audiobook An Illustrated Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright in History

Description

This work is an annotated translation of the Margalioth Hebrew text of Sepher Ha-Razim; which makes available for the first time in English this important collection of late antique Jewish magic. Dating to the fourth century C.E.; this magical handbook contains instructions and invocations to be used in various magical praxes. A fine example of the syncretistic nature of the Hellenistic world; Sepher Ha-Razim gives some indication of the tensions between a developing/ orthodoxy and a popular religion. The text shows parallels to the Greek magical papyri and an interesting use of Merkabah symbolism.