To my body near not!
On my body abut not!
By the life of Sˇamasˇ, the honorable, be adjured!
By the life of Ea, lord of the deep, be adjured!
By the life of Asalluh
̆i, the magus of the gods, be adjured!
By the life of Girra, your executioner, be adjured!
From my body you shall indeed be separated!Division twoIn this division, fumigation is performed to counteract and disperse attacks of
witchcraft. Following fumigation, objects are set up for protection, and the patient,
himself, is then massaged with oil.
Salt figures prominently among the materials burned. In VI 111 – 119 , it is addressed
as if it were a god:
O you Salt, who was created in a pure place,
For food of the great gods did Enlil destine you.
Without you no meal is set out in Ekur,
Without you god, king, noble, and prince do not smell incense.
I am so-and-so, the son of so-and-so, whom witchcraft holds captive,
Whom bewitchment holds in (the form of a skin) disease.
O Salt, release my witchcraft, release my spell,
Receive from me the bewitchment so that, as the god my Creator,
I may constantly praise you.And in VII 31 – 49 the oil used for salving is also addressed:
Pure oil, clear oil, bright oil,
Oil that purifies the body of the gods,
Oil that soothes the sinews of mankind,
Oil of the incantation of Ea, oil of the incantation of Asalluh
̆i.
I have coated you with soothing oil
That Ea has granted for soothing,
I have anointed you with the oil of healing,
I have cast upon you the incantation of Ea, lord of Eridu, Ninshiku,
I have expelled asakku, jaundice, chills of your body,
I have removed stupor, apathy, and misery of your body,
I have soothed the sick sinews of your limbs.
By the command of Ea, lord of the deep,
By the incantation of Ea, by the incantation of Asalluh
̆i,
By the gentle bandaging of Gula,
By the soothing hands of Nintinugga
And Ningirima, mistress of incantation.
On So-and-So, Ea cast the incantation of the word of healing
That the seven apkallus of Eridu soothe his body.— Witchcraft literature in Mesopotamia —