ANST-401 Lessons

Welcome back, students! I know some of you are sad to be leaving our discussion of ancient Egypt behind. However I assure you that our next civilization - ancient Mesopotamia - will not disappoint! We’ll cover three lessons’ worth of topics related to this area of the world as well as the ancient time period, starting today with a brief introduction to and history of the beginnings of Mesopotamia, before moving on to some of their interesting medical practices and deities.

A Rocky Road

The earliest recorded civilization in ancient Mesopotamia was that of the Sumerians. It is estimated that this civilization was established circa 5,500 BCE, and lasted to somewhere around 2,500 BCE when it was overtaken by the Assyrian Empire. The Assyrian Empire proper only lasted about 200 years, at which point it was again taken over and renamed the Akkadian Empire. Again, the Akkadian Empire only lasted about 300 years and then was divided into the smaller, divided civilizations of Babylonia, Assyria, as well as the Hittite Empire, with a number of smaller, militant states also present in the area.

While overshadowed by the elegance and mastery of the ancient Egyptians, the ancient Mesopotamians also gave the world a great deal of knowledge through their discoveries. Babylonia in particular was home to some of the greatest astronomers of all time, and was the foundation for arithmetics, civic architecture, and medicine.

The earliest centre of culture and magic recorded in this particular area was the city of Eridu during the Sumerian period. Eridu was considered the “home of the ancient wisdom of magic.” Their greatest repository of magical knowledge was, however, located in a different city, and at a much later point in history, and is something we will get to later.

Unlike the ancient Egyptians, the ancient Mesopotamians were not overly concerned with recording their magical knowledge, most of which was written on cuneiform tablets. In case you have never heard of cuneiform before, it is, simply put, one of the oldest known alphabets and writing systems known to man. Cuneiform was frequently carved into clay tablets during the height of its use. Given the material used for these inscriptions, the tablets did decay over time, and certainly many were destroyed in the tumultuous ancient upheavals described earlier, as Mesopotamia was not a stranger to political upheaval. What tablets were left from the earliest of ancient Mesopotamian magical practitioners were collected from various temples and cities and preserved in the library of Assurbanipal, who was the king of Assyria from about 668 to 626 BCE. They were kept there until a fire served to bake the clay tablets, thus accidentally forever preserving the contents, which were later dug up in the modern era. During Assurbanipal’s heyday, his library at Nineveh housed no fewer than 30,000 tablets.

Literary Accomplishments

But before we begin our discussion of the magic of ancient Mesopotamia, it is also important to note another incredible feat of this civilization. By this, I mean the very first great work of literature that the human race ever created: The Epic of Gilgamesh.

This epic, also housed in Nineveh, was written during the 3rd Dynasty of Ur (circa 2,100 BCE), and the poem delves into topics of just rulers, the strength of friendship, the power to change, and the meaning of life and death. There is a reason why we use the word “ancient” instead of “primitive” when talking about these civilizations. There is nothing primitive about The Epic of Gilgamesh! While not a requirement in any way for this course, I highly recommend you read a copy of this epic when you have some spare time. The relationship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu will frighten and enlighten you, and also break your heart.

Mesopotamian Magical Practices

Perhaps one the first important things to note about the use of magic in ancient Mesopotamia is that witches and wizards were actually referred to as magi (literally meaning “wise men”), and that they were rather fond of the number seven. The magi of ancient Mesopotamia were renowned for their studies in divination through haruspicy (similar to the ancient Egyptians), lecanomancy, and also through astrology. Astrological divination was so highly revered, that it was only used in predictions for the king; anyone of a lower station could only rely on entrails for their predictions (haruspicy), or readings through mixing oil and water (lecanomancy).

Again, similar to the ancient Egyptians, the ancient Mesopotamians were master spell casters in their own right, however their studies focussed more on protection against Dark magic, as well as summoning and transfiguration. Their spells and potions were often infused with references to enchanted items such as magic images and knots, and they also heavily employed the use of trees and herbs as magical ingredients. Other staples for their potions’ ingredients included wine, oil, salt, dates, onions, and saliva (often of magical creatures), as well as parts of magical plants. We might be thinking that many of these are strange potion ingredients, but in fact, they’re not so different from our own! Anyone paying attention in Potions I’m sure has noticed that there are many non-magical ingredients in potions, and this is just as true of ancient recipes. In many cases, there is only one truly magical ingredient per potion, at least by our standards (remembering that magic and medicine were often linked in the ancient world), but that’s all that was needed to make an effective potion.

Now that we’ve talked a bit about potions, let’s take some time to discuss the enchanted images I mentioned earlier. Much like the figurines the ancient Egyptians carried with them, these figurines were meant as sort of “stand ins” for gods, goddesses, or even typical people. It was quite common for these to be formed out of clay, wax, and tallow, which afforded ancient Mesopotamians the ability to reuse these, as desired. Quite green, no? They would use these figurines sometimes as protectors, and other times as a sort of ancient (and unrelated) precursor to a voodoo doll. What I mean by this is, something would be done to these enchanted figures, and the effects would then be carried on to the person the figure was supposed to represent. This would not always have to be a negative effect, but this was certainly common.

