La tecnica e l’arte della scrittura su piombo e rame. Le iscrizioni magiche della Fontana di Anna Perenna (Roma) e la tipologia dei caratteri tardo-antichi

Nel santuario romano della ninfa Anna Perenna, scoperto nell’anno 1999 da Marina Piranomonte (Soprintendenza archeologica di Roma), sono stati scavati, tra un gran numero di doni votivi — vale a dire vasi, lucerne, altre ceramiche, monete — e materiali propriamente magici deposti nella vasca del ninfeo, 24 oggetti iscritti con testi e simboli magici: lamine, contenitori in forma di bicchieri, figurine fatte da piombo, rame, bronzo e cera, che portano incisioni di maledizioni magiche. Gli oggetti e le loro iscrizioni possono essere datati nello spazio del fine del terzo fino all’inizio del quinto secolo. Gli oggetti magici, essendo non prodotti di tradizioni particolari di scrittori e di maghi professionali ma autografi degli autori delle maledizioni, possono essere messi in relazione con la storia della scrittura tramandata particolarmente nei papiri. Il risultato delle nostre analisi delle scritture e la loro comparazione con testi papiracei è che le maledizioni del santuario di Anna Perenna non seguivano più il modello delle scritture librarie divenute troppo diffcili, ma le forme varie della scrittura tardo-antica di ogni giorno dalla quale sono sorte anche le scritture cancellerie e quelle dell’inizio del medio evo.Im Heiligtum der Anna Perenna, das 1999 von Marina Piranomonte (Soprintendenza archeologica di Roma) entdeckt wurde, fanden sich unter einer großen Anzahl von Weihgaben — Gefäßen, Öllampen u.a. Keramikobjekten, Münzen — und speziell magischen Objekten, die im Becken des Nymphaeums deponiert worden waren, auch 24 Blei- und Kupfertäfelchen, Becher und Wachsfguren mit Verfuchungsinschriften, magischen Symbolen und Zeichnungen. Die Objekte und ihre Inschriften sind zwischen dem 3. und dem Beginn des 5. Jahrhunderts zu datieren. Die magischen Objekte und Inschriften sind nicht Produkte professioneller Magier, sondern Autographe der Autoren der Verfuchungen. Sie können zur Entwicklung der römischen Schrift, die insbesondere durch die Papyrus-Texte dokumentiert ist, in Beziehung gesetzt werden. Das Ergebnis der Untersuchungen der Schriften und ihr Vergleich mit den gleichzeitigen Papyrus-Texten ist, daß die Defxionsinschriften aus dem Heiligtum der Anna Perenna nicht mehr den zu aufwendig gewordenen Buchschriften folgten, sondern den spätantiken Gebrauchsschriften, aus denen sich auch die Kanzleischriften und die frühmittelalterlichen Buchschriften entwickelten

Galen, divination, and the status of medicine

Galen's stories about his successes in predicting the development of an illness belong to the best-known anecdotes drawn from his writings. Brilliant pieces of self-presentation, they set Galen apart from his peers, who tried to cover up their ignorance by levelling accusations of magic and divination against their superior colleague. These accusations are usually interpreted as very real threats, as Roman law punished illicit magic and divination. Pointing out that Galen sometimes likes to present himself as a mantis and a prophet, others have suggested that the accusations against Galen and his own self-presentation indicate that the border line between medicine and religion was still fluid. Both approaches correctly draw attention to the social reality that the accusations betray: they suggest that Galen belongs to a group of healers of dubious standing that populated the empire and thus show that medicine did not have a monopoly on healing. Yet such a socio-historical approach may not be sufficient. For one thing, both explanations have their limitations. Regarding the former, it can be said that Augustus' prohibition of divination aimed at controlling prediction about the emperor and one can doubt that a widespread clampdown of all forms of divination ever was intended. A possible objection to the second view is that throughout his oeuvre Galen emphasizes his medicine as a rational undertaking, even as a science (episteme). If one takes his self-presentation as a mantis to be more than metaphorical and to indicate the not yet fully crystallized identity of medicine as a separate scientific discipline, then Galen's usual way of understanding his own craft as a science' is in need of explanation. Besides such possible objections, a different set of questions still needs to be asked: why precisely were accusations of practising magic and divination levelled against Galen and why do they recur so frequently in his writings? Why divination and not, say, poisoning

