17/9/2014 Witchcraft in Ancient Mesopotamia | The ASOR Blog

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Cuneiform source of an
anti-witchcraft ritual.
Hand-copy by D.
Schwemer.
The Tablet of Shamash
from Sippar (ca. 888-855
BC), showing Shamash
the sun god seated
beneath astral symbols.
Witchcraft in Ancient Mesopotamia
By: Daniel Schwemer
Belief in witches was as widespread in Mesopotamia as it was in Europe. Incantation and ritual texts preserved on
cuneiform tablets provide a vivid image of witchcraft in 2nd and 1st millennium Mesopotamia. But a closer look
reveals fundamental differences between Babylonian witches and their European counterparts.
Court records of witch trials and theological treatises are key sources for studying
witchcraft beliefs in Medieval and early modern Europe. In contrast, very few texts of this
kind have survived among the ever-increasing number of cuneiform texts from ancient
Mesopotamia. In both places witchcraft was a well-known cause of illness and harm. But
the Mesopotamian texts that provide insight into fear of witches and the workings of
witchcraft do not come from courts of law, but from the book shelves of healing experts.
A large body of cuneiform texts provides first-hand information on the remedies and
rituals used by Babylonian and Assyrian experts to cure illnesses, avert calamities, and
protect people from harm. These magical and medical texts are usually written in
Akkadian, the main Semitic language of ancient Mesopotamia, though incantations in
Sumerian and other languages are also used.
Most texts come from 2nd and 1st millennium libraries, foremost among them the
Library of Ashurbanipal, a 7th century royal tablet collection from Neo-Assyrian Nineveh.
Mesopotamian magical and medical texts are concerned with a wide array of ailments. As
today, a correct diagnosis was regarded as the first step toward a successful therapy, and
identifying the ultimate cause of a persons suffering was an important part of diagnosing
any complex illness. Witchcraft is one of these causes. But the descriptions of symptoms
included in many texts show that witchcraft was not regarded as one specific illness.
Rather, witchcraft was a possible cause of various ailments, including life-threatening
physical diseases, debilitating mental disorders and impotency, but also failure more
generally.

