CHAPTER 1

The Magic and Sorcery of the Chaldeans.

A GENERAL, but tolerably complete idea of the magic conjuration of the Chaldeans,its processes and its principal applications, may be obtained from a documentwhich Sir Henry Rawlinson and Mr. Edwin Norris published "in facsimile" in 1866,in the second volume of their collection of the Cuneiform Inscriptions ofWestern Asia. This document is a large tablet from the library of the royalpalace at Nineveh, containing a succession of 28 formulae of deprecatoryincantations, unfortunately partly destroyed, against the action of evilspirits, the effects of sorcery, disease, and the principal misfortunes whichmay attack man in the course of his daily life. The whole forms a litany of somelength, divided into paragraphs, which all finish with the same solemninvocation. It would seem, judging from the concluding paragraph, that theintention was not to use the detached formulae of this litany on specialoccasions, but to recite the whole as a protection from all the fatal influencesagainst which it provides. This tablet, however, like all the other works onmagic from Assyria and Chaldea, is written in Accadian, that is, in the Turanianlanguage, which was related to the Finnish and Tartaric dialects spoken by theprimitive population of the marshy plains round the lower Euphrates. An Assyriantranslation accompanies the ancient Accadian text, and is placed opposite to it.Centuries ago, when Assurbanipal, king of Assyria, of the VIIth century beforeour era, had the copy made which has been handed down to us, this kind ofdocument could be understood only by aid of the Assyrian version, which may betraced to a much earlier date. The Accadian was already a dead language; but theAssyrians attributed so much the more mysterious power to the incantationsexpressed in this language, because the script had become unintelligible.

In order to place the reader at once in the midst of the strange world intowhich I ask him to follow me, I shall now reproduce in its entirety the formulaeof this tablet, those at least which it is possible to interpret, for there arestill some phrases which defy explanation, and I shall accompany my translationwith short notes. I have been preceded in this undertaking by M. Oppert, withwhom in most cases I agree perfectly. Should anyone, however, wish to compareour two translations, he will find some differences, which almost all resultfrom the fact, that the learned Professor of the College of France hastranslated from the Assyrian version, while I have preferred to adhere to theoriginal Accadian text. The Assyrian version is by no means always a literalone; and of this the reader may judge for himself, as I have annotated all thepassages in which it differs from the earlier original. The Accadian textappears to be divided into rhythmical verses, each of which forms a separateline upon the tablet; I have marked these divisions carefully.

INCANTATION.

1 The wicked god, the wicked demon,
the demon of the desert, the demon of the mountain,
the demon of the sea, the demon of the marsh,
the evil genius, the enormous uruku
the bad wind by itself,
the wicked demon which seizes the body(?), which disturbs the body.
Spirit of the heavens, conjure it! Spirit of the earth, conjure it!

* * *

2 The demon who seizes man, the demon who seizes man,
the Gigim who works evil, the production of a wicked demon,
Spirit of the heavens, conjure it! Spirit of the earth, conjure it!

* * *

3 The consecrated prostitute with the rebellious heart, who abandons the place
of prostitution,
the prostitute of the god Anna, who does not do his service,
to the evening of the beginning of the incomplete month,
the sacred slave who fails to go to his place,
who does not lacerate his chest, who does not.... his hand,
making his chest resound, completing....
Spirit of the heavens, conjure it! Spirit of the earth,
conjure it!

* * *

4 That which does not go away, that which is not propitious,
that which grows up, ulcers of a bad kind,
poignant ulcers, enlarged ulcers, excoriated ulcers,
ulcers...., ulcers which spread, malignant ulcers,
Spirit of the heavens, conjure it! Spirit of the earth, conjure it!

* * *

5 Disease of the bowels, the disease of the heart, the palpitation of the
diseased heart,
disease of the vision, disease of the head, malignant dysentery,
the tumour which swells,
ulceration of the reins, the micturation which wastes,
cruel agony which never ceases,
nightmare,
Spirit of the heavens, conjure it! Spirit of the earth, conjure it!

* * *

6 He who forges images, he who bewitches
the malevolent aspect, the evil eye,
the malevolent mouth, the malevolent tongue,
the malevolent lip, the finest sorcery,
Spirit of the heavens, conjure it! Spirit of the earth, conjure it!

7 The nurse.
The nurse whose breast withers,
the nurse whose breast is bitter,
the nurse whose breast becomes ulcerated,
the nurse who dies of the ulceration of her breast,
the woman with child who does not preserve her offspring,
the woman with child whose embryo splits,
the woman with child whose embryo grows rotten,
the woman with child whose embryo does not prosper,
Spirit of the heavens, conjure it! Spirit of the earth, conjure it!

8 Painful fever, violent fever,
the fever which never leaves man, unremitting fever,
the lingering fever, malignant fever,
Spirit of the heavens, conjure it! Spirit of the earth, conjure it!

