User:Serendipodous/indigo/page 27

mul apin
the great twins, the lion (latarak) the crab (the seat of anu)

the old mzan, the palm frond,

the star of enlil

the star in front, abundant the messenger of ninlil

the star behind, dignity the messenger of tispak

the wagon ninlil

the fox, erra, the strong one

the hitched yhoke, the gerat anui of heaven

the she goat gula, the star in front, the dog

the panther, nergal

at his right, the pig, damu

at left the horse

behind, the stag the messenger of the stars

the deleter

the field, the seat of ea, in front of the stars of anu

at its opposite, the swallow

the snake, ningizzida lord of the netherworld

the ravenm star of adad

the king regulus

su oa bootes

the plow is not the big dipperl the wagon is

the deleter beta andromedae

the hiored man aries

lepus the rooster

the raven corvus (AND CRATER)

the scales libra and part of virgo

the goat fish capricone

the bark e sagit

the snakle hydra

the eagle aquila

the old man perseus

the field, thje great square of pegasus

500-400 BC: planets become predictable- birth signs become relevant

Wiley
There was no dichotomy of good and evil in Babylon

The term "supernatural" had no meaning.

the distinction between gods and demons was fluid: gods could do evil, demons could protect, both could be worshipped and offered to, though gods more often

the Sumerian udug, the akkadian uttuku, is usually translated as demon

Lamashtu was thus once divine, presumably even a goddess. She had been stripped of that rank and the offerings that were owed it because of her habit of preying on the young, particularly infants and pregnant women – her aforementioned “unseemly deeds.” Her punishment only accelerated and intensified her crimes, and Lamashtu was the primary demonic threat to target the young.

Incantations designed to counter the demoness often cite her desire to nurse infants at her own breasts, though her milk bears poison and illness.

ardat-lilî, who drifted in from the steppe on the breeze to haunt men at night was essentially the ghost of a young woman who died unmarried.

the Akkadian myth Atra-h˘asis from the early second millennium BCE (Lambert & Millard, 1969), describes how the gods themselves established Lamashtu as a built-in control measure against unchecked population growth

the a�šipu, the Mesopotamian ritual specialist and exorcist, and primarily relied on sympathetic magic

By making a figurine of Lamashtu and performing rituals upon it, the effect could be transferred to the demoness herself. In one method, the figurine was set beside the afflicted individual, and following several days of ritual, placed with a figurine of a black dog and then buried outside the city wall. As black dogs were associated with and sacred to Gula, the goddess of healing (Böck, 2013; Plantholt, 2017), they were an ideal check on the demoness. In another ritual, a similar figurine of Lamashtu was placed by the afflicted and subjected to ritual incantations; following these, the figurine was provided with provisions and buried again outside the city wall.

Pazuzu was employed as a protection against Lamashtu, and his distinctive masculinity also contrasted with the demoness (Figure 3). When portrayed in full, Pazuzu is shown with a snarling, bestial head, clawed hands, and taloned feet. His bears a set of four wings, prominent ribs, and an erect, snake-headed penis. His protection was particularly sought by pregnant women, and pendants of the demon – or, most often, his snarling head – were clearly intended to be worn (Figure 4).

“I am Pazuzu, son of H˘anpu, king of the evil wind demons. I ascended a mighty mountain that quaked, and the (evil) winds that I ran into there were headed West. One by one, I broke their winds”

Moreover, the demon's terrifying visage moves beyond Mesopotamia, appearing in sites in the eastern Mediterranean, such as the island of Samos

In it, the witch, who is most often female, causes chaos and harm, with her actions described in some detail: “(the witch is) she who roams the streets, who continually intrudes houses, who prowls in alleys…she robbed the fine young man of his virility, she carried off the attractiveness of the fine young woman…she has driven away my god and goddess from my person” (Abusch, 2015, p. 305). The witch was too powerful to be merely exiled to the Netherworld; instead, she was burned so that her spirit would rise, like smoke, to the heavens, where the great gods could deal with her. Despite the prevalence of anti-witchcraft incantations, there is relatively little evidence for the presence of actual witches in Mesopotamia or the persecution of them

personal antagonistic magic, the curses against specific people found in greece and rome, is rare in mesopotamia. Treaties often included curses should they be violated

barû � (diviner), kalû (lamentation priest) and asû, often translated as physician or herbalist

