Time
The shortest of ghost prescriptions might take anywhere from a few minutes(assuming the basic ingredients were available) to a few hours. Several of the more overtly “mag- ical” prescriptions, however, require an overnight wait290and, in many of the figurine prescriptions, one of the salves, and one of theNAM.B ´UR.BI’s, at least three days were needed to perform the full ritual.291This length of time is unusual for aNAM.B ´UR.BI, but by no means out of line when compared with the “medical” prescriptions. The ancient Mesopotamians were not inclined to be overly hasty where medicine was concerned, and were prepared to keep administering medicaments for as long as a month before a cure was finally effected.292
Taking exactly three days to manufacture and bury a figurine is easily explicable in “magical” terms(compare directions to recite recitations three times or to tie seven and seven knots for an amulet). The overnight wait, on the other hand, is as likely to have been inspired by the technique of decocting ingredients for potions, salves and the like, a technique not uncommonly employed in ghost prescriptions.293Contrary to what one might suppose, leaving ingredients out “under the stars” is not necessarily a purely “magical” exercise, although there is no reason to doubt that the stars were given credit for the success of the decoction.294It should be noted that, in ghost prescriptions, a night spent under the stars is invariably required when the decoction is made in water or oil, but not when it is made in wine or beer. There is thus good reason to suppose that the reason for waiting so long was to ensure that the ingredients melded properly before the medicine was used.
Most ghost prescriptions give no indication as to what day might be appropriate for a performance.295 One, however, specifies mid-month (the fifteenth).296 The day was apparently chosen because, on that day, “Sˆın and ˇSamaˇs stand together,”297making it possible to enlist the twin gods in magically encircling the patient.298 The other propitious time for performing an expulsion, especially when the ghosts causing the trouble happened to be ghosts of the victim’s family, was the period from the twenty- seventh to the twenty-ninth of Abu, or in the vicinity of the day when the dead returned to receive food offerings.299Otherwise, one presumes that remedies were administered whenever the need arose, that is whenever the patient began to display ghostly symptoms. When performing a burial of a figurine, it was often recommended to begin the central procedure in the late afternoon.300 Given that the sungod ˇSamaˇs was “lord of the ghosts”, what more appropriate time to be sending ghosts down to the Netherworld than at the end of the day with the setting sun? By contrast, salves and potions were best administered first thing in the morning,301this perhaps at least partly for medical reasons, since even today certain drugs are best taken on an empty stomach.
Time and Place of Performance
Place
The place of performance is rarely indicated in the texts. A clearing for the ritual might be made in the steppe, in a secluded place,302or at a canal bank303or the patient might be instructed to bathe himself at a crossroads.304 The roof of the patient’s house305 was a good location for longer rituals since it could thus be guaranteed that the ritual paraphernalia would not be disturbed. Once, the clay pit is said to be in the patient’s house,306perhaps for similar reasons. When a pit needed to be dug for a burial, it would be in the steppe307or at a canal bank308or in the shade of a thornbush.309In three cases, figurines were sent down a river in a sailboat.310In one case, a figurine was immured in the drainage hole of a wall,311and in another four figurines were put to rest in the family grave.312A libation could be poured out in a tavern as part of the dissociative actions at the end of a ritual.313Finally, waste land was an obvious place to dispose of remains.314Otherwise, the healing rite presumably took place in the patient’s house. I say presumably, because the diagnostic series used by ¯aˇsipus seems to have assumed that the healer would typically go to visit the patient, rather than the other way round.315 In sum, with the exception of special circumstances which required specific times and places of performance as detailed above, ghost prescriptions seem not to have stood out particularly from prescriptions designed for medical problems which were not caused by ghosts. That is to say, that the typical ghost prescription was probably administered in the patient’s house after the ¯aˇsipu had confirmed that the patient had developed the requisite symptoms.
LEGOMENA
Division of Labor between Healer and Patient
In all, seventy of the three hundred and fifty-two ghost prescriptions contained instruc- tions as to the exact words which were to be recited either by the ¯aˇsipu or the patient, or, in some cases, by each in turn. Most(58)316of these recitations were in Akkadian; a smaller number(23)317were written in what is often virtually incomprehensible Sume- rian and the remaining(8)318are either mangled Hurrian, or nonsense syllables or some obscure, and presumably equally mangled, non-Mesopotamian language,319 no doubt an attempt to communicate with Netherworld denizens in their own special “language”. A small number of the Akkadian recitations320also read as if they had been translated from poorly understood Sumerian.
