* See, ¢.g., the illustration in Thompson, Devils and Evil Spirits of Babytonia (1908), vol. i. pl. 2.
in the body of the afflicted individual, and was causing the pain or the wasting away from fever or the decay of a diseased organ.
3. Incantation rituals.— Against the demons appeal was made to the gods, and, through the medium of priests acting as exorcizers, an endeavour was made to get rid of their per- nicious influence, or to drive them forcibly out of the body. The power thus vested in the hands of the priests lay in the use of the proper words which would serve as a check on the actions of the demons, accompanied by certain symbolical rites, such as ablution and purification, which would complete the work of overpowering the hostile powers. Prayer thus takes its rise in Babylonia as the utterance of certain appeals to the gods; and it is natural to find in the earlier stages of religious thought as much and perhaps more stress laid upon the words so used as on the motive which prompted the direct appeal to the intervention of the gods. To the body of the people the favourable response to the appeal was at all times directly associated with the words employed, and up to a certain stage in the develop- ment of the religious beliefs this view was, no doubt, shared by the priests. As a consequence, the greatest possible importance was attached to the use of the proper words or formulas in seeking relief from the baneful spirits; and, when the exorcizing priests failed in their task, the failure was consistently ascribed to the use of a wrong or unfortunate formula that was not applicable to the case in question. There thus arose in the temple service, on the basis of actual experience, fixed formulas varying for different emergencies, the efficiency of which had been tested by a sufficiently large number of instances to warrant aries confidence in them. These formulas, handed down from one generation to another, were given a permanent form so as to ensure their preservation ; and it was a further natural step to collect these formulas into a series of greater or shorter extent that could properly be designated as ‘incantation rituals.’ Quite a number of such series have been found among the tablets of Assur- banipal’s library, and the names given to them are themselves indicative of the ideas underlying the collection. Thus we have a series which em- braced at least sixteen tablets, each one of which bore a number designating it as a part of a ritual known as ‘the Evil Demons.’ Another series, consisting of at least nine tablets, was called the ‘ Head-sickness,’ * because a goodly portion of it was devoted to formulas for ridding individuals of various diseases that had their seat in the head, and were due to some demon that had taken up its abode in the human body. Again, two series bear the names ‘Maklu’ and ‘Shurpu’ respec- tively, both terms having the sense of ‘burning,’ and owing their designation to the prominence assigned in them to the burning of efligies of the demons or of the witches who controlled the demons, as a means of getting rid of their baneful influence. Corresponding to the distribution of functions among the gods, the attempt was made to specialize the powers of the demons, though it is doubtful whether this process of differentiation was ever fully carried out. Thus there was a female demon, or rather a class, called Labartu, supposed to be specially dangerous to children and their mothers; and we have an incantation series which was known as ‘ Labartu,’ + and which was
* These two series are published in Cuneif. Texts from Tablets in the British Museum, parts xvi. and xvii., and interpreted by Thompson, Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia, vols. i. and ii.
+See Myhrman, Zeitschrift fir Assyriologie, xvi. pp. 141- 200.
552 RELIGION OF BABYLONIA
RELIGION OF BABYLONIA
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entirely taken up with formulas and directions against this special class of evil spirits.
These rituals thus form a distinct division of the religious literature, and we are probeely jastified in assuming that they represent the oldest division. In regard to their composition—more particularly as to time and place—we are dependent for the present on internal evidence alone, and that often of an unsatisfactory nature. The fact that the god Ea, as the protector of humanity, plays a prominent part in many of the series, taken in connexion with the sanctity that continued from the earliest to the latest days to be attached to Eridu, the seat of Ea worship, points to the temple of Eridu as one of the centres in which incantation rituals were compiled; and, on the other hand, the association of Marduk with Ea, introduced in some of the Ea rituals in a manner which betrays the intention of Marduk’s priests to give their favourite a share in the privilege of driving off the evil spirits, is conclusive evidence that the older texts were subject to revision subsequent to the period when Marduk was recognized as standing at the head of the pantheon. Considerations such as these suggest that the rituals were subject to growth and modification. The priests in one re- ligious centre would have no hesitation in embody- ing in their ritual formulas that had originated and that had been tested in another ; but, in doing so, they would be led to introduce such modifi- cations as were required to bring the latter into accord with other portions of the special ritual of the temple in question, and to combine them with formulas of their own. Even a superficial examination of the rituals reveals their composite character; and, upon closer investigation, it is possible to separate in many instances the older from the more recent parts. The mixture of primitive thought with utterances that belong to a much more advanced stage of religious belief is, in fact, a trait that marks all the rituals hitherto brought to light. The conservative instinct led to the retention of what is oldest in these texts, while the impressive hymns and the often strik- ingly beautiful prayers inserted amidst a jumble of incantation formulas, represent the attempt to give to the old beliefs a more spiritual interpretation.