The Wisdom of Thoth

Magical Texts in Ancient

Mediterranean Civilisations

Edited by

Grażyna Bąkowska-Czerner
Alessandro Roccati
Agata Świerzowska 

Archaeopress Archaeology
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Front cover: Luxor Temple. A figure of Thoth carved on the back of the throne of the seated statue of Ramesses II
(Photo Giacomo Lovera)

Back cover: Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari. A representation of Thoth from the entrance to the Main
Sanctuary of Amun-Re (Photo Franciszek Pawlicki)

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Egyptian Theological Lore in PGM IV:

a religious-historical commentary
Giulia Sfameni Gasparro
University of Messina

The Great Magical Papyrus of Paris (PGM IV) shows a strong convergence of ritual ability (mageutiké techne) and of
theological discourse (logos tes theologias). The result is a new ‘theology’ where the religious traditions of the various
peoples of the Mediterranean world merge in a vast cosmosophic perspective with strong solar marks. In particular,
there is a rich Egyptian mythological lore, which confirms the importance of ritual and theological Egyptian tradition
in the formation of the original cultural ‘amalgam’ that is magic in late antiquity. At the same time the dramatic story
of Osiris, with the related figures of Isis, Horus, Anubis, Thoth and Seth has a very particular role, as a reference mod-
el in magical formulas and ritual actions used by the practitioner in order to obtain the expected results, with special
attention to the oracular and erotic sphere.

KEYWORDS: MAGIC, THEOLOGY, EGYPT, GREEK MAGICAL PAPYRI, MYTH, RITE

Introduction a  rich and at times exuberant theological component,

In the Greek,1 Demotic (Ritner 1995; Bresciani 1987)2
and Coptic (Kropp 1930–1931; Meyer, Smith 1994; Per-
nigotti 1995; Pernigotti 2000), magical papyri of late an-
tiquity, and in other similar contemporary texts we see the
essential role played by operational components, which
are usually extremely complex, with ritual instructions
implying the manipulation of animal, vegetable, mineral
substances, and sometimes of parts of the human body,
accompanied by the recital of formulas, with the use of
the typical nomina barbarikà, palindromes, etc. This
oral dimension – moreover founded on texts, in a frame-
work which attributes peculiar effectiveness precisely
to writing3 – is frequently accompanied by a figurative
dimension with the graphical representation (Piccaluga,
Saggioro 2010; Crippa 2010) – on stones,4 laminas or pa-
pyrus – of various characters, and with the use of particu-
lar instruments of which few but significant archaeolog-
ical traces remain (Faraone 2005; Sfameni 2009; Baillot
2010). This technical, manual activity, is connected to
1  extremely varied and connected to common aspects of
After: Preisendanz 1928–1931. 2a ed. Henrichs 1973–1974, news
magical texts are published. Cf. Merkelbach, Totti 1990–1992 and
Daniel, Maltomini 1990–1992. An extensive critical review can be
found in: Brashear 1995. There is also a Spanish translation of the
PGM (Calvo Martínez, Sánchez Romero 1987).
2 
For the frequent alternation in demotic papyri of Egyptian and
Greek language, cf. Dieleman 2005.
3 
Cf. Frankfurter 1994. For the ritual function of writing in the praxis
found in the PGM collection, see the perceptive observations made
by Smith 1995 and Mastrocinque 2010.
4 
These are in particular the so-called ‘magical gems’, for which
the papyri sometimes describe the rituals of consecration and
figurative patterns: Sfameni Gasparro 2002. See: Mastrocinque
ed. 2003 [2004], for the previous bibliography, the essays in: Mas-
trocinque ed. 2002 and Sfameni Gasparro 2003 [2004] on the his-
torical-religious meaning of these precious materials.
representing a ‘discourse on the divine’ coherent with
the canons of the various traditions that fall within the
great cultural basin of the Mediterranean world on which
the texts in question feed and to which they bear witness.
This convergence reintroduces the ancient yet always
topical issue of the relation, of continuity or contrast, but
definitely of contiguity between the categories of ‘mag-
ic’ and ‘religion’.5 In order to help clarify its terms, in
relation to a specific historical context, it may be use-
ful to take as a ‘case-in point’ the so-called Magical Pa-
pyrus of Paris, no. IV in the texts collected by Preis-
endanz (Preisendanz I, 66–181),6 belonging to the Anas-
tasi Collection of Theban origin.7 In fact, given the nature
of the numerous ‘sections’ that compose it, in which ritu-
al instructions from time to time express the aims that
one intends to realise, the first and most obvious conclu-
sion is that of considering the text – also due to its format
as a small and easily handled ‘book’ – as a manual for
a magical practitioner, a sort of handbook suitable for re-
sponding to all the needs of his ‘customers’. We have in
fact seen that the situations dealt with in the ‘recipes’ are
daily life (erotic spells, requests for revelation on matters
of an existential nature: health, well-being, success etc.),
even if, precisely due to the intertwining of ‘magical
technique’ and ‘discourse on the divine’ that character-
ises these ‘recipes’, together with the needs of the bios –
5 
In a historiographical panorama which has become almost too
vast to follow, I will merely mention the repertory of Brillet,
Moreau 2000 and Calvo Martínez 2001. Here only the titles strictly
relevant to the issue will be mentioned.
