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Dedicating magic: Neo-Assyrian
apotropaic figurines and the protection
of Assur
Carolyn Nakamura
Abstract
Keywords
Mesopotamia;Assur;magic;apotropaicfigurines;mimesis;dedication;materialpractice;produc-
tion of space.
Technologies of (re)production
Magic is a mode of relating to things in the world; and this mode, which engages materi-
ality to negotiate the human experience of transcendent powers and supernatural beings,
delineates a process of bringing forth that which is invisible, imagined and powerful into
the hard-core realm of human perception and understanding. Heidegger's analysis of the
Greek concept of techne finds particular relevance here; techne serves 'to make something
appear, within what is present, as this or that, in this way or that way', it denotes a
'producing in terms of letting appear' (Heidegger 1977a:361, emphasis added). But techne
also expresses a mode of knowing, the essence of which consists in the revealing of beings:
'to know means to have seen, in the widest sense of seeing, which means to apprehend
what is present, as such' (Heidegger 1977b: 184). Viewed as a technique or technology,
The apotropaic
Plate 1 Brick capsules in room 3 of the Haus des Beschworungspriesters (after Preusser 1954:table
28a).
Dedicating magic 15
The conception of world origins was debated over nearly four millennia in various
mythologies of diverse Mesopotamiancultures,peoples and polities.Although various
mythologies constantlyre-negotiatedconceptions of world order and creation,certain
ideas of humanoriginsand theirplace in the worldenduredthroughoutthe region.
One of the most prevalent ideas maintainedthroughoutthe mythic traditionis the
divine creationof humansas servantsof the gods. In most cases,the great god Ea/Enki
conceives humankindas a substituteto free the gods from havingto labor the earth for
their sustenance.TheAtrahasisepic recountsthe creationof humankindfrom a mixture
of clay of the apsu andthe blood of a slainrebel god (TabletI, 210-13). Othermythsrelate
divine human creation using only this clay (Enki and Ninmah,24-6) or blood (Enuma
elish,TabletVI, 33). These materialsof human creation are relevant to the mimesis of
protectivebeings and will be discussedlater on. But currently,I am concernedwith how
this mythologicaltheme delineatesthe creationof humankindin termsof eternalhuman
servitudeto the gods.Humansare born servants.This fact prefiguresthe cunninghuman
abilityto make demandsthroughthe dedicatorygift,the givingthat takes.The Mesopot-
amiangods are the true ownersof all thingsand possessionsin the world,includingthose
procuredfromthe earth.The divinegift of life establishesa primordialdebt,whichplaces
humansin eternal obligationto labor and provide for the gods, but, in performingthis
service,humanssimplyreturnwhat rightfullybelongs to the gods.Humanshave nothing
to give but themselves;fromthis position,they can only demand(Derrida1992:142).And
what they demand is that the gods give what they have to humans - give them the
resourcesto live, produceand thrive- but also give by takingthem,'by takingwhat they
are and by takingthem such as they are' (ibid.:144). In other words,humansas servants
(what they are) who have nothing (such as they are) demandto be taken underthe care
of the gods;this is the demandfor protection.
Episodes from the Atrahasis and Gilgamesh epics depict how humans are able to
negotiate protection of their precarious existence (as both useful servants and annoying
over-breeders) through unanticipated gifts of devotion. In these stories, people narrowly
survive scourges sent by the gods - first plague and then flood - with help from Ea and by
presenting offerings to win back the gods' favor. After the flood, Utanapishtim (also
known as Atrahasis), the father of the only surviving human family, presents an offering to
the mass of remorseful, heartbroken and hungry gods:
16 CarolynNakamura
Dedicated mimesis
Say you the stone or wood, or silver is not yet a god? When then does he come to the
birth? See him cast, molded sculptured - not yet is he a god; see him soldered,
assembled,and set up - still not a god;see him bedizened,consecrated,worshiped;hey,
presto!He is a god - by a man'swill and the act of dedication.
(MinuciusFelix,translatedin Walkerand Dick 1999:117)
In the contextof Neo-Assyrianapotropaicmagic,dedicationengendersa protectedreality
by creatingthe presence of powerfulbeings in the materialworld;these are protective
deities and spirits that come to inhabit the world as a presence that is apprehended as real.
Neo-Assyrian magical figurines perform the fulfillment of the wish for protection. More
precisely, they manifest this wish. Dedicatory gestures, which animate this magical practice,
are not merely the obligatory acts of servants, but specific requests; they constitute the
apotropaic, 'the defense that goes on the offensive' (Derrida 1992:142). In short, dedication
takes a creative role in this context; it grounds the process that transforms matter into being.