Who were the victims of witchcraft? The preserved texts are mainly concerned with people as victims (although
buildings such as stables and houses could also be ridded of evil by certain rituals). While there were rituals to
protect pregnant women and infants, it appears that the typical victim of witchcraft was an adult male. This is
confirmed by the stereotype of the witch in incantation texts: The witch is primarily a female, with special
knowledge and power, who performs her evil, harmful rituals in secret. This female stereotype of witchcraft is
complemented by a male version, the opponent in court, who employs illegal black magic in order to subdue a
victim who competes for the favour of a judge or other authority. In the rhetoric of the incantations, these clearly
gendered stereotypes are often complemented with a colourless partner of the other sex (warlock and witch;
male and female litigant).
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FOA Podcast: "Gilgamesh: Civilization vs. Natural
World," Featuring J.J.M. Roberts
FOA Podcast: "The Legacies of Herod the Great,"
featuring Professor Barbara Burrell
FOA Podcast: "The Tablet That's Changing an Old
Story," featuring Professor Alan Millard
FOA Podcast: "A New Look at an Old Story: the Epic
of Gilgamesh," featuring Dr. Lawson Younger
FOA Podcast: "The Levantine Ceramics Project -
Google for Pottery," Featuring Dr. Andrea Berlin
Punishing witches.
Woodcut from Ulrich
Tenglers 1509 law book
Laienspiegel.
Fragment of a small
anthropomorphic clay
figurine found at Tell ed-
Der (northern Babylonia).
The figurine was pierced
with the thorn of a date
palm, as described in
Babylonian anti-
witchcraft rituals. From H.
Gasche,
Une figurine
denvotement palo-
babylonienne, Beitrge
zur Altorientalischen
Archologie und
Altertumskunde.
Festschrift fr Barthel
Hrouda zum 65.
Geburtstag, ed. P.
Calmeyer et al.,
Harrassowitz: Wiesbaden
1994, 97101, XIII.
But did the stereotypical evildoers described in the incantations of anti-witchcraft rituals really exist? And, if so, had
they actually done what the incantations ascribe to them? Probably not. Anti-witchcraft incantations emphasize
that the identity of the evildoers is unknown to their innocent victim. Even if the patient diagnosed as bewitched
entertained a specific suspicion who was to blame for his suffering, the name of the alleged witch would only rarely
be used during the ritual. Within the ritual, it was much better to take on the role of the guileless victim unaware of
any enemies.
This is not to say that Mesopotamian ritual lore did not employ aggressive magic. There
were rituals for forcing back runaway slaves, for triumphing over ones enemy, for
charming the king, or making someone fall in love. These were regarded as a sort of grey
area and sometimes included in lists enumerating various methods of witchcraft. But if
you used them yourself, you would certainly avoid calling them witchcraft, i.e., illegal
black magic.
The basic goal of most Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft rituals is a reversal of the patients
and the witches fate. The witchcraft employed against the victim is removed and
returned to its originators, and the evildoers are destroyed by having their witchcraft sent
back to them. Cleared by the gods (often the Sun-god Shamash), the patient regains his
former position in life, while those who wished him ill are brought down by their own evil
schemes.
A regular feature of anti-witchcraft rituals is the use of substitute figurines representing
the warlock and witch. A number of prayers explicitly justify the use of figurines with the
fact that the warlock and witch themselves were not present during the performance of
the ritual. Usually the rituals in line with the rhetoric of the incantations use pairs
consisting of a male and a female figurine. Often the rituals prescribe employing a whole
series of such pairs of palm-sized, anthropomorphic figurines, with each pair made of a
different material, such as clay, tallow or wax. Since the identity of the witches
represented by the figurines was unknown, there was no need to confirm the efficacy of
the ritual by seeing fellow humans suffer. This is greatly superior to European witch trials,
where actual human suffering was abundant.
Burning and burying were the most common ways of destroying the figurines and ritually
killing the sorcerers represented by them.
The final destruction of the figurines was often preceded by
other actions, such as twisting their arms behind them to
symbolize their imprisonment. Figurines were also abused in
other ways, such as smeared with malodorous fish oil or
pierced with thorns. The patient washed himself over the
figurines, transferring the impure witchcraft back to the
warlock and witch, or he would crush them under his foot,
symbolizing the victory over his enemies.
As in all societies, in Mesopotamia witchcraft belief became
virulent only in situations of crisis, illness and conflict. The
evidence suggests that, in contrast to early modern Europe, it
never took hold of whole segments of society, even though the
hothouse atmosphere of the royal courts probably formed
especially fertile ground for witchcraft suspicions. The apparent absence of large-scale witch crazes from
Mesopotamian history and with it the virtual absence of legal documents referring to witch trials may be
explained by two factors.
First, according to ancient Mesopotamian legal standards, someone who made a public witchcraft accusation ran a
high risk of severe punishment. In the absence of direct proof, the accused was required to undergo an ordeal. If
he was cleared by the ordeal, the accuser was treated as if he had brought a false charge and was executed,
thereby suffering the punishment that would have been imposed on someone found guilty of practicing witchcraft.
A second factor that limited the public impact of witchcraft suspicions is that anti-witchcraft rituals themselves
were never delegitimized and labelled as illegal magic during Mesopotamian history. They continued to act as an
important way of coping with social tensions and adversities. For all their violent imagery and drastic gestures, anti-
witchcraft rituals had a stabilizing function in society; they offered a vent for fears, suspicions and aggressions that
17/9/2014 Witchcraft in Ancient Mesopotamia | The ASOR Blog
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Tablet from the Library of
Ashurbanipal at Nineveh
describing a witch
burning ritual where a
figurine stands in for the
actual witch. Neo-
Assyrian period, 7th
century BC. Drawing by
D. Schwemer.
could otherwise have threatened the social equilibrium. In this way, too, ancient
Mesopotamia seems far more advanced than early modern Europe.
Daniel Schwemer is Professor of Ancient Near
Eastern Studies at Wrzburg University.
Additional Links:
Medicine, Surgery, and Public Health in Ancient Mesopotamia

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1 Comments for : Witchcraft in Ancient Mesopotamia
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Christopher Leo Couch Miami University
This is a truly engaging article. I know its main purpose is not irony, but I can't help
appreciating the differences between ancient practices dealing with witchcraft and
modern (so-called). How might European and American experience have gone
differently if the accuser faced an "ordeal" as could the accused? Or if the rituals to
counter witchcraft powers and effects were done through the use of figures as
symbols of the witch? Thanks for this illuminating writing.
Reply Like Follow Post Yesterday at 12:14am
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