Once through was sufficient for most utterances, but repeating the set text three321 or seven times322served to reinforce its efficacy.323In the passages in which it is clearly indicated which person is supposed to recite, it is always the patient who delivers personal appeals to the gods for help,324 and the ¯aˇsipu who is responsible for reciting appeals which refer to the patient in the third person.325This being the expected division of labor, we may safely presume that, even in cases in which the speaker is ambiguously marked,326personal appeals were intended to be delivered by the patient, whereas the appearance of a place for the patient’s name to be inserted is a sign of intended recitation by the ¯aˇsipu.327
The situation with the administration of ritual oaths is rather more complicated. What I am here calling “ritual oath formulae” are conventionally interpreted as “conjurations”. The phrases conventionally translated: “you are conjured/I have conjured you by such and such a god” are here translated: “you are made to swear/I have made you swear by such and such a god”. To “conjure”, according the Oxford English Dictionary, is “to call upon, constrain a devil or spirit to appear to do one’s bidding by the invocation of some sacred name or the use of some sacred ‘spell’ ” or, according to Webster, “to summon a demon, spirit, etc., by a magic spell.”328
Since the object of the exercise in ghost-expelling rituals was not to summon an absent ghost or “constrain him to appear”, but quite the contrary to get rid of one which was already physically present, “conjure” is hardly appropriate. What is contemplated, as the use of the D-stem of the verb tamˆu329shows, is that the ghost is being compelled to swear an oath, to be enforced by the invoked gods, that he will go away and leave his erstwhile victim in peace.330
When the central procedure was a libation performed by the patient, the patient seems to have been the one to administer the ritual oath.331In figurine prescriptions, where the central procedure was performed by the healer, it was usually the healer who administered the ritual oath over the burial or other “send off” for the ghost.332When,
Legomena
however, a recitation was made over the figurine as it was presented to ˇSamaˇs, the patient was not infrequently the one to deliver it333and, in a few cases, such recitations contained ritual oath formulae.334Since, in other texts, the healer seems to have typically both performed the central rite and delivered the recitation, it seems most likely that he was the one to administer the rare example of a ritual oath in other prescriptions.335
In most cases, there was only one recitation, delivered by the ¯aˇsipu336 or, less commonly, by the patient.337In others, two or more recitations were delivered by the patient,338or by the ¯aˇsipu339or alternated between them.340It was considerably more likely that the patient would be called upon to recite in some types of procedures than in others. Of the recitations delivered by the patient, two occur inNAM.B ´UR.BI’s,341eleven in libations,342thirteen in figurines,343and five in magic encirclement prescriptions.344 By contrast, only one accompanies an amulet345 and one a suppository.346 Divided up another way, two were used to treat ghostly screams,347seven were for headaches (plus),348one for inflammation(?) of the ears,349ten for neurological disorders or mental disturbance350and the remaining seventeen for apparitions.351
Relationship Between Legomena and Dromena: General Remarks
Of the fifty-eight Akkadian recitations, two appear in NAM.B ´UR.BI’s,352 and another twenty-three in prescriptions for apparitions.353Seven were directed against headaches (plus),354five were used to treat roaring or inflammation(?) in the ears,355three were for ghostly pains,356 and fourteen were used to treat neurological disorders or mental disturbance.357The remaining four were used to treat unspecified ailments.358
Of the twenty-three Sumerian or bilingual recitations, six appear in prescriptions for apparitions.359Five were directed against headaches(plus),360three were used to treat roaring in the ears,361two were for ghostly pains,362two were used to treat ghosts in the intestines,363one was for numbness,364 and one was used to treat neurological disorders.365The remaining three were used for unspecified ailments.366Of the eight “Subarean”367recitations, seven were used to treat roaring in the ears.368The remaining one accompanied a salve for ghostly pains.369
It would appear from this that recitations were used for apparitions, headaches (plus), ear problems, ghostly pains, numbness and neurological disorders but not, with one exception, for eye, lung or stomach problems caused by ghosts. It is hard not to suppose from this distribution that the decision when to use a recitation and when not to was at least partly based on the probability that the ghost would be in a position to overhear what was being said.(I say overhear because, in many instances, it is a helpful god and not the troublesome ghost who is actually being addressed.)