6 
In addition to the traduction of various scholars in Betz 1986,
19922, 36–101, cf. Verse 2007.
7 
On Thebes, as one of the main centres of production of this liter-
ature, cf. Tait 1995 and Zago 2010a.

111
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The Wisdom of Thoth. Magical Texts in Ancient Mediterranean Civilisations
according to a famous formula of Plutarch regarding the
oracular power of the Delphic Apollo (De E delph 1, 384
E-F) – those of the logos are also stimulated and satis-
fied. We need merely remember that one of the praxeis
which compose the Papyrus is that of the ‘Recipe for im-
mortality’ or ‘Liturgy of Mithras’, which is perhaps the
best-known and most studied example of this literature,
with complex ideological and mystical significance.8
The Egyptian lore: the aventures of Osiris
The first significant fact – at the same time an indic-
ator of the marked Egyptian connotation of the mythical,
as well as ritual heritage, of PGM IV– is offered by its
very beginning, with a hymnic passage of an oracular
nature written in Coptic, with the insertion of some
Greek phrases.9 In it, Osiris, Anubis and Thoth,10 but also
Sabaoth and the Archangel Michael are praised (PGM
IV, 1–25; tr. M. W. Meyer in: Betz 1986, 19922, 36–37):
Praise be to Osiris, the king of the underworld, the lord of
embalming, he who is at the south of Thinis, who is honored
[or: gives answer] at Abydos, he who is under the noubs tree
in Meroue, whose glory is in Pashalom. Praise be to Althabot;
bring unto to me Sabaoth. Praise be to Althonai, great Eou, very
valiant; bring unto me Michael, the mighty (?) angel who is
with God. Praise be to Anubis, of the nome of Hansiese, upon
his mountain. Praise be to the goddesses- Thoth the great, the
great, the wise. Praise be to the gods, ACHNOUI ACHAMA-
BRAABRA SABAOTH. For Akshha Shha’ is my name, Sabash-
ha is my true name; Shlot Shlot very valiant is my name.
The invocation ends with a precise request: ‘So let him
who is in the underworld join him who is in the air; let
them arise, come in, and bring me news of the matter
about which I ask them’ (add the usual) (IV, 22–26). This
then is the summoning of a being from the underworld
whose manifestation has a precise divinatory function,
thus introducing what will be one of the fundamental
themes of magical practice illustrated in our text.11
8 
Without being able to document this claim here, I would like to
mention the arguments found in: Sfameni Gasparro 2011.
9 
Cf. Griffith 1900. A partially parallel text is offered by the demotic
Pap. Leiden–London edited by Griffith and Thompson (1904):
‘The vessel inquiry of Osiris’ (col. XXI, 1–9, 134 s.) = PDM XIV,
627–635, tr. J. H. Johnson in: Betz 1986, 19922, 229. On Greek-
-demotic bilingualism, which sometimes becomes trilingualism
(with the insertion of passages or of terms in Coptic) in the ma-
gical papyri, see the analysis of Pap. Leiden–London carried out
by Dieleman 2005.
10  12
The dramatic story of Osiris, that involves the entire ‘divine
family’ – from Isis to Horus, Anubis, Seth and Nephthys, in addi-
tion to Thoth, and runs through the entire Egyptian religious tradi-
tion back to the Pyramids Text, cannot be dealt with here in detail.
We need merely remember the two essays by Griffiths 1960 and
1980 for the essential data. An updated bibliography can be found
in Mathieu 2010 and 2013. A short but perceptive summary of the
role of Isis in the PGM can be found in Tardieu 1981a.
11 
On the strong, organic connection between magic and divina-
tion, see Ciraolo, Seidel 2002; Gordon 1997; Graf 1999 and Frank-
furter 2005. Cf. also Monaca 2009 and Suárez de la Torre 2009.
112
A second long passage in Coptic introduces the other,
equally important component of the Papyrus, namely that
of erotic spells, with markedly constrictive and threatening
implications for the female partner, in the typical manner of
the genre (Faraone 1999). Lines 94–153, according to the
well-known model of the historiola (Podemann Sørensen
1984; Frankfurter 1995), evoke the pain of Isis for the be-
trayal of her husband with her sister Nephthys:
Isis is the one who comes from the mountain at midday in sum-
mer, the dusty maiden; her eyes are full of tears and her heart is
full of sighs. Her father Thoth the Great come unto her and asked
her:’ O my daughter, Isis, dusty maiden, Why are your eyes full
of tears, your heart full of sighs, and (the…) of your garment
soiled? (Away with) the tears of your eyes!
