The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria Part 21

The victim imitates the conduct of the witch, goes about as she does, with a pot in which the potions are made, performs the symbolical act which should purify him of the evil that is in him, and hopes, in this way, to obtain his own release. The description continues:

I have kept back the ferry, have shut off the wall,[393]

Have thus checked the enchantment from all quarters.

Anu and Anatum have commissioned me.

Whom shall I send to Belit of the field?[394]

Into the mouth of the sorcerer and sorceress cast the lock.[395]

Recite the incantation of the chief of G.o.ds, Marduk.[396]

'Let them[397] call to thee but answer them not, Let them address thee, but hearken not to them.

Let me call to thee, and do thou answer me, Let me address thee, and do thou hearken unto me.'

By the command of Anu, Anatum, and Belit, recite the incantation.

The hymns to the fire-G.o.d, Nusku (or Girru), of which the 'Maklu' series naturally furnishes many specimens,[398] are all pretty much alike. I choose one which ill.u.s.trates in greater detail the symbolical burning of the image of the witch:[399]

Nusku, great offspring of Anu, The likeness of his father, the first-born of Bel, The product of the deep, sprung from Ea,[400]

I raise the torch to illumine thee, yea, thee.

The sorcerer who has bewitched me, Through the witchcraft by means of which he has bewitched me, do thou bewitch him.

The sorceress who has bewitched me, Through the witchcraft by means of which she has bewitched me, bewitch thou her.

The charmer who has charmed me, Through the charm with which he has charmed me, charm thou him.

The witch who has charmed me, Through the charm with which she has charmed me, charm thou her.

Those who have made images of me, reproducing my features, Who have taken away my breath, torn my hairs, Who have rent my clothes, have hindered my feet from treading the dust, May the fire-G.o.d, the strong one, break their charm.

Just as the witches were burnt in effigy, so also the demons were supposed to be similarly dispelled. Immediately following the incantation comes one directed against the demons:

I raise the torch, their images I burn, Of the _utukku_, the _shedu_, the _rabisu_, the _ekimmu_, The _labartu_, the _labasi_, the _akhkhasu_, Of _lilu_ and _lilitu_ and _ardat lili_, And every evil that seizes hold of men.

Tremble, melt away, and disappear!

May your smoke rise to heaven, May Shamash destroy your limbs, May the son of Ea [_i.e._, may the fire-G.o.d], The great magician, restrain your strength (?).

The witch who has caused the evil may be unknown. For such a case one of the incantations runs:[401]

Who art thou, sorceress, who bears her evil word within her heart, Through whose tongue my misfortune is produced, Through whose lips I have been poisoned, In whose footsteps death follows?

Sorceress, I seize thy mouth, seize thy tongue, I seize thy searching eyes, I seize thy ever-moving feet, I seize thy knees ever active, I seize thy hands ever stretched out, I tie thy hands behind thee.

May Sin ... destroy thy body, May he cast thee into an abyss of fire and water.

Sorceress, as the circle of this seal-ring,[402]

May thy face grow pale and wan.

Of the same character as this, are a variety of other incantations, all applicable to cases in which the sorceress is unknown. As the last specimen of the 'Maklu' series, I choose an incantation addressed to the demons, which is interesting because of the direct character of the commands it contains:

Away, away, far away, far away, For shame, for shame, fly away, fly away, Round about face, go away, far away, Out of my body, away, Out of my body, far away, Out of my body, away for shame, Out of my body, fly away, Out of my body, round about face, Out of my body, go away, Into my body, come not back, Towards my body, do not approach, Towards my body, draw not nigh, My body torture not.

By Shamash the mighty, be ye foresworn.

By Ea, the lord of everything, be ye foresworn.

By Marduk, the chief magician of the G.o.ds, be ye foresworn.

By the fire-G.o.d, be ye foresworn.

From my body be ye restrained!

Repet.i.tion and variation in the use of certain phrases make up, as will be seen from the specimens given, a large part of the incantation. A curious ill.u.s.tration of the importance attributed to such repet.i.tion is furnished by the eighth and last tablet of the 'Maklu' series. It consists of seven divisions, each beginning with a repet.i.tion of the headlines of the various sections of the preceding seven tablets; and only after the headlines of each of the tablets have been exhausted, does the real incantation begin. This eighth tablet contains therefore a kind of summary of all the others, the purpose of which is to gather together all the power and influence of the seven others.

