Roots of Magic episode

May 27, 2026

Sofie Schiødt on Studying Magical Spaces in Ancient Egypt

Roots of Magic Interview 11

We speak with Egyptologist Sofie Schiødt at the beginning-stages of an innovative research-project at MagEIA. She wants to know to what degree it’s possible to get an idea of the in situ workings of magic in ancient Egypt: there has been a lot of work done on magic in an elite context (think of Pharaonic afterlife-rituals, &c. &c.), magic in temple-spaces (see e.g. our interview with Martin Stadler), and, generally-speaking, texts of magic or about magic. But is it possible to get at the location of everyday magic in ancient Egypt, the actual rituals as they took place outside of any text, not in grand temples, and having nothing to do with elites? Schiødt wants to find out.

We discuss her current project attempting to access the spaces in which this street-level magic took place, the types of sources she is working with, methodological issues that both present problems and open promising new means of approach, and more.

Space is the place.

Interview Bio:

Sofie Schiødt is an Egyptologists whose main research interests lie in ancient Egyptian medicine and magic, science and technology, social history, and funerary practices. Her background is primarily in philology, but she also has considerable archaeological and bioarchaeological training. She is currently finalising the text edition of the medical Papyrus Louvre-Carlsberg, the second-longest medical text surviving from ancient Egypt.

Recommended Reading:

RoM 11 Sofie Schiødt Recommended Reading

Themes

Egypt, Magic, Medicine, PGM, Statues