Any Evil, a Stalking Ghost, and the Bull-Headed Demon

Please always quote using this URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-217763
  • Based on first-millennium cuneiform manuscripts from Aššur, Babylon, and Uruk, this article offers an edition of a ritual against an illness conceptualized as the demon ‘Any Evil’. The text sheds light on how the catch-all figure Any Evil corresponds to the idea of a universal cure for any physical ailment, and how the rhetoric of the incantation articulates this relationship and facilitates the active participation of the patient. The ritual instructions of this and a closely related text show that Any Evil is envisaged as a bull-headed, maleBased on first-millennium cuneiform manuscripts from Aššur, Babylon, and Uruk, this article offers an edition of a ritual against an illness conceptualized as the demon ‘Any Evil’. The text sheds light on how the catch-all figure Any Evil corresponds to the idea of a universal cure for any physical ailment, and how the rhetoric of the incantation articulates this relationship and facilitates the active participation of the patient. The ritual instructions of this and a closely related text show that Any Evil is envisaged as a bull-headed, male demon. This points to an adaptation of motifs that are typically associated with ghosts in ancient Mesopotamian thought and raises questions concerning the pictorial representation of Any Evil and its conceptual foundations.show moreshow less

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Metadaten
Author: Daniel Schwemer
URN:urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-217763
Document Type:Journal article
Faculties:Philosophische Fakultät (Histor., philolog., Kultur- und geograph. Wissensch.) / Institut für Altertumswissenschaften
Language:English
Parent Title (English):Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie
ISSN:0084-5299
ISSN:1613-1150
Year of Completion:2020
Volume:110
Issue:2
First Page:141
Last Page:160
Source:Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie (2020) 110:2, 141-160. https://doi.org/10.1515/za-2020-0015
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1515/za-2020-0015
Dewey Decimal Classification:9 Geschichte und Geografie / 93 Geschichte des Altertums (bis ca. 499), Archäologie / 930 Geschichte des Altertums bis ca. 499, Archäologie
Tag:Any Evil; Aššur; Babylon; Bull-Headed Demon; Uruk
Release Date:2022/03/17
Date of first Publication:2020/11/25
Note:
This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.
Licence (German):License LogoDeutsches Urheberrecht