Related Research Articles
Lilith, also spelt Lilit, Lilitu, or Lilis, is a female figure in Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, theorized to be the first wife of Adam and supposedly the primordial she-demon. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of Eden for not complying with and obeying Adam.
Nippur was an ancient Sumerian city. It was the special seat of the worship of the Sumerian god Enlil, the "Lord Wind", ruler of the cosmos, subject to An alone. Nippur was located in modern Nuffar 5 miles north of modern Afak, Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq. It is roughly 200 kilometers south of modern Baghdad and about 96.56 km southeast of the ancient city of Babylon. Occupation at the site extended back to the Ubaid period, the Uruk period, and the Jemdet Nasr period. The origin of the ancient name is unknown but different proposals have been made.
In Mesopotamian mythology, Lamashtu was a female demon/monster/malevolent goddess or demigoddess who menaced women during childbirth and, if possible, kidnapped their children while they were breastfeeding. She would gnaw on their bones and suck their blood, and was charged with a number of other evil deeds. She was a daughter of the Sky God Anu.
Asmodeus or Ashmedai is a king of demons in the legends of Solomon and constructing Solomon's Temple.
The udug, later known in Akkadian as the utukku, were an ambiguous class of demons from ancient Mesopotamian mythology. They were different from the dingir and they were generally malicious, even if a member of demons (Pazuzu) was willing to clash both with other demons and with the gods, even if he is described as a hostile presence to man. The word is generally ambiguous and is sometimes used to refer to demons as a whole rather than a specific kind of demon. No visual representations of the udug have yet been identified, but descriptions of it ascribe to it features often given to other ancient Mesopotamian demons: a dark shadow, absence of light surrounding it, poison, and a deafening voice. The surviving ancient Mesopotamian texts giving instructions for exorcizing the evil udug are known as the Udug Hul texts. These texts emphasize the evil udug's role in causing disease and the exorcist's role in curing the disease.
Mandaic, or more specifically Classical Mandaic, is the liturgical language of Mandaeism and a South Eastern Aramaic variety in use by the Mandaean community, traditionally based in southern parts of Iraq and southwest Iran, for their religious books. Mandaic, or Classical Mandaic is still used by Mandaean priests in liturgical rites. The modern descendant of Mandaic or Classical Mandaic, known as Neo-Mandaic or Modern Mandaic, is spoken by a small group of Mandaeans around Ahvaz and Khorramshahr in the southern Iranian Khuzestan province.
Siris or Siraš was a Mesopotamian goddess associated with beer. She was also worshiped in Ebla, where her name was spelled as Zilaš. Cognates of her name are also present as terms referring to alcoholic beverages or deities associated with them in languages such as Ugaritic and Hebrew. She was closely associated with another goddess of similar character, Ninkasi, though the nature of the connection between them varies between sources. She is attested in a variety of texts, including god lists, offering lists and a variant of the Ballad of Early Rulers.
Ennugi (𒀭𒂗𒉡𒄄) was a Mesopotamian god associated with agriculture, especially irrigation, and with the underworld. According to an incantation he was also considered to be the creator of grubs. He was considered a member of the court of Enlil, and appears in god lists alongside its other members, such as Ninimma and Kusu. He was worshiped in Nippur, where his temple Erabriri was most likely located. He is also mentioned in a number of myths, including Atra-Hasis and the Epic of Gilgamesh.
An incantation bowl, also known as a demon bowl, devil-trap bowl, or magic bowl, is a form of early protective magic found in what is now Iraq and Iran. Produced in the Middle East during late antiquity from the sixth to eighth centuries, particularly in Upper Mesopotamia and Syria, the bowls were usually inscribed in a spiral, beginning from the rim and moving toward the center. Most are inscribed in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic.
An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's Natural History describes as "an object that protects a person from trouble". Anything can function as an amulet; items commonly so used include statues, coins, drawings, plant parts, animal parts, and written words.