9 Painful plague, violent plague,
plague which never leaves man,
unremitting plague,
the lingering plague, malignant plague,
Spirit of the heavens, conjure it! Spirit of the earth, conjure it!

10 Painful disease of the bowels,
the infirmity which makes gloomy and cuts,
the never-ceasing infirmity, the infirmity of the veins,
the infirmity which does not go away, the malignant infirmity,
Spirit of the heavens, conjure it! Spirit of the earth, conjure it!

11 That which acts in the mouth, the poison noxious to the voice,
the expectoration of the consumption which noxiously prostrates,
scrofula, pustules, falling off of the nails,
purulent eruptions, inveterate tetters,
shingles causing pits and scars,
leprosy covering the skin,
food which reduces the body of man to a skeleton,
food which eaten is returned again,
liquids which make the drinker swell,
fatal poison which does not.... the earth,
the pestilential wind which comes from the desert and returns not,
Spirit of the heavens, conjure it! Spirit of the earth, conjure it!

12 The frost which makes the earth to shiver,
the excess of heat which makes the skin of man to crack, evil destiny....
which unexpectedly cuts off a man's career,
parching thirst which aids the Spirit of the plague,
Spirit of the heavens, conjure it! Spirit of the earth, conjure it!

The XIIIth formula is too much effaced for me to attempt to translate it; but,judging from what remains, it was destined to avert the action of a demondwelling in the desert.

The XIVth is in the same condition; its object was to ward off a misfortunewhich might attack a man at any time, eating, drinking, sleeping, or standing athis own fireside; possibly sudden death. Only the Accadian text remains of thefour following formulae; the Assyrian Version is destroyed.

15 He who in the gaol dies of hunger,
he who in the gaol dies of thirst,
he who being hungry in a pit (?)
beseeching (is therefore reduced to eat) dust,
he who in the earth or in the river,
perishes and dies,
the female slave who possesses no master,
the free woman who has no husband,
he who leaves an infamous memory of his name,
he who leaves no memory of his name,
he who in his hunger cannot recover,
he who falls ill and cries at the beginning of an incomplete month,
Spirit of the heavens, conjure it! Spirit of the earth, conjure it!

16 The protecting god of man,
who (guarantees) the prolongation of man's life,
may he fortify him to the sight of the Sun!
The genius, the favourable giant,
may he penetrate into his head
for the prolongation of his life!
He will never depart from him!
Spirit of the heavens, conjure it! Spirit of the earth, conjure it!

The XVIIth formula presents difficulties which cannot be explained in thepresent state of our acquaintance with the Accadian language; we can onlydiscern that it was the prescription of a protective and conjuring rite.

18 Two double bands of white cloth
upon the bed on the platform
as a talisman if he binds on the (right) hand,
two double bands of black cloth
if he binds on the left hand,
the bad demon, the wicked Alal, the wicked Gigim,
the bad Telal, the wicked god, the wicked Maskim,
the phantom, the spectre, the vampyre,
incubus, succubus, nightmare,
wicked sorcery, the philter, liquid poison,
that which gives pain, that which hurts, that which is evil,
their head upon his head,
their foot upon his foot,
they never seize him, they will never return.
Spirit of the heavens, conjure it! Spirit of the earth, conjure it!

A great gap occurs here, occasioned by a fracture of the tablet, in which atleast two formulae, and the beginning of a third, have disappeared. I discoveredin the British Museum a small fragment, which is not in the published text, andwhich, finding here its proper place, shews the end of the XIXth formula.

....May the wicked demon depart!
May they seize one another!
The propitious demon, the propitious giant,
may they penetrate into his body!
Spirit of the heavens, conjure it! Spirit of the earth, conjure it!

The first line of the XXth formula, which is found upon the same fragment, showsthat its object was to cure some disease of the bowels.

The remainder of the XXI st contains an enumeration of all the parts of thehouse from which the magical words were to exclude demons. All this portion isextremely obscure, and its translation is rendered almost impossible by themultiplicity of the architectural terms employed, to which we have no key,particularly as the Assyrian version is here wanting.

22 The phantom, child of heaven,
which the gods remember,
the Innin, prince
of the lords.
the......
which produces painful fever,
the vampyre which attacks man,
the Uruku multifold upon humanity,
may they never seize him!
Spirit of the heavens, conjure!
Spirit of the earth, conjure!

The tablet, in its present state, gives only the beginnings of the lines of theXXIIIrd and XXIVth incantations in the Accadian version; it is thereforeimpossible to try and translate them. All that can be discovered is, that in thefirst the god Silik-mulu-khi is invoked, to whom texts of the same kindgenerally attribute the rôle of a mediator, and who is compared further on tothe Marduk of the official religion of the Assyrian period; the second isaddressed to the god of fire, Izdubar, which we shall describe later with moreprecision.

