Exorcism in Ancient Egypt

Exorcism in Ancient Egypt. Texts and practices from the religious and healing tradition

Exorcism in Ancient Egypt offers an engaging overview of exorcistic rituals in Egyptian religion from the Middle Kingdom through later periods. While exorcism is attested across many cultures, it has long posed interpretive challenges for scholars whose attempts to explain it in purely rational terms often fail to capture its full complexity. As a set of practices concerned with safeguarding physical and spiritual well-being, exorcism occupies an intermediate space between magic, religion, and early science, making its terminology inherently fluid. Ancient Egypt preserves a particularly rich body of evidence for rites intended to repel supernatural agents believed to cause illness. Far from being mere superstition or proto-medical reasoning, these rituals offer valuable insight into how Egyptians understood everyday hardships, articulated their fears, and conceptualized disease and healing in ways distinct from later medical traditions. Drawing on textual and material sources, this book approaches exorcistic practice from multiple perspectives, examining the social roles of exorcists, the transmission of healing knowledge, the material dimensions of ritual performance, the literary and cultural traditions reflected in exorcistic texts, and the historical development of these practices over time.