The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria

M >> Morris Jastrow >> The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria

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The burning of images and witches, or of other objects, being so
frequently resorted to as a means of destroying baneful influences, the
god of fire occupies a rank hardly secondary to Ea. Here, too, the
mystical element involved in the use of fire adds to the effectiveness
of the method. Water and fire are the two great sources of symbolical
purification that we meet with in both primitive and advanced rituals of
the past.[366] The fire-god appears in the texts under the double form
of Gibil and Nusku. The former occurs with greater frequency than the
latter, but the two are used so interchangeably as to be in every
respect identical. The amalgamation of the two may indeed be due to the
growth of the incantation rituals of Babylon. In some districts Gibil
was worshipped as the special god of fire, in others Nusku, much as we
found the sun-god worshipped under the names of _Shamas_ and _Utu_, and
similarly in the case of other deities. On the supposition that the
incantation rituals are the result of a complicated literary process,
involving the collection of all known formulas, and the bringing of them
into some kind of connection with one another, this existence of a
twofold fire-god finds a ready explanation. At Babylon we know Nusku was
worshipped as the fire-god. Gibil belongs therefore to another section,
perhaps to one farther south. He is in all probability the older god of
the two, and the preponderating occurrence of his name in the texts may
be taken as a proof of the ancient origin of those parts in which it
occurs. There being no special motive why he should be supplanted by
Nusku, his preeminence was not interfered with through the remodeling to
which the texts were subjected. While bearing in mind that Gibil and
Nusku are two distinct deities, we may, for the sake of convenience,
treat them together under the double designation of Gibil-Nusku.

Gibil and Nusku are called 'sons of Anu'; Gibil, indeed, is spoken of as
the first-born of heaven, and the image of his father. The conception is
probably mythological, resting upon the belief in the heavenly origin of
fire held by all nations. Gibil-Nusku is exalted as the 'lofty one'
among the gods, whose command is supreme. He is at once the great
messenger of the gods and their chief counsellor. Clothed in splendor,
his light is unquenchable. A large variety of other attributes are
assigned to him, all emphasizing his strength, his majesty, his
brilliancy, and the terror that he is able to inspire. The importance of
fire to mankind made Gibil-Nusku the founder of cities, and in general
the god of civilization. As the fire-god, Gibil-Nusku is more especially
invoked at the symbolical burning of the images of the witches. With a
raised torch in one hand, the bewitched person repeats the incantation
recited by the exorciser. Frequently the instruction is added that the
incantation is to be recited in a whisper, corresponding to the soft
tones in which the demons, witches, and ghosts are supposed to convey
their messages. The incantations in which the fire-god is exalted in
grandiloquent terms belong to the finest productions of this branch of
the religious literature. The addresses to Gibil-Nusku are veritable
hymns that are worthy of better associations. One of these addresses
begins:

Nusku, great god, counsellor of the great gods,[367]
Guarding the sacrificial gifts[368] of all the heavenly spirits,
Founder of cities, renewer of the sanctuaries,
Glorious day, whose command is supreme,
Messenger of Anu, carrying out the decrees of Bel,
Obedient to Bel, counsellor, mountain[369] of the earthly spirits,
Mighty in battle, whose attack is powerful,
Without thee no table is spread in the temple.
Without thee, Shamash, the judge executes no judgment.

I, thy servant so and so, the son of so and so,[370]
Whose god is so and so, and whose goddess so and so,[371]
I turn to thee, I seek thee, I raise my hands to thee,
I prostrate myself before thee.
Burn the sorcerer and sorceress,
May the life of my sorcerer and sorceress be destroyed.
Let me live that I may exalt thee and proudly pay homage to thee.

This incantation, we are told, is to be recited in a whisper, in the
presence of an image of wax. The image is burnt as the words are spoken,
and as it is consumed the power of the witch is supposed to wane. The
reference to the indispensable presence of the fire-god in the temple is
rather interesting. Sacrifice always entailed the use of fire. To
whatever deity the offering was made, Gibil-Nusku could not in any case
be overlooked. The fire constituted the medium, as it were, between the
worshipper and the deity addressed. The fire-god is in truth the
messenger who carries the sacrifice into the presence of the god
worshipped. Even Shamash, though himself personifying fire, is forced to
acknowledge the power of Gibil-Nusku, who, we are told elsewhere, is
invoked, even when sacrifices are made to the sun-god.

