This book examines the epigraphy and history of transmission of the cuneiform sources of the Maql... more This book examines the epigraphy and history of transmission of the cuneiform sources of the Maqlû anti-witchcraft ritual, one of the major compositions of ancient Mesopotamian exorcistic lore and a masterpiece of Babylonian literature. The performance of Maqlû, ‘Burning’, stretched over a whole night and included the recitation of almost a hundred incantations. In the course of the ritual, the victim of witchcraft is transferred from a state of imminent death back to life; he is purified and his bound state undone. The witches are assigned the fate they had intended for their victim by sending the witchcraft back to them. The book consists of three parts: First, an introduction to the Maqlû ceremony as a Babylonian anti-witchcraft ritual is provided; it includes an attempt at giving a step-by-step reconstruction of the ritual drama of Maqlû based on the instructions for its performance and the texts of its recitations. Next, a set of more specialized studies is devoted to various aspects of the cuneiform transmission of Maqlû: the history of the text’s reconstruction; the types of manuscripts; their specific provenance and historical context; variation in the textual transmission as well as spelling conventions and linguistic characteristics. Finally, the manuscripts are presented in ‘hand-copies’ (technical drawings) on the plates in the second half of the book.
Based on first-millennium cuneiform manuscripts from Aššur, Babylon, and Uruk, this article offer... more Based on first-millennium cuneiform manuscripts from Aššur, Babylon, and Uruk, this article offers an edition of a ritual against an illness conceptualized as the demon ‘Any Evil’. The text sheds light on how the catch-all figure Any Evil corresponds to the idea of a universal cure for any physical ailment, and how the rhetoric of the incantation articulates this relationship and facilitates the active participation of the patient. The ritual instructions of this and a closely related text show that Any Evil is envisaged as a bull-headed, male demon. This points to an adaptation of motifs that are typically associated with ghosts in ancient Mesopotamian thought and raises questions concerning the pictorial representation of Any Evil and its conceptual foundations.
This book examines the epigraphy and history of transmission of the cuneiform sources of the Maql... more This book examines the epigraphy and history of transmission of the cuneiform sources of the Maqlû anti-witchcraft ritual, one of the major compositions of ancient Mesopotamian exorcistic lore and a masterpiece of Babylonian literature. The performance of Maqlû, ‘Burning’, stretched over a whole night and included the recitation of almost a hundred incantations. In the course of the ritual, the victim of witchcraft is transferred from a state of imminent death back to life; he is purified and his bound state undone. The witches are assigned the fate they had intended for their victim by sending the witchcraft back to them. The book consists of three parts: First, an introduction to the Maqlû ceremony as a Babylonian anti-witchcraft ritual is provided; it includes an attempt at giving a step-by-step reconstruction of the ritual drama of Maqlû based on the instructions for its performance and the texts of its recitations. Next, a set of more specialized studies is devoted to various aspects of the cuneiform transmission of Maqlû: the history of the text’s reconstruction; the types of manuscripts; their specific provenance and historical context; variation in the textual transmission as well as spelling conventions and linguistic characteristics. Finally, the manuscripts are presented in ‘hand-copies’ (technical drawings) on the plates in the second half of the book.
Based on first-millennium cuneiform manuscripts from Aššur, Babylon, and Uruk, this article offer... more Based on first-millennium cuneiform manuscripts from Aššur, Babylon, and Uruk, this article offers an edition of a ritual against an illness conceptualized as the demon ‘Any Evil’. The text sheds light on how the catch-all figure Any Evil corresponds to the idea of a universal cure for any physical ailment, and how the rhetoric of the incantation articulates this relationship and facilitates the active participation of the patient. The ritual instructions of this and a closely related text show that Any Evil is envisaged as a bull-headed, male demon. This points to an adaptation of motifs that are typically associated with ghosts in ancient Mesopotamian thought and raises questions concerning the pictorial representation of Any Evil and its conceptual foundations.