As might be expected, recitations were also considerably more likely to occur in some types of prescriptions than in others. Two out of twoNAM.B ´UR.BI’s, eight out of eight libations, at least eighteen370out of twenty-one figurines, two out of three surrogates and six out of six magic encirclement prescriptions contained recitations. By contrast, only fourteen out of seventy-three amulets(four of them knotting prescriptions), ten out of sixty-six fumigants, seven out of thirteen suppositories, eight out of seventy-seven salves, one out of thirty-two potions, and none of the forty-one bandages or eighteen
washes was accompanied by legomena.371
The recitation,(or the primary recitation if there was more than one) was delivered over the key element in the ritual. For the figurine manipulation texts, this was the figurine, which was raised up372 or formally presented to the gods373 or set up in some way374 or ritually buried375 while the recitation was delivered. In some cases, a secondary recitation was delivered over the figurine376or over a reed torch377or over a supplementary libation378 or over the burial379 or as part of the final dissociative actions.380In the libation prescriptions, the primary recitation was usually381delivered by the patient while lifting up the libation vessel.382 In one case, the ¯aˇsipu lifted up the libation vessel while the patient recited.383Supplemental recitations were delivered before commencing the rite384 or over the libation vessel,385 or in connection with dissociative rites completing the dromena.386
When amulet preparation prescriptions contained a recitation, it was delivered over the amulet.387Similarly, with fumigants,388salves,389potions,390and suppositories.391 In the knot-tying prescriptions, the recitation was delivered as each knot was tied.392 In magic encirclement prescriptions, the recitations framed the arrangement of the magic encirclement393or, in a few cases, served to form it.394In theNAM.B ´UR.BI’s, the recitations accompanied the offerings.395
Akkadian Recitations
The recitations in Akkadian can be divided into two broad categories: prayers to gods asked to help in the proceedings396 and addresses to the ghost or ghosts causing the problems.397The latter usually consist of ritual oath formulae, with or without a short introduction,398and orders to the ghost to make himself scarce.399
Elements not Specific to Ghost Rituals: Ritual Oath Formulae
In ritual oath formulae,400 a whole host of gods and natural forces were asked for assistance in ensuring that the troublesome spirit who was being subjected to the oath kept his word, took whatever was offered to him, and went his way. Several fairly lengthy examples are to be found in ghost prescriptions.
“I have made you swear(by) heaven and earth, (by) [Anu] and Antu, (by) Ellil and Ninlil, I have made you swear(by) Sˆın, ˇSamaˇs and Adad, valiant gods. I have made you swear(by) (tuttubu-style) c[loa]k, (by) incense and flour. I have made you swear(by) [. . . (by canebrake(?)] and s[w]amp, (by) the lowlands by the river and(by) well – be far away, be far away, [be distant, be distant! May you keep] your distance. Should the south wind blow, you all shall n[ot be blown to me]. (Should) [the nort]h [wind] (blow), you all shall n[ot] be blown to me. (Should) [the nort]h [wind] (blow), [you all shall not be blown to me.] (Should) the west wind(blow), [you all shall not be blown to me.401Be far away, be] far away, be distant, be distant!”402
Legomena
“(By) the lord of gods have I made you swear, (by) Duri (and) Dari, (by) La˙mu (and) La˙amu, (by) Alala (and) Belili, (by) shade, (by) daylight, (by) magic heaps of flour,(by) blazing Girra, (by) pure Nusku, (by) Sˆın, lord of the crown, (by) ˇSamaˇs, judge of truth, I have made you swear by catch water and wadi; by mountains(and) rivers, are you made to swear. (By) . . ., (by) . . . of the torch of the luminary Sˆın. . ., (by) ˇSakkan . . . desirous of plum trees(?), (by) Ebi˙, bolt of the lands, are you made to swear.(By) the lord of gods have I made you swear. May you be loosed; may you be removed; may you be removed.”403 The object of these lists was apparently to get as many divine guarantors as possible, but there is a discernible pattern of enlisting the forces of heaven(as represented by the triad Ea, ˇSamaˇs and Marduk) on the one hand and the forces of the earth (as represented by various primordial and/or Netherworld gods, mountains, rivers etc.) on the other.
