The Shelves · Miscellaneous writings

Greek Magical Papyri (the 'Theban Magical Library'), including the so-called Mithras Liturgy

Conjecturedin Alexandria?Conjectured · Our reconstructionour placement

I · The entry, in his form

In the table of Miscellaneous writings

Conjectured · Our reconstructionour placement

Anonymous Egyptian practitioners

Greek Magical Papyri (the 'Theban Magical Library'), including the so-called Mithras Liturgy

Opening words not preserved.

Length: not counted

Above, his entry form, filled from what we know. Below, ours.

Survives whole

Many come from a single Theban cache sold by Anastasi in the 1820s-30s; now in Paris, Leiden, London, Berlin and Stockholm.

Conjectured

Of the Egyptian milieu.

On the ledge: written in Egypt or in a tradition the city shaped; not known in the Library.

Solomon, Grimoires & Hebrew Magical Traditions, episode 24, at 35 minutes 2 secondsTranscriptSolomon, the grimoires and the Hebrew elements in Graeco-Egyptian spells.Conjectured
Solomon, Grimoires & Hebrew Magical Traditions, episode 24, at 35 minutes 2 secondsTranscript“the PGM is a huge collection of texts uh that are Graco Egyptian”Conjectured
Meaning of “Elus-Cohen” and its symbolism, episode 5, at 1 hour 1 minute 21 secondsTranscript“The grimoire tradition comes out of the PGM and not exclusively the PGM but that tradition, right? Greco Egyptian”Conjectured

+ 2 more

Ritual sacrifice, contracts, and biblical parallels, episode 3, at 23 minutes 20 secondsTranscript“It was done in Alexandria in the first few centuries CE”Conjectured
Correction
What was said
The papyri's magicians worked "in Alexandria".
What the sources say
The Greek Magical Papyri describe hired ritual specialists in Egypt, but they come mostly from Upper Egypt (Thebes), not Alexandria.
Evocation vs spiritual development, episode 6, at 29 minutes 10 secondsTranscript“his book Greco Egyptian magic”Stephen Skinner, Techniques of Graeco-Egyptian Magic (2014).Conjectured

Ancient references (2)

Modern scholarship (3)

H. D. Betz (ed.), The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, Including the Demotic Spells (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986)
K. Preisendanz, Papyri Graecae Magicae: Die griechischen Zauberpapyri, 2 vols (Leipzig: Teubner, 1928-1931).
J. Dieleman, Priests, Tongues, and Rites: The London-Leiden Magical Manuscripts and Translation in Egyptian Ritual (Leiden: Brill, 2005).

Entry checked 31 Oct 2026 · no corrections · Suggest a correction ›

GREEK MAGICAL PAPYRI (THE 'THEBAN MAGICAL LIBRARY'), INCLUDING THE SO-CALLED MITHRAS LITURGY