Los antiguos mesopotámicos eran maestros astrónomos, constructores excepcionales, pioneros de las matemáticas, la ciencia y la ley, pero cuando los expertos comenzaron a descifrar sus tablillas escritas, surgió otro mundo. Era un mundo donde los magos oscuros golpeaban el miedo en los corazones de las personas y los exorcistas trabajaban para recuperar el control contra las fuerzas del mal.
This is the first tablet of Maqlu, a lengthy series of Babylonian anti-witchcraft incantations that were performed together through a single night, once a year. Most of these spells were originally used on their own. Note that “witchcraft” here means “magic that harms me”; the counter-spells rely on the same magical principles as the “witchcraft,” so this is certainly not a denunciation of all magic use.
Incantation:
I call upon you, Gods of the Night;
with you, I call upon Night, the Veiled Bride.
I call upon Twilight, Midnight, and Dawn.
For a witch has bewitched me;
an enchantress has indicted me.
She estranged me from my god and goddess;
I have sickened in the sight of all.
Day and night, a restlessness weighs on me;
cobwebs clog my mouth.
My mouth receives no nourishment;
my drinking water dwindles away.
My songs have turned to sorrow, my delight to despair.
Stand in my defense, Great Gods, and hear my plea!
Issue judgment. Reveal a verdict.
I have made an effigy of my warlock or my witch,
of my sorcerer or my sorceress.
I set it at your feet and plead my case.
Because she did me wrong and sought my suffering without cease,
may she die, so I may live.
Let her witchcraft, sorcery, and spells release me.
Let the verdant-crowned tamarisk purify me;
let the squall-enduring date palm release me;
let the earth-suffusing mashtakal-plant cleanse me;
let the seed-filled pine cone release me.
Before you, I pronounce myself as pure as grass,
as clean and innocent as spikenard.
Her hex comes from an evil witch,
so let it return to her mouth and tangle her tongue.
May the Gods of the Night strike her for her witchcraft;
may Night’s three watches undo her wicked spell.
May her mouth be tallow and her tongue be salt,
so that which spoke my evil melts like tallow,
and that which caused my witchcraft dissolves like salt. [1]
Her chains are broken, her deeds destroyed;
all her words are scattered to the steppes.
By command of the Gods of the Night.
[1] The ritual that accompanied this section would involve a tallow (animal fat) effigy with salt in its mouth. Note that there are /two harmful things that come from a witch’s mouth: the words from her mouth and the spittle from her tongue (considered a physical manifestation of her spell). “Kishpu“ means witchcraft, but originally it meant spit.
Incantation:
Underworld, Underworld, o Underworld!
Gilgamesh is master of your oaths. [1]
I know the deeds you do;
the deeds I do, you do not know.
Whatever my witches do, it cannot trap the one who ignores, unlocks, or releases it.
[1] Yes, that Gilgamesh. Although he eventually became the heroic protagonist of an adventure, he started out as a deity of the Netherworld (and some of the earliest stories about him show how he learned the Netherworld’s rules).
Incantation:
My city Zabban, my city Zabban:
two are the gates of my city Zabban.
One for the rising sun; one for the setting sun.
One for the rising sun; one for the setting sun. [1]
As for me, I raise a snapped-off palm branch and a mashtakal-plant.
I offer water to the sky-gods:
“Just as I let you purify yourself,
may you let me purify myself.”
[1] This line is italicized to point out an oddity. Cuneiform allowed scribes multiple ways to write the same word, and the same text will often contain different “spellings,” but this couplet takes it to an extreme. The first line is written in ideograms (perhaps meant to be read aloud in Sumerian, not Akkadian?), while the second is more phonetic.
Incantation:
I cut off the river-ford; I have cut off the harbor.
I cut off the enchantments across the lands.
Anu and Antu sent me —
“whom should I send to Belet-Tseri?”
Cast a muzzle on the mouths of my warlock and witch;
cast an incantation from Marduk, the gods’ sage.
If they call upon you, do not respond;
if they invoke you, do not hear.
If I call upon you, respond;
if I invoke you, hear me.
By command of Anu, Antu, and Belet-Tseri.
Incantation:
I was sent; I will go. I was dispatched; I will speak.
Asalluhi, master of exorcism, sent me against the warlock and witch.
In heaven, let them listen; in the underworld, let them hear!
In the river, let them listen; on dry land, let them hear my voice!
