Mirecki, Paul and Marvin Meyer, eds. — Magic and Ritual in the Ancient World

Leiden / Boston / Koln, Brill Publishers, 2002. First Edition. Hardcover. Size: Large 8vo 9" - 10. Another fine addition to the series, Religions in the Graeco-Roman World, being Volume 141, the series being edited by R. van den Broek, J.J.W. Draijvers and H.S. Versnel. Fine-looking, structurally sound hardcover, little discernible wear, bright interior, unmarked. Bright pictorial covers. Volume contains scholarly apparatus in the form of, e.g., notes, index, and bibliography. Texts in English, French, Latin and Greek. From the publisher's blurb, "This volume contains a series of provocative essays that explore expressions of magic and ritual power in the ancient world. The essays are authored by leading scholars in the fields of Egyptology, ancient Near Eastern studies, the Hebrew Bible, Judaica, classical Greek and Roman studies, early Christianity and patristics, and Coptology," including William Brashear and Roy Kotansey, David Jordan, Roy Kotansey, Paul Mirecki, Jonathan Z. Smith, Fritz Graf, David Frankfurter, C.A. Hoffman and others. The publisher continues, "Throughout the book the essays examine the terms employed in descriptions of ancient magic. From this examination comes a clarification of magic as a polemical term of exclusion but also an understanding of the classical Egyptian and early Greek conceptions of magic as a more neutral category of inclusion." xvii [2], 4-468 pp. pus a two-page listing of oter publisher titles. This book should prove to be foundational for future scholarly studies of ancient magic and ritual power.Member, I.O.B.A., C.B.A., and adherent to the highest ethical standards. . . . Fine