Magic culture is certainly fascinating. But what is it? What; in fact; are magic writings; magic artifacts? Originally published in Hebrew in 2010; Jewish Magic Before the Rise of Kabbalah is a comprehensive study of early Jewish magic focusing on three major topics: Jewish magic inventiveness; the conflict with the culture it reflects; and the scientific study of both. The first part of the book analyzes the essence of magic in general and Jewish magic in particular. The book begins with theories addressing the relationship of magic and religion in fields like comparative study of religion; sociology of religion; history; and cultural anthropology; and considers the implications of the paradigm shift in the interdisciplinary understanding of magic for the study of Jewish magic. The second part of the book focuses on Jewish magic culture in late antiquity and in the early Islamic period. This section highlights the artifacts left behind by the magic practitioners-amulets; bowls; precious stones; and human skulls-as well as manuals that include hundreds of recipes. Jewish Magic before the Rise of Kabbalah also reports on the culture that is reflected in the magic evidence from the perspective of external non-magic contemporary Jewish sources.Issues of magic and religion; magical mysticism; and magic and social power are dealt with in length in this thorough investigation. Scholars interested in early Jewish history and comparative religions will find great value in this text.
#2469318 in Books University of Virginia Press 2012-06-20Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.51 x 1.47 x 6.70l; 1.96 #File Name: 0813931754512 pages
Review
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. An Indispensable Set of First Person Accounts; Mainly from the 12th VirginiaBy Brett R. SchulteGeorge S. Bernard was a lifelong resident of Petersburg Virginia; and joined what became the 12th Virginia Infantry during the Civil War. In the 1890s; he released a collection of his own and other first person accounts entitled War Talks of Confederate Veterans. The book is freely available online and I encourage anyone reading this to go seek it out. What many do not know is that Bernard intended to publish a second volume of War Talks; but for unknown reasons was unable to do so in his lifetime. Enter editors Selby; Newsome; and Horn. They were separately working on two books based off of Bernard's papers; and fortunately were brought together and combined their work. They were able to find two proposed table of contents for "War Talks II" among Bernard's papers. Roughly basing this book on a combination of those proposed TOCs; the editors did for Bernard posthumously what he was unable to do himself while alive; release what is essentially War Talks II. The first War Talks focused heavily on the Siege of Petersburg; especially the Crater; because Bernard was especially interested in the Siege as a resident of Petersburg. This second volume is not as heavily focused on the Siege of Petersburg; though it does contain five full chapters on this often overlooked operation which covered most of the last nine months of the war in the east. The rest of the book covers other campaigns in the east in which Bernard was involved. Many of the reminiscences come from Bernard himself or from his comrades in the 12th Virginia. General William Mahone; who came into his own at the Siege of Petersburg; makes some appearances. The editors gleaned most of the items from Bernard's personal papers or via Richmond and Petersburg newspapers of the 1890's and 1900's; which published many of Bernard's "War Talks" at the Petersburg A. P. Hill Camp of Confederate veterans in the days following each talk. The end notes used on each page are fantastic; giving background information on the people; places; and events mentioned by Bernard and others in their first person reminiscences. This is a treasure trove of Confederate first person accounts rescued from the obscurity of late 19th Century newspapers and the personal papers of Bernard. Those interested in the Army of Northern Virginia; especially its fighting at the Siege of Petersburg; will find this to be a very useful and interesting book. The editors also deserve praise for their annotation; editing; and detective skills. Buy this book. You will not regret it.