Besides being the son of Anu, Gibil-Nusku is brought into association
with the two other members of the triad, Bel and Ea. He is the messenger
of Bel and the son of Ea. The former conception is again mythical. Fire
is also the instrument of the gods, and Nusku is particularly called the
messenger of Bel because Bel is one of the highest gods. In reality he
is the messenger of all the gods, and is frequently so designated. His
connection with Ea, on the other hand, seems to be the result of the
systematizing efforts of the schoolmen. Ea occupying the chief rank in
the incantations, the subsidiary role of Gibil-Nusku is indicated by
making him, just as Marduk, the son of Ea. In this way, too, the two
great means of purification--water and fire--are combined under a single
aspect. The combination was all the more appropriate since the fire-god,
as the promoter of culture, shared with Ea the protection of humanity.
Accordingly, all the titles of Ea are bestowed in one place or the other
upon Gibil-Nusku. But, after all, Gibil-Nusku is merely a phase of the
solar deity,[372] and hence by the side of this fire-god, Shamash and
the other solar deities, though in a measure subsidiary to Gibil-Nusku,
are frequently invoked. Shamash, as the great judge, was a personage
especially appropriate for occasions which involved a decision in favor
of the bewitched and against the witches or demons. Gibil-Nusku, like
Shamash, is exalted as the great judge who comes to the aid of the
oppressed. Similarly, the fire-god receives the attributes belonging to
Ninib, Nergal, and the various phases of the latter, such as
Lugal-edinna, Lugal-gira, and Alamu. These gods, then, and their
consorts, because of their relationship to the fire-god, are introduced
into the incantations, and what is more to the point, the various phases
of Nergal and Ninib are introduced without any trace of the distinctions
that originally differentiated them from one another.[373] Besides the
great solar deities, minor ones, as Nin-gish-zida[374] and I-shum, are
frequently added in long lists of protecting spirits to whom the appeal
for help is directed. The attempt is also made to illustrate their
relationship to the great fire-god. So I-shum becomes the messenger of
Nusku, while Nin-gish-zida (though in the days of Gudea a male
deity[375]) appears to be regarded, as Tallqvist has suggested, as the
consort of Nusku.

Night being a favorite time for the recital of the incantations, it was
natural that the orb of night, the god Sin, should be added to the
pantheon of the exorciser. Though playing a minor role, the moon-god is
never omitted when a long series of protecting spirits is invoked. But
there are occasions when Sin becomes the chief deity invoked. Reference
has already been made to the general terror that moon eclipses inspired.
The disappearance of the moon was looked upon as a sign of the god's
displeasure or as a defeat of the moon in a conflict with other planets.
Disaster of some kind--war, pestilence, internal disturbances--was sure
to follow upon an eclipse, unless the anger of the god could be appeased
or his weakness overcome. In the case of such general troubles affecting
the whole country, it is the kings themselves who seek out the priests.
Rituals were prepared to meet the various contingencies. The king begins
the ceremony by a prayer addressed to Sin. One of these prayers
begins:[376]

O Sin, O Nannar! mighty one ...
O Sin, thou who alone givest light,
Extending light to mankind,
Showing favor to the black-headed ones,[377]
Thy light shines in heaven ...
Thy torch is brilliant as fire;
Thy light fills the broad earth.

...

Thy light is glorious as the Sun ...
Before thee the great gods lie prostrate;
The fate of the world rests with thee.

An eclipse has taken place, portending evil to the country, and
libations have been poured out on days carefully selected as favorable
ones. The king continues:

I have poured out to thee, with wailing,[378] a libation at night;
I have offered thee a drink-offering with shouts;
Prostrate and standing erect[379] I implore thee.

With the prayer to Sin, appeals to other gods and also goddesses are
frequently combined,--to Marduk, Ishtar, Tashmitum, Nabu, Ramman, and
the like. The incantations themselves, consisting of fervent appeals to
remove the evil, actual or portending, are preceded by certain
ceremonies,--the burning of incense, the pouring out of some drink, or
by symbolical acts, as the binding of cords; and the god is appealed to
once more to answer the prayer.

Again, just as Gibil-Nusku entails the invocation of a large variety of
solar deities, so Ea, as the water-god, leads to the introduction of
various water-gods and spirits. Perhaps the most prominent of these is
the god Naru, whose name, signifying 'river,'[380] is clearly the
personification of the watery element, though of the minor bodies of
water. Next in order comes the goddess Nin-akha-kuddu.[381] She is
invoked as 'goddess of purification.' From her association in several
passages with the great deep, and with the city of Eridu--metaphorically
used for the great deep--one may be permitted to conclude that she, too,
was conceived of as a water-god or a water-spirit. She is 'the lady of
spells,' who is asked to take possession of the body of the sufferer,
and thus free him from the control of demons or witches. By the side of
this goddess, Gula, 'the great physician,' is often appealed to. Again,
the demons being in some cases the ghosts of the departed, or such as
hover around graves, Nin-kigal, or Allatu, the mistress of the lower
world, is an important ally, whose aid is desired in the struggle
against the evil spirits. Lastly, it is interesting to note that
Izdubar, or Gilgamesh, the famous hero of the great Babylonian epic,
occurs also in incantations[382]--a welcome indication of the antiquity
of the myth, and the proof, at the same time, that the epic is built on
a foundation of myth. From the mythological side, Gilgamesh appears to
be a solar deity. The connection of a solar god with fire would account
for his appearance in the magical texts. However obscure some of the
points connected with the gods of the incantation texts may be, so much
is certain, that the two factors of water and fire, and the part played
by these elements in the ceremonies, control and explain the choice of
most of the gods and goddesses introduced, though--be it expressly
noted--not of all occurring in the magical texts.