Asalluh˘i, acting as a divine stand-in for the mortal a�šipu, presents the affliction to his father, Enki, who proclaims that all the knowledge Enki possesses is already Asalluh˘i's: “My son, what do you not know? What more could I add for you? That which I know, you know as well.” (Falkenstein, 1931, p. 54; Mander, 2010). Enki then commands Asalluh˘ i to go forth and heal the patient by means of the ritual instructions he subsequently dictates. By this means, the ritual – which was performed by the a�šipu himself – is given a clear mythological grounding and divine origin. The a�šipu reinforced this divine sanction and origin by often stating in incantations that the incantation was not his, but belonged to the gods: “The spell is not my own, it is a spell of Ea and Asalluh˘i,” as this example from the incantation series against Lamashtu states

So it was not unusual to see the a�šipu call upon his udug and lama to aid him, with both specifically identified as “good” or “benevolent” (Konstantopoulos, 2017). While the figure of the lama may have had a long history of primarily benevolent and even divine appearances (Sjöberg, 1974), the udug was truly flexible, and incantations could and did feature the benevolent udug (udug sa6-ga) fending off the malevolent udug (who could also appear as the udug hul), without any apparent distress over these diametrically opposed categories being applied to the udug within the space of one text.

Maqlu
It was performed during a single night and into the following morning at the end of the month Abu (July/August), a time when spirits were thought to move back and forth between the netherworld and this world. The primary participants were the exorcist and his patient. The ceremony is even the subject of a letter written by the exorcist Nabû-nādin-šumi to King Esarhaddon in early August 670 BCE. Here it should be mentioned that in almost all instances, the patients on whose behalf witchcraft rituals were performed were members of the male elite.4 Although lists of witches include both male and female forms, the witch is usually depicted as a woman.

I raise up the torch and burn the statues of

the demon, the spirit, the lurker, the ghost,

…..

and any evil that seizes mankind.

Dissolve, melt, drip ever away!

May your smoke rise ever heavenward,

May the sun quench your embers,

May the son of Ea, the magus (of the gods), sever your stench.

I seek against you kurgarrû-hierodules and owlmen – I break your bond! May warlocks perform rituals against you – I break your bond! May witches perform rituals against you – I break your bond! May kurgarrû-hierodules perform rituals against you – I break your bond! May owlmen perform rituals against you – I break your bond! May naršindu-sorcerers perform rituals against you – I break your bond! May snake charmers perform rituals against you – I break your bond! May agugillu-sorcerers perform rituals against you – I break your bond! I slap your cheek, I tear out your tongue!

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.

fierce raging furious overbearing violetn wicked are you who but ea can dampen you# who but asalluhi cana cool you

my mouth is water your mough tsi fire, may my mouth extinguish oyour mouth

gods of the night
1 The princes are closely guarded,

2 The bolts are lowered, rings set in place.

3 The noisy people are fallen silent,

4 Gates (once) opened are locked.

5 The gods of the land, goddesses of the land,

6 Šamaš, Sîn, Adad and Ištar

7 Have gone off into the "lap of heaven".

8 They will give no judgment, they will decide no cases.

9 Veiled is the night.

10 The palace, its chapel, (and) sanctuary are dark.

11 The wayfarer calls out to the god, the petitioner keeps on sleeping.

12 The judge of justice, father of the destitute,

13 Šamaš, has gone into his sanctuary.

14 (May) the great gods of the night,

15 brilliant Girra,

16 warrior Erra,

17 the "Bow", the "Yoke",

18 Orion, the "Dragon",

19 the "Wagon", the "She-Goat",

20 the "Bison", the "Horned Serpent",

21 stand by!

22 In the extispicy which I am performing,

23 In the lamb which I am offering,

24 place for me the truth!