She said (to him). ‘He is not with me, O my father, Ape Thoth,
Ape Thoth my father. I have been betrayed by my female com-
panion I have discovered (a) secret; yes, Nephthys is having in-
tercourse with Osiris… my brother, my own mother’s son’.
He said to her, ‘Behold, this is adultery against you, o my daugh-
ter Isis’.
She [said] to him, ‘It is adultery against you, o my father, [Ape]
Thoth, Ape Thoth, my father; it is pregnancy proper for me my-
self’.
He said to her, ‘Arise, O my daughter Isis, and [go] to the south to
Thebes, to the north to Abydos’. There are ... those who trample (?)
there. Take for yourself Belf son of Belf, [the one whose] foot
is of bronze and whose heels are of iron, [that] he forge for you
a double iron nail with a ... head, a thin base, a strong point,
and light iron. Bring it before me, dip it in the blood of Osiris,
and hand it over; we ... this mysterious (?) flame to me’12 (IV,
94–114, Betz 1986, 19922, 39).
After instructions for obtaining the consent of the belov-
ed, the text concludes:
‘Rise up to heaven, and arouse the High One [masc.] after the
Noble One [fem.]. Rise up to the abyss, and arouse Thoth after
Nabin; arouse the heart of these two bulls, Hapi and Mnevis;
arouse the heart of Osiris after Isis; arouse Re after the light;
arouse the heart of NN whom NN has borne, after NN whom
NN has borne’.
[Say] these things on behalf of women. But when [you are speak-
ing] about women, then speak, conversely, so as to arouse the
females after the males (IV, 139–145, Betz 1986, 19922, 40).
To strengthen the power of the magical spell, the prac-
titioner declares: ‘I am the Great son of the Great; I am
Anubis, who bears the glorious crown of Re and puts it
upon King Osiris, King Osiris Onnophris, ... who arouses
the whole earth’ (IV, 127–129). The power of the god,
as he ‘who holds the keys to Hades’ is evoked later (IV,
340), once more in the context of an erotic charm.13
 
The dramatic story of Isis is evoked with the effective image
of the goddess who ‘came, holding on her shoulders her brother
who is her bedfellow’, among the many deities that must favour
the apparition of spirits of the dead for the purposes of love magic
(IV, 1471–1472).
13 
Cf. also the formula addressed to Hekate and numerous under-
world deities, including in fact Anubis, invoked to open the gates
of the kingdom of the dead: ‘gatekeeper of the eternal bars, now
open quickly: o thou Key-holder, guardian, Anubis’ (IV 1466–
1469). An ‘Anubian thread’ must tie to the right arm an amulet that
serves for a love spell (IV 2893–2900).
 Copyright material: no unauthorized reproduction in any medium
G. Sfameni Gasparro: Egyptian Theological Lore in PGM IV: a religious-historical commentary
A similar power is attributed to Thoth as a deity of the
underworld, sometimes identified with Hermes (IV 338–
340: 394).
Cosmic and divinatory power of Seth-Typhon
A divinatory aim and dense mythologein of Egyptian in-
spiration characterise other sections of the text in which
the figure of Seth-Typhon predominates, with all the vi-
olence and danger linked to his quality as ‘Night-flasher’,
an underworld power against which the magician how-
ever may protect himself, ‘having the magical soul’ (IV
209–210: çu; de; magikh;n yuch;n e[cwn oJpliçqei;ç mh;
qambhqh/ç' ). In the address of ‘Nephotes to Psammetichos,
immortal king of Egypt’ (IV 154–285), a long passage
in which various prayers and formulae come together,
the event is set within the scenario of a divine encounter
(systasis) with Helios, ‘with a mystagogue’,14 and contem-
plates various forms of divination:
You will observe through bowl divination on whatever day or
night you want, in whatever place you want, beholding the god
in the water and hearing a voice from the god which speaks in
verses in answer to whatever you want’ (IV 162–166). ‘Having
done this, return as lord of a godlike nature which is accom-
plished through this divine encounter.15
But the protagonist remains Typhon, addressee of two
Hymns composed respectively in iambic dimeters (IV
178–201) and in hexameters (IV 261–273). The first, ad-
dressing the god who manifested himself in the systasis,
defined ‘Lord, god of gods, master, daimon’ (IV 218),
invokes
O mighty Typhon, ruler of the realm Above and master, god of
gods, O lord ABERAMENTHOOU (formula), O dark’s disturber,
thunder’s bringer, whirlwind, Night-flasher, breather-forth of hot
and cold, Shaker of rocks, wall-trembler, boiler of the waves,
disturber of the sea’s great depth, ERBET AU TAU1 MENI (IV.
179–185).
