Corpus of Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft rituals. / Volume Two / / by Tzvi Abusch [and three others].

• Superior document: Ancient Magic and Divination, Volume 8/2
• VerfasserIn: Abusch, I. Tzvi,
• TeilnehmendeR: Abusch, I. Tzvi,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, Netherlands ;, Boston, [Massachusetts] : : Brill,, 2016.; ©2016
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English; Akkadian; Sumerian
• Series: Ancient magic and divination ; Volume 8/2.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (657 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

Among the most important sources for understanding the cultures and systems of thought of ancient Mesopotamia is a large body of magical and medical texts written in the Sumerian and Akkadian languages. An especially significant branch of this literature centres upon witchcraft. Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft rituals and incantations attribute ill-health and misfortune to the magic machinations of witches and prescribe ceremonies, devices, and treatments for dispelling witchcraft, destroying the witch, and protecting and curing the patient. The Corpus of Mesopotamian Anti-Witchcraft Rituals aims to present a reconstruction of this body of texts; it provides critical editions of the relevant rituals and prescriptions based on the study of the cuneiform tablets and fragments recovered from the libraries of ancient Mesopotamia. \'Now that we have the second volume, we the more admire the thoughtful organisation of the entire project, the strict methods followed, and the insightful observations and decisions made.\' Martin Stol, Bibliotheca Orientalis lxxIV n° 3-4, mei-augustus 2017

Table of Contents

Front Matter -- Introduction -- Texts of Group Three: Prescriptions for Symptoms Indicating Witchcraft -- Texts of Group Seven: Us̆burruda Texts -- Texts of Group Eight: Ceremonial Rituals for Undoing Witchcraft -- Texts of Group Nine: Anti-Witchcraft Incantations within Bīt Rimki and Related Texts -- Texts of Group Ten: Rituals against Zikurudû and Other Special Types of Witchcraft -- Texts of Group Eleven: Rituals in Case of Evil Omens Indicating Witchcraft -- Additional Texts to Volume 1 -- Additions and Corrections to Volume 1 -- Bibliography (Volumes 1–2) -- Concordances (Volumes 1–2) -- Registers (Volumes 1–2) -- Copies of Cuneiform Texts -- Collations.