Abush
Unlike the asu, or physician, the ashipu was a member of the clergy, or at least an employee

shiptu means incantation

warlock kashapu, witch kashaptu

illigitimate parctiitoner of destructive magic

usually depicted as a woman

performed sympathetic magic (voodoo dolls)

bury with a coprse, performing a symbolic marriage

gods of the night, the night courts of Anu and enlil and the underworld of ereshkigal and ekur

vs the day court of shamash and the subterranean waters of enki

the incantations transform the witch into a force of nature

fierce raging furious overbearing violetn wicked are you who but ea can dampen you# who but asalluhi cana cool you

my mouth is water your mough tsi fire, may my mouth extinguish oyour mouth

my withc my informer who bblows vack and forth over lands crosses to and fro over maountains

loss of barley, silver, slaves, cattle shorses sheep, dying, heartbreak, lack of authroity, angera gainst the gods and king, his personal god is angry/ Or a witch has distanced him from his personal god

her spittle cut off trade she drove away my god and goddess from my person

she caused my god or goddess to be estranged fro me and i have become sickening in the sight of anyone who behod me i AM THEREFORE UNABLE TO REST DAY OR NGHT

anxietty depression misfortunme social rejection, nightmares

a personal god was a projection of the individual as a social being, a maifested ego. if it abandons you, you have no power or effectiveness

ignoring the superego led to loss of ego

burning a witch (sometimes) disallowed them entry to the Otherworld (see Emkidue, the smoke ent upwards)

sometimes not. effigies were often bronze and offered to girra, the god of fire and forging

lameness, dizzyness, impotence, tinnitus, weakness, irritability, depression

Ulla koch westenholz
the sribes of the eae were often also exorcists or ashipu, or ekur zakir

two good signs were good, two bad signs were bad, mixed was bad

if a good planet is bright good if a bad planet is bright bad

sympathetic magic: to prevent a dike breaking, an astrologer cut throuh another dike

Babylonian divination was based on the principle that all things in the universe related to one another

every event has a correlation, revealed in the will of the gods

if marduk approacdhes the moon and stands there, the king will live many days, the land will not prosper

Ea god of wisdom was the author of teh EAE

Evidence suggests the EAE had formed partially by 1300 bc

accession of sargon to the rise of ashurbanipal 721-627 (neo assyrian)

by the time the motions of the planets and stars coudl be calcualted in adance, their usefulness as signs disappeared

instead their power in themselves became notable, particularly as assigned to birth

some have called this the first scientific revolution

extipicy often corroborated astrological reports and coud procvide andwers to specific questions

many astrologers were also exorcists and physicians

the poverty of the chief scribe is miserable, a donkey woudln't go in there

fortunes could rise and fall two minas of silver a yer, shared leftovers, mule or ox

most were paid in monthly provisions

letters to the king were sickeningly flattering, comparing him to marduk or to wise sages past

letters to other astrologers were often dripping with contempt

"the unskilled fristrates the judge; th unlearned makes the mighty worry"

sin of sargon senneacharib dgathered his diviners to learn why his father was slain in battle and his body not foudm. he separated hjis diviners into groups as they studied the same liver. they gave the same answer, that sargon had placed the assyrian gods above the babylonian

the eae exists is several contradictory editions, showing that it was not a sacred text

mul apin 70 tables summa alu 130 tablets

war was often prescribed as an antidote to famine

heliacal risings/settings, acrinycial stationary points conjunctions, eclipses, colurs and halopes brightness

conjunctions which could enver occur in realuity such as fixed stars occulting each other, were also included

akkad= south

the first 20 tabletsof the eae concern the moon, the last eight concern eclipses

these are the oracles when sin makes a decision: eclipse flood, illness death the gerat gallu demons, seberru always block the way in front of Sin

first sighting of the new moon heralded the satart of the moth, a traditiion preserved today in islam

if the babylonians knew what caused eclipses, they left no record of it. demons messangers lf an break luse and surround sin, ohscruing him

sar pahi, sub king, oerformed after a solar or lunar eclipse

anu enlil and ea the great gods

venus morning star female and good evening star male and bad

Marduk sapik zeri

i fully master my fathers professiioon th disiplien fo lamentation i hacve stuided and changed the series iam compotent mouth washing and purifiation of the palace i have ecamiend healthy an sick flessh i have read the enuman anu enklil and mkae astronomical observations i have rad the summa izbu, the kataduqqu alamdimmu and nigdinmdimmu (physiogomical omens) and the summa alu (terrestrial omens) nabu was the son of marduk, mercuryn was the son of the crown prince

the babylonian word for different meant hostile, names for mars enemy, liar evil strange.

constantly portending pestillence

when bright it brings death to man or beast, when weak, it means plenty and fertility

when you look up a sign, be it one in the sky or one on earth, and if that signs evil portent is confirmed, then it has indeed occrued for you in referene to an enemy or to a disease or famine. Check the date of that sign, and should no sign hyave offucrred to coutnerbalance that signm, should no annuklment have taken place, one can not make it opass by, its evil cannot be removed, it will happen.

gavin white
an the star eight rays heaven deity

mul three stars, a signifier for all celestial objects usually translated as star

mul udu idim wild sheep star idim means raid raving, and also to die.