The Materiality of Magic

The Materiality of Magic is an exciting new book about an aspect of magic that is usually neglected. In the last two decades we have had many books and proceedings of conferences on the concept of magic itself as well as its history, formulas and incantations in antiquity, both in East and West. Much less attention, however, has been paid to the material that was used by the magicians for their conjuring activities. This is the first book of its kind that focuses on the material aspects of magic, such as amulets, drawings, figurines, gems, grimoires, rings, and voodoo dolls. The practice of magic required a specialist expertise that knew how to handle material such as lead, gold, stones, papyrus and terra cotta – material that sometimes was used for specific genres of magic. That is why we present in this well illustrated collection of studies new insights on the materiality of magic in antiquity by studying both the materials used for magic as well as the books in which the expertise was preserved. The main focus of the book is on antiquity, but we complement and contrast our material with examples ranging from the Ancient Near East, via early modern Europe, to the present time

Super-heavy fermion material as metallic refrigerant for adiabatic demagnetization cooling

Low-temperature refrigeration is of crucial importance in fundamental research of condensed matter physics, as the investigations of fascinating quantum phenomena, such as superconductivity, superfluidity and quantum criticality, often require refrigeration down to very low temperatures. Currently, cryogenic refrigerators with $^3$He gas are widely used for cooling below 1 Kelvin. However, usage of the gas is being increasingly difficult due to the current world-wide shortage. Therefore, it is important to consider alternative methods of refrigeration. Here, we show that a new type of refrigerant, super-heavy electron metal, YbCo$_2$Zn$_{20}$, can be used for adiabatic demagnetization refrigeration, which does not require 3He gas. A number of advantages includes much better metallic thermal conductivity compared to the conventional insulating refrigerants. We also demonstrate that the cooling performance is optimized in Yb$_{1-x}$Sc$_x$Co$_2$Zn$_{20}$ by partial Sc substitution with $x\sim$0.19. The substitution induces chemical pressure which drives the materials close to a zero-field quantum critical point. This leads to an additional enhancement of the magnetocaloric effect in low fields and low temperatures enabling final temperatures well below 100 mK. Such performance has up to now been restricted to insulators. Since nearly a century the same principle of using local magnetic moments has been applied for adiabatic demagnetization cooling. This study opens new possibilities of using itinerant magnetic moments for the cryogen-free refrigeration

Cybèle et Attis dans les tablettes de defixio inédite de Mayence

Blänsdorf Jürgen. Cybèle et Attis dans les tablettes de defixio inédite de Mayence. In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 149ᵉ année, N. 2, 2005. pp. 669-692

Une collaboration scientifique « dans un esprit vraiment œcuménique et international » : Les congrès internationaux d’historiens et le Comité International des Sciences Historiques dans l’Entre-deux-guerres