His dangerous power is at the same time evoked in re-
lation to the well-known story of his attack on Osiris, in
which the magician says he took part:
I’m He who searched with you the whole world and Found great
Osiris, whom I brought you chained. I’m he who joined you in
war with the gods (but others say, ‘gainst the gods’). I’m he who
closed heav’n’s double gates and put To sleep the serpent which
must not be seen, Who stopped the seas, the streams, the river
currents Where’er you rule this realm. And as your soldier I have
been conquered by the gods, I have Been thrown face down
14 
PGM IV 168– 172: prw'ta me;n çuçtaqei;ç pro;ç to;n ‘Hlion
trovpw/ touvtw/: oi{a/ bouvlei ajnatolh/' tritaivaç ou[çhç th'ç çelhvnhç
ejpi; dwvmatoç uJyhlotavtou ajnelqw;n çtrw'çon ejpi; th'ç gh'ç çindovnion
kaqarovn. poivei çu;n muçtagwgw/.'
15 
PGM IV 220–223: ijçoqevou fuvçewç kurieuvçaç th'ç dia; tauvthç
th'ç çuçtavçewç ejpiteloumevnhç aujqoptikh'ç lekanomanteivaç
a{ma kai; nekuoagwgh'ç. Note that in the subsequent exemplifica-
tion of the ritual of lecanomancy, in distinguishing the various types
of water to use in relation to the different gods evoked, the latter are
once again of Egyptian origin, Osiris and Serapis (IV 223– 234).
113
because of empty wrath. Raise up your friend, I beg you,
I implore; Thrown me not on the ground, O lord of gods,
AEMINAEBAROTHERRETHORABEANIMEA O grant me
power, I beg, and give to me This favor, so that, whensoe’r I tell
One of the gods to come, he is seen coming swiftly to me in an-
swer to my chant (IV 185–189, Betz 1986, 19922, 41).16
The formula that follows must be pronounced over the ves-
sel to obtain the vision of a god of an unknown identity:
But you are not unaware, mighty king and leader of magicians
(baçileu' mevgiçte kai; mavgwn kaqhãgeÃmwvn), that this is the
chief name of Typhon, at whom the ground, the depths of the
sea, Hades, heaven, the sun, the moon, the visible chorus of
stars, the whole universe all tremble, the name which, when
it is uttered, forcibly brings gods and daimons to it. This is
the name that consists of 100 letters. Finally, when you have
called, whomever you called will appear, god or dead man:
and he will give an answer about anything you ask. And when
you have learned to your satisfaction, dismiss the god merely
with the powerlful name of the hundred letters as you say, ‘De-
part, master, for the great god, NN, wishes and commands this
of you’. Speak the name, and he will depart. Let this spell,
mighty king, be transmitted to you alone, guarded by you, un-
shared.
Onto a silver leaf inscribe this name of 100 letters with a bronze
stylus, and wear it strung on a thong from the hide of an ass’ (to;
fulakthvrion, IV 244–260).17
It will be noted that the palindrome ABERAMENTHO
is often found in a specific relationship with Seth, in the
PGM IV itself, in which – in a context that evokes a typi-
cally ‘Typhonic’ animal, the donkey, whose skin or blood
were often used as effective ingredients in magical prac-
tice18 – the following operation is required:
Take an unbaked [brick] and with a bronze stylus draw an [ass]
running, and on his face ‘IAO IAO’, and on its neck in the shape
of a little bell ‘EOEOE’, and on its back ‘LERTHEMINO’, and
on its breast ‘[S]ABAOTH’ and under its hooves ‘ABRASAX’.
Smeat it with the blood of Typhon and a pig and with juice and
an onion.
This operation, in which the ‘Typhonic’ presence is under-
lined, is accompanied by the recital of formula in which in
fact the character is the subject of the request whose perform-
ance is guaranteed by his exceptional power:
O great, great Typhon LERTHEMINO; attend this magical op-
eration which I am performing, because it is your great and hon-
ored name that I am saying and writing, ABERAMENTHOOU.
The final prescription confirms the magical effectiveness
of the ritual.19
16 
Calvo Martínez 2008.
17 
PGM IV, 3255–74; tr. E.N. O’Neil in: Betz 1986, 19922, 100.
18 
The use of donkey skin or blood, considered equivalent to the
‘blood of Typhon’ is frequently recommended in our papyrus for
the creation of amulets with purposes of constrictive magic: PG IV,
2015, 2100, 2113–15, 2220.
19 
‘Underneath the ass: ‘Give her the heaving of the sea, total
wakefulness of Mendes and give her the punishements’.
 Copyright material: no unauthorized reproduction in any medium
The Wisdom of Thoth. Magical Texts in Ancient Mediterranean Civilisations
Among the other recurrences of the palindrome in the
PGM 20, we need merely remember the ‘charm to restrain
(kavtocoj)’ considered particularly effective (‘Works on
everything’), that accompanies the engraving on a lead
lamella of an image of the character and a series of names:
Come Typhon, who sit on the under[world] gate; I IO ERBETH,
who killed his own brother, IOI PAKERBETH IO BOLCHOSETH
IO APOMPS IO SESENRO IO BIMAT IAKOYMBIAI ABERA-
MENTHOOY LERTHEXANAX ETHRELYOOTH MEMARE-
BA, of Seth, BOLKOL, fear your uninhibited son (PGM XXXVI,
1–34; tr. M. Smith in: Betz 1986, 19922, 269).