MUL: kakkabu (constellation) AN: shamu (star)

Babylon's hebrew name was Babel

sebitti, ossociated with the pleiades, portended war, death and destruction

if a dog eats another dog, ahrd times for the city

if the sky glows red, bundance for the city

if the moon is red at its appearnje the land willl see plenty te land with enjoy abundant business if the constellation of the fish is darl, fish in the waters will not spwan, the birds of heaven will not lay eggs

if a constellation is described as dark, it is thought that a bad planet (mercury, saturn or mars) lies within it

if sagmegar (jupiter) comes near the bull of heaven, the treasures of the land will perish

if the star cluster reaches the destroyer this year there will be faimine

Here Mars is given the name of the plieades, who are also warlike

if the fish comees near the raven, fish and fowl will thrive

famine is usually associated with saturn

flood with mercury, mars with the death of cattle

scorpion - battle

Baigent
Today the rainfall and river flow of Mesopotamia is little different to what it was then, but the quality of the soil has deteriorated

the rivers could not be relied upon to produce sufficient irrogation

eden: sumerian word for pastureland

the largest canals could be crossed in boats

the ever increasing amount of salt due to irrigation eventually rendered the soil sterile

the temples were the largest buildings

kings weere reprenstatives of thje local god

confederationm of 13 city states 30 thousand each

sumerians were highly organised and rigidly astructured

babylonain and assyrian are dialects of akkadian

sargon of akkad unified sumer and akkad into a single empire 2400 bc

akkadian semitic language used sumerian script

nineveh rotyal library of ashurbanipal; technical literature

nineveh was destroyed 612 bc and babylon became the seat of power

539 BC; babylon was captureed by cyrus the great

alexander the greats invasion 4th centruy bc

babylon declined in favour of greek states like selucia

anu enlil god of heaven, god of earth

earth and heaven werre co equal, and omens from both were of equal significance

man's job was to bear the yoke and toil of the gods

monstrousn births of animals or children were compiled in a book called shumma isbu

animal behavour shumma alu

entrails. shumma martu

medical exorcists had their series

astrology had to do with the king and state, individual birthcharts were absent

astrologers, the haruspeces 9(entrails), exorcists, physicians, singers, calmed the gods

they could offer advice to the king vut weer powerles to affect opolicy, flattery and praise were part of teh job

Hammurabi decreed that all astrologers should determine two facts, the timing of eclipses and the precise date of each new moon to fix the calednar

it would take 2000 years of observation before that was acocomplished

celestial, meterological, terrestrial ( amongoose run over by the kigns chariot presaged defeat in a military campaign)

when mars was retrograde in scorpio: the king should not put down his guard, it is best to remain indoors on an evil day

the astrologers could not do anything, no matter how private or vital, without the king's permission, from tracking errant handmaidens to hiring doctors

"in deep anxiety, I have nothing to report"

"if the planet jupiter is [present in the ecli[pse. all is well with the king, a moble diognatry will die in his stead

astrologers often played up their successes

those who failed were reduced to begging or told to make bricks for a living

"the sun is not mine to command, The sign is not clear and I am cast down. I do not understand it"

"venus is stable in the morning" meant that it was shinging brightly and rising in the west

astrologers would often hedge their bets, claiming that signs were "obscure" rather than evil

"In month tebeti, venus became visible in the west, the harvest of the land will prosper"

when the planet jupiter turns his face when rising towarsds the wesst and yuu can see the face of the skym, and no wind blows there will be a faminee and disaster, asbi sin the king of ur went in chains to ashan

the sumerisans had little astronomical material, just a lit of 25 stars

first ever systematic observations of planetary movements

hammurabi elevated marduk to the suopreme god and identified him with jupiter

if a statue was lost or carried off by invaders, great clamites woudl befall

the planets were not the gods, but manifestations of their power

heaven and earth were unified; the divine inhabited the bush and so the bush was worsh=pped as opposed to Moses

by the 2ndM BC, the idea of a personal god began to emerge

the man his bitter weepng was heard by his god when the lamentation and wailing that had filled him ad soothed the heart of his god for theounjg man, the righeous words, the artless words uttered by him his god accepted, his god withdrw his hadn from the evil word, the demon of fate which had been placed there in accordance with his sentence he turned aside, he turned the yung mans suffering into joy...

