In 451 BC, the Twelve Tables of Roman law had provisions against evil incantations and spells intended to damage cereal crops.
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: 135 The most detailed account of a trial for witchcraft in Classical Greece is the story of Theoris of Lemnos, who was executed along with her children some time before 338 BC, supposedly for casting incantations and using harmful drugs. : 133–134 Antiphon's speech " Against the Stepmother for Poisoning" tells of the case of a woman accused of plotting to murder her husband with a pharmakon a slave had previously been executed for the crime, but the son of the victim claimed that the death had been arranged by his stepmother. : 133 However, cases concerning the harmful effects of pharmaka – an ambiguous term that might mean "poison", "medicine", or "magical drug" – do survive, especially those where the drug caused injury or death. No laws concerning magic survive from Classical Athens. He that plunged into the river shall take possession of the house of him who laid the spell upon him.
If the holy river declares him innocent and he remains unharmed the man who laid the spell shall be put to death. If the holy river overcomes him and he is drowned, the man who put the spell upon him shall take possession of his house. If a man has put a spell upon another man and it is not yet justified, he upon whom the spell is laid shall go to the holy river into the holy river shall he plunge.
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The Code of Hammurabi (18th century BC short chronology) prescribes that Punishment for malevolent magic is addressed in the earliest law codes which were preserved in both ancient Egypt and Babylonia, where it played a conspicuous part. History įurther information: Magic in the ancient world Ancient Near East Another study finds that income shocks (caused by extreme rainfall) lead to a large increase in the murder of "witches" in Tanzania. One study finds that witchcraft beliefs are associated with antisocial attitudes: lower levels of trust, charitable giving and group participation. Reports on indigenous practices in the Americas, Asia and Africa collected during the early modern age of exploration have been taken to suggest that not just the belief in witchcraft but also the periodic outbreak of witch-hunts are a human cultural universal. It presents a framework to explain the occurrence of otherwise random misfortunes such as sickness or death, and the witch sorcerer provides an image of evil. The belief in magic and divination, and attempts to use magic to influence personal well-being (to increase life, win love, etc.) are universal across human cultures.īelief in witchcraft has been shown to have similarities in societies throughout the world. The wide distribution of the practice of witch-hunts in geographically and culturally separated societies (Europe, Africa, New Guinea) since the 1960s has triggered interest in the anthropological background of this behaviour. įurther information: Anthropology of religion, Human sacrifice, and Witch trials in the early modern period § Causes and interpretations
It can also involve elements of moral panic or mass hysteria. In current language, "witch-hunt" metaphorically means an investigation that is usually conducted with much publicity, supposedly to uncover subversive activity, disloyalty, and so on, but with the real purpose of intimidating political opponents. In other regions, like Africa and Asia, contemporary witch-hunts have been reported from sub-Saharan Africa and Papua New Guinea, and official legislation against witchcraft is still found in Saudi Arabia and Cameroon today. The last executions of people convicted as witches in Europe took place in the 18th century. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern period or about 1450 to 1750, spanning the upheavals of the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, resulting in an estimated 35,000 to 50,000 executions.
Burning of three "witches" in Baden, Switzerland (1585), by Johann Jakob WickĪ witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft.