The Hermeneumata of PGM/PDM XII (=GEMF 15): questioning the magical Dreckapotheke

The so-called Hermeneumata transmitted in PGM/PDM XII (=GEMF 15) consist of a list of expressions such as "Helios semen" or "snake blood," which are identified with animal, vegetal and mineral substances, whose name is perfectly clear in Greek. The prologue of the text states that this is a "decoded" list of code names (Decknamen) used by Egyptian priests to conceal the true nature of the ingredients employed in their rituals. This paper challenges this interpretation and supports a different one with new evidences: this list is a vocabulary whose first column contains loan translations from Egyptian medical-pharmacological jargon. Moreover, the different case studies analysed will serve to highlight the textual problems of this lexical list (lexical exchanges, displaced entries, scribal errors).