ABSTRACT
In this article, I want to revisit the issue of manuscript interference by taking a close look at a remarkable case of code-switching in the two bilingual manuscripts mentioned above in the hope of gaining a better understanding of the editorial choices made in the course of compiling the spells from various, now lost manuscripts. ese choices cannot have been arbitrary, but must have been governed by certain constraints and preferences so as to guide the process of selection and combination, even if the editors themselves might have been oblivious as to why they made these decisions. On the one hand, the avoidance of confusion and incomprehension must have been a practical requirement, whereas, on the other hand, preconceived notions of, and attitudes to, the culture and society associated with a language and its script may very well also have played a role in decision-making. Social motivations and cultural implications of the latter kind are what interest me most here, as they inform us about the changing roles and identities of ritual specialists in Roman period Egypt.
