Home›Open Questions›Were the magical papyri sold by Jean d'Anastasy found together, and were they found at Thebes?Open QuestionsWere the magical papyri sold by Jean d'Anastasy found together, and were they found at Thebes?Citation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextDivinity Atlas. "Were the magical papyri sold by Jean d'Anastasy found together, and were they found at Thebes?." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/were-the-magical-papyri-sold-by-jean-danastasy-found-together-and-were-they-found-at-thebes.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextDivinity Atlas. (n.d.). Were the magical papyri sold by Jean d'Anastasy found together, and were they found at Thebes?. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/were-the-magical-papyri-sold-by-jean-danastasy-found-together-and-were-they-found-at-thebesCopy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{divinityatlas-were-the-magical-papyri-sold-by-jean-d-a, author = {Divinity Atlas}, title = {Were the magical papyri sold by Jean d'Anastasy found together, and were they found at Thebes?}, year = {2026}, url = {https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/were-the-magical-papyri-sold-by-jean-danastasy-found-together-and-were-they-found-at-thebes}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXOpen QuestionCross-Tradition ConnectionsSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)Open QuestionThe Theban Magical Library is a modern name for a group of papyri that share a period, a range of contents and a supplier. No excavation record exists for any of them. The attribution to Thebes and the assumption that they formed one collection both rest on the accounts of the dealer who sold them, and no scholar has been able either to confirm or to refute this from documentary evidence. It is an unresolved gap rather than a dispute between rival positions.What would resolve this A systematic reading of Anastasy's surviving correspondence and sale records against the acquisition registers and accession dates of the Bibliotheque nationale, the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, the British Museum and the Berlin collections. These archives have never been examined together for this question. Failing that, a securely excavated magical papyrus from a recorded Theban context would give the attribution an independent anchor.OpenPapyrology, and the archival history of nineteenth century antiquities collectingDaniel Ogden, Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A SourcebookCross-Tradition ConnectionsQuestion OnThe Great Magical Papyrus of Paris, Incantations, Spells & Curses Well-attested Source Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A SourcebookDaniel Ogdentier 1SourcesMagic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebooktier 1Daniel Ogden, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002View the SourceComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearThe atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.Show This Year