The XXVth formula only exists in the Accadian; and that only as far as the firstfourteen lines. These show, however, that it begins with an invocation to thewater god, Nin-a-zu; it then treats of diverse maladies, and ends thus:

The sea,
the sea,
the desert without water,
the waters of the Tigris, the waters of the Euphrates,
the mountain of the west, the mountain of the east,
the agitated mountain,
may they close their chasms,
Spirit of the heavens, conjure!
Spirit of the earth, conjure!

26 Ninki-gal, spouse of the god Nin-a-zu,
may she cause him to turn his face toward the place where she is!
May the wicked demons depart!
May they seize one another!
The favourable demon, the favourable giant,
may they penetrate into his body!
Spirit of the heavens, conjure!
Spirit of the earth, conjure!

27 The god Ztak, the great messenger, the supreme ensnarer
amongst the gods, like the god of the heights.
May he penetrate his head
for the prolongation of his life!
He will never depart from him!
Spirit of the heavens, conjure!
Spirit of the earth, conjure!

28 The man passing (on the earth), who makes sacrifices,
may pardon and peace flow for him like molten brass!
May the sun enlighten the days of this man!
Silik-mulu-khi, eldest son of the ocean,
strengthen in him peace and happiness!
Spirit of the heavens, conjure!
Spirit of the earth, conjure!

But the rich and varied information contained in this text, which has now beenplaced for many years at the disposal of scholars, is extended and confirmed inthe most happy manner by some new documents, which are soon to be presented tothe public. Amongst the many thousand fragments of clay tablets discovered by M.Layard in the hall of the library in the palace of Kouyunjik on the site ofNineveh itself, and which are preserved at present in the British Museum, arethe fragments of a vast work on magic, which, in its perfect state, formed aseries of not less than two hundred tablets, and which was for Chaldea what theAtharva-Veda was for ancient India. This was such a collection of the formulae,incantations, and hymns of the Chaldean magi as the classical writers speak of,and of whom Diodorus Siculus says: "They try to avert evil and procure good,either by purifications, sacrifices, or enchantments." The fragments of thiswork have been patiently collected from the chaos of rubbish of all kinds inwhich they were buried; and they have been prepared for publication as the IVthvolume of The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, by Sir Henry Rawlinson.This eminent Orientalist from the other side of the Channel has laboured morethan any one else to decipher the Cuneiform Anarian text, in which work he hasbeen assisted by his young colleague Mr. George Smith, who has since taken forhimself a prominent place in science. To give an idea of the material extent ofthe fragments under consideration, suffice it to say, that they are more thanfifty in number, and contain many perfect tablets covered with from three tofour hundred lines of writing, and that they fill almost the whole of thirtyfolio copper plates. With a scientific generosity seldom seen, of which I cannotbetter show my appreciation than by proclaiming it, Sir Henry Rawlinson kindlysent me the proofs of the facsimile plates of this publication, before they werebrought out. It is one of the most precious works which has ever enrichedAssyriology; and from it I have taken greater part of the data of the presenttreatise.

The great work on magic, many copies of which had been executed by the scribesof Assurbanipal, according to the pattern placed centuries since in the libraryof the famous school for priests at Erech in Chaldea, was composed of threedifferent books. We know the title of one of the three, "The Wicked Spirits,"for we find at the end of each of the tablets, which come from it and which havebeen preserved entire, "Tablet No.—of the Wicked Spirits." As the title shows,it was filled exclusively with formulae of conjurations and imprecations, whichwere designed to repulse demons and other wicked spirits, to avert their fatalaction, and to shelter the invoker from their attacks. Portions of a second bookexist, and, judging from what remains of it, it would seem to be formed of acollection of these incantations, to which was attributed the power of curingvarious maladies. Lastly, the third book contained Hymns to certain gods. Asupernatural and mysterious power was attributed to the chanting of these hymns,which are, however, of a very different character from the regular liturgicalprayers of the official religion, a few of which have been preserved to us. Itis curious to notice that the three parts composing thus the great work onmagic, of which Sir Henry Rawlinson has found the remains, correspond exactly tothe three classes of Chaldean doctors, which Daniel enumerates, together withthe astrologers and divines (Kasdim and Gazrim), that is, the Khartumim orconjurors, the Chakamim or physicians, and the Asaphim or theosophists. Thefurther we advance in the knowledge of the Cuneiform texts, the greater does thenecessity appear of reversing the condemnation much too prematurely pronouncedby the German exegetical school against the date of the writings of the fourthof the greater prophets. The language of the Book of Daniel, interspersed as itis in various places with Greek words, proves without doubt that the definitivetranslation as we possess it, is posterior to the time of Alexander. But thefoundation of the work dates much further back; it is tinged with a very decidedBabylonian tint, and certain features of the life at the court of Nebuchadnezzarand his successors are there pictured with a truth and exactitude, to which awriter a few centuries later could hardly have attained.