Magic Squares in the Hebrew Manuscripts of the Kaufmann Collection
Magic Squares in the Hebrew Manuscripts of the Kaufmann Collection

Summary/Abstract: The paper reviews the metaphysical symbolism and the practical effects attributed to magic squares in Chinese, Muslim, and Jewish traditions. It surveys the Hebrew manuscripts preserved in the Kaufmann Collection of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and studies the context, the rationale, and the modus operandi of the squares in them, taking into consideration primarily Muslim antecedents and parallels. It examines whether the symbolic background and the metaphysical content associated with the squares are manifest in the texts, or deducible from the context, or whether these aspects are completely obscured and ignored.

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