Die Sortes Astrampsychi

»You will marry your girlfriend, but you will be sorry.« »You will inherit from your wife, but you will not be the sole heir.« These are the words of an oracle attributed to Pythagoras which supposedly also helped Alexander gain world supremacy. The »Sortes Astrampsychi« were transmitted on papyri from the Roman period and medieval manuscripts in Greek. Consisting of 92 pre-formulated questions and 1030 matching answers from nearly all areas of daily life, the oracle represents an important source for the social history of Egypt, for example its demography, economy and jurisdiction. In this commentary on the »Sortes Astrampsychi,« the author focuses on the background of its use in antiquity and the contextualization among the religious, divinatory and magical practices of Egypt, in particular the »ticket« oracles in Demotic, Greek and Coptic.