WORSHIP IN MESOPOTAMIA
Bead dedicated to Ninlil
Individual Mesopotamians were supposed to pray daily to deities of their choice and honor them with sacrifices, hymns and incense offerings. According to one Mesopotamian Counsels of Wisdom axiom: "Reverence begets favor, sacrifice prolongs life, and prayer atones for guilt.”
Ira Spar of the Metropolitan Museum of Art wrote: “While the great gods of the pantheon were worshipped by priests at rituals in cultic centers, ordinary people had no direct contact with these deities. In their homes, they worshipped personal gods, who were conceived as divine parents and were thought to be deities who could intercede on their behalf to ensure health and protection for their families.” [Source: Spar, Ira. Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 2009, metmuseum.org]
The religious services were incessant. Every day the sacrifice was offered, accompanied by a special ritual, and the festivals and fasts filled up each month of the year. There were services even for the night as well as for the day. The new moons were strictly observed, and the seventh day was one of solemn rest. The very name Sabattu or “Sabbath” was derived by the native etymologists from the Sumerian words sa, “heart,” and bat, “to end,” because it was “a day of rest for the heart.” Not only were there Sabbaths on the seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first, and twenty-eighth days of the month, there was also a Sabbath on the nineteenth, that being the end of the seventh week from the first day of the previous month. On these Sabbaths no work was permitted to be done. [Source: “Babylonians And Assyrians: Life And Customs”, Rev. A. H. Sayce, Professor of Assyriology at Oxford, 1900]
Wealthy worshipers placed inscribed jewelry and bowls next to the statues and other devotees submitted letters of complaint. During prayers, the faithful kneeled, prostrated themselves and rose holding one hand in front of the mouth or raising both hands in the air. Many people kept statuettes of gods in their house. Many houses had small niches to keep them.
One letter from Babylon that refers to religious processions honoring gods goes: “To the son of the king my lord, thy servant Nebo-sum-iddina: salutation to the son of the king my lord for ever and ever! May Nebo and Marduk be gracious unto the son of the king my lord! On the third day of the month Iyyar the city of Calah will consecrate the couch of Nebo, and the god will enter the bed-chamber. On the fourth day Nebo will return. The son of the king my lord has (now) received the news. I am the governor of the temple of Nebo thy god, and will (therefore) go. At Calah the God will come forth from the interior of the palace, (and) from the interior of the palace will go to the grove. A sacrifice will be offered. The charioteer of the gods will go from the stable of the gods, will take the god out of it, will carry him in procession and bring him back. This is the course of the procession. Of the vase-bearers, whoever has a sacrifice to make will offer it. Whoever offers up one qa of his food may enter the temple of Nebo. May the offerers fully accomplish the ordinances of the gods, to the life and health of the son of the king my lord. What (commands) has the son of the king my lord to send me? May Bel and Nebo, who granted help in the month Sebat, protect the life of the son of the king my lord, and cause thy sovereignty to continue to the end of time!” [Source: “Babylonians And Assyrians: Life And Customs”, Rev. A. H. Sayce, Professor of Assyriology at Oxford, 1900]
Websites on Mesopotamia: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Mesopotamia sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; International Association for Assyriology iaassyriology.com ; Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, University of Chicago isac.uchicago.edu ; University of Chicago Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations nelc.uchicago.edu ; University of Pennsylvania Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations (NELC) nelc.sas.upenn.edu; Penn Museum Near East Section penn.museum; Ancient History Encyclopedia ancient.eu.com/Mesopotamia ; British Museum britishmuseum.org ; Louvre louvre.fr/en/explore ; Metropolitan Museum of Art metmuseum.org/toah ; Ancient Near Eastern Art Metropolitan Museum of Art metmuseum.org; Iraq Museum theiraqmuseum ABZU etana.org/abzubib; Archaeology Websites Archaeology News Report archaeologynewsreport.blogspot.com ; Anthropology.net anthropology.net : archaeologica.org archaeologica.org ; Archaeology in Europe archeurope.com ; Archaeology magazine archaeology.org ; HeritageDaily heritagedaily.com; Live Science livescience.com/
Sins and Divine Dreams in Mesopotamia
Babylonians described a sinner as "one who has eaten what is taboo to his god or goddess, who has 'no' for 'yes' or has said 'yes' for 'no,' who has pointed his finger (falsely accusing) a fellow man...caused evil to be spoken, has judged incorrectly, oppressed the weak, estranged a son from his father or a friend from a friend, who has nor freed the captive..." Sins could be absolved by a penitential psalm, prayer or lament or an expiatory sacrifice in which a "lamb is substitute for man." Demons were exorcized by a priest who transferred the demon to a wax or wooden figure that was thrown in a fire. [“World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder, Facts on File Publications, New York]
The King, it was laid down, “must not eat flesh cooked at the fire or in the smoke; must not change his clothes; must not put on white garments; must not offer sacrifices; must not drive in his chariot; or issue royal decrees.” Even the prophet was forbidden to practise augury or give medicine to the sick. From time to time extraordinary days of public humiliation or thanksgiving were ordered to be observed. These were prescribed by the government and were generally the result of some political crisis or danger. When the Assyrian empire, for instance, was attacked by the nations of the north in the early part of Esar-haddon's reign, public prayers and fasts “for one hundred days and one hundred nights” were ordained by the “prophets” in the hope that the Sun-god might “remove the sin” of the people and stave off the threatened attack. [Source: “Babylonians And Assyrians: Life And Customs”, Rev. A. H. Sayce, Professor of Assyriology at Oxford, 1900]
Ilana Herzig wrote in Archaeology magazine: Ancient Mesopotamians believed that if they followed a proper set of instructions, they would have dreams that included contact with the gods. Assyriologist Aino Hätinen of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich has studied a set of cuneiform tablets featuring guidelines for conjuring this sort of dream. The earliest of the tablets dates to around 1100 to 800 B.C., and the instructions are referenced in tablets dating to as late as the first century B.C. Often written by royal advisers, scholars, and scribes considered experts in omen literature, the texts were discovered in the ancient cities of Nineveh, Assur, Uruk, Sippar, and Babylon, in what is now Iraq. Hätinen has found that the texts offer counsel that varies based on the 12 lunar months of the year. “Usually it’s centered around a meal — the things you should eat, the clothes you should wear,” she says. “It also includes instructions about mood, whether to have sex, or where to sleep.” [Source: Ilana Herzig, Archaeology magazine, January/February 2024]
One text offers this advice: “A man should smear himself (with dirt), he should anoint himself with oil. He should stay gloomily silent.…He should sleep in a passage.” Following this sort of guidance, the writers claim, will invoke auspicious visions enabling people to commune with a range of gods — whether personal deities, malevolent divinities, or gods of the netherworld. People could even tailor their behavior to gain an audience with the deities of their choice. “Instructions to sleep on the roof allow you to communicate with the gods of the night,” says Hätinen. “You don’t have to go to an altar in a sanctuary, you can have this direct contact just by looking to the sky.”
