Babylonia
The conservative element in the religion of Babylonia was one of its most marked and interesting features. All the deities retained, even after they reached their highest development, traces of their primitive demoniac characters, and magic was never divorced from religion. The most outstanding gods were Ea, Anu and Enlil, the eider Bel. These formed a triad at the dawn of history, and appear to have developed from an animistic group of world spirits. Although Ea became specialised as a god of the deep, Anu as a god of the sky, and Enlil as an earth god, each had also titles which emphasised that they had attributes overlapping those of the others. Thus Ea was Enki, earth lord, and as Aa was a lunar deity, and he had also solar attributes. In the legend of Etana and the Eagle, his heaven is stated to be in the sky. Anu and Enlil as deities of thunder, rain and fertility, linked closely with Ea, as Dagan, of the flooding and fertilising Euphrates. Each of these deities were accompanied by demon groups. The spirits of disease were the "beloved sons of Bel"; the fates were the seven daughters of Anu; the seven storm demons, including the dragon and serpent, were of Ea's brood. In one of the magical incantations translated by Mr. R. C. Thompson, occurs the following description of Ea's primitive monster form:
The head is the head of a serpent, From his nostrils mucus trickles, The mouth is beslavered with water; The ears are those of a basilisk, His horns are twisted into three curls, He wears a veil in his head-band, The body is a sun-fish full of stars, The base of his feet are claws, The sole of his foot has no heel; His name is Sassu-wunnu, A sea monster, a form of Ea.
Ea was "the great magician of the gods"; his sway over the forces of nature was secured by the performance of magical rites, and his services were obtained by mankind, who performed requisite ceremonies and repeated appropriate spells. Although he might be worshipped and propitiated in his temple at Eridu, he could also be conjured in reed huts. The latter indeed appear to have been the oldest holy places. In the Deluge myth, he makes a revelation in a dream to his human favourite, Pir-napishtim, the Babylonian Noah, of the approaching disaster planned by the gods, by addressing the reed hut in which he slept : "O, reed hut, hear; O, wall, understand." The sleeper received the divine message from the reeds. The reeds were to the Babylonian what rowan branches were to northern Europeans: they protected them against demons. The dead were buried wrapped in reed mats. " " When the official priesthood came into existence it included two classes of magicians, the "Ashipu," who were exorcists, and the Mashmashu," the purifiers." The Ashipu priests played a prominent part in ceremonies, which had for their object the magical control of nature: in times of storm, disaster, and eclipse they were especially active. They also took the part of witch doctors."
Victims of disease were supposed to be possessed of devouring demons: Babylonia Loudly roaring above, gibbering below, They are the bitter venom of the gods.
Knowing no care, they grind the land like corn; Knowing no mercy, they rage against mankind, They spill their blood like rain, Devouring their flesh and sucking their veins. (Thompson's translation.) It was the business of the Ashipu priests to drive out the demon. Before he could do so he had to identify it.
Having done so, he required next to bring it under his influence. This he accomplished by reciting its history and detailing its characteristics. The secret of the magician's power was his knowledge. To cure toothache, for instance, it was necessary to know the Legend of the Worm," which, vampire-like, absorbed the blood of victims, but specialised in gums. The legend relates that the worm came into existence as follows: Anu created the heaven, the heavens created the earth, the earth created the rivers, and the rivers created the canals, then the canals created marshes, and the marshes created the "worm." In due time the worm appeared before Shamash, the sun god, and Ea, god of the deep, weeping and hungry. "What will you give me to eat and drink? it cried. The gods promised that it would get dried bones and scented wood. Apparently the worm realised that this was the "food of death," for it made answer: What are dry bones to me? Set me upon the gums that I may drink the blood of the teeth and take away the strength of the gums." When the worm heard this legend repeated, it came under the magician's power, and was dismissed to the marshes, while Ea was invoked to smite it. Different demons were exorcised by different processes. A fever patient might receive the following treatment:
Sprinkle this man with water, " Bring unto him a censer and a torch, That the plague demon which resteth in the body of the man, Like water may trickle away.
Another method was to fashion a figure of dough, wax, clay or pitch. This figure might be placed on a fire or mutilated, or placed in running water to be washed away. As the figure suffered, so did the demon it represented. By the magic of the word of Ea.
