Search results

This volume is the first in a new series of editions of Coptic-language "magical" manuscripts from Egypt, written on papyrus, ostraca, parchment, and paper, and dating to between the fourth and twelfth centuries CE. Their texts attest to non-institutional rituals intended to bring about changes in the lives of those who used them - heal disease, curse enemies, bring about love or hatred, or see into the future. These manuscripts represent rich sources of information on daily life and lived religion of Egypt in the last centuries of Roman rule and the first centuries after the Arab conquest, giving us glimpses of the hopes and fears of people of this time, their conflicts and problems, and their vision of the human and superhuman worlds. This volume presents 37 new editions and descriptions of manuscripts, focusing on formularies or "handbooks", those texts containing instructions for the performance of rituals. Each of these is accompanied by a history of its acquisition, a material description, and presented with facing text and translations, tracings of accompanying images, and explanatory notes to aid in understanding the text

Introduction -- In and from the field: a journey into the life of a 'mission-ethnographer' and his co-producers Annekie Joubert Part 1 Historic contextualisation / Lize Kriel Part 2 Corpus of Hoffmann's ethnographic articles Gerrie Grobler, Annekie Joubert, Inge Kosch Rites of passage Article 1 Engagement and marriage among the Sotho people in the Woodbush Mountains of the Transvaal = Peeletso le lenyalo Basothong ba Lebowa ba Dithabeng tsa Woodbush go la Transfala (1913) -- Article 2 The initiation school of the Sotho people in the Woodbush Mountains of the Transvaal = Koma ya banna ya Basotho ba Lebowa ba Dithabeng tsa Woodbush go la Transfala (1915) Folklore: stories from the Transvaal Article 3 Folktales and stories of the natives in Northern Transvaal = Dinonwane le dikanegelo tsa Basotho ba Lebowa (1915) -- Article 4 Folktales and stories of the natives in Northern Transvaal = Dinonwane le dikanegelo tsa Basotho ba Lebowa (1916) -- Article 5 Folktales and stories of the natives in Northern Transvaal Dinonwane le dikanegelo tsa Basotho ba Lebowa (1916) -- Article 6 Folktales and stories of the natives in Northern Transvaal = Dinonwane le dikanegelo tsa Basotho ba Lebowa (1916) Mother and child Article 7 Sotho texts from the Woodbush Mountains in the Transvaal = Dingwalwa tsa Sesotho tse di tswago Dithabeng tsa Woodbush go la Transfala (1928) Witchcraft, gods, prophets, spirits and totems Article 8 Sotho texts from the Woodbush Mountains in the Transvaal = Dingwalwa tsa Sesotho tse di tswago Dithabeng tsa Woodbush go la Transfala (1928/29) -- Article 9 Sotho texts from the Woodbush Mountains in the Transvaal: totems and prohibitions = Dingwalwa tsa Sesotho tse di tswago Dithabeng tsa Woodbush go la Transfala: Meano le Dikganetso (1920/31) -- Article 10 Sotho texts from the Woodbush Mountains in the Transvaal: Spirits that are with some stones and other things and witchcraft = Dingwalwa tsa Sesotho tse di tswago Dithabeng tsa Woodbush go la Transfala: Moya wo o nago le maswika a mangwe le ge e le dilo tse dingwe le boloi (1931/32) -- Article 11 Sotho texts from the Woodbush Mountains in the Transvaal: The soul in death and after death = Dingwalwa tsa Sesotho tse di tswago Dithabeng tsa Woodbush go la Transfala: Moya wa motho mohlang wa lehu le ka morago ga lehu (1932) Land, laws and punishment Article 12 Sotho texts from the Woodbush Mountains in the Transvaal: Legal practices of the Northern Sotho people = Dingwalwa tsa Sesotho tse di tswago Dithabeng tsa Woodbush go la Transfala: Tiriso ya melao ya Basotho ba Lebowa (1933/34) -- Article 13 Sotho texts from the Woodbush Mountains in the Transvaal: Legal practices of the Northern Sotho people = Dingwalwa tsa Sesotho tse di tswago Dithabeng tsa Woodbush go la Transfala: Tiriso ya melao ya Basotho ba Lebowa (1933/34) -- Article 14 Sotho texts from the Woodbush Mountains in the Transvaal: Legal practices of the Northern Sotho people = Dingwalwa tsa Sesotho tse di tswago Dithabeng tsa Woodbush go la Transfala: Tiriso ya melao ya Basotho ba Lebowa (1933/34) -- Article 15 Sotho texts from the Woodbush Mountains in the Transvaal: Legal practices of the Northern Sotho people = Dingwalwa tsa Sesotho tse di tswago Dithabeng tsa Woodbush go la Transfala: Tiriso ya melao ya Basotho ba Lebowa (1933/34) People, politics and government Article 16 Sotho texts from the Woodbush Mountains in the Transvaal: Political organisation = Dingwalwa tsa Sesotho tse di tswago Dithabeng tsa Woodbush go la Transfala: Peakanyo ya borerapuso (1937/38) -- Article 17 Sotho texts from the Woodbush Mountains in the Transvaal: Political organisation = Dingwalwa tsa Sesotho tse di tswago Dithabeng tsa Woodbush go la Transfala: Peakanyo ya borerapuso (1937/38) -- Article 18 Sotho texts from the Woodbush Mountains in the Transvaal: Political organisation = Dingwalwa tsa Sesotho tse di tswago Dithabeng tsa Woodbush go la Transfala: Peakanyo ya borerapuso (1937/38) Home, habits and conduct Article 19 Customs and traditions of the Sotho people in Northern Transvaal = Mekgwa le botlwaelo bja Basotho ba Transfala-Lebowa (1956) -- Article 20 Customs and traditions of the Sotho people in Northern Transvaal = Mekgwa le botlwaelo bja Basotho ba Transfala-Lebowa (1956) -- Article 21 Customs and traditions of the Sotho people in Northern Transvaal = Mekgwa le botlwaelo bja Basotho ba Transfala-Lebowa (1957) -- Article 22 Customs and traditions of the Sotho people in Northern Transvaal = Mekgwa le botlwaelo bja Basotho ba Transfala-Lebowa (1957) -- Article 23 Customs and traditions of the Sotho people in Northern Transvaal = Mekgwa le botlwaelo bja Basotho ba Transfala-Lebowa (1958) -- Article 24 Customs and traditions of the Sotho people in Northern Transvaal = Mekgwa le botlwaelo bja Basotho ba Transfala-Lebowa (1958) Obituary : In remembrance of missionary C. Hoffmann (1963) E. Kahler-Meyer Part 3 Orthographic developments and grammatical observations Inge Kosch