The performance of Maqlû, ‘Burning’, stretched over a whole night and included the recitation of almost a hundred incantations. This book examines the epigraphy and history of transmission of the cuneiform sources of the Maqlû anti-witchcraft ritual, one of the major compositions of ancient Mesopotamian exorcistic lore and a masterpiece of Babylonian literature. Finally, the survey turns to the question of the relevance and validity of evil ritual as a cultural narrative, especially in the context of the currents of continuity and change in the societies of first-millennium Mesopotamia. Further sections examine the ambiguity of some ritual practices, in part due to competing interpretations and differing perspectives. It then describes the ideas and concepts associated with kišpū, the Akkadian term for malevolent and taboo ritual acts, and includes a discussion of the stereotypical female perpetrator of kišpū. The overview first delineates the wider context of ritual lore in Babylonia and Assyria, focussing in particular on the profession of the āšipu. The discussion includes rituals that practitioners performed regularly, but also rites that existed foremost as cultural constructions of evil ritual as a potential cause of illness and misfortune. Some of these practices were prohibited by law, others occasionally frowned upon as ambiguous, even though they formed part of the written tradition. This chapter surveys forms of ritual that people in ancient Mesopotamia considered dangerous and potentially harmful.
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