Babylonian Worship: a Man and His God
legend of Ishtar appearing to Sargon
Babylonian Worship: A man and his god: “1-9 A person should steadfastly proclaim the exaltedness of his god. A young man should devoutly praise the words of his god; the people living in the righteous Land should unravel them like a thread. May the balaj singer assuage the spirit of his neighbour and friend. May it soothe their hearts, bring forth ......, utter ......, and measure out ....... Let his mouth shaping a lament soothe the heart of his god, for a man without a god does not obtain food. [Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk]
“10-34 There is a young man who does not wickedly put his efforts into evil murder, yet he spends the time in grief, asag illness and bitter suffering. The fate demon has brought need and ...... close to him. Bitter ...... has confused his judgment of it, and covered his ....... Behind his back they have overpowered him like a ....... Before his god the youth, the young man weeps bitterly over the malice he has suffered. He is reverent and performs obeisance. He speaks ...... of his suffering. In his total exhaustion ......, ...... he weeps. ......, ...... he weeps bitterly. He was able to fill the ...... for him. He ...... to him and addresses him: "Grief ......, despair ......, and ...... has been put in place. I am a young man, I am knowledgeable, but what I know does not come out right with me. The truth which I speak has been turned into a lie. A man of deceit has overwhelmed me like the south wind and prostrated me before him. My unwitting arm has shamed me before you. You have doled out to me suffering ever anew. When I go into the house I despair. When I, a young man, go out into the street, I am depressed.
“35-63 "My righteous shepherd has become angry with me, a youth, and looked upon me with hostility. My herdsman has plotted malice against me although I am not his enemy. My companion does not say a true word to me. My friend falsifies my truthfully spoken words. A man of deceit has spoken insulting words to me while you, my god, do not respond to him and you carry off my understanding. An ill-wisher has spoken insulting words to me -- he angered me, was like a storm and created anguish. I am wise -- why am I tied up with ignorant youths? I am discerning -- why am I entangled among ignorant men? "Food is all about, yet my food is hunger. When shares were allotted to all the people, my allotted share was suffering. A brother ...... insulted me, created anguish. He ...... my ......, raised up ...... and carried off ....... A hostile ...... without wisdom wrote on clay . He sought the ...... of the journey. He cut down the ...... of the road like a tree. He ...... the supervisor and ...... my steward. “My god, ...... before you. I would speak to you: my tears are excess and my words are supplication. I would tell you about it, would unravel to you like a thread the evil of my path. ...... the confusion of what I have done . Let the wise ...... in my plans; tears will not cease. I am less qualified than my friend; I am inferior to my companion.
Female statuette from Akkad
“64-81 "Now, let my mother who bore me not cease lamenting for me before you. Let my sister, truly a sweet-voiced balaj singer, narrate tearfully to you the deeds by which I was overpowered. Let my wife voice my suffering ...... to you. Let the singer expert in chanting unravel my bitter fate to you like a thread. "My god, the day shines bright over the Land, but for me the day is black. The bright day has become a ...... day. Tears, lament, anguish and despair are lodged within me. Suffering overwhelms me like a weeping child. In the hands of the fate demon my appearance has been altered, my breath of life carried away. The asag demon, the evil one, bathes in my body. "In the overwhelming bitterness of my path I never see a good dream -- but unfavourable visions daily never stop for me. Anguish embraced me though I am not its wife and ....... Grief spread its lap for me though I am not its small child. Lamentation sweeps over me as if it were a southerly wind-storm and ....... My brother cried "Alas"."... 10 lines fragmentary 5 lines missing...
“97-105 "I weep ...... and ....... My god, you who are my father who begot me, lift up my face to you. Righteous cow, god of mercy and supplication, let me acquire noble strength. For how long will you be uncaring for me and not look after me? Like a bull I would rise to you but you do not let me rise, you do not let me take the right course. The wise heroes say true and right words: "Never has a sinless child been born to its mother; making an effort does not bring success ; a sinless workman has never existed from of old."
