Inv. Kopt. 682 and by extension for other artefacts in the archive as well.

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