In the Pap. Leiden–London, among the powerful names
that guarantee to the practitioner the effectiveness of the
ritual and spell formula aimed at the god – presented
once again as endowed with a terrible cosmic power –
we in fact find the same appellative. This is a context of
extraordinary interest, that alternates the demotic text
with a long passage in Greek in which Typhon-Seth is
summoned for his prophetic capacity (eJpikalouvmai se
tufwnshq ta~ç sa~ç manteivaç). He cannot refuse the
invitation because has been pronounced his ‘authori-
tative name to which he [you] cannot refuse to listen’,
in other words, among the many other magical names,
ABERAMENTHOOU (cf. Dieleman 2005, 130–138).
The second Hymn (IV 261–285, p. 43) ends with an-
other invocation of Typhon, situated in a cosmic sce-
nario which he dominates, since he is the ‘Almighty
one (pantokravtwr)’21, The god is thus also seen in
a positive light, in line with his ancient function, deeply
rooted in Egyptian history, of the victorious combatant
against the serpent Apophis that threatens the cosmic
order, together with the other inhabitants of Ra’s solar
barque22.
Divine encounter of the divine procedure: Toward the rising sun
say: ‘I call you who did first control gods’ wrath, You who hold
20 
A complete review can be found in: Tardieu 1981b. His inter-
pretation of the term – in relation to the figure of the Gnostic Jesus
– does not moreover seem convincing to me, precisely in consider-
ation of its strong Typhonic connotation.
21 
PGM IV 261–285: çuvçtaçiç th'ç pravxewç: pro;ç ajna-tolh;n
tou' hJlivou levge: æçe; kalw', to;n prw'ta qew'n o{plon dievponta,
çe; to;n ejp∆ oujranivwn çkh'-ptron baçivleion e[conta, çe; to;n
a[nw mevçon tw'n a[çtrwn Tufw'na dunavçthn, çe; to;n ejpi; tw/'
çterewvmati deino;n a[nakta, çe; to;n fobero;n kai; tromero;n
kai; frikto;n ejovnta, çe; to;n dh'lon, ajmhvcanon, miçopovnhron,
çe; kalevw, Tufw'n∆, w{raiç ajnovmoiç, ajmetrhvtoiç, çe; to;n ejp∆
ajçbevçtw/ bebhkovta puri; ligeivw/, çe; to;n a[nw ciovnwn, kavtw de;
pavgouç çkoteinou', çe; to;n ejp∆ eujktaivwn Moirw'n baçivleion
e[conta klhvzw, pantokravtwr, i{na moi poihvçh/ç, a çe ejrwtw',
kai; eujqu;ç ejpineuvçh/ç moi ejpitrevyh/ç te genevçqai (koinav), o{ti
çe; ejxorkivzw gar. There follow the magic names with which the
god is induced to carry out the magician’s request.
22 
On the typical ambivalence of the character and his story, see Te
Velde 1967. For the ancient tradition that places Seth in the solar
barge as a valiant warrior against Apophis, see Nagel 1929. A re-
cent analysis of the many sides to the god’s personality, with an
updated bibliography, can also be found in Mathieu 2011.
114
royal scepter over the heavens, You who are midpoint of the stars
above, You, master Typhon, you I call, who are The dreaded
sovereign over the firmament. You who are fearful, awesome,
threatening, You who’re obscure and irresistible And hater of the
wicked, you I call, Typhon, in hours unlawful and unmeasured,
You who’ve walked on unquenched, clear-crackling fire, You
who are over snows, below dark ice, You who hold sovereignty
over the Moirai, I invoked you in pray’r, I call, almight one. That
you perform for me whate’er I ask of you, and that you nod as-
sent at once To me and grant that what I ask be mine (add the
usual), because I adjure you, (magical words), mighty Typhon,
hear me, NN, and perform for me the NN task. For I speak your
true names, (magical words) PHRA; listen/ to me and perform
the NN deed’.
This victory was mentioned by the magician in the first
Hymn, boasting that he was a ‘soldier’ of the god and
his assistant in the great cosmic struggle (IV 198–192).
The density of the ‘theological’ Egyptian heritage in our
Manual is thus confirmed, together with the role of the
historiola in magical practice. In particular, there emerg-
es the extensive space dedicated to the figure of Seth-
-Typhon, in the ambivalent complexity of his facies,
whose power is once again evoked at the end of the
‘Powerful spell of the Bear which accomplished any-
thing’ (IV 1331–1389) In the context of a ritual that im-
poses the use of the fat of a black ass, mixed with that of
a goat and a black ox and with the hairs of these animals
as a phylactery, there is pronounced a formula addressed
to an omnipotent god, and the words ‘the hundred –let-
tered name of Thyphon, curved as a star’ must be writ-
ten. Nor is it irrelevant that the Papyrus ends with the
already mentioned ‘Spell of the brick’ that invokes ‘the
great, Typhon… ABERAMENTOOU’.