In the myth and folklore of the Near East and Europe, Abyzou is the name of a female demon. Abyzou was blamed for miscarriages and infant mortality and was said to be motivated by envy, as she herself was infertile. In the Coptic Egypt she is identified with Alabasandria, and in Byzantine culture with Gylou, but in various texts surviving from the syncretic magical practice of antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, she is said to have many or virtually innumerable names.
Gello, in Greek mythology, is a female demon or revenant who threatens the reproductive cycle by causing infertility, miscarriage, and infant mortality. By the Byzantine era, the gelloudes (γελλούδες) were considered a class of beings. Women believed to be under demonic possession by gelloudes might stand trial or be subjected to exorcism.
A lilu or lilû is a masculine Akkadian word for a spirit or demon.
The Arslan Tash amulets are talismans found at Arslan Tash in northwest Syria, the site of ancient Hadatu. They are to be distinguished from larger finds such as the Arslan Tash reliefs. The inscriptions on the tablets are known as KAI 27.
4Q510–511, also given the title Songs of the Sage or Songs of the Maskil, is a fragmentary Hebrew-language manuscript of a Jewish magical text of incantation and exorcism in the Dead Sea Scrolls, specifically for protection against a list of demons. It is notable for containing the first clear usage of the Hebrew term lilith in relation to a supernatural creature. It is comparable to Aramaic incantation 4Q560 and also 11Q11.
The historiola is a modern term for a kind of incantation incorporating a short mythic story that provides the paradigm for the desired magical action. It can be found in ancient Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Greek mythology, in the Aramaic Uruk incantation, incorporated in Mandaean incantations, as well as in Jewish kabbalah. There are also Christian examples evoking Christian legends.
The Khalili Collection of Aramaic Documents is a private collection of letters and documents from the Bactria region in present-day Afghanistan, assembled by the British-Iranian collector and philanthropist Nasser D. Khalili. It is one of the Khalili Collections: eight collections of artifacts assembled, conserved, published and exhibited by Khalili.
Mandaic lead rolls, sometimes also known as Mandaic amulets or sheets, which are related to Palestinian and Syrian metal amulets, are a specific term for a writing medium containing incantations in the Mandaic script incised onto lead sheets with a pin. Some Mandaic incantations are found on gold and silver sheets. They are rolled up and then inserted into a metal capsule with loops on it to be worn around the neck on a string or necklace.
Lugala'abba or Lugalabba was a Mesopotamian god associated with the sea, as well as with the underworld. It has been proposed that he was worshiped in Nippur. He is also attested in various god lists, in a seal inscription, and in the incantation series Šurpu.
Nunura was a Mesopotamian god regarded as a divine potter. He was also associated with apotriopaic magic and exorcisms, and in multiple incantations he is invoked against demons. Late god lists equate him with Ea, which reflects a broader trend of treating artisan deities as aspects of that god.
References
- ↑ Studies in Josephus and the varieties of ancient Judaism 9004153896 Louis H. Feldman, Shaye J. D. Cohen, Joshua Schwartz - 2007 "Shaul Shaked, 76–82., and Shaul Shaked, 'Bagdana, King of the Demons, and Other Iranian Terms in Babylonian Aramaic Magic,' "
- ↑ A MAGICAL BOWL IN JUDAEO-ARAMAIC E.M. Borobio "A) (1) To bind (2) Bagdana, king (3) of the demons (4) and Great Lord of the Lilits. ... Bagdana, as the "king of demons and Lilits" is called in this text, is a being ..."
- ↑ The Biblical archaeologist: Volume 41, Issues 1-2 George Ernest Wright, Frank Moore Cross, Edward Fay Campbell - 1978 "(4) For the binding of King Bagdana, the king of demon[s and devils and] the great [ruler] of liliths. 1 adjure (5) you by Lilith Halbas the granddaughter of Li[lith] Zarni [who is sitting] upon the threshold of B3BH D3 (6) and lurking ..."
- ↑ Aramaic Incantation Texts from Nippur - Page 196 James Alan Montgomery - 2011 "of lead and the 70 exalted priests of Bagdana; and in the name of Bagdana son of Habal (destruction). ... and in the name of lord Ibbol (13) the great angel of the Blast-demons, and in the name of the great God and the great Lord of the ..."