Also essential to this transformation is the mimesis of divine creation.
Dedicatingmagic 17
The ritual text, sep lemuttiina bit ameli parasu,'to block the entry of the enemy in
someone's house',demonstratesthe dedicatorymode that inhabitsthe entire creationof
the protective figurine,from the consecrationof the clay, dedication to the gods and
declarationof being:
Incantation:Claypit, clay pit, you are the clay pit of Anu and Enlil,
the clay pit of Ea, lord of the deep,the clay pit of the greatgods;
you have made the lord for lordship,you have made the king for kingship,
you have made the princefor futuredays;
your pieces of silverare given to you, you have receivedthem;
your gift you have received,and so, in the morningbefore Samas,I pinchoff
the clay NN son of NN; may it be profitable,may what I do prosper.
[As soon as] you have recitedthis,you shall speakbefore Samasas follows:
[statues]of Ea and Marduk,repellingthe evil ones,
[to] be placedin the house of NN son of NN [to] expel the foot of evil,
I [pinchoff] their clay before you <in> the claypit.
(Wiggermann1992:13, lines 151-61)
These instructionsrecallthe gift that takes:'yourpieces of silverare given to you ... your
gift you have received'.This consecrationof ritual materials reduplicatesthe human
obligationof givingback that which alreadybelongs to the gods;this in turn sets up the
request/demandfor power:'may it be profitable,may what I do prosper'.These instruc-
tions call for the re-enactmentof creation itself - from the utterance of words to the
pinchingoff of clay - all dedicatedto Samas,the sun god (see Black and Green 1992:54).
In this dedicated mimesis, human creation assumes the power of original creation
amountingto a demonstrationthat transformsreality (afterTaussig1993:106).The clay
becomes the clay of the deep - the originalmatterfrom which the world was created-
fashioned into a powerful being with divine or supernaturalpowers and qualities.The
thick lime plaster which coats many of the figurines,often obscuringtheir distinctive
features,may be associatedwith divinityand protection(see Mallowan1954:87). Specu-
lating further,it seems possible that this plasterrepresentsmelam,the luminous,visible
markof the supernatural.
Provocativelyhere, the spiritof supernaturalbeing comes to inhabita physicalreality
that presents a blatant sham for a double:miniatureclay figurinesdipped in thick lime
plaster.But, with mimesis,the copy need not be a 'good' or accuratecopy (Taussig1993:
13). I would suggestthat this intentionalcreationof a humblecopy constitutesa cunning
dissimulationakin to what Taussigcalls defacement,an act which produces 'violated'
representationssuch that they are no longer merely symbols,but come to life (1999:30).
The 'poor' counterfeit,like a built-inform of defacement,bringsinsides out, revealinga
powerfulpresence throughthe labor of the negative.The power of the spiritspills forth
into a controllablepresence through this very negation of the secret; the secret (the
human creationof the divine) becomes articulated,performed,exposed, as if to propel
the figurebeyondthe mere statusof 'powerfulobject'and mergeinto powerfulbeing,but
this revelationbecomes concealed immediatelyin the dedicatorygesture amountingto
the very creationof beingin thing.And the 'thingness'of being is essentialhere.Humans
18 Carolyn Nakamura
mediate their relationships between worlds and beings materially, such that this
communicationlocates and structuresa perceptiblereality.Apotropaicfigurinespresent
a palpablepresence-in-the-world,as object-beingswith the life of protectivespiritsand as
a collectivedemonstrationof a protectedreality.By bringingthe imaginaryinto the realm
of directperception,apotropaicassemblagesmime a protectedrealityinto being.
Producingprotection
The apotropaic assemblages from Assur offer roughly 117 clay figurines,thirty-four
deposits and eight general figure types, two of which have subtypes (Figure 2; for
detailed catalog, see Klengel-Brandt 1968). The Haus des Beschworungspriesters
(Andrae 1938;Klengel-Brandt1968;Preusser1954),the best-knownexample at Assur,
provides an ideal case for theorizing the deposition patterns of Neo-Assyrian apotro-
paic figurine assemblages.This Neo-Assyrian house belonged to a priest family and
probablyaccommodateda temple school duringSargonidtimes (Weidner1937-9).The
context is particularlyremarkablegiven that it not only provides materialevidence of
the apotropaicritual,but textual evidence as well. KAR 298 (Gurney 1935;Smith 1926;
Wiggermann1992), the inventory of figures which describes the production,use and
placement of apotropaicfigurines,originates from this house along with many other
literaryand magicaltexts.A contextualanalysisof this practice,drawingupon material,
textual and mythologicaldata,will help illuminatecertainNeo-Assyrianconceptionsof
protection.