The cosmic power of the god23, which also confers
a  positive connotation, combined with the exaltation
of his power not without constrictive and dangerous
traits, is equally underlined in ‘A charm to restrain an-
ger and a charm to subject’ of the PGM VII, 940–968,
confirming itself as a distinctive trait of the figure of
Seth in the magical system. The instruction to write
‘on clean papyrus… with pure myrrh ink’ a series of
letters and names modulated according to the typical
‘pyramid’ procedure (Mastrocinque 2008) that ac-
companies a drawing (serpent and two heads of anim-
als with canine features: Seth?)24, is followed by the
formula of summoning:
Come to me, you who are in the everlasting air, you who are
invisible, almighty, creator of the gods: Come to me, you who
are the unconquerable daimon. Come to me, you who are never
grieved for your brother, Seth (PGM VII, 940–969, tr. R. R. Hock
in: Betz 1986, 19922, 143).
23 
On the cosmic prerogatives of the supreme deity often invoked
in the PGM, cf. Sfameni Gasparro 2009.
24 
For the various identifications of the animal-symbol of Seth cf.
DuQuesne 1998.
 Copyright material: no unauthorized reproduction in any medium
G. Sfameni Gasparro: Egyptian Theological Lore in PGM IV: a religious-historical commentary
Horos the mantis:25 divination’s rituals
The long section of lines 930–1114 (tr. W. C. Greese,
E. N. O’Neil in: Betz 1986, 19922, 54–60) which con-
templates a series of logoi and complex ritual practices,
all aimed at a ‘direct vision (Au[toptov)’, with a ‘di-
rect encounter (çuvçtaçiv)’ which is at the same time
a fwtagwgiva, a ‘lamp divination’ (PGM IV 930–938),26
indicates in Horus-Harpokrates the figure to be sum-
moned so that he may, with his epiphany, perform the
revelation requested.27 Also in this case, the peculiar
identity of the god, with a marked solar connotation,28 is
seen in a wider cosmic perspective, assuming power and
supremacy over all the other gods:
God-bringing spell to be spoken three times with your eyes
open: ‘1 call upon you, the greatest god, sovereign Horos HAR-
POKRATES ALKIB HARSAMOSI IOAI DAGENNOUTH
RARACHARAI ABRAIAOTH, you who enlighten the universe
and by your own power illumine the whole world, god of gods,
benefactor, AO IAO EAEY, you who direct night and day, AI
AO, handle and steer the tiller, restrain the serpent, / you Good,
holy Daimon, whose name is HARBAT H A N O PS IAOAI,
whom sunrises and sunsets hymn when you arise and set. You
who are praised among all gods, angels and daimons, come
and appear to me, god of gods, HOROS / HARPOKRA TES
ALKIB HARSAMOSI IAO A1 DAGENNOUTH RARACHA-
RAI ABRAIAOTH. Enter, appear to me, lord because I call upon
you as the three baboons call upon you, who speak your holy
name in a symbolic fashion, A EE EEE IIII OOOOO YYYYYY
OOOOOOO (speak as a baboon). Enter in, appear to me, lord,
for I speak your greatest names: BARBARAI BARBARAOTH
AREMPSOUS PERTAOMECH PERA / KONETHCH IAO
BAL BEL BOL BE SRO IAOEI OYEEI EEI EOYEI AEI EI
IAO El. You who are seated on the top of the world and judge the
universe, surrounded by the circle of truth and honesty, / IYAE
IOAI, enter in; appear to me, lord, to me, the one who is before
fire and snow and in the midst of them, because my name is
BAIN- CHOOOCH. I am the one who is from heaven; my name
is BALSAMES. Enter in, appear to me, lord, you who have
a great name, you whom we all have each in our own heart; your
name is BARPHANNETH RALPHAI NINTHER CHOUCHAI.
You who break apart rocks and change the names of gods, en-
ter in, appear to me, lord, you who have in fire your power /
and your strength, SESENGENBARPHARAGGES. You who
are seated within the 7 poles, AEEIOYO, you who have on
your head a golden crown and in your hand a Memnonian staff,
with which you send out the gods, your name is BARBARIEL
BARBARAIEL god / BARBARAEL BEL BOUEL. Enter in,
lord, and answer me with your holy voice in order that I might
25 
On this prerogative of the character cf. Totti 1988.
26 
A systematic analysis of the rituals of photomancy and lychno-
mancy in the PGM can be found in Calvo Martínez 2009.
27 
This invocation is preceded by a first logos (IV 939–954) con-
stituted by a hymn addressed to a figure with evident solar traits,
whose Egyptian identity transpires clearly in his definition as
a ‘serpent and stout lion (æcai're, dravkwn ajkmai'ev te levwn)’, that
evokes the figure of Chnoubis, extremely popular in the glyptics
with magical-medical aims. The two logoi that follow (955–973:
‘Light-bringing charm’ fwtagwgiva; 975–985: ‘Light-retaining
spell’ kavtocoç toà fwto;ç a{pax legovmenoç) are aimed at ob-
taining the light and at its maintenance during the praxis. Horos is
also invoked in the prayer to Helios recorded in the Papyrus in two
versions (A: 435–461; B: 1955–1990).
