Measuring the strength of belief in the supernatural entities in the Babylonian Talmud. A method based on the Elyonim veTachtonim project

Abstract

This paper offers a technique for assessing the strength of belief in the traditions involving supernatural entities (angels, demons, ghosts, and monsters) present in the Babylonian Talmud. The method is based on the appreciation of the formal features of the text (genre, language, attribution, etc.) in the theoretical and technical framework of the Elyonim veTachtonim project and allows to grade relatively the perceived reality of particular accounts. The analysis of the quantitative data shows that these are the traditions about the demons, which are usually provided in the form of pragmatic recommendations transmitted in Aramaic and featuring the Babylonian sages. This allows us to infer that the demons appeared to the final redactors (i.e., the Stammaim) as the most real among the supernatural entities: they were presented as posing real danger and as demanding adequate means of action.