sumerian poem

perenst and future, good and eivl were constantly mingling in the here and now

everything was negotiable, fluid

namburbi: undoing (sumerian) ritual for the prevention of threatened evil

celestial events merely portended possible events, they did not cause them

a site was chiose, far from everyday life, and cordoned off with a curtain or a ring of flour

the priest than purified himself

the site was purified by sweeping, washing and incese

then prayers and offerings would be made to specific gods, such as shamash, god of justice, or adad, god of storms

than a plant would be unravelled or a pot smashed

the supplicant woudl then wear specific amulets and refrain from specific foods for a time

the sumerians had a complex pantheon, the semitic akkadians likely originally only had three major gods, the moon (sin), the Sun (shamash) and Venus (Attar -male-)

if the horns of the moon are bright, fortune for akkad; if they were unequally bright, disaster for a neighboring kingdom

If a full moon occurs on its proper day, "the land will be satisfied, the gods intnend akkad for ahppiness. Joyun in the heart of the peooppek, the catle of akkad wilkl like down securly in the pasture

"the market will be low, a strong enemy will overcome the land"

saturn falling within the halo of the moon portended peace for the kingdom, trueth spoken by all and security for the king; jupiter within it signified hostility and the king beseigned in his palace

mars meants destruction, death fo cattle, kings death and the reduction of his lands

Akkad represnted all of Assyria

subartu to the north, to the east, in Iran, elam. To the west, the Amorites.

Almost 40 percent of the omens in the EAE are ecliptical

the land of the prince will be destroyed the land will suffer calamitty] the king will die the land will go to ruin the gods will become angry pregnant women will miscarry their unborn there will be a devastatng flood the peopel will sell their children for money

eclipses that occurred in the proper times, such as the first watch in the first month, or on the 14th or 15th days, wre considered fortunate

if a particulary evil evt were to befall the king, the babylonians would hire a temorar king to take the hit

the king and his queen would then be sacrified and placed in a chamber

if ven us apoporaches cancer there will be [peace and reconiclliation in the country and the gods will hace mercy on the courntry enptoy7 silos will become full, the croopps iof the country will erecover, the pregantt women will eprfect their embryos, and the gerat gods willl keep the sanctuaries of th countryu in order

but if venus entered scorpio, then all crops woudl be detroyed by winds and floods

shoudl venus enter libra, a bad war would ensue

if venuis appeared in the fifth month, then a conflagration was due

An eclipse with VENUS AQND Jupiter in it was considered null. A conjunction of venus and jupiter was considred favorable to the king

Saturn (Ninurta) and Mars (Nergal) were seen as cojoined, as they were both warriors and brothers

Ninurta was the only warrior who volunteered to rescue the stolen tablets of fate from the monster zu, and thus recieved custody of them in reward, becoming arbiter of fate

th sun and saturn were often bodth caleld shamahs

conjunctions of saturn and the moon presaged truthful speaking

discipline adn whoeer enforces it

star of truth and justice, law and order

when Nergal faces another planet, there will be an invasion

Negal was god of the dead and pestillence, and his planet was believed to presage disease

Mars in scorpio was particularly feared

if jupiter stands fast in the morning, angry gods will be favorable with akkad, there will be copious rains, plentiful floods, corn and sesame will be plentiful

if jupiter was bright, "the king of akkad will rise to reeminence, adn his weapons will prevail over his foes"

the moon could affect Jupiter/the king "When Jupiter is within the moon's halo, the king of Akkad will be besieged"

If Jupiter should enter taurus, the fortune of the land would fade, while if hit sentered Orion, pests would wreck the crops.

