Sources of Evil: Studies in Mesopotamian Exorcistic Lore
Leiden: Brill, 2018. First edition. Hardcover. xiii, (1), 382pp. Brown boards lettered in white with yellow band at top. Illustrated with several drawings and color photos. A fine, as new copy.
"This volume in the series on Ancient Divination and Magic published by Brill is a welcome addition to the growing literature on ancient magic ..." -Ann Jeffers, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 43.5 (2019) "Since the focus of the conference from which the essays derive was narrow, most of the essays hang together well and even complement each other. Several offer state-of-the-art treatments of topics and texts that make the volume especially useful. Readers will find much in this volume that contributes to our understanding of Mesopotamian exorcists, magic, medicine, and conceptions of evil." -Scott Noegel, University of Washington, Journal of the American Oriental Society 140.1 (2020)
Sources of Evil: Studies in Mesopotamian Exorcistic Lore is a collection of thirteen essays on the body of knowledge employed by ancient Near Eastern healing experts, most prominently the ‘exorcist’ and the ‘physician’, to help patients who were suffering from misfortunes caused by divine anger, transgressions of taboos, demons, witches, or other sources of evil. The volume provides new insights into the two most important catalogues of Mesopotamian therapeutic lore, the Exorcist’s Manual and the Aššur Medical Catalogue, and contains discussions of agents of evil and causes of illness, ways of repelling evil and treating patients, the interpretation of natural phenomena in the context of exorcistic lore, and a description of the symbolic cosmos with its divine and demonic inhabitants. (Publisher)
Contents: The exorcist's manual : structure, language, Sitz im Leben / Eckart Frahm -- Catalogues, texts, and specialists : some thoughts on the Aššur medical catalogue and Mesopotamian healing professions / Ulrike Steinert -- Identifying divine agency : the hands of the gods in context / Nils P. Heeβel -- Kamadme, the Sumerian counterpart of the demon Lamaštu / Andrew R. George --The lion, the witch, and the wolf : aggressive magic and witchcraft in the old Babylonian period / Avigail Mertens-Wagschal -- Evil helpers : instrumentalizing agents of evil in anti-witchcraft rituals / Daniel Schwemer -- Magico-medical plants and incantations on Assyrian house amulets / Strahil V. Panayotov -- Alternative models for the development of some incantations / Tzvi Abusch -- Reusing incantations and making new from old : on the formation and therapeutic objective of the Muššu'u ("Embrocation") compendium / Barbara Böck -- Tracing Mesopotamian medical knowledge : a study of maškadu and related illnesses / Troels Pank Arbøll -- Ina lumun attalî Sîn : on evil and lunar eclipses / Francesca Rochberg -- Highway to hell : the winds as cosmic conveyors in Mesopotamian incantation texts / Enrique Jiménez -- The Göttertypentext as a humanistic Mappa Mundi : an essay / Frans A.M. Wiggermann. Intro; Sources of Evil: Studies in Mesopotamian Exorcistic Lore; Copyright; Table of Contents; Preface; Abbreviations; Introduction; Organizing Magical and Medical Knowledge; 1 The Exorcist's Manual: Structure, Language, Sitz im Leben; 2 Catalogues, Texts, and Specialists: Some Thoughts on the Aššur Medical Catalogue and Mesopotamian Healing Professions; Agents of Evil and Causes of Illness; 3 Identifying Divine Agency: The Hands of the Gods in Context; 4 Kamadme, the Sumerian Counterpart of the Demon Lamaštu; 5 The Lion, the Witch, and the Wolf: Aggressive Magic and Witchcraft in the Old Babylonian PeriodRepelling Evil with Rituals, Amulets, and Incantations; 6 Evil Helpers: Instrumentalizing Agents of Evil in Anti-witchcraft Rituals; 7 Magico-medical Plants and Incantations on Assyrian House Amulets; 8 Alternative Models for the Development of Some Incantations; Concepts and Therapies of Illness; 9 Reusing Incantations and Making New from Old: On the Formation and Therapeutic Objective of the Muššuʼu ("Embrocation") Compendium; 10 Tracing Mesopotamian Medical Knowledge: A Study of maškadu and Related Illnesses The Living and the Ordered World in Exorcistic Lore; 11 Ina lumun attalî Sîn: On Evil and Lunar Eclipses; 12 Highway to Hell: The Winds as Cosmic Conveyors in Mesopotamian Incantation Texts; 13 The Göttertypentext as a Humanistic Mappa Mundi: An Essay; Indices Access:
Volume 15 of the Brill series, "Ancient Magic and Divination." (AMD). Fine. Item #52277
ISBN: 9789004368330
Price: $150.00