In this volume, AnneMarie Luijendijk analyzes a previously unknown text preserved in a fifth- or sixth-century Coptic miniature codex, entitled The Gospel of the Lots of Mary, and places it within the context of practices of and debates about divination in the ancient Mediterranean world. This is the first critical edition and translation of this new text; it is also a project about religious authority and practices. In the first part of the book, the author investigates the codex, taking into account both its weaving together of biblical allusions and traditional divinatory phrases, its material format as miniature codex with imprints of its use, and mode of operation. The second part consists of the edition of this text, an English translation, and an elaborate textual commentary. AnneMarie Luijendijk participates in conversations about lived religion and privileged knowledge of the divine or the future. Sortilege-the practice of casting lots to obtain an answer-was widespread in antiquity; it was a method applied in decision-making on all levels of ancient society. As a religious practice, lot divination was also highly contested, as access to these practices and thus to the divine meant control of powers, religiously and socially. The text, replete with biblical phrases but fundamentally materialistic in worldview, disrupts our concepts of what is religious in the ancient world. Luijendijk thus contributes to discussions in the study of religion that question the categories of religion and magic. She also contributes to scholarship on the production and use of books, especially miniature codices.

Born 1968; 2006-12 Assistant Professor, 2012-14 Associate Professor and since 2014 Professor of Religion, Princeton University, Department of Religion.

Autorentext

Born 1968; 2006-12 Assistant Professor, 2012-14 Associate Professor and since 2014 Professor of Religion, Princeton University, Department of Religion.

Zusammenfassung
AnneMarie Luijendijk präsentiert erstmals einen frühchristlichen divinatorischen Text, der innerhalb des koptischen Miniaturkodizes Das Evangelium von den Losen der Maria aus dem 5. oder 6. Jahrhundert erhalten wurde, und stellt ihn in den Kontext des Gebrauchs von und der Debatte über Divination in der antiken mediterranen Welt. Losen war in allen Schichten der antiken Gesellschaft eine übliche Hilfe bei der Entscheidungsfindung. Als religiöse Praxis war die Prophezeiung per Los allerdings auch höchst umstritten, da derjenige, der den Zugang dazu und damit zum Göttlichen kontrollierte, dadurch auf religiöser und sozialer Ebene Macht ausübte. Der Text, der reichlich mit biblischen Formulierungen versehen, jedoch grundsätzlich sehr materialistisch in seiner Weltanschauung ist, sprengt unser Konzept dessen, was in der antiken Welt als religiös galt. Die Autorin trägt damit zur Debatte über Fragen der Kategorien Religion und Magie in der Religionswissenschaft bei. Zudem leistet sie einen Beitrag zur Wissenschaft über die Herstellung und Verwendung von Büchern.