Nabu was the divine scribe, his name means herald. he replaced the earlier sumerian goddess of wisdom, Nisaba, as ruler of Borshippa

rawlinson, Nabu, Sabaeans

Mercury was associated with rainfall and thus, the market

moon path 18 constellations

Rochberg
If there is a mole on the dividing line of a man's forehead, he will not escape the hard times which will seize him

mole to the right/left of the eyebrow, what his mind is set on, he will/will not attain

if there is a mole on his left cheek, he will prevail against his ward ina legal dispute

if there is a mole on the orner of his left eye, his dowry will be stolen on the street.

if there is a mole on his nose, evil speech will xconstantly follow him

may ea, possessor of the incantation of life, ruler of teh swweet water under the earth cast a spell over you, may asalluhim, magician of the gods, castr the sepll of life over you

Marduk sapik zeri

i fully master my fathers professiioon th disiplien fo lamentation i hacve stuided and changed the series iam compotent mouth washing and purifiation of the palace i have ecamiend healthy an sick flessh i have read the enuman anu enklil and mkae astronomical observations i have rad the summa izbu, the kataduqqu alamdimmu and nigdinmdimmu (physiogomical omens) and the summa alu (terrestrial omens)

izbu (malformed foetuses)

there was no concept in mesopotamia of nature as separate from the divine

this was an elite persuit. If the common man had ideas about the stars or planets, we have no record of them

logogram ir to cry- eclipse

sailu dream interpreter baru haruspex

omens were provoked (you asked) or unprovoked (they tell you)

there were also those who cam by prophesy by scholarship, and those who received signs

right left ear/nostril right good left bad

if a woman gives birth to a dog, the master of the house will die, the house will be scattered. the land will go mad, pestillence

if a wopman gives birth and the mouth of the chld is closed, a cilty wil revolt adn kill its lord the settled land will be conquered the enemu=y will enjoy the harvest of the land, there will be famine

if a child is born in the bull, the bull of heaven, great anu of heaven, that ma will be distinguished, his somns and daughters will return adn he will see gain

if during a child's infancy a solar eclipse occurs, he will die in a city not his own,, and the house of hsi father will be scattered

the sumerians had diviners, but they left no divinatory texts that we know of

If a mans kidney hurts him, nergal

the kidney star is mars

there was no physical theory in babylonian astrology

shamash is the lord of social norms, one who drawss the ossmic designs

the babylonians had no word for luck; all that could be allowed was change as willed by the gods

ther word for fate like fate, means dccree

namburbi, countering effects with magic

events are correlations not causations

Sin made the decision and as a result the gods of heaven and eath decreed for mankind various adverse conditions, eclipse deluge, sickness death and the secven demonms

the idea that the celestial bodies themselvesd had unique and determinitstic effects is hellenistic, not babylonian

the zodiasc of 12 equial sized signs was invented in babylon in the fifth centruy bc

the zodiac was the path of the moon through the year, the 12 signs its 12 lunar months (before there ahd been 17)

the stars (gods) which s tand in the path of the moon the moon always passs through and comes in contact with them in the course of each month

jupiter and vebnus were seen as good mars and saturn were seen as evil

and if an eclipse occurs the region of its effect and the wind blowing will be excerpted together

babylonian astrologers ordered the planets not according to their synodic periods, but by whether tehy were good or evil

if jupiter is favorable, wealth and long days are in store If venuus is calm, wherever he goes good fortune and long days if mercury is heroic, lordly great strength if mars is ambiguous he will be quick to anger if satyurn is darkkl disturbed sick and constrained if the moon is bright, good true and long if the eclipsed moon is dark, disturbed not bright, no true omen if thje eclipsed sun is divide, confused longevity

if jupiter is very bright, neither moon nor sn will be eclimpsed in the place of akkad, the enemy will attack but not take booty if jupiter is dim, booty will be taken

celestial divination first appears in old babylon, without a sumerian antecedent

"like the stars" lit. "like the heavenly writing"

exstispicy monstrous births physiognomy

greek ideas of the divine oneness of the universe did not exist in mesopotamia

the various aspects of the unuiverse, the sky, the palnets, were personified as individuals