“106-129 "My god -- the ...... of forgetting which I have ...... against you, the ...... of releasing which I have prepared before you -- may you utter words of grace on a young man who knows the holy words "May he not consume me". When the day is not bright, in my vigour, in my sleep, may I walk before you. May I ...... my impurities and uncleanliness in the health of the city. May you utter words of grace on him who knows the words "When anger and the evil heart came about". Indeed he speaks joyously to him who knows the words "When fear and ...... burned". "My god, ...... after you have made me know my sins, at the city's gate I would declare them, ones forgotten and ones visible. I, a young man, will declare my sins before you. In the assembly may tears rain like drizzle. In your house may my supplicating mother weep for me. May your holy heart have mercy and compassion for me, a youth. May your heart, an awe-inspiring wave, be restored towards me, the young man."
“120-145The man's god heard his bitter weeping. After his lamentation and prolonged wailing had soothed the heart of his god towards the young man, his god accepted the righteous words, the holy words he had spoken. The words of supplication which the young man had mastered, the holy prayers, delighted his god like fine oil. His god stretched his hand away from the hostile words. He ...... like rain the anguish which had embraced him though he was not its wife ...... and scattered to the winds the grief which had spread its arms round him. He let the lamentation which had swept over him as if it were a southerly wind-storm be dissipated. He eradicated the fate demon which had been lodged in his body. He turned the young man's suffering into joy. He set by him as guardian a benevolent protective demon that keeps guard at the mouth . He gave him kindly protective goddesses. The young man steadfastly proclaims the exaltedness of his god. He brings forth ...... and makes known ....... He refreshes himself ....... He trusts in you and ......."I have set my sights on you as on the rising sun. Like (the Sabbath) Ninmah ......, you have let me exert great power. My god, you looked on me from a distance with your good life-giving eyes. May I proclaim well your ...... and holy strength. May your ...... heart be restored towards me. May you absolve my sin. May your heart be soothed towards me." Jicgijal of the lament of supplication for a man's god.
Priests in Mesopotamia
Sumerian high priests were believed to be mouthpieces of the gods. They presided over rituals and often divined the future by reading the entrails of sheep or goats. Hammurabi Code of the Babylonians addresses a class of persons devoted to the service of a god, as vestals or hierodules. The vestals were vowed to chastity, lived together in a great nunnery, were forbidden to open or enter a tavern, and together with other votaries had many privileges.
Temple priests and priestess lived in apartment in the temple. The sex of the overseer was usually opposite that of the major deity in the temple. Under the main priest or priestess was of courtier of minor priests, each of whom performed a different task at the temple such as sacrificing, anointing or pouring libations. Quarters for sacred prostitutes, temple slaves and eunuchs were placed around the temple. ["World Religions" edited by Geoffrey Parrinder, Facts on File Publications, New York]
Morris Jastrow said: “The power thus lodged in the priests of Babylonia and Assyria was enormous. They virtually held in their hands the life and death of the people, and while the respect for authority, the foundation of all government, was profoundly increased by committing the functions of the judges to the servitors of the gods, yet the theory upon which the dispensation of justice rested, though a logical outcome of the prevailing religious beliefs, was fraught with grave dangers. A single unjust decision was sufficient to shake the confidence not merely in the judge but in the god whose mouthpiece he was supposed to be. An error on the part of a judge demonstrated, at all events, that the god no longer cherished him; he had forfeited the god’s assistance. [Source: Morris Jastrow, Lectures more than ten years after publishing his book “Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria” 1911]
“Accordingly, one of the first provisions in the Hammurabi code ordains that a judge who renders a false decision is to be removed from office. There was no court of appeal in those days; nor any need of one, under the prevailing acceptance of legal decisions. The existence of this provision may be taken as an indication that the incident was not infrequent. On the other hand, the thousands of legal documents that we now have from almost all periods of Babylonian-Assyrian history furnish eloquent testimony to the scrupulous care with which the priests, as judges, sifted the evidence brought before them, and rendered their decisions in accordance with this evidence.”
See Separate Article: MESOPOTAMIAN TEMPLES: PARTS, ACTIVITIES, PRIESTS, FEES africame.factsanddetails.com
Solar Cults in Mesopotamia
Shamash, the sun god
Morris Jastrow said: “After having thus sketched in some detail the character and development of Anu, Enlil, Ea, Ninib, Nebo, and Marduk, we can be briefer in our consideration of the remaining chief figures in the Babylonian-Assyrian pantheon. [Source: Morris Jastrow, Lectures more than ten years after publishing his book “Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria” 1911]
“The importance of solar cults in an agricultural community explains the circumstance that we encounter so many centres in which the chief deity is a sun-god. It has been already pointed out that the god who was probably the original patron deity of Nippur—Ninib—was a solar deity, that Anu of Uruk was such a deity and Marduk likewise, and that Ninib, becoming in consequence of the pre-eminent religious position of Nippur the chiefest sun-god, absorbs other sun-gods such as Ningirsu of Lagash and Zamama of Kish. In addition, there are three other important centres in ancient Babylonia in which the patron deity represents some phase of the sun—Cuthah, Larsa, and Sippar. In Cuthah he was known as Nergal, in Larsa and Sippar as Ut, “day,” or Babbar “shining one,” for which the Semitic form is Shamash. Cuthah appears to have been a very early Sumerian settlement, though it never rose to any striking political importance, and the same is the case with Larsa, while Sippar, not far from Babylon, seems to have been one of the earliest strongholds of the Semites.
