Monday, November 24, 2014

a note on the "Ancient Egyptian" magical text

This magical text that's going around is very interesting and sheds light on its 8th century-ish context, but it ain't "Ancient Egyptian," which refers to a period thousands of years earlier. It's funny to me that it's being shared by folks who are excited by the idea of "Ancient Egyptian Magic" but doesn't actually have anything to do with that topic. And it's sad that the interesting historical context that it actually does shed light on--which is in need of great sources!--is being left out of the excitement. I find this frustrating but from an educator's point of view frustrating in a good way. Headlines mislead and nobody really cares, journalists who should reall know better are spamming us with historical misinformation: that's a worthy challenge.

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