Dans l’entre-deux-guerres se tinrent quatre Congrès des sciences historiques (à Bruxelles en 1923, à Oslo en 1928, à Varsovie en 1933 et à Zurich en 1938). Ils prirent leur forme d’organisation définitive en 1926 avec la fondation du Comité International des Sciences Historiques (CISH). Cet article traite principalement des réactions du CISH à l’évolution du contexte politique. Le congrès de 1923 prit encore place dans la situation créée après la Première Guerre mondiale par le boycott des sciences allemandes. Mais dès 1919 s’esquissèrent, de la part des États-Unis, des tentatives pour rapprocher les historiens de l’ensemble des anciens pays belligérants et créer un organisme assurant une coopération permanente et variée. La réintégration de l’Allemagne, à laquelle s’opposa principalement la France, fut décidée en 1925, à une date plus précoce que dans presque toutes les autres disciplines scientifiques. Jusqu’en 1939, le CISH, auquel participèrent, outre les États-Unis, presque tous les pays européens, dont l’URSS, et un nombre croissant d’autres pays, développa un dense réseau de coopération scientifique. Mais après 1925-1926, la situation politique suscita de nouveaux problèmes, qui faillirent plusieurs fois provoquer la dislocation du Comité : tensions entre la France et l’Allemagne après l’ère Briand-Stresemann, antagonismes germano-polonais, puis montée des fascismes en Italie et en Allemagne, dictature stalinienne en URSS. L’organisation se maintint certes jusqu’en 1939, mais ce fut au prix d’une politique d’appeasement ambivalente.Between the First and Second World Wars, four International Historical Congresses took place (1923 in Brussels; 1928 in Oslo; 1933 in Warsaw; and 1938 in Zurich). The foundation of the International Committee of Historical Sciences (ICHS) in 1926 gave them the structure that has endured until today. This contribution deals primarily with the reactions of the International Committee of Historical Sciences to the political framework. The Congress of 1923 still took place in the situation that had resulted from the boycott of the German sciences after World War I. However, as early as 1919, efforts were underway, initiated by historians from the USA, to unite the historians of the enemy countries and to create a body that would allow a permanent and multi-faceted cooperation. In 1925, earlier than in most other academic areas, it was decided to include Germany, against various objections, particularly from France. By 1939, ICHS had created a tight network of international cooperation, with member nations including nearly all the European countries, as well as the USA and the Soviet Union and an increasing number of countries from all parts of the world. However, even after 1925-26 the political situation often led to problems which sometimes strained the Committee almost to the breaking point : First the tensions between France and Germany after the Briand-Stresemann era as well as the German-Polish conflicts, then fascism in Italy and Germany, and finally, though to a lesser degree, the politics of the Soviet Union, all burdened the Committee. Despite all this, the organization could be kept intact until 1939, but only at the price of an ambivalent policy of appeasement.In der Zeit zwischen dem Ersten und Zweiten Weltkrieg fanden vier Internationale Historikerkongresse statt (1923 in Brüssel, 1928 in Oslo, 1933 in Warschau, 1938 in Zürich). Sie erhielten 1926 mit der Gründung des Comité International des Sciences Historiques (CISH) ihre bis heute fortbestehende Organisationsform. Dieser Beitrag behandelt primär die Reaktionen des Internationalen Historikerverbandes auf die politischen Rahmenbedingungen. Der Kongreß von 1923 fügte sich noch in die Situation ein, die nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg durch den Boykott der deutschen Wissenschaften entstanden war. Aber bereits seit 1919 gab es, ausgehend von den USA, Bemühungen, die Historiker aller verfeindeten Länder wieder zusammenzuführen und ein Organ für eine vielfältigere permanente Kooperation zu schaffen. Die Einbeziehung Deutschlands, gegen die vor allem Widerstand aus Frankreich kam, wurde 1925 beschlossen, früher als in den meisten anderen Wissenschaftszweigen. Bis 1939 schuf das CISH, dem sich neben den USA nahezu alle europäischen Länder, einschließlich der Sowjetunion, und eine wachsende Zahl von Ländern aus anderen Teilen der Welt anschlossen, ein dichtes Netz internationaler Zusammenarbeit. Aber auch nach 1925/26 brachte die politische Situation Probleme mit sich, die das Komitee manches Mal bis zum Zerbrechen belasteten : zunächst durch die Spannungen zwischen Frankreich und Deutschland nach der Ära Briand-Stresemann und die deutsch-polnischen Gegensätze, dann durch den Faschismus in Italien und Deutschland, am Rande auch durch die Sowjetunion. Es gelang zwar, die Organisation bis 1939 intakt zu halten, aber nur um den Preis einer ambivalenten Appeasement-Politik