A third method was to release a raven at the bedside of the sick man so that it would conjure the demon of fever to take flight likewise. Sacrifices were also offered, as substitutes for patients, to provide food for the spirit of the disease. A kid was slain and the priest muttered, The kid is the substitute for mankind; He hath given the kid for his life, He hath given the head of the kid for the head of the man.
A pig might be offered :
Give the pig in his stead And give the flesh of it for his flesh, The blood of it for his blood, etc.
The cures were numerous and varied. After the patient recovered the house was purified by the "mashmashu" priests. The ceremony entailed the sprinkling of sacred water, the burning of incense, and the repetition of magical charms. Houses were also protected against attack, by placing certain plants over the doorways and windows. An ass's halter seems to have been used, as horse-shoes have been in Europe, to repel witches and evil spirits.
The purification ceremonies suggest the existence of taboo. For a period a sick man was "unclean" and had to be isolated. To each temple was attached a "House of Light in which fire ceremonies were performed, and a "House of Washing" where patients bathed in sacred water. Oil was also used as anointment to complete the " (British Museum, No. 22458) 92668 Clay model of a sheep's liver used in divination (Babylon, c. 2,000 B.C.) Types of Babylonian demons The demon was a very real presence in Babylonian life. Extraordinary care was taken not to offend the beings of the unseen world and nowhere did the art of exorcism reach a higher state of evolution than in Babylonia and Assyria. The prototypes of European demonology can be traced in these figures.
Exorcizing demons of disease (Babylon) BABYLONIAN MAGICAL OBJECTS [face p. 58 release from uncleanness. I oods were also tabooed at certain seasons. It was unlawful for a man to eat pork on the 30th of Ab (July-August) or the 27th of Tisri, and other dates. Fish, ox flesh, bread, etc. were similarly tabooed on specific dates. A man's luck depended greatly on his observance of these rules. But although he might observe all ceremonies, he 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. Sure 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, and so on. On lucky days good fortune was the heritage of everyone. Good fortune meant good health in many cases, and it was sometimes assured by worshipping the dreaded spirit of disease called Ura. A legend related that this demon once made up his mind to destroy all mankind. 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 valour. The worshipper who chants the hymn of praise to me will not be afflicted by disease, and he will find favour in the eyes of the King and his nobles."
Ghosts. Among the spirits who were the enemies of mankind the ghosts of the dead were not the least virulent, and especially the ghosts of those who had not been properly buried. These homeless spirits (the grave was the home of the dead) wandered about the streets searching for food and drink, or haunted houses. Not infrequently they did real injury to mankind. Of horrible aspect, they appeared before children and frightened them to death. They waylaid travellers and mocked those who were in sorrow. The scritch-owl was a mother who had died in childbed and wailed her grief nightly in solitary places. Occasionally she appeared in monstrous form and slew wayfarers. Adam's "first wife Lilith" was a demon who had once been beautiful and was in the habit of deceiving lovers, and working ill against them. A hag, Labartu, haunted mountains and marshes and children had to be charmed against her attacks. She also had a human history. The belief that the spirits of the dead could be conjured from their graves to make revelations was also prevalent in Babylonia. In the Gilgamesh epic, the hero visits the tomb of his old friend and fellow-warrior Ea-Bani. The ghost rises like a "weird gust" and answers the various questions addressed to it with great sadness. Babylonian outlook on the future life was tinged by profound gloom and pessimism. It was the fate of even the ghosts of the most fortunate and ceremonially buried dead to exist in darkness and amidst dust. The ghost of Ea- Bani said to Gilgamesh : "
Were I to inform thee the law of the underworld which I have experienced,
Thou wouldest sit down and shed tears all day long."
Gilgamesh lamented: "The sorrow of the underworld hath taken hold upon thee."
Priests who performed magical ceremonies had to be clothed in magical garments. They received inspiration from their clothing. Similarly the gods derived power from the skins of animals with which they were associated from the earliest time. Thus Ea was clad in the skin of the fish-probably the fish totem of the Ea tribe.
The dead were not admitted to the heavens of the gods. When a favoured human being, like Utnapishtim, the Babylonian Noah, joined the company of the gods, he had assigned to him an island Paradise where Gilgamesh visited him. There he dwelt with his wife. Gilgamesh Bacon was not permitted to land, and held converse with his immortal ancestor, sitting in his boat. The deities secured immortality by eating the "food of life and drinking the "water of life." DONALD MACKENZIE. دو