Demons & the Sources of Evil
Demons, disease-bringers, and the restless dead prowled the unseen margins — held off by prayer, amulet, and rite.
Mesopotamians lived among unseen dangers: classes of demons that prowled the margins, the restless ghosts of the unburied or unhonored dead, and disease-bringing figures like Lamashtu, who threatened mothers and infants. These powers caused illness, nightmares, madness, and misfortune, often acting as the agents through which an angered god's protection, once withdrawn, was breached. Against them people deployed prayers, protective figurines, and the rituals of the exorcist; the fierce demon Pazuzu was even invoked to drive off Lamashtu. This was not mere 'superstition' but a coherent theory of why bad things happen and how order might be restored.
Key passages(20)
(Too broken for translation) To raise from illness; to rescue from hardship; To save from transgression; to save from distress; To raise from a hole; To save from the mouth of catastrophe; [ Whom ] an
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Namtar (Akkadian: ditto), the powerful demon of the grave, (the demon) of the land of no return! Namtar (Akkadian: ditto), courier of the gods, Namtar (Akkadian: ditto), who afflicts the restless man
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[... ] ermerged (Akkadian: and) disturbed the people of the land, above (Akkadian: and) below. [... ] will not appease [... ]... (Akkadian: the land), (but) will display gloom; [... ] (Akkadian: the š
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In the 1st year, the 7th month,.... Excerpting 7 months from the year. For Tašritu (Month VII) 7 days.... Excerpting 7 days from Tašritu. On the 1st day: he should not drive against a dust storm in th
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[ Incantation ]. The sparrow [... ] from within the Apsu. The oath [... ] from within the sky. The ahhāzu - demon (Sum: dudu - demon) [... ] like greenery. Towards the four cardinal points, they are o
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(Sumerian: Incantation). The grievous asakku - demon occurs in a man's body. On the restless man, he covered (him), like a garment: he cannot raise his hand or foot. Ea, the great Prince, lord of the
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[... ] (Akkadian: binding)! The alû - demon (Akkadian: who) covers the man [... ]... this is the binding! Bondages of the land [... ] (that) provoke sickness for the people. The evil [... ] (Akkadian:
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[... ] [... you put ] inside [ his ] ears [ and the evil ] afflicting his head [ will be eradicated ]. [ (If) a man while ] walking down the street tumbles head first, his eyes open wide, he does not
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Incantation: [ It is with you, Marduk ], to heal and keep safe the committing of a beating [... ], (you) who defeated the Asakku-demon. [... ] the taboo of one's god, [ ditto (it is with you, Marduk,
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[... ]... [... ] [... ]... [... ] [... ]... it fell on him [... ] yellow-green: hand of the ardat lilî - demon. [... ]... he says " it (is) him (again)!": the roving bennu - illness seized him, he wil
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[... ]... [... ] Ea the potter moulded [... ] a pot into a potsherd [... ] and mankind died. The reaper of [... ] knows a clay image of mankind.: She broke off (a piece) of clay [... ] (and) threw (it
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(If) a person, the hand of a ghost afflicts him: [... ]... black blood crab's blood: frog [... ] Ištar, that is said BI₂.ZA.ZA (means): muṣaʾʾirānu (that is): frog frog:... [... ]....: he is ill with
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... [... ] and.... After that [... ]. Wherever the door (of the newly built house is), he breaks a pot. [... ]... [... ]. He draws with flour on the right and left. He scrapes off the door frame with
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[... ]... [... ] feet (or) himself [... ] " falling sickness " [... ]. [... ] " falling sickness " [... ] rocks [... ]. [... ] and he sees and [... his ] garment [... ] hurts [... ]. [... ] hurt him;
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[... ]... you pulverize [... ] water. You recite [... ] 3 times towards the centre. You draw entwined [... ] on the outer door and the breast of the foe and the enemy will be turned away. [... ], the
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[... ]... [... ] the Asakku-demon. [..., ditto (it is with you, Marduk, to heal and keep safe) ]; [..., ditto (it is with you, Marduk, to heal and keep safe) ]; To go [... ] of one's friend [..., ditt
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[... ] is cold: hand of Kubu. [... ] his intestines AL.DU (means): his intestines blow. [... ] DU: (syllabic spelling): alāku (means): to swell up (or): to blow. [... ] temple seizes him and (means):
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Letter from Kug-Nanna to the god Ninšubur
Say to to the counsellor who constantly cares for ……, the god who distributes the divine powers, who utters pleasing words, who …… a verdant branch by his head; the linen-clad god of the abzu, the chi
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$ 5 lines traces [... ]... 2 figures on the right and the left [... ] its front... [... ] you bury [... ] of the outer door.... [... ]...:... [... ]... [... ]... [... ] they bear 2 figures of... [...
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