Dr. Erica Hunter. Traversing Time and Territory: dynamics of Syriac prayer-amulets from Turfan
We are pleased to announce a new mini-series of eLectures within the framework of the seminar “Traditions of Magic in the Near East and Caucasus”, hosted by the Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies (Higher School of Economics, Moscow). The lectures take place each Wednesday from 1 December until 22 December 2021 starting at 4:30 pm (GMT) / 19:30 (Moscow) via Zoom.
Lecture 2
08.12.2021, Wednesday
19:30 Moscow
16:30 / 4:30 pm London
12:30 pm New York
Dr. Erica Hunter (SOAS)
Traversing Time and Territory: dynamics of Syriac prayer-amulets from Turfan
Prayer-amulets, written in classical Syriac, were an integral part of the daily life of the Christian communities in northern Mesopotamia. Written by the priests, the prayer-amulets are expressions of popular piety and, in this capacity, act as private counterparts to public witness in the liturgy. Many call upon a rich repertoire of saints who were often depicted as ‘rider-saints’ lancing named demons and as such provide rich insight into the vernacular religious landscape. Extant examples of these codex ‘handbooks of amulets’ are relatively late, dating from 18th-19th centuries but in the opening decades of the 20th century the German Turfan Expedition found fragments at a monastery site in Turfan (Sinkiang, Uighur Autonomous Region of China) that are dated to the mediaeval period. The paper will focus on exemplars of the Anathema of Mar Tamsis, The Anathema of Mar Cyprian and the Anathema of the Fathers of Paradise that have been found at Turfan which provide a direct link between the Church of the East in Central Asia and China and the monastic environment of northern Mesopotamia.
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