“(By) the king, you are made to swear. <(By) the king, you are made to swear.> (By) the great exalted lord, king of the gods, Marduk, you are made to swear. Release! Evil, you must not approach!”404
“You are made to swear by Abatu the queen, by Ereˇskigal, ditto, by Ningeˇstinanna, the scribe of the gods, whose stylus is(made of) lapis (and) carnelian.”405 “(ˇSamaˇs), let him be put under your oath; let him be put under the oath of Ea
and Asallu˙i.406 <Let him be put under [the oath of the go]ds [of heaven and earth].>407Let him not come near me; let him not come close to me;[let him not approach me]; let him not reach me. May he cross the river. May he go across the mountain.[May he withdraw 3,600 double] hours’ distance from my body; may he go up like smoke to heaven.”408
Similarly, when the patient wished to curse the ghost, he asked the assistance of many different gods in achieving his aim. The last curse in the list is particularly incongruous. “Let ˇSamaˇs, the king of justice, overthrow[you the gho]st. [Le]t the wisest of the gods, Marduk, lead(you) away. [Let] Ningeˇstinanna, . . . [May she not let you drink col]d water from a pipe (laid in) the earth. [Let] Ningizzida, chair bearer of the broad Netherworld,. . . [Let Usm¯u], sukkallu-official of Eridu, lead (you) away.. . ., [female] herald, foremost of the . . .[Let . . .] lord of the weapon – [cut] your throat.”409
Prayers
As a general rule, ancient Mesopotamian prayers to gods consisted of epithets, appeals for help or pity from the god, requests for justice in the form of a solution to the problem at hand, and promises of gratitude.410 In this regard, the prayers embedded in ghost prescriptions are hardly unconventional. Witness such passages as the following.
“To my left is Sˆın, moon crescent of the great heavens. To my right is the father of the black headed ones, ˇSamaˇs, the judge, both gods, fathers of the great gods, makers of decisions for the widespread people. . . I am truly grieved, confused and troubled. <I kneel?> for your judgment; save me so that I may not be wronged.”411
“Girra, you are mighty, you are furious. [You make] gods and malku-demons [go aright]. You decide the case of the wronged man and woman. Stand forth [at my case] and, like the hero ˇSamaˇs, [set]tle my case; make a decision about me. Remove [the evil ghost] from my body so that I may praise your great godship.”412
“Ea, king who created mankind, ˇSamaˇs, judge who makes the teeming people go aright, Marduk, exorcist of the gods, noble god, those who have been angry with me for some time. . . I have cried out to you, great gods – you, for your part, stand by me and hear what I have to say.(My) god and goddess who have been angry with me for some time; on this day, let them stand before you; let them come to be at peace with me. Ea,(it is) your magic; ˇSamaˇs, (it is) your magical practice; let it be kept away by your incantation.”413
“Now, in the presence of your great godship I. . . day and night. . . . ˇSamaˇs, <on this day> saving is established before you. Ea and Asallu˙i sent me to you. I came for(you) to give (me) life. Give me my life. Pronounce my soul’s life.”414 “[The . . . of the] widespread [heavens(?)], light of the Netherworld – ˇSamaˇs the judge; mighty[lord, Ea, one in whom] Eridu [tr]usts; sagest in the universe, Marduk, the powerful,[lor]d of the Eengurra; Ea, ˇSamaˇs, (and) Marduk – help me so that I may prosper with your assent. . . [Ea, ˇSamaˇs], and Marduk, help me
. . . so that those who see me may praise you . . . I have turned to you – give me
life.”415
Usually these sections are brief; many of the prayers contain nothing other than a few divine epithets.416In only two cases, both involving a patient suffering from neurological disorders, are the prayers particularly long winded.
“Powerful, exalted lord, light of the lands, foremost of the gods, judge of truth, who makes the people go aright, who explores the(four) quarters, judge of the things above, who makes the things below go aright, king of heaven and earth, lord of the fates, unbribable judge, one who makes mankind go aright, your counsel is more pre-eminent than the Igigi; you keep an eye on the wicked and evil as they deserve;(from) the zenith to the horizon, your shining brilliance is let loose; you destroy the evil, the bad, the enemy; you rise and control all the lands from the sky and your net catches the evil ones; you open the gate of the widespread earth; you make the light shine; you make a clear verdict for the Anunnaki; you assign lots to the Igigi; ˇSamaˇs, your torch covers the lands; at