“Too much stress must not be laid, however, on such distinctions, for, as we have seen, the mixture of Sumerians and Semites was so pronounced, even in the oldest period revealed by the documents at our command, that a differentiation between Semitic and non-Semitic elements in the conceptions formed of the gods is not generally possible. Climatic and sociological conditions are more effective factors in such conceptions than racial traits. More important for our purposes is it to recognise that there are two phases presented by the sun in a climate like that of Babylonia and Assyria. On the one hand, he is the great beneficent power who triumphs over the storms and rains of winter, who repairs the havoc wrought by the flooding of the land and by the destruction through violent winds, and clothes nature in a garment of verdant glory. But he is also a destructive force. The fierce heat of the summer evokes distress and sickness.
“The sun may become a fire that burns up the crops. For reasons that are not as clear as one might wish, Nergal becomes, in Babylonian theology, the type of the sun’s destructive power. He is associated with pestilence, famine, and the grave; and we shall see, in a subsequent lecture, that, as a gloomy and morose god, he is assigned to a position at the head of a special pantheon of the lower world where the dead dwell. His city, Cuthah, becomes a poetical designation for the great gathering-place of the dead, and his name is explained, perhaps fancifully, as “the lord of the great dwelling,” that is, the grave. It is quite within the range of possibility that Cuthah may have been a place that acquired special sanctity as a burial-place, as Kerbela, in the same region, is still regarded as such by the Shiite sect of Islam. The animal associated with Nergal, as a symbol, is a fierce lion, and he is pictured as greedy for human victims. The various names assigned to him, almost without exception, emphasise this forbidding phase of his nature, and the myths associated with him deal with destruction, pestilence, and death. Naturally, Nergal is also pictured as a god of war, bringing about just the results for which he would be held responsible. In Babylonian-Assyrian astrology, he is identified with the planet Mars, and the omen-literature shows that Mars in ancient days, as still at the present time, was regarded as the planet unlucky above all others.
Moon Cults in Mesopotamia
Nanna, the moon god
Morris Jastrow said: “The moon-cult of Babylon is associated chiefly with two centres, Ur and Harr an, of which Ur is the older and the more important, and the centre of a Sumerian dynasty which represents almost the last effort of the non-Semitic population to control the Euphrates Valley. Harran, to the north, falls within the domain where the Semites developed their greatest strength, but despite this fact the moon-cult at that place may represent a transfer from Ur, as that of the sun-god was transferred from Larsa to Sippar. The god, Sin, appears under various designations; prominent among them is that of En-Zu, “the lord of knowledge,” of which the name Sin may be a derivative. As the god of wisdom, he reminds us of Nebo, but his knowledge lies more particularly in reading the signs in the heavens. [Source: Morris Jastrow, Lectures more than ten years after publishing his book “Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria” 1911]
“It is in astrological lore and through the widespread influence of astrology in Babylonia and Assyria that Sin appears in the full exuberance of his powers. The moon as the great luminary of the night, with its constantly changing phases, forms, in fact, the basis of divination through the phenomena observed in the heavens. This form of divination, as we shall see in a subsequent lecture, is the direct outcome of speculation in the temple-schools—not an outgrowth of popular beliefs,—but such was the importance that astrology (which may be traced back to the days of Sargon) acquired in the course of time that in an enumeration of the gods, even in texts other than astrological compilations, Sin invariably takes precedence over Shamash.
“The Semitic form of his name is Nannar, which means “illumination” or “luminary,” and this appears to be a designation more particularly connected with the cult at Harran. It is by virtue of being the great luminary of the night also that he becomes the “father of the gods,” as he is frequently called in hymns. He is depicted on seal cylinders as an old man with a flowing beard, said in poetical compositions to be of a lapis-lazuli colour. His headgear consists of a cap on which the horns of the moon are generally indicated; and it is interesting to note, as pointing to the influence acquired by the moon-cult, that the horns became a general symbol of divinity which, e.g., Naram-Sin attaches to his head on the famous monument on which he depicts himself as a ruler with the attribute of divinity.
“The antiquity of the moon-cult is attested by very ancient Sumerian hymns that have come down to us, in which he is frequently described as sailing along the heavens in a ship. It is a reasonable supposition that the moon’s crescent suggested this picture of a sailing bark. The association between Sin and the city of Ur is particularly close, as is seen in the common designation of this centre as the “city of Nan-nar.” No doubt the political importance of the place had much to do with maintaining the high rank accorded to Sin in the systematised pantheon. And yet outside of his sphere in Babylonian-Assyrian astrology, the moon-cult, apart from special centres like Ur and Harr an, is not a prominent feature in the actual worship. The agricultural life is too closely dependent on the sun to permit of any large share being taken by the moon. He is not among the Powers whose presence is directly felt in communities whose chief occupation is the tilling of the soil; and, as has already been suggested, his position in astrological divination determines the relationship in which he stands to both gods and mankind.
Offerings in Mesopotamia
The offerings to the gods were divided into sacrifices and meal-offerings. The ox, sheep, lamb, kid, and dove were offered in sacrifice — fruit, vegetables, bread, wine, oil, and spices where no blood was required to be shed. There were also sin-offerings and heave-offerings, when the offering was first “lifted up” before the gods. [Source: “Babylonians And Assyrians: Life And Customs”, Rev. A. H. Sayce, Professor of Assyriology at Oxford, 1900]
A contract dated in the thirty-second year of Nebuchadnezzar tells something about the parts of the animals which were sacrificed, though unfortunately the meaning of many of the technical words used in it is still unknown: “Izkur-Merodach, the son of Imbriya, the son of Ilei-Merodach, of his own free will has given for the future to Nebo-balasu-iqbi, the son of Kuddinu, the son of Ilei-Merodach, the slaughterers of the oxen and sheep for the sacrifices of the king, the prescribed offerings, the peaceofferings (?) of the whole year — viz., the caul round the heart, the chine, the covering of the ribs, the …, the mouth of the stomach, and the …, as well as during the year 7,000 sin-offerings and 100 sheep before Iskhara, who dwells in the temple of Sa-turra in Babylon (not excepting the soft parts of the flesh, the trotters (?), the juicy meat, and the salted (?) flesh), and also the slaughterers of the oxen, sheep, birds, and lambs due on the 8th day of Nisan, (and) the heave-offering of an ox and a sheep before Pap-sukal of Bit-Kiduz-Kani, the temple of Nin-ip and the temple of Anu on the further bank of the New Town in Babylon.” The 8th of Nisan, or March, was the first day of the festival of the New Year.