The Ritual and Formulas.

Coming to the incantations themselves, they can best be characterized as
appeals interspersed with words of a more or less mystic character. The
force and efficacy of the incantation lie not so much in the meaning of
the words uttered, as in the simple fact that they _are_ to be uttered.
These incantations were combined into a ritual, and indications were
given of the occasions on which the incantations were to be used. An
analysis of one of these rituals will serve to illustrate this branch of
the religious literature of the Babylonians. I choose for this purpose
the series known as Maklu, _i.e._, Burning,[383] the interpretation of
which has been so considerably advanced by Dr. Tallqvist's admirable
work. The first tablet of the series opens with an invocation to the
gods of night. After complaining of his sad condition, the bewitched
individual continues as follows:

Arise ye great gods, hear my complaint;
Grant me justice, take cognizance of my condition.
I have made an image of my sorcerer and sorceress;
I have humbled myself before you and bring to you my cause
Because of the evil they (_i.e._, the witches) have done,
Of the impure things which they have handled,[384]
May she[385] die! Let me live!
May her charm, her witchcraft, her sorcery (?) be broken.
May the plucked sprig (?) of the _binu_ tree purify me.
May it release me; may the evil odor[386] of my mouth be scattered to
the winds.
May the _mashtakal_ herb[387] which fills the earth cleanse me.
Before you let me shine like the _kankal_ herb.
Let me be as brilliant and pure as the _lardu_ herb.
The charm of the sorceress is evil;
May her words return to her mouth,[388] her tongue be cut off.
Because of her witchcraft, may the gods of night smite her,
The three watches of the night[389] break her evil charm.
May her mouth be wax[390] (?), her tongue honey.
May the word causing my misfortune that she has spoken dissolve like
wax (?).
May the charm that she has wound up melt like honey,
So that her magic knot be cut in twain, her work destroyed,
All her words scattered across the plains
By the order that the gods have given.

The section closes with the ordinary request of the exorciser to the
victim: "Recite this incantation." It will be seen how closely the
principle of sympathetic magic is followed. The individual having been
bewitched by means of certain herbs concocted probably into potions,
other herbs are prepared by the exorciser as an antidote. The emphasis
laid upon purification, too, is noteworthy. There are numerous synonyms
employed for which it is difficult to find the adequate equivalent in
English. The terms reach out beyond the literal to the symbolical
purification. The victim wishes to become pure, cleansed of all
impurities, so that he may be resplendent as the gods are pure,
brilliant, and glorious, pure as the water, brilliant and glorious as
the fire.

The length of the formulas varies. Often they consist only of a few
lines. So the one immediately following appeals to Gilgamesh in these
words:

Earth, Earth, Earth,
Gilgamesh is the master of your witchcraft.
What you have done, I know;
What I do, you know not.
All the mischief wrought by my sorceresses is destroyed, dissolved--
is gone.

At times the conditions under which the witches are pictured as acting
are very elaborate. They are represented as dwelling in places with
which mythological conceptions are connected; they are ferried across
the river separating their city from human habitations; they are
protected against attacks by the walls which surround their habitations.
To effect a release, the exorcisers, it would appear, made
representations by means of drawings on clay of these habitations of the
witches. They thereupon symbolically cut off the approaches and laid
siege to the towns. This, at least, appears to be the meaning of an
incantation beginning:

My city is Sappan,[391] my city is Sappan;
The gates of my city Sappan are two,
One towards sunrise, the other towards sunset.[392]
I carry a box, a pot with _mashtakal_ herbs;
To the gods of heaven I offer water;
As I for you secure your purification,
So do you purify me!

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 gods, 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-god, Nusku (or Girru), of which the 'Maklu' series
naturally furnishes many specimens,[398] are all pretty much alike. I
choose one which illustrates 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-god, 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-god],
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 gods, be ye foresworn.
By the fire-god, be ye foresworn.
From my body be ye restrained!

Repetition 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 illustration of the importance attributed to such repetition is
furnished by the eighth and last tablet of the 'Maklu' series. It
consists of seven divisions, each beginning with a repetition 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-god that a specimen
from another series, to illustrate 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 god has departed from his body,[405]
His goddess 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 _lamassu_,
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 classes
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 god, _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 petitioning 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 god,
Is his guilt against a goddess,
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?