The History of Witchcraft and Demonology in the Levant in William Lane’s Notes

Record summary

Lane’s annotations to his Egyptian ethnography and Arabian Nights translation discuss contemporary Egyptian magical practitioners, charms, divination, possession, evil eye beliefs, and narratives involving supernatural beings. These passages offer identifiable nineteenth-century material for comparing lived religious practice with later paranormal terminology. They are not controlled observations and often rely on informants, translated Arabic expressions, and Lane’s editorial judgments. A researcher should isolate each named practice or story, consult Arabic terms and later Egyptian scholarship, and avoid treating descriptions of magic as confirmation of its efficacy.