Cross-Culturality and Identity in the Mediterranean World: the Witness of the Magical Papyri of Roman Imperial Egypt

We propose a thorough study of the corpus of Greek magical papyri of Roman Egypt in order to define both the cross-cultural elements that pervade them, and the persistence of an old genuine Egyptian tradition that has prompted their birth and their circulation. This main target will be developed through the analysis of (a) the different magical practices (delimiting the Hellenic from the more properly Egyptian or, simply, non-Hellenic elements), (b) de relationship between these magical texts on papyrus and other of literary, religious or scientific nature, (c) the mechanism of religious synthesis and its possible relation to philosophic trends, (d) the knowledge level of the magicians, (e) the most relevant features of the language used in them, and (f) the later influence of these texts.