Sacrifices in Mesopotamian Religion
Nergal, God of the Underworld
Morris Jastrow said: “So deeply rooted is the belief that through a sacrificial animal a sign indicative of the divine purpose can be obtained, that the idea of tribute involved in offering an animal appears, so far as the Babylonian religion is concerned, to have been of a secondary character, if not indeed a later addition to the divina-tory aim. The theory upon which divination by the means of the liver rested is both curious and interesting. It was believed that the god to whom an animal was offered identified himself for the nonce with the proffered gift. The god in accepting the animal became, as it were, united to it, in much the same way as those who actually eat it. It lies beyond our scope to explain the origin of animal sacrifice, but in ancient religions the frequent association and identification of gods with animals suggest that the animal is sanctified by the sacrifice, acquiring the very attributes which were associated with the god to whom it is offered. [Source: Morris Jastrow, Lectures more than ten years after publishing his book “Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria” 1911]
Be this, however, as it may, it seems certain that in animal sacrifice an essential feature is the belief that the soul or spirit of the god becomes identical with the soul of the sacrificial animal. The two souls become attuned to one another, like two watches regulated to keep the same time. Through the soul of the animal, therefore, a visible means was obtained for studying the soul of the god, thus enabling mortals to peer, as it were, into the mental workshop of the gods and to surprise them at work, planning future events on earth—which were due, according to the current belief, to their direct initiative.
“But where was the soul of the god? Using the term soul in the popularly accepted sense, it is not surprising to find mankind, while in a state of primitive culture, making the attempt to localise what it conceived to be the soul or vital essence of an animate being. Nations, even in an advanced state of culture, speak in figurative language of the heart or brain as comprising the essence or soul of being; and even after that stage of mental development is passed, where the soul is sought for in any specific human organ, human speech still retains traces of the material views once commonly associated with the soul. A goodly part of mankind’s mental and physical efforts may be said to be engrossed with this search for the human soul.
“In most of the Aryan and Semitic languages, the word for soul means “breath,” and rests upon the notion that the actual breath, emitted through the mouth, represents the real soul. This is still a widespread popular belief. Antecedent to this stage we find three organs of the human body—liver, heart, and brain—receiving in turn the honour of being the seat of the soul. This order of enumeration represents the successive stages in these simple-minded endeavours. Among people of to-day still living in a state of primitive culture, we find traces of the belief which places the soul in the liver. The natives of Borneo before entering on a war are still in the habit of killing a pig, and of inspecting the liver as a means of ascertaining whether or not the moment chosen for the attack is propitious; and, similarly, when a chieftain is taken ill, it is believed that, through the liver of a pig offered to a deity, the intention of the god, as to whether the victim of the disease shall recover or succumb, will be revealed.
See Separate Article: MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN MESOPOTAMIA africame.factsanddetails.com
Incantation Rites in Mesopotamia
magic bowl with inscriptions in Mandiac
Morris Jastrow said: “Nevertheless, we must be careful not to draw the dividing line between public and private rites too sharply. Even incantations, when performed for individuals, have their official side; for the ritual accompanying them is derived from the observances prescribed more particularly for the rulers on occasions of public misfortune. At such times the endeavour was made to appease the gods through the chanting of lamentations, through confession of guilt, and through expiatory sacrifices and atonement ceremonies. The incantations themselves abound in references to the public welfare. The technical term shiptu (“incantation”), by which they are known, is extended to hymns—a valuable indication that the hymnal literature is an outgrowth from incantations, and that the primary purpose of these hymns was neither praise, thanksgiving, nor tribute, but the reconciliation of the gods, who had shown their displeasure in some manner, or had sent advance signals of an impending catastrophe. [Source: Morris Jastrow, Lectures more than ten years after publishing his book “Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria” 1911]
“Dr. Langdon believes he has found evidence that the incantation rites were originally performed over afflicted persons in huts erected preferably on the bank of a flowing stream, and that therefore at this stage of their development they formed no part of the official cult of the temples. On the basis of this evidence he distinguishes between public and private services, and assigns incantations and prayers, designated as shiptu , to the private service. Without entering into a detailed examination of this theory here, but even accepting its full force, it would prove only that the Babylonian religion contains survivals of the early period when magic—in its widest sense —formed the chief element in the religion; or (according to those scholars, who like Mr. J. G. Frazer, separate magic from religion) of that period when magic held sway to the exclusion of religion. At all events, the incantation rites, whatever their original character, were taken over into the official cult—as Langdon also admits—and this fact carries with it, I think, the conclusion that the ashipu , as the “magician” or exorciser was generally called, was a member of the priestly organisation. Even the early examples of incantations at hand reveal their official character by the introduction of such terms for the various classes of incantations as “house of light,” “house of washing,” and “house of baptism,” and show that we are long past the stage when magic was, if ever, an extra-official rite.
