these formal grounds, although we will include them in this survey because they are
thematically related to the subject matter.
There are many different kinds of Sumerian and Akkadian incantations from
Mesopotamia, although they fall within certain patterns. The Sumerian incantation
prototypes were already studied by Adam Falkenstein in his Leipzig dissertation
(Falkenstein 1931 ), and this work is still useful, despite new studies along the same
lines (Cunningham 1997 ). Within formal Sumerian incantations, certain features are
nearly always present. The incantations usually begin with a ‘problem’, described as
the attack of a particular demon or perhaps an angry god, whom the patient has
offended. Within these texts, an illness such as ‘headache’ may be indistinguishable
from a demon of the same name. The problem is then discussed by Enki, god of
healing, with his son Asalluhi, and the Akkadian gods Ea and Marduk assume the
same roles. During the course of a polite dialogue, Enki (Ea) advises his son Asalluhi
(Marduk) about the appropriate ritual to be performed to ‘resolve’ the magical problem.
Other major incantation compendia address themselves to specific problems, such as
witchcraft (Maqlû) or guilt and unwitting sin (Shurpu), while the earlier Udug-hul/
Utukku ̄ Lemnu ̄tuincantations appear to be an encyclopedia of incantations without
any particular goal or target in mind. Like Utukku ̄ Lemnu ̄tu, some of the longer
incantation collections appear in Sumerian or in Sumerian–Akkadian bilingual forms,
particularly those addressed to ‘migraine’ or the Asag demon (not yet edited in a
modern edition), or the Ban (Schramm 2001 ), or comprise parts of Shurpu. Others,
such as Maqlu, are in Akkadian, although many anti-witchcraft incantations in
Akkadian also appear within the medical corpus (Abusch 1984 ). Incantations in
Sumerian only or in bilingual Sumerian–Akkadian versions were employed for the
‘mouth-washing’ ceremony of cult idols, or for rituals dealing with the building of
a temple or cultic building (Ambose 2004 ) or for ceremonies inaugurating a new
idol (Walker and Dick 2001 ). These formal incantations, usually found within the
great libraries of Nineveh and Assur, differ considerably from ‘medical’ incantations
which appear within the medical corpus.
So what is so special about ‘medical’ incantations?
The medical incantations have most recently been studied in an unpublished
University of Chicago doctoral dissertation (Collins 1999 ), in which the author
forcefully argues for thematic distinctions between medical incantations and the rest
of Mesopotamian magic. The central thesis revolves around ‘causes’ of illness, with
the point being that medical incantations focus on medical problems for which a
‘natural’ cause can be attributed, such as a kernel of grain flying into the eye, or
flatulence causing pain within the patient’s body. Such ‘natural’ causes can be imaginary,
such as a serpent within the patient’s body disrupting internal organs, or a gnawing
worm within a painful tooth. In other cases, the causes of illness can be seen as
analogies from the natural world, such as menstrual bleeding being analogous to a
river overflowing its banks, or simply ‘fire’ as an analogy for fever. Such causes are
contrasted with other genres of incantations in which demons or angry gods are the
declared causes of illness or misfortune, with the incantation being aimed at preventing
demons from approaching, or ridding the patient of them ex facto. Collins takes his
argument a step further by suggesting (virtually without recourse to evidence) that
diseases or ailments considered to be ‘normal’ would have been attributed to natural
causes, such as those above, while ‘abnormal’ cases of illness would, conversely, have
— M. J. Geller —