Apotropaic Autographs: Orality and Materiality in the Abgar-Jesus Inscriptions
In this paper, I explore the late antique tradition of inscribing the Abgar-Jesus correspondence on stone for protection as attested by seven inscriptions from Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt. I first argue that the correspondence's perceived protective efficacy stems from its claim to pre...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[2016]
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| In: |
Archiv für Religionsgeschichte
Year: 2016, Volume: 17, Issue: 1, Pages: 165-186 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Abgar, V., Osroene, König -50
/ Jesus Christus
/ Inscribed monument
/ Apotropaic object
/ Orality
/ Literalness
/ Materiality
|
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | In this paper, I explore the late antique tradition of inscribing the Abgar-Jesus correspondence on stone for protection as attested by seven inscriptions from Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt. I first argue that the correspondence's perceived protective efficacy stems from its claim to preserve an autograph of Jesus. I then explore the implications of embedding such an autograph into an urban landscape. Drawing on recent research on the orality and materiality of epigraphy, I suggest that the epigraphic attestations of the Abgar-Jesus correspondence join in a broader tradition of deploying oral formulae to protect domestic and civic space from harm, and therefore, should be viewed as ritually powerful objects that were "performing" the correspondence at their respective liminal spaces. |
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| ISSN: | 1868-8888 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Archiv für Religionsgeschichte
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1515/arege-2015-0010 |