Finally, while these figures were tools to cause magic to happen, they did not entirely replace other foci, such as wands. Unlike the ancient Egyptians, the ancient Mesopotamian wands were made exclusively out of wood, particularly cedar wood, as it was abundant in the area, and was tied to beliefs surrounding the gods and Gilgamesh. Therefore, it had associations with magic and strength. While we’ve come much closer to the wands we know and love today, there was certainly no choice or variety like we see in Ollivander’s today!

Mixing my Medicine

Moving right along, much like the ancient Egyptians, the ancient Mesopotamians focussed a significant amount of their magical research into medicine. So much so that they actually divided medicine into several subcategories as indicated by medical tablets from that time. These subcategories of medicine were: Maklui (burning), Ti’i (headaches), Asakki marsûti (fever). Labartu (hag-demons, which were probably a reference to dark magic or dark magi), and Nis Kati (raising of the hand).

Medical practitioners were divided into physicians, who supplied simple potions, bandages, herbal remedies and the like, and exorcists, who dealt with the “demons that inhabit the body.” Exorcists dealt both with the physical and magical properties of illness and disease. As with Egyptian magical practice, in both of these two medicinal professions, there was no differentiation between magic and medicine. Magic was simply one of the tools employed in medicinal practice.

However, I’m sure some of you are curious about the reference to demons and exorcisms. Demons were a major focal point of ancient Mesopotamian culture. Most spells and enchantments that we have records of from this time period focus exclusively on the protection against dark magic and illness - both of which were defined as “demons”.

Exorcists were a mix of modern day aurors and healers, and were revered over all other medical practitioners. They were well versed in defensive spells and potions, and used a form of “involuntary divination” to discover and cure their patients’ ailments. Involuntary divination can most easily be equated with using your eyes to collect data and then inferring a diagnosis. The exorcists, in their role as healer, would look at a patient - their bulging eyes, exhaustion, skin rashes, etc., and decide which type of “demon” was present in the patient, as well as what sort of treatment, magic or otherwise, would heal them. To be clear, if you were ill, it was assumed that some sort of demon had entered your body, and only an exorcist could remove it, thereby healing you of the malady.

In addition to demons inhabiting people and making them ill, magiarchaeologists have discovered evidence that seems to indicate that Dark magi were also referred to as demons. How exactly these two definitions are linked is not clear, however it is the topic of great speculation and research in the historical field.

An interesting piece of magianthropology to discuss is who exactly was trained into the various healing and divinatory professions. Not surprisingly, the exorcists were entirely made up of magi, however what is interesting is that the physicians were an almost perfect split of magi and non-magical folk. In a similar way, divinatory practices also showed some favouritism towards magi, as all astrologists were required to be magi, while the practitioners of the other forms of divination were distributed between the two populations.

The Trinity of Gods

While ancient Egypt had a clear example of both a god and goddess associated with magic, the gods and goddesses of ancient Mesopotamian magic are not so clear cut. The closest approximation is the god Enki (also called Ea), who was part of the trinity of major gods during that era.

Enki was the god of creation and was also associated with crafts, mischief, water, and intelligence. It is really the association with creation that makes him most suitably affiliated with magic, as creation itself is magic. Enki was regarded as the repository of all science and magic who “alone was possessed of the magic secrets by means of which they (evil spirits and demons) could be conquered and repulsed” (Thorndike, Lynn. 1923. A History of Magic and Science. vol. 1, pg. 18). Enki was often invoked in magical incantations during times of desperation when all other courses of medical treatment had failed.

The second god in the trinity was Enlil, or “the God of the Storm.” In addition to storms, Enlil was closely associated with air and water, and was credited for helping plants to grow.

In addition to their other pursuits, the ancient Mesopotamians were fascinated by nature - especially by plants and what made them grow. The vastness of their knowledge in this area is exemplified by their creation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon - one of the seven Ancient Wonders of the World. While thought lost by the Muggles, the Hanging Gardens are actually a dangerous plant preserve that is both still in existence today, and is heavily studied and used by witches and wizards in their research. That said, it is an extremely dangerous and terrible place - which we will be discussing in detail next week!

The third god in the trinity was Anu (or simply “An”), the “God of Heaven, Lord of Constellations”. Also known as the Sky God, he was given the role of judge - and sometimes jury and executioner - of the ancient Mesopotamians. Astronomers and astrologers of the time often found themselves seeking guidance from Anu due to his affiliation with the stars.

And so the trinity of gods closes, but on closer examination we can see that these gods actually represented the powers (perhaps magically) of earth and space: Enki is water, from which creation flows, Enlil is air (arguably wind) and earth, from which all things grow, and Anu is the stars that guide our destinies.

Closing

Phew, and that concludes our whirlwind tour of the basics of ancient Mesopotamian magic. As promised, next week we will have a closer look at more magical areas and practices in ancient Mesopotamia, specifically looking at the incredible Hanging Gardens of Babylon. I assure you, it’s not a week you want to miss! Before we get there, though, you do have two assignments to complete. The first is a quiz on the information covered in today’s lesson, and the second is a brief essay on demons and magic.

Image credits here, here, and here
Original lesson written by Professor Liria Morgan