the first cuneiform sign to designate a god is a star

600s BC Sargonid period vast majority of astronomical texts

enuma anu enlil
If adad roars like a dragon/scorpion /road snake

if adad roars like a chicken, adad will devastate the harvest

like a dog, adad will ___ the army

like a puppy.. decay

like a rat, an uprising will hold the king captive

likea weasel, the kings son will kill the king

like a lion, an attack of teh umman manda, who have no rival

drum... adad will wreak destruction

wolf, the kings son will be killed

lion, the king will flee

rumbles like a lowing bull the king's possessions will be lost

sheep, the staff of nisaba will annihilate the offspring

an alu demon, the land of the king of the world will be conquered

kettledrum, the crown prince will rebel against his father

horse, the land will make progress

donkey, business will decline

goose, there will be famine

turtledove the foundation of thje ountry will be given for silver

once, the kurru dry measyureof the town will be broken to pieces

twice, the business will decline,

three times adad will devastate thje harvest

four times, adad will set up abundance in the land

five times adad will make the peoolpple of the land variant and the open country rich

seven times, the souls of the country will be cared for

eleven times an epidemic among the cattle

if lightning like fire flashes in all four directions, disease will be spread through the whole land, and the herds will not survive

if adad thunders, and lightning wihch is like fire flashe toward th south, there will be sick people in akkad, and the chidlren will die at the behest of lamashtu

... at the behest of shamash, men and young women will not survive

east, there will be sick people in elam, and the children will die at the behest of lamashtu

west.. ammuru

17times, ea will kill the fish in the land

18 times the palace of the prince will be plundered

and a rainbow which is like a sulphur flame in its appearance can be seen, there will be fire in the land but towns of men will be spared

repeatedly at an unexpecte time, rains will seas destrution by ea a prosperous harvest

if adad roars constantly and even diorite is smashed to pieces, adad will devastate the harvest of the land, and the land will devour its own possessions

if adad roars just a sunriset eh kings servants will kill him

... and d a dust storm blows gtimea dna again at the behes tof a dad the cattle will perish

if adad roars and surrounds the moon like a circle, the dead will rise and those who have seen famine will...

if adad roars in the heart of venus, there will be attacks by hostile kings on the land

if adad roars in the heart of the plieades. will anne the lands and twenty five hyears the barley will..

... in the middle of aquila, adad and nergal will devour the land

if the wind blow from the south in nisan th king will become ifuriated with his land

if teh south wind blows and adad roars, devastation if a violent stromer risies in the southm, the fall of armrru if a viollent strom rises in the norht, the fall of sabartu if a vilent stoern risies in the east the fall of akkad if a violent stron rises in the west the fall of elam

“If the sky is cloudy (adir ), (even though) the North wind is sweeping across it (rakib ),there will be a banquet of Nergal, and (consequently) the cattle will diminish”

an eclipse in the even watch is for plagues

an eclipse in the middle watch si for dimished economy

an eclipse in the morning watch is for healing

the right side of the eclipse was crosse,d there will be devedstating flood everywhere

an ecilipse in its middle part, it became dark all over the king will die, dsstruction of elam. and evluips began in the soudht and dleared downfall of the subarians and akkad an eclipse in the west downfall of amorites an elipse in the north downfall of akkad in the east, downfall fo teh subarians

if the sun wis red like a torch wehen it becomes visible on the fist of nisannu and a white cloed passed in front of it, in that month the king will die and his son will saeize the throne OR the land wil be happy th sky will bbring forth its rains, and the earth its priuidce in the proper seasons

if at venus rising the red star enters into it, the kings son will seize the throne. if the bow comes close to jupiter elam iwll eat fine food

if oon the second day of inisammu venus appears in the east, there will be morning in the land

the king and queen were given fine food wahsed and annointed with oil

bottero
etemmu: mealevolent ghost or spirit

sometimes conflated withuttuku (demon) and even ilu (god) somtimes even given the god determinent

unburied corpses could not descend, and wandered the eartrh in spite

it was a journey fro which provisions, and proper clothing were needed

cross a desert full of wild animals and demons, and then cross hubur, teh river of the ferryman

aratu a pipe ineerted into a tomb top provide liwuid refereshment to the dead

the number of good etemmu is far outweighed by the number of evil ones

etemmu could return to plague the living

everything was divinitory

shamaswrote the oracles and placed messages in entrails

demons were the cause of evil

tey had no motives beyond their own fancy

the mahjority of the names are sumerian

what then is good? to have my neck and yours broken, or to be thrown into the river, isw that godo who is so tall as to ascend to heaven, who is so broad as to encompass the entire world? O well slave I s will kill you and send you first. Yes, but my master will surely not outlive me by three days...