“We are justified, however, in drawing the conclusion that the incantation rituals—including under this term both the collection of the magic formulas and the rites to be performed in connection with them — represent a link between the more primitive features of the Babylonian religion, and those elements which reflect the later period of an organised and highly specialised priesthood, with a correspondingly elaborate organisation of the cult. To dogmatise about the phases of that cult, and to declare the incantation ritual to be the oldest division is hazardous, especially in the present state of our knowledge, but, I think, it is safe to say that the beliefs and practices found in this ritual bring us close to the earliest aspects of the popular religion.
“It must not be supposed, however, that these purification rites were always and everywhere carried out in the same way. The variations and modifications seem to be endless. Instead of treating the sick man in his apartment, the ceremonies were frequently enacted on the roof of his house, and this appears to have been quite generally the case when the deity especially invoked was Ishtar. Directions are given to sweep the roof, holy water is sprinkled over it, a table is spread for the goddess with dates and a mixture of meal, honey, and butter, and a libation of wine is poured out.”
Examples of Incantation Rites in Mesopotamia
Morris Jastrow said: “It is difficult to suppose that the jumble of often meaningless formulas in the incantation texts, with their accompaniment of rites, originating in the lowest kind of sympathetic and imitative magic, should have been evolved by the same priests who added to these earlier elements, and frequently overshadowed them by ethical reflections, emphasising high standards of ethics; they also attached to them prayers that breathe a comparatively lofty religious spirit. [Source: Morris Jastrow, Lectures more than ten years after publishing his book “Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria” 1911]
Incantation bowl with a demon from Nippur
“But not always. For instance, here is one where there are almost childish invocations to the evil spirits to leave the body of their victim:
“Away, away, far away, far away!
For shame, for shame, fly away, fly away!
Round about face, away, far away!
Out of my body away!
Out of my body far away!
Out of my body, for shame!
Out of my body, fly away!
Out of my body, face about!
Out of my body, go away!
Into my body do not return!
To my body do not approach!
My body do not oppress!
By Shamash, the mighty, be ye exorcised!
By Ea, the lord of all, be ye exorcised!
By Marduk, the chief exorciser of the gods, be ye exorcised!
By Gish-Bar, your consumer, be ye exorcised!
Be ye restrained from my body!
“But in the midst of these we find introduced prayers to various deities of which the following, addressed to the fire-god, may serve as an example:
“O Nusku, great god, counsellor of the great gods,
Guardian of the offerings of all the Igigi,
Founder of cities, renewer of sanctuaries,
Glorious day, of supreme command,
Messenger of Anu, obedient to the oracle of Enlil,
Obedient to Enlil, the counsellor, the mountain of the Igigi.
Mighty in battle, of powerful attack,
O, Nusku, consumer, overpowering the enemy,
Without thee no table is spread in the temple,
Without thee the great gods do not inhale the incense,
Without thee, Shamash, the judge executes no judgment.
“The hymn glides almost imperceptibly into an appeal to burn the sorcerer and sorceress:
“I turn to thee, I implore thee, I raise my hands to thee, I sink down at thy feet,
Bum the sorcerer and the witch!
Blast the life of the dreaded sorcerer and the witch!
Let me live that I may make thy heart glad, and humbly pay homage to thee.
“Both the incantation formulas and the impressive prayers assume, as an accompanying rite, the burning of an image, or of some symbol of the witch or sorcerer. This is done, in the firm belief that the symbolical destruction will be followed by a genuine release from their grasp. And yet it is evident that the incantation texts and incantation rituals represent a composite production, receiving their final shape as the result of the collaboration of many hands. Primitive and popular elements were combined with doctrines and practices which, developed in the schools of theological speculation, furnished an outlet for the intellectual and spiritual activity of those to whom, as the special servitors of the gods and as the mediators between the gods and the populace, the unfolding of the religious life of the country was entrusted.”
Purification Ceremonies in Mesopotamia
According to the Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology: The purification ceremonies suggest the existence of taboo. For a period, the sick were "unclean" and had to be isolated. The recently recovered could make their way to the temple. A House of Light was attached, where fire ceremonies were performed, along with a House of Washing, where patients bathed in sacred water. The priest would anoint the individual with oil to complete the release from uncleanliness. Certain foods were also taboo at certain seasons. It was unlawful for a man to eat pork on the thirtieth of Ab (July-August), the twenty-seventh of Tisri, and other dates. Fish, ox flesh, and bread were similarly forbidden on specific dates.[Source: Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, Encyclopedia.com]
A person's luck depended greatly on the observance of these rules. Still, even if all the ceremonies were observed, one might still meet with ill fortune on unlucky days. On the festival day of Marduk (Merodach) a man must not change his clothes, nor put on white garments, nor offer up sacrifices. Certain disaster would overcome a king if he drove out in a chariot, or a physician if he laid hands on the sick, or a priest who sat in judgment, for example. On lucky days good fortune was the heritage of everyone. Good fortune meant good health in many cases, sometimes assured by worshiping the dreaded spirit of disease called Ura.
A legend related that this demon once made up his mind to destroy all humankind. His counsellor, Ishun, however, prevailed upon him to change his mind, and he said, "Whoever will laud my name I will bless with plenty. No one will oppose the person who proclaims the glory of my valor. The worshiper who chants the hymn of praise to me will not be afflicted by disease, and he will find favor in the eyes of the King and his nobles."