28 
The solar ‘theology’ in late antiquity is analized by Fauth 1995.
115
hear clearly and unerringly concerning the NN matter, IYEYE
OOAEE (formula) IAEE AIAE EAI EYEIE / OOOOO IYEO
IAO AI (IV, 986–1036, Betz 1986, 19922, 57–58).
There follows a ‘charm of compulsion (ejpavnagkov)’
(IV 1036–1051), necessary if the God should delay mani-
festing himself. The definition of the logos in question,
which must still be added to the previous one and repeated
one or three times is significant: ‘If somehow he delays,
(ejavn pwç braduvnh/,) say in addition (çunepivlege) this
lovgon th'ç qeologivaç’. One in fact wonders as to the
meaning of the definition of lovgon...th'ç qeologivaç, to
indicate the subsequent, necessary formula (cf. Sfameni
Gasparro 2013). We should continue to attribute to the
theologia mentioned here all its significance as a  ‘dis-
course on the divine’, namely as a ‘theology’, and also
to acknowledge that logos has the primary meaning of
‘pronounced word’, authoritative ‘saying’, with all its
prescriptive and effective power. The result is that the
practitioner is invited to pronounce what is a  ‘theolo-
gical maxim’, in other words a formula in line with the
peculiar discourse on the divine which is at the basis of
ritual practice. If this interpretation is correct, it supports
the legitimacy of using the category ‘theological’ for
defining this discourse, since this is also an ‘emic’ cat-
egory, within it and adopted by its creators and users,
who entrusted the realisation of their aims to the joint
effectiveness of the ritual technique and relevant theo-
logy. The ‘logos of theology’ is so powerful as to pro-
cure the coming of the god who wished to subtract
himself from the ‘Charm of compulsion (ejpavnagkov)’:
If somehow he delays, say in addition this following incantation
(say the incantation one or 3 times): ‘the great, living god com-
mands you, he who lives for eons of eons, who shakes together,
who tunders, who created every soul and race ∆Iavw awi> wi>a
ai>w: i>wa: wai. Enter in, appear to me, lord, happy, kind, gentle,
glorious, not angry, because I conjure you by the lord, ∆Iavw awi
wia aiw iwa: wai apta fwi>ra zazou camh. Enter in, lord,
appear to me happy, kind, gentle, (glorious,) not angry’ (PGM
IV, 1036–1046, tr. W. C. Greese in: Betz 1986, 19922, 58).
There then follows the ‘Salutation said once after the god
enters. While holding the pebble, say: ‘Hail lord, god of
gods, benefactor, HOROS HARPOKRATES ALKIB
HARSAMOSI IAO AI DA GENNOUTH RARACHA-
RAI ABRAIAO; let your Horus which you traverse be
welcomed; let your Glories be welcomed forever, lord’
(IV 1046–1051).
A protective amulet is made with ‘[a strip] from a lin-
en doth taken from a marble statue of Harpokrates in
any temple’, on which is written with myrrh a formu-
la of ‘identificaton’ with the god (‘I am Horos ALKIB
HARSAMOSISI IAO AI DAGENNOUTH RARACHA-
RAI ABRAIAOTH son of Isis ATHTHA BATHTHA and
of OSIRIS OSOR[ON]NOPHRIS’) who will guarantee
good health and safety to its wearer, after inserting in it
an evergreen plant and having rolled it in and tied it with
threads of Anubis (IV 1071–1084).
 Copyright material: no unauthorized reproduction in any medium
The Wisdom of Thoth. Magical Texts in Ancient Mediterranean Civilisations
The figure of Horus is also evoked during the ritual as
object of the vision it has procured:
After saying the light-bringing spell, open your eyes and you will
see the light of the lamp becoming like a vault: Then while closing
your eyes say (differently: 3… after saying 3 times), and after open-
ing your eyes you will see all things wide-open and the greatest
brightness within, but the lamp shining nowhere. Then you will see
the god seated on a lotus, decorated with rays, his right hand raised
in greeting and left [holding] a flail, while being carried in the hands
of 2 angels with 12 rays around them (IV 1101–1114).
As is known, the ancient Egyptian image of the boy on the
lotus flower, expressing the emergence of the the sun god
from the waters of the primordial chaos with the insignia
of royalty, is one of the most recurrent types in late-an-
tique magical glyptics (cf. El-Kachab 1971; Sfameni 2003
[2004]). The character is also referred to in ‘the Spell to
Helios’ defined ‘the consecration for all purposes’ (PGM
IV 1596–1715; tr. M. Smith in: Betz 1986, 19922, 68) ad-
dressed to ‘the great Serpent, leader of all the gods, who
control the beginning of Egypt and the end of the whole
inhabited world’. The solar identity of the god has a clearly
Egyptian identity: ‘In the 9th hour you have the form of
a falcon; your name is PHEOUS PHOOOUTH, the lotus
emerged from the abyss’. The spell concludes with the ac-
clamation: ‘The one Zeus is Sarapis’.