Lash out, o howling wind — you shall not move.
Lash out, you of staff or stick — do not move.
May the Road, daughter of the Great Gods, stand in place. [1]
When I testify against my warlock and witch,
the ox and sheep will soften the way. [2]
May their testimony fall apart; may my testimony not fall apart.
When I testify, may their testimony not obstruct my testimony.
By command of Asalluhi, master of exorcism.
[1] These three lines are very obscure, and there isn’t consensus on how to translate them. Astral, botanical, and/or meteorological phenomena may be referenced.
[2] In other words, a sacrifice of ox and sheep will make the divine judge favorable.
Incantation:
O Nuska, these are the effigies of my sorcerer,
the effigies of my warlock or witch,
the effigies of my sorcerer or sorceress,
the effigies of my enchanter or enchantress,
the effigies of my poisoner,
the effigies of my rival,
the effigies of my foe,
the effigies of my persecutor,
the effigies of my prosecutor,
the effigies of my accuser,
the effigies of my adversary,
the effigies of my slanderer,
the effigies of my villain — [1]
Those whom you know, Judge Nuska, though I do not,
who have done or had done to me
witchcraft, sorcery, spells, wicked deeds,
enchantment, rebellion, binding, evil plots,
corruption, death-magic, seizure, instability,
mood swings, vertigo, or derangement,
who have pursued me or made me pursued.
These are they! These are their effigies!
As they cannot stand trial, I now raise their effigies.
You are Judge Nuska, conqueror of enemies and evildoers;
conquer them and undo my injustice.
They crafted my effigies, copied my features,
stole my mouth, shook my neck,
crushed my chest, bent my spine,
weakened my heart, stole my libido,
twisted my anger toward myself, weakened my muscles,
enervated my arms, locked my knees,
filled me with fever, spasms, and frailty,
fed me bewitched food,
quenched me with bewitched water,
bathed me in dirty dishwater,
smeared me with poisonous ointment,
betrothed me to a corpse,
buried my emissions in a grave,
and incited god, king, noble, and prince against me.
You are Girra, incinerator of warlock and witch,
eradicator of the monsters that spring from the warlock and witch;
you destroy the evildoer.
I call upon you to act as Judge Shamash [2].
Issue judgment. Decide my case.
Incinerate the warlock and witch,
consume my enemies, devour my evildoers,
and let the fury of your storm conquer them.
May they cease to be, like water trickling from a water-skin;
may their fingers be sheared off as if crushed by stones!
By your supreme and unchanging command
and your faithful and immutable assent.
[1] English, unlike Akkadian, does not have male and female forms of every word (e.g. sorcerer/sorceress), and translating these lines as “my male poisoner or my female poisoner” gets very tedious, so I’ve omitted the genders. Each of the lines in this stanza has a male and a female form of the occupation in the Akkadian.
[2] Shamash, the sun-god, was the chief god of fair judgment, since the sun could see everything from his position. In this case, Nuska (a second-tier god associated with fire) was asked to take on the role of Shamash for the petitioner, providing him with justice.
Incantation:
O Great Nuska, child of Anu,
image of the Father, scion of Enlil,
raised in the Great Deep, crafted by Enki:
I raise a firebrand and ignite you. [1]
A warlock bewitched me; bewitch him with his witchcraft that bewitched me.
A witch bewitched me; bewitch her with her witchcraft that bewitched me.
An enchanter enchanted me; enchant him with the enchantment that enchanted me.
An enchantress enchanted me; enchant her with the enchantment that enchanted me.
A woman enchanter enchanted me; enchant her with the enchantment that enchanted me.
They crafted effigies of my effigies, copied my features,
stole my spittle, plucked my hair,
snipped my hem, gathered the dirt beneath my feet. [2]
May Warrior Girra undo their spell.
[1] Nuska (here also equated to Girra) was identified with fire itself, so lighting a flame was, in a magical sense, literally kindling Nuska.
[2] These were all common forms of sympathetic magic, in which the witch used something connected to her victim (e.g. dirt that the victim had walked over) to forge a magical connection.
Incantation:
I raise a torch and burn their effigies:
the demon, spirit, specter, ghost,
Lamashtu, Pestilence, Jaundice,
incubus, succubus, demoness,
and every evil that afflicts humanity.
Melt, flow, and trickle away!
May your smoke rise skyward
and the sun snuff out your embers.
May the son of Ea, the exorcist, extinguish your terror.