Purification in Incantation Rites in Mesopotamia
Female diety pouring life-giving water at the Inanna Temple in Uruk
Morris Jastrow said: “The influence of the religious theories elaborated by the priests is to be seen in the prominence given to the idea of purification throughout the incantation rituals. The idea itself, to be sure, belongs to the primitive notion of taboo , which specifies an “unclean” condition, due to contact with something either too sacred or too profane to be touched, but the application of the taboo to all circumstances for which incantation rites are required takes us beyond the well-defined limits of primitive conceptions. Under the influence of the purification scheme, the primitive rites of sympathetic magic receive a new and higher interpretation. They become symbolical ceremonies, intended to emphasise the single aim of one who has fallen under the spell of evil spirits to cleanse himself from the sickness, or the misfortune, whatever its nature, that has been brought upon him. [Source: Morris Jastrow, Lectures more than ten years after publishing his book “Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria” 1911 ]
“I have washed my hands, I have cleansed my body,
With the pure spring-water which flows forth in the city of Eridu.
All that is evil, all that is not good,
Which is in my body, my flesh, and my sinews,
The evil dream at night, the evil signs and omens that are not good.
“Instead of the common exorcisers—medicine-men and lay magic-workers,—we find the officials of the temple combining with the primitive rites an appeal to the gods, particularly Ea, Marduk, Nusku (or Girru), Shamash, Adad, and the Anunnaki. Disease becomes, under this aspect of higher purification, the punishment for sins committed against the gods, and, gradually, the entire incantation ritual assumes the colour of an expiatory ceremony.
“An occasion is thus found for the introduction of the ethical spirit, the desire to become reconciled with the gods by leading a pure and clean life—corresponding to the material cleanliness, which the suppliant hopes to attain by the incantation rites. Hence, in the midst of a collection of incantation formulas, based on the most primitive kind of sympathetic magic, we meet not merely prayers to gods that represent a far higher grade of thought, but also ethical considerations, embodied in the enumeration of a long category of possible sins that the suppliant for divine forgiveness may have committed. The question is asked why punishment in the shape of bodily tortures was sent, and incidental thereto the Biblical ten commandments are paralleled.
“Has he estranged father from son?
Has he estranged son from father?
Has he estranged mother from daughter?
Has he estranged daughter from mother?
Has he estranged mother-in-law from daughter-in-law?
Has he estranged daughter-in-law from mother-in-law?
Has he estranged brother from brother?
Has he estranged friend from friend?
Has he estranged companion from companion?
Has he not released a prisoner, has he not loosened the bound one ?
Has he not permitted the prisoner to see the light?
Has he in the case of the captive, commanded, “take hold of him,” in the case of one bound (said), “bind him!”
Is it a sin against a god, a transgression against a goddess ?
Has he offended a god, neglected a goddess?
Was his sin against his god, was his wrong toward his goddess?
An offence against his ancestor, [?] hatred toward his elder brother?
Has he neglected father or mother, insulted the elder sister?
Given too little, refused the larger amount ?
For “no” said “yes,” for “yes” said “no”?
Has he used false weights ?
Has he taken the wrong sum, not taken the correct amount?
Has he disinherited the legitimate son, has he upheld an illegitimate son?
Has he drawn a false boundary, not drawn the right boundary?
Has he removed the limit, mark, or boundary?
Has he possessed himself of his neighbour’s house?
Has he shed his neighbour’s blood?
Has he stolen his neighbour’s garment?
Has he not released a freedman out of his family?
Has he divided a family once united?
Has he set himself up against a superior?
Was his mouth frank, but his heart false?
Was it “yes” with his mouth, but “no” with his heart?
Has he taught what was impure, instructed in what was not proper?
Did he follow the path of evil?
Did he overstep the bounds of what was just?
“Sickness itself being held as unclean, purification rites were observed on recovery; these included the purification of the house in which the patient had lain. After a king’s recovery from illness, the directions are specific that in addition to the ceremonies around the king’s bed, the palace was to be purified by passing through it with torches and censers. In the palace court seven tables must be spread to the seven chief deities, with offerings of various kinds of bread, dates, meal, oil, honey, butter, milk, with some sweet drink. Seven censers and seven vessels of wine were furthermore to be provided and finally a lamb for sacrifice. Elsewhere, we are told that for the purification of a house that had in any way become unclean, the rooms, the threshold, the court roof, beams, and windows must be touched with asphalt, gypsum, oil, honey, butter, or holy water. Similar ceremonies were enacted to purify the image of a god before it could be put to use, or after it had become unclean.
“This purification of the dwelling reminds one of the regulations in the Priestly Code of the Old Testament for the ritualist cleansing of the house that had shown symptoms of infection. Whether or not we may assume that, at the comparatively late date to which the Priestly Code belongs,—about the middle of the fifth century B.C., —medical science had advanced to a knowledge that disease could lurk in the walls and floors of houses, and that the regulations of the Priestly Code, therefore, reflect the influence of this advance, the basis of the Pentateuchal purification ritual is certainly of a much more primitive character, and identical with that which we find in the incantation ritual of Babylonia. The main emphasis in both is on purification from ritualist uncleanliness, and this point of view is a direct issue from the primitive ideas associated with taboo.
