I routinely teach an undergraduate seminar on Angels, Demons, and Magic in Early Christianity. To give students a feel for the materiality of ancient magic, I decided this year to walk them through the process of making a magical papyrus using materials similar to those used in antiquity. Everything you will need is readily available online, unless you choose to follow a more elaborate ink recipe, such as the one found in PGM VIII that calls for the sap of a mulberry tree, juice of a single stemmed wormwood, and the blood of a crow.
By the time students make their papyri, they have already encountered numerous examples of Christian magical texts in Marvin Meyer and Richard Smith, Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power, but they have not yet learned about ancient manuscript production, so I assign as background reading “The Making of Ancient Books,” chapter 1 in Bruce Metzger and Bart Ehrman, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration.
Supplies
Each student receives a packet with the following supplies:
1. A bamboo stylus (3 pack for $8.99)
2. A sheet of papyrus (20 pack for $9.99)
3. 2 teaspoons of Gum Arabic ($6.08 a bottle)
4. 2 teaspoons of ground hookah/shisha coals (10 pack for $3.90)
[I grind the coals into a fine powder using a coffee grinder. The coals act as a pigment, but you can use whatever you want as a pigment.]
5. 2 small zipper bags, one for Gum Arabic, one for the ground coal/pigment (100 pack for $6.99)
6. 1 index card (100 pack for $3.23)
Additionally, students will need a small container to use as a mixing jar and ink well, 2 teaspoons of water, and something to stir with.
Instructions (I recorded a step-by-step video for my students)
1. Pour all of the pigment into an empty container
2. Add 1 teaspoon of water and stir well
3. Add all of the Gum Arabic to the mixture and stir well
4. If necessary, add small amounts of water until the mixture has the consistency of ink. Don’t add too much water. This will result in faint or runny ink.
5. Dip the stylus into the inkwell and practice writing on the index card
6. Once you feel confident in your ability to use the stylus and regulate the ink flow, inscribe the papyrus with your magical spell. (I tell my students beforehand that if they have religious objections to creating a magical papyrus, they are welcome to inscribe the papyrus with a verse from the Bible or Qur’an, or simply write a note to a friend.)
Finished Products
This is the sample I made for the students. It is the beginning of John’s Gospel in Coptic followed by crosses and IAW.
A few made by students:
Geoffrey Smith is Assistant Professor of Biblical Greek and Christian Origins and Fellow of the Nease Endowment in the Institute for the Study of Antiquity and Christian Origins (ISAC) at the University of Texas at Austin.