Threedifferentfigurinetypes in sixteenknowndepositsare locatedin the priesthouse:
the six-curledlahmuwith spade (TypeVIIa, Plate 2, thirteenfigurines),the bird-apkallu
with cone andbucket(TypeIa,Plate3, fifteenfigurines)andthe fish-apkallu(TypeII,Plate
4, twenty-onefigurines).The figuresstand in brickboxes made from three or four bricks
placeduprightabout35cmunderfloorlevel (Plate5). Eleven of sixteenexcavatedfigurine
depositsoccurin room 3, and have notabledepositionpatterns(Fig.1). Withinthis room,
capsules1 and 4-8 containpairs of Type Ia and VIIa;these deposits occur flankingthe
north-eastdoorway,in frontof the NW doorthreshold,in the middleof the room andin all
cornersexceptfor the west corner,whichPreussersuggestsmighthave been robbed(1954:
58). Capsules10 and 11 containTypeII in groupsof seven and fourteen,respectively;these
two deposits occur in the middle of room 3, oriented perpendicularto each other.
? !
-,-. .. .
;'. ..
10..../
3 13
,<
To
b 12 Oil
14
1;1/;
Plate 2 Six-curledlahmu,VA
4895,Ht 12.6 cm (afterPreusser
1954:table29c).
Plate 3 Bird-apkallu, VA
4890, Ht 11.9 cm (after
Preusser1954:table 29c).
(capsules 1-11), near the house entrance (capsule 12) and in other areas (capsules 13, 14).
Moreover, the lahmu/bird-apkallu pairing never occurs in the texts, and the identification
of lahmu as an apkallu figure is insecure, if not contentious (Ellis 1995;Wiggermann 1992:
147-52). This divergence supports Richard Ellis's suggestion that the relation between
apotropaic theory and practice at this time engendered a creative intellectual endeavor,
one that could compensate for the uncertainty, vagueness and disagreement that charac-
terized the process (1995: 164-5).
The histories and identities of apotropaic figures animate this practice with various
mythical and supernatural associations and therefore might contribute a certain dimen-
sion to the meaning of protection in this context. In the Neo-Assyrian period, these
often-divergent profiles come under the rule of Marduk (Green 1993-7: 248). The text sep
lemutti ina bit ameli parasu locates the apkallu and lahmu as creatures of the apsu: 'the
statues repelling the evil ones, of Ea and Marduk' (Wiggermann 1992: 87, line 159).
Various apkallu figures come to represent the Babylonian Seven Sages, mythological
antediluvian beings who first brought the arts of civilization to humankind (Black and
Green 1992: 163-4; Wiggermann 1992: 75-6). Monsters, who previously engendered
various forces of life, death, peace and destruction that intervene in human affairs,
become known as Tiamat's creatures, the servants and defeated enemies of Marduk
(Wiggermann 1992: 147-52, 1993-7: 229). As such, these supernatural beings provide
complexly appropriate figures of protection. Like humans, monsters are servants. Unlike
humans, monsters are not born servants; rather, they are born rebel warriors who become
servants in their defeat. Their essential being as rebels completely overthrown, disarmed
22 Carolyn Nakamura
PKALLUSAGES LOWER
GODS IANIMAL
Type Bird-apkallu Fish-apkallu Ninsubur Smiting-god? Latarak Dogs
&
staff flail
Attributes cone & bucket
bucket bucket
brcket gold foil
gold foil staff
staff flail
bird-human bird-human bird-human fish-human god god god in lion pelt quarduped
Form (plaque) (plaque) (plaque) (figurine) (figurine) (figurine) (figurine) (figurine)
Representation
CREATURES:
MONSTERS
& DEMONS
I[TIAMAT'S
Type Six-curled lahmu 2 Basmu Mushussu Ugallu Kusarikku Kulullu
Attributes staff spear copper in
spade mouthe
human human human snake snake-dragon lion-demon bull-human fish-man
(plaque) (plaque) (figurine) (figurine) (figurine) (figurine) (plaque) (figurine)
Representation
•
Concludingremarks
Acknowledgements
Columbia University
24 CarolynNakamura
References