george and Oshima
do not insult the downtrodden and do not sneer at them autocratically. With this a mans god is amgry, and it is not pleasing to Shamash who will repay him with evil. Give food to eat, beer to drink, grant what is asked, provide for and honiour.; In this a man's god takes pleasure, it is pleasing to shamahs, who will repay him with favour. Do do cheritable deeds. render service all your days.

to the hosue of darkness the dweelling of irkalla, to the house ofrom which those who enter do not depart, to the road from which there is no turning back, to the house wherein tose who enter are bereft of light, where dust is their fare, and clay their food, who see no light but sell in darknesss, who are clad in a garment of wings like birds. Over door and bolt dust is spread

temples were the centre of city life and economy, the king was the godfs bailiff, the gods the true owners

the gods were the arbiters of all morality, to the point when babylonian moral philosopehrs completely dened human awareness of good or evil

all evil descended from sin. All misfortune was punishment, even if the sin was unknown. understanding of the sin could only come from divine revelation.

When inana stole the divine orderings from Enki, she takes not only rulership, crafting, weaving and other necessities, but also rejoicing, music rebellion, purification and sex

one role for the priest was punching the king in the face; if he shed tears, it would be a good year

a god could be appeased by proper ritual as much by reformation

amn was created to serve the gods and relieve their toil. Statues had to be fed and clothed and even entertained

there was no distinction between what was morally right and ritually proper

a personal god had to be worshipped every day

unsurprisingly there were many incantations for countering the effects of venereal disease

the sumerian word for a temple was the same as the word for any house

some sources argue that they probably didn't care that much

Marduk had over 50 names, some his own and epithets, some absorbed from syncttisation

the distinction between demon and god was vague

focp
The assyrians were the first empire with a professional army

Trial of Marduk

first universal library

engraving shows him and his queen relaxing in the garden while his enemy's head hangs from a tree

as soon as something has afflicted him, the exoricst rises, and hangs a mouse and a shoot of thornbush upon vault of the patient's door. The exorcist dresses in red garments and puts on a red cloak. He holds a raven on his right arm, a falcon on his left, and recites the incantation, Truly you are evil. after he has finished, he makes another exorcist go around the bed of the patient, win incense and a torch, and recites the incantation, begone evil uttuku,until the demon is driven out. He does this every morning and evening.

Leonard William King
the gods of mesopotamia were human in form and character. They were born, lived ate, mated, and died

their effigies could be sent on holidays to other cities, where they would meet with and even mate with other gods in specially designed bed chambers

A tablet at the great library of ashurbanipal listed 750 gods

the gods were not personifications of natural forces, but said to control them

The cult of each deity was specialised to specific cities, who, except during the reigns of the various empres, were essentially independent

black and green
illness as wascribed to demons or gods. gods trample patients underfoot, while demons held them upside own. hand fo a ghost, hand if ishtar, hand of shamash. an exorcist was called to alleviate the symptoms

phychological illnesses were regarded as the work of demons or malevolent magic

some treatments were what we would call medical, through drugs or surgery.

forms of divination expicacy was highly developed and possessed its own techncal volcabulary

lecanomancy, the inspection of oil on water, libganomancy, incesne smoke, necromancy was rare and considered dangerous

heaps of flour in rituals represented offerings

by the 5th c bc the babylonians wre casting personal horoscopes

in mesopotamia the moon was a male deity, despite having a female sounding name sin or nanna

religion
Sumer and akkad (earliest known semitic language)

akkadians outpopulated the sumerians, akkadians became the spoken language

sumerian became latin

sumerian writing outlived the sumerians themselves

gods have both sumerian and akkadian names

sargon of akkad founded the first empire

then hammurabi founded a babylonian empire

assyrian empire

polytheistic religion

mesopotamian society was about its relgion

duty of the human being to worship the gods

gods were patrons of specific cities that each had a different cult

anu the highest god associated with the sky

enlil son of anu, chief god and god of air and thunder

enki was the wisest of the gods

ishtar the most prominent goddess

marduk the son of enki

anunaki anu and ki (sky and earth)

enlil ordered the flood

as a compormise, the gods invented disease and shortened human lifespans.