Cultural Plurality in Ancient Magical Texts and Practices (Oriental Religions in Antiquity 32), ed. L. M. Bortolani – W. Furley – S. Nagel – J. F. Quack, Tübingen, 2019
MUS-IC-ON! Klang der Antike. Begleitband zur Ausstellung im Martin von Wagner Museum der Universität Würzburg 10. Dezember 2019 bis 12. Juli 2020, 2019
Guide to the Study of Ancient Magic (Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 189), ed. D. Frankfurter, 2019
This chapter surveys forms of ritual that people in ancient Mesopotamia considered dangerous and ... more This chapter surveys forms of ritual that people in ancient Mesopotamia considered dangerous and potentially harmful. Some of these practices were prohibited by law, others occasionally frowned upon as ambiguous, even though they formed part of the written tradition. The discussion includes rituals that practitioners performed regularly, but also rites that existed foremost as cultural constructions of evil ritual as a potential cause of illness and misfortune. The overview first delineates the wider context of ritual lore in Babylonia and Assyria, focussing in particular on the profession of the āšipu. It then describes the ideas and concepts associated with kišpū, the Akkadian term for malevolent and taboo ritual acts, and includes a discussion of the stereotypical female perpetrator of kišpū. Further sections examine the ambiguity of some ritual practices, in part due to competing interpretations and differing perspectives. Finally, the survey turns to the question of the relevance and validity of evil ritual as a cultural narrative, especially in the context of the currents of continuity and change in the societies of first-millennium Mesopotamia.
The Discovery of an Anatolian Empire. A Colloquium to Commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Decipherment of the Hittite Language, ed. M. Doğan-Alparslan – A. Schachner – M. Alparslan, Istanbul 2017, 295–303
Zauber und Magie im antiken Palästina und in seiner Umwelt. Wissenschaftliches Kolloquium des Deutschen Vereins zur Erforschung Palästinas vom 14. bis 16. November 2014 in Mainz, ed. J. Kamlah – R. Schäfer – M. Witte, Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2017, 2017
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The performance of Maqlû, ‘Burning’, stretched over a whole night and included the recitation of almost a hundred incantations. In the course of the ritual, the victim of witchcraft is transferred from a state of imminent death back to life; he is purified and his bound state undone. The witches are assigned the fate they had intended for their victim by sending the witchcraft back to them.
The book consists of three parts: First, an introduction to the Maqlû ceremony as a Babylonian anti-witchcraft ritual is provided; it includes an attempt at giving a step-by-step reconstruction of the ritual drama of Maqlû based on the instructions for its performance and the texts of its recitations. Next, a set of more specialized studies is devoted to various aspects of the cuneiform transmission of Maqlû: the history of the text’s reconstruction; the types of manuscripts; their specific provenance and historical context; variation in the textual transmission as well as spelling conventions and linguistic characteristics. Finally, the manuscripts are presented in ‘hand-copies’ (technical drawings) on the plates in the second half of the book.
The performance of Maqlû, ‘Burning’, stretched over a whole night and included the recitation of almost a hundred incantations. In the course of the ritual, the victim of witchcraft is transferred from a state of imminent death back to life; he is purified and his bound state undone. The witches are assigned the fate they had intended for their victim by sending the witchcraft back to them.
The book consists of three parts: First, an introduction to the Maqlû ceremony as a Babylonian anti-witchcraft ritual is provided; it includes an attempt at giving a step-by-step reconstruction of the ritual drama of Maqlû based on the instructions for its performance and the texts of its recitations. Next, a set of more specialized studies is devoted to various aspects of the cuneiform transmission of Maqlû: the history of the text’s reconstruction; the types of manuscripts; their specific provenance and historical context; variation in the textual transmission as well as spelling conventions and linguistic characteristics. Finally, the manuscripts are presented in ‘hand-copies’ (technical drawings) on the plates in the second half of the book.
though they formed part of the written tradition. The discussion includes rituals that practitioners performed regularly, but also rites that existed foremost as cultural constructions of evil ritual as a potential cause of illness and misfortune. The overview first delineates the wider context of ritual lore in Babylonia and Assyria, focussing in particular on the profession of the āšipu. It then describes the ideas and concepts associated with kišpū, the Akkadian term for malevolent and taboo ritual acts, and includes a discussion of the stereotypical female perpetrator of kišpū. Further sections examine the ambiguity of some ritual practices, in part due to competing interpretations and differing perspectives.
Finally, the survey turns to the question of the relevance and validity of evil ritual as a cultural narrative, especially in the context of the currents of continuity and change in the societies of first-millennium Mesopotamia.