In the ‘Spell of Attraction of the King Pythys over any
skull cup’ (IV, 1928–2005; Betz 1986, 19922, 72), ‘the
gold–haired Helios’, to whom the prayer of petition is
adressed, is identified with Horus: ‘I call up your name,
Horus, which is in number equal to the Moirai’s names…
Be gracious unto me, O primal god, O Father of the world,
selfgenerated One’.
The wealth and variety of the Egyptian religious heritage
used in PGM IV is also confirmed by the formula with
divinitory aims addressed to Osiris,29 which displays the
typical features of the historiola, with rapid but relevant
allusions to the myth of the killing of the god (‘Come
to me, you who became Hesies and were carried away
by a river’) and to the presence of Anubis near him (IV
900), while the magician pronounces his effective magic
names ‘which thrice-greatest Hermes wrote in Heliopolis
with hieroglyphic letters’ (PGM IV, 857–896).
Conclusion
As can be seen from the examples quoted, the invoca-
tions of divine powers, whether those of the Greek or
Egyptian tradition,30 with some significant mentions of
29 
The magician appeals to the power of the god also in the coer-
cive formula addressed to a ‘chthonic daimon’, summoning it to
carry out his commands, ‘because the holy god Osiris KMEPHI
wishes and commands it of you’ (IV 2088–95). In another passage
the figure of the god as an effective amulet is ‘inscribed on the
piece of papyrus: Osiris clothed as the Egyptians show him’.
30 
It is also referred to in the formula of lines 2967–3006 tr. O’Neil
116
characters of a Babylonian origin and numerous refer-
ences to those of the Jewish tradition, with the recurrent
mentions of Iao, Adonaios, and Sabaoth, and the few but
significant inroads into the Christian sphere, or figures
of the new Hellenistic religious scene such as Aion and
the cosmic god with clear solar connotations, intervene
within more or less complex ritual practices and intend
to guarantee their effectiveness, for the realisation of
pre-established aims. Magical practice and theology are
thus closely bound, and both contribute to the realisation
of the practical aims pursued by the practitioner. This is
not however a simple overlapping of planes, but rather
a  profound, mutual inter-relation which modifies both
the methods and meaning of the ritual techniques and
the contents and values of the ‘discourse on the divine’,
in its dimension as a mythologein in which tradition and
profound innovations contribute to the formulation of
new theological models. The specificity of the picture
is confirmed, and its ‘magical’ quality repeatedly un-
derlined in our Manual as an ‘emic’ connotation, with
the references already mentioned to the ‘magical soul’
or the ‘magical power’ of the practitioners, defined in
fact as magoi (line 2081) who claim the ‘truth of their
own mageia’, such as the prophet of Heliopolis Pan-
crates (lines 446–453), while Hermes-Thoth, proclaims
himself as ‘Hermes, the Elder, chief of all magicians,
(I am) Isis’ father’ (IV, 2289– 2290).31 The practitioner
addresses with authority Hekate-Selene to obtain her
help, reminding her that ‘to Hermes, leader of the gods,
you promised to contribute to this rite’ (lines 2330–31)
and affirming that he could force her to do his will by
virtue of his own ‘magic’s (mageies tes emês) winged
shaft’ (line 2319).
It seems legitimate to conclude that – in the great amal-
gam of magic in late antiquity, of which PGM IV is one
of the most significant and characteristic examples –
a profound and decisive role was played by the Egyp-
tian ritual and ‘theological’ heritage, with its typical
omnipresence of the notion of heka, at once individual
divine figure (Heka) and power of action on the reality
shared by all the gods and by those human practition-
ers who were able to appropriate themselves of it and
manipulate it (Te Velde 1969–1970),32 having acquired
this capacity through a long sacred apprenticeship, as
an initiation’s iter (Graf 1992 and 1994; cf. Moyer
2003).
in: Betz 1986, 19922, 95, aimed at picking medicinal plants, identi-
fied with various divine figures, including Ammon, Osiris, Horus,
Hermes, and Mnevis.
31 
To make his action and the formula used effective, he once more
states that he knows ‘the love charm of the Nile’s goddess’. An
effective spell for economic success is attributed to Hermes-Thoth,
that he created ‘for the wandering Isis. The charm is marvelous
and is called ‘the little bear’ (IV, 2373–2440). Cf. Suárez de la
Torre 2011.
32 
An extensive illustration of Egyptian magical practice can be
found in Ritner 1993. For the close connection between theology
and magic in ancient Egypt cf. Assmann 1997.
 Copyright material: no unauthorized reproduction in any medium
G. Sfameni Gasparro: Egyptian Theological Lore in PGM IV: a religious-historical commentary
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