the beliefs and accusations, moreover, are barometers of personal and societal tensions
and indicators of problems and conflicts in that ancient society that are often not
revealed as clearly, and sometimes not at all, by our more standard and official texts.
But in addition to shedding light on problems that the Mesopotamians shared with
general humanity, Mesopotamian witchcraft beliefs and rituals are an integral part
of the larger system of religious belief and of the broader cultural cosmology of that
civilization and, thus, a source of information regarding its history and culture.
BIBLIOGRAPHYIn studying Mesopotamian witchcraft, I have found it very useful to consult anthropological
literature on witchcraft as well as studies of European witchcraft. I list here a few general studies
and collections. In addition to the classic works by Kluckhohn on the Navaho and Evans-Pritchard
on the Azande, see, e.g., the essays in Witchcraft and Sorcery: Selected Readings, ed. M. Marwick
(Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1970 ), and in Anthropological Studies of Witchcraft, Magic, and Religion
(= vol. 1 of Articles on Witchcraft, Magic, and Demonology: A Twelve-Volume Anthology of Scholarly
Articles), ed. B. P. Levack (New York: Garland, 1992 ); see also A. F. C. Wallace, Religion: An
Anthropological View(New York: Random House, 1966 ), esp. pp. 113 – 116 and 177 – 187 ; D. L.
O’Keefe, Stolen Magic: The Social History of Magic(New York: Random House, 1983 ), esp. pp.
414 – 457. For European witchcraft, see, e.g., the essays in Early Modern European Witchcraft: Centres
and Peripheries, ed. B. Ankarloo and G. Henningsen (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990 ), and such
studies as R. Kieckhefer, European Witch Trials: Their Foundations in Popular and Learned Culture,
1300 – 1500 (Berkeley: University of California, 1976 ); R. Briggs, Witches and Neighbors: The Social
and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft(New York: Viking, 1996 ).
For the nature of magic in Mesopotamia, see W. van Binsbergen and F. A. M. Wiggermann,
“A Theoretical Perspective, and its Application to Ancient Mesopotamia,” in Mesopotamian Magic:
Textual, Historical, and Interpretative Perspectives, ed. T. Abusch and K. van der Toorn (Groningen:
Styx, 1999 ), pp. 3 – 34. For recent discussions of therapy and oral rites in Mesopotamia and
bibliographies on these subjects, see my “Mesopotamian Prayers and Incantations,” and “Illness
and Healing in Ancient Mesopotamia,” in Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide, ed. S. I. Johnston
(Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2004 ), pp. 353 – 355 and 456 – 459.
The present chapter on witchcraft summarizes and repeats some of the positions that I have
taken in years past on this topic. See especially the essays collected in Abusch, Mesopotamian
Witchcraft: Toward a History and Understanding of Babylonian Witchcraft Beliefs and Literature, AMD
5 (Leiden: Brill/Styx, 2002 ); and Babylonian Witchcraft Literature: Case Studies, Brown Judaic Studies
132 (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1987 ); for a recent discussion of the Kultmittelbeschwörung, see my
“Blessing and Praise in Ancient Mesopotamian Incantations,” in Literatur, Politik und Recht in
Mesopotamien, ed. W. Sallaberger et al. (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2003 ), pp. 1 – 14. For other
discussions of Mesopotamian witchcraft, see S. Rollin, “Women and Witchcraft in Ancient Assyria,”
in Images of Women in Antiquity, ed. A. Cameron and A. Kuhrt (Detroit: Wayne State University
Press, 1983 ), pp. 34 – 45 ; M.-L. Thomsen, Zauberdiagnose und schwarze Magie in Mesopotamien
(Copenhagen: CNI Publications 2 , 1987 ).
The translation of Maqlû is based on my synoptic edition of the text; however, for the sake of
convenience, I have followed the line-count in G. Meier, Die assyrische Beschwörungssammlung Maqlû,
AfO Beiheft 2 (Berlin, 1937 ). An English translation of Maqlûwill appear in the series, Writings
from the Ancient World; a German translation (with D. Schwemer) will appear in the series, Texte
aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments.
— Witchcraft literature in Mesopotamia —