The 'Maklu' ritual deals so largely with the fire-G.o.d that a specimen from another series, to ill.u.s.trate the position of Ea and Marduk in the incantations, seems called for. The 'Shurpu' series introduces Ea and Marduk more particularly. The fifth tablet of this series begins:[403]

The evil curse rests like a _gallu_ upon the man, The pain-giving voice[404] has settled upon him, The voice that is not good has settled upon him, The evil curse, the charm that produces insanity, The evil curse has killed that man as a sheep, His G.o.d has departed from his body,[405]

His G.o.ddess has ... taken her place outside,[406]

The pain-giving voice covers him as a garment and confuses him.

Marduk sees him, And proceeds to the house of his father Ea and speaks: "My father, the evil curse as a demon has settled on the man."

He says it for a second time.

"What that man should do, I do not know; by what can he be cured?"

Ea answers his son Marduk: "My son, can I add aught that thou dost not know?

Marduk, what can I tell thee that thou dost not know?

What I know, also thou knowest.

My son Marduk, take him to the overseer of the house of perfect purification, Dissolve his spell, release him from the charm, and from the troublesome bodily disease.

Whether it be the curse of his father, Or the curse of his mother, Or the curse of his brother, Or the curse of an unknown,[407]

May the bewitchment through the charm of Ea be peeled off like an onion.

May it be cut off like a date.

May it be removed like a husk.

O power of the spirit of heaven, be thou invoked!

O spirit of earth, be thou invoked!"

The purification by water, which is here only incidentally referred to, is more fully touched upon in other incantations, where Ea tells Marduk that the victim must take

Glittering water, pure water, Holy water, resplendent water, The water twice seven times may he bring, May he make pure, may he make resplendent.

May the evil _rabisu_ depart, May he betake himself outside, May the protecting _shedu_, the protecting _lama.s.su_, Settle upon his body.

Spirit of heaven, be thou invoked!

Spirit of earth, be thou invoked![408]

Still other methods of magical cure besides the use of water and of potions were in vogue. In a tablet of the same ritual to which the last extract belongs, and which is especially concerned with certain cla.s.ses of diseases produced by the demons, the sick man is told to take

White wool, which has been spun into thread, To attach it to his couch[409] in front and at the top, Black wool which has been spun into thread To bind at his left side.

Then follows the incantation which he is to recite:

The evil _ulukku, alu, ekimmu_, The evil _gallu_, the evil G.o.d, _rabisu_, _Labartu, labasu, akhkhazu_, _Lilu_ and _lilit_ and _ardat lili_, Sorcery, charm, bewitchment, The sickness, the cruel artifice, Their head against his head, Their hand against his hand, Their foot against his foot, May they not place, May they never draw nigh.

Spirit of heaven, be thou foresworn!

Spirit of earth, be thou foresworn!

It is interesting to note the introduction of ethical ideas into these texts, despite the primitive character of the beliefs upon which the incantations repose. The possibility was considered that the attack of the demons was a punishment sent in some way for committed sins. The incantation series 'Shurpu' furnishes us with a long list of wrongs for which a person may be held enthralled in the power of the demons or sorcerers. The exorciser in pet.i.tioning that the ban may be relieved, enumerates at length the various causes for which the evil may have been sent:[410]

Has he sinned against a G.o.d, Is his guilt against a G.o.ddess, Is it a wrongful deed against his master, Hatred towards his elder brother, Has he despised father or mother, Insulted his elder sister, Has he given too little,[411]

Has he withheld too much, For "no" said "yes,"

For "yes" said "no"?[412]

Has he used false weights?

Has he taken an incorrect amount, Not taken the correct sum, Has he fixed a false boundary, Not fixed a just boundary, Has he removed a boundary, a limit, or a territory, Has he possessed himself of his neighbor's house, Has he approached his neighbor's wife, Has he shed the blood of his neighbor, Robbed his neighbor's dress?

Was he frank in speaking, But false in heart, Was it "yes" with his mouth, But "no" in his heart?[413]