Unit 22: Greek Magical Papyri

Click or select any word to translate.

Word List

  • n. An altar is a table used in churches.
    The altar had many lit candles on it.
  • n. Arthritis is an illness causing pain and swelling in a person's joints.
    Agatha couldn't play the piano anymore because of her arthritis.
  • n. Botany is the study of plants.
    Gardens are the best places for botany.
  • adj. If something or someone is credible, they can be believed or trusted.
    Dick gave a credible reason for being late and didn't get in any trouble.
  • adj. If someone is deceased, they are dead.
    We visited the graves of our deceased grandparents.
  • n. Deception is the act of lying or tricking someone.
    The magic looked very real, but it was only deception.
  • n. A document is a written text, usually not in the form of a book.
    Please scan this document so we have an electronic copy.
  • n. Dung is solid waste material produced by animals.
    There was cow dung all over the field.
  • n. Dusk is the time in the evening when it begins to get dark.
    After dusk, Hannah went to catch fireflies in the park.
  • v. To gratify someone means to please them.
    Bonnie was gratified after receiving her gift from her parents.
  • v. To hone something is to improve it and make it very good.
    Lisa honed her chess skills through hours and hours of practice.
  • v. When you interpret something, you find its meaning, often by changing it into a different language.
    It is difficult to interpret while someone is speaking.
  • n. Your motive is your reason for doing something.
    We can show he had a motive to commit the crime, but we cannot show he did it.
  • n. Pneumonia is a dangerous illness causing the lungs to fill with liquid.
    Elaine got pneumonia after playing outside in the rain without a coat.
  • adj. When someone is psychic, they know what will happen or what people think.
    I think my grandmother has psychic abilities because she can predict anything.
  • adj. If someone is psychotic, they have a very serious mental illness.
    The psychotic patient believed he saw things that weren't real.
  • n. The scope of something is how many people or things it relates to.
    Modern history has a wide scope.
  • adj. If something or someone is sinister, they are evil.
    Bad guys in most movies have sinister laughs.
  • n. Strife is disagreement or fighting between people or groups.
    There was a lot of strife between Jim and Lisa about what TV show to watch.
  • n. Text is language used in communicating messages.
    Spoken text has many features which are different from written text.

 

Exercise

A ‣ Circle the one that is opposite in meaning to the given word.

  1. credible
    • a. unbelievable
    • b. incorrect
    • c. sly
    • d. unprocessed
  2. deceased
    • a. healed
    • b. affected
    • c. young
    • d. alive
  3. document
    • a. an old tool
    • b. a voice recording
    • c. a vehicle
    • d. a magic spell
  4. sinister
    • a. unlucky
    • b. fortunate
    • c. favorable
    • d. bad
  5. dusk
    • a. moon
    • b. sunrise
    • c. eclipse
    • d. month

 

B ‣ Write a word that is similar in meaning to the underlined part.

  1. The journalist checked all her sources to make sure they were believable. _____
  2. The hospital had a separate section for very mentally ill people. _____
  3. The child's handwriting was almost impossible to figure out. _____
  4. The priest stood behind a(n) table used in religious ceremonies. _____
  5. People with an ailment affecting the joints are often unable to do physical activities. _____
  6. Some people think I have future seeing powers, but in reality I'm just very observant. _____
  7. Cows produce so much waste material that some scientists believe they harm the environment. _____

 

C ‣ Circle the one that is similar in meaning to the given word.

  1. hone
    • a. game
    • b. pain
    • c. curse
    • d. improve
  2. gratify
    • a. admire
    • b. please
    • c. approve
    • d. layer
  3. motive
    • a. reason
    • b. place
    • c. happiness
    • d. resting
  4. strife
    • a. hurt
    • b. death
    • c. conflict
    • d. weakness
  5. sinister
    • a. evil
    • b. futuristic
    • c. willful
    • d. thoughtless

 

D ‣ Write the word from the word bank that best fits each sentence.

WORD BANK
  • deceased
  • scope
  • interpret
  • botany
  • sinister
  • text
  • pneumonia
  • strife
  • dusk
  • deception

The 1_____ of the medical book is broad.

It deals with all illnesses from colds to 2_____.

Instead of speaking to her, Marcia sent a 3_____.

She went there every day at 4_____ to relieve her stress.

The criminal fooled everyone with his 5_____.

If only someone had stopped him from committing his 6_____ crimes.

Before she died, she had taught him a lot about gardening and 7_____.

Solomon's grandmother was 8_____.

After the war, there was much 9_____ about land.

It was difficult for the people to 10_____ the new laws about ownership.

 

Greek Magical Papyri

The Greek Magical Papyri is a collection of writing about magic. After it was found in the Egyptian desert, it took experts years to interpret it. The text was written in at least three different ancient languages. After many years, experts realized the document contained a number of spells that varied greatly in scope.

The most common types of magic in the collection dealt with healing illnesses like pneumonia. Some spells also gave advice for treating people with mental illnesses, such as those who became psychotic. Some spells utilised unusual things, like crocodile dung. But botany was an important part of the magic. Many healing spells gave instructions on how to use herbs and plants that were believed to be helpful. For example, in order to cure arthritis, the book says that the magician should build a beautiful altar. Then he should crush different types of herbs and place them on top of it. At dusk, he is supposed to say a spell so the gods would be gratified.

Other parts of the collection describe how to hone one's psychic abilities and how to give credible descriptions of the future. Often, the book advised people how to use different objects to tell the future, including tea leaves. Also, one part of the book tells what different dreams might mean. It gives advice for using dreams to tell the future.

A small part of the book, however, has more sinister motives than the rest. It is meant to cause strife and deception. For example, one tells how to give someone warts, while another will make all of the victim's farm animals die. However, if someone's farm animals died as a result of a curse, he could ask a magician to perform magic that makes the deceased recover and come back to life.

 

Reading Comprehension

Part A: Mark each statement T for true or F for false. Rewrite the false statements to make them true.

  1. _____ The Greek Magical Papyri was hard to interpret because it was too large in scope.
    __________
  2. _____ The book is about botany.
    __________
  3. _____ The book gave advice for using crocodile dung to heal.
    __________
  4. _____ A spell is spoken at dusk to become more credible.
    __________
  5. _____ The book had instructions for honing one's psychic powers.
    __________

 

Part B: Answer the questions.

  1. What is the passage about?
    • a. Magic spells
    • b. Treating illnesses
    • c. Ancient religions
    • d. Planting crops
  2. What should someone do if they want to cure arthritis?
    _____
  3. What does the sinister part of the book focus on?
    _____

 

Answer Key

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