Water and Fire in the Purification Rites in Mesopotamia
Morris Jastrow said: “To summarise the incantation cult, it will be sufficient to indicate that, while, as we have seen, many gods are appealed to, the most important share in the rites is taken by water and fire—suggesting, therefore, that the god of water—more particularly Ea —and the god of fire—appearing under various designations, Nusku, Girru, Gish-Bar—are the chief deities on which the ritual itself hinges. Water and fire are viewed as the two purifying elements above all others. The “unclean” person was sprinkled with water, while the priest pronounced certain sacred formulas, having the power of “cleansing” a patient from sickness. The water was of course specially sanctified for this purpose, drawn from springs or sacred streams, as both the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers were regarded. There was probably connected with every large temple one or more springs, and a bit rimki or "bath-house” where the purification rites were performed, although this house was no doubt originally outside of the temple area in a field or some remote place. [Source: Morris Jastrow, Lectures more than ten years after publishing his book “Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria” 1911 ]
“We are reminded of the “bath-house” to this day attached to synagogues of the rigid orthodox type, whereto the women resort monthly to cleanse themselves. It is tempting to discern in this rite, now restricted to women, who represent everywhere the conservative element in religion, a survival of the old Babylonian purification ritual. Instead of water, oil of various kinds was also used. Details of the rites no doubt varied in different cities, and there are indications that the purification rites were, even in later times, occasionally performed on the banks of running streams—perhaps a survival of the period when the incantation ritual did not yet form part of the official cult.
“By the side of the “bath-house,” we meet frequent references to a bitnuri, “house of light,” and it is permissible to recognise in this term the designation of a special place within the temple area, wherein the purification by fire was completed. Originally, no doubt, fire was used as a means of directly destroying the demons in human form—the sorcerers and witches—who, either of their own initiative, or at the instigation of those who had invoked their aid, had cast a spell upon the victims. A favourite method employed by the exorcisers of these demons was to make images of them, modelled in clay, pitch, tallow, dough, or other materials, that could be melted or destroyed by fire, and then to throw the images into the fire to the accompaniment of formulas which generally expressed the hope that, as the images were consumed, the sorcerers and witches might feel the tortures of the flames, and either flee out of the bodies of their victims, or release their hold upon them. Parallels to this procedure, resting entirely on sympathetic magic, are to be found in abundance among peoples of primitive culture.
“There was, however, another aspect of fire. As the sacred god-given element, the flame was associated with purity, and it became in many religions —notably in Zoroastrianism—a symbol of life itself. Through contact with it, therefore, freedom from contamination was secured. The true meaning of the practices of the Canaanites, who, as we are told, caused their children to “pass through the fire” (which seemed so abhorrent to the Hebrew prophets), was a desire thoroughly to purify the new-born child. Among many customs, found all over the world, illustrative of this quality of fire, it is sufficient to recall that down to a late day the custom obtained among the peasants of Germany—and, perchance, still survives in remote corners—of driving cattle through a fire kindled in the fields, thereby securing immunity from the cattle plague.
“In the case of the sick, and of those otherwise afflicted, the contact with the fire was purely symbolical—vicarious, so to speak. Besides the method just described, the incantation texts tell us of various objects, such as certain plants, wood, wheat, onions, dates, palm-blossoms, wool, and seeds which were thrown into a fire, while an incantation was recited to the effect that, as the object disappears in the fire never to return, so the man’s sins, uncleanliness, or sickness may vanish never to return.”
“One of these incantations reads:
“As this onion is peeled, and thrown into the fire,
Consumed by Girru, never again to be
Planted in a bed, never again to be furrowed,
Never again to take root,
Its stalk never to grow again, never to see the shining sun,
Never again to be seen on the table of god or king,
So may the curse, the ban, pain distress
Sickness, sighing, sin, transgression, injury,
Misdeed, the sickness in my body, which is in
My flesh and bowels be treated like this onion,
Be consumed this day by Girru.
May the ban be removed, may I see the light!
Exorcism Rites in Mesopotamia
Demon, like one in one of the Excorist movies
Morris Jastrow said: “While water and fire thus constitute the chief factors in the purification rites, the ceremonies themselves are further complicated by elaborate preparations for the final act of exorcising the demons, or of destroying the sorcerers and witches. The patient had to be prepared for the act. The exorcising priests donned special garments—often in imitation of the god in whose name they acted. Pieces of flesh and a mixture of dates, flour, honey, and butter, and other viands were offered to the demons as bribes, that they might thus be made more kindly disposed. [Source: Morris Jastrow, Lectures more than ten years after publishing his book “Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria” 1911 ]
“The rites were generally performed at sunrise or shortly before—though occasionally also at night. The place where they were to be performed was to be swept clean, a table and often several tables were set, whereon the objects for the sacrifice were arranged, torches were lit, libations of wine poured out, and various other details were prescribed, some of which are not at all clear. In connection with every separate act of preparation a formula or prayer was recited, and great care was exercised that every detail should be carried out according to established custom. The slightest error might vitiate the entire ceremony.
“We are fortunate in having several pictorial representations, on bronze, and stone tablets, of exorcising rites which help us to understand the directions in the text. In these representations we see the seven chief demons, frequently mentioned in the incantation rituals, grouped together, and revealing by the expression of their faces and their threatening attitude their nature and purpose. The afflicted sufferer is lying on a bed at either end of which stands an ashipu (“exorciser”) or mashmashu (“purifier”). The protecting deity and favourable spirits are also portrayed as helping to ward off the evil demons. Labartu, with the ass as her attendant, appears in the lowest compartment, where also are seen the offerings to appease the demons, and the ceremonial implements used in the incantation ceremonies.”
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Mesopotamia sourcebooks.fordham.edu , National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, especially Merle Severy, National Geographic, May 1991 and Marion Steinmann, Smithsonian, December 1988, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Discover magazine, Times of London, Natural History magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, BBC, Encyclopædia Britannica, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Time, Newsweek, Wikipedia, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File Publications, New York); “History of Warfare” by John Keegan (Vintage Books); “History of Art” by H.W. Janson Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.), Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.
Last updated June 2024