page_title: Magic (supernatural)
section_title: Mesopotamia
hierarchical_section_title: Magic (supernatural) / History / Mesopotamia
caption_attribution_description: ArtistUnknownDescription Protection plaque against Lamashtu [1] Neo-Assyrian era Bronze Dimensions3.80 cm high, 8.80 wide, 2.50 cm deepCurrent location (Inventory)Louvre Museum&#160;&#160;Native nameMusée du LouvreLocationParisCoordinates48°&#160;51′&#160;37″&#160;N, 2°&#160;20′&#160;15″&#160;E&#160; &#160;Established1793Websitewww.louvre.frAuthority control : Q19675 VIAF: 257711507 ISNI: 0000 0001 2260 177X ULAN: 500125189 LCCN: n80020283 NLA: 35912436 WorldCat Richelieu, Rez-de-chaussée, Mésopotamie - Syrie du Nord. Assyrie&#160;: Til Barsip, Arslan Tash, Nimrud, Ninive, Salle 6Accession numberAO 22205Source/PhotographerRama Protection plaque against Lamashtu [1] Neo-Assyrian era Bronze
context_page_description: Magic is the application of beliefs, rituals or actions practiced with the view that they can subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces. It is a category into which have been placed various beliefs and practices sometimes considered separate from both religion and science.
  Throughout history there have been individuals who engaged in practices that their societies called magic and who sometimes referred to themselves as magicians or witches. Magic has been an important part of human culture for most of recorded history, variously having positive, ambivalent and negative connotations, and "continues to have an important religious and medicinal role in many cultures today".
  Within Western culture, the term magic has been linked to ideas of the Other, foreignness, and primitivism. In Styers' words, it has become "a powerful marker of cultural difference". It has also been repeatedly presented as the archetypally non-modern phenomenon. Among Western intellectuals in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, magic was seen as a defining feature of so-called primitive mentalities and was commonly attributed to marginal groups, locations, and periods.
context_section_description: Magic was invoked in many kind of rituals and medical recipes, and to counteract evil omens. Defensive or legitimate magic in Mesopotamia (asiputu or masmassutu in the Akkadian language) were incantations and ritual practices intended to alter specific realities. The ancient Mesopotamians believed that magic was the only viable defense against demons, ghosts, and evil sorcerers. To defend themselves against the spirits of those they had wronged, they would leave offerings known as kispu in the person's tomb in hope of appeasing them. If that failed, they also sometimes took a figurine of the deceased and buried it in the ground, demanding for the gods to eradicate the spirit, or force it to leave the person alone.
  The ancient Mesopotamians also used magic intending to protect themselves from evil sorcerers who might place curses on them. Black magic as a category didn't exist in ancient Mesopotamia, and a person legitimately using magic to defend themselves against illegitimate magic would use exactly the same techniques. The only major difference was the fact that curses were enacted in secret; whereas a defense against sorcery was conducted in the open, in front of an audience if possible. One ritual to punish a sorcerer was known as Maqlû, or "The Burning". The person viewed as being afflicted by witchcraft would create an effigy of the sorcerer and put it on trial at night. Then, once the nature of the sorcerer's crimes had been determined, the person would burn the effigy and thereby break the sorcerer's power over them.
  The ancient Mesopotamians also performed magical rituals to purify themselves of sins committed unknowingly. One such ritual was known as the Šurpu, or "Burning", in which the caster of the spell would transfer the guilt for all their misdeeds onto various objects such as a strip of dates, an onion, and a tuft of wool. The person would then burn the objects and thereby purify themself of all sins that they might have unknowingly committed. A whole genre of love spells existed. Such spells were believed to cause a person to fall in love with another person, restore love which had faded, or cause a male sexual partner to be able to sustain an erection when he had previously been unable. Other spells were used to reconcile a man with his patron deity or to reconcile a wife with a husband who had been neglecting her.
  The ancient Mesopotamians had no distinction between rational science and magic. When a person became ill, doctors would prescribe both magical formulas to be recited as well as medicinal treatments. Most magical rituals were intended to be performed by an āšipu, an expert in the magical arts. The profession was generally passed down from generation to generation and was held in extremely high regard and often served as advisors to kings and great leaders. An āšipu probably served not only as a magician, but also as a physician, a priest, a scribe, and a scholar.
  The Sumerian god Enki, who was later syncretized with the East Semitic god Ea, was closely associated with magic and incantations; he was the patron god of the bārȗ and the ašipū and was widely regarded as the ultimate source of all arcane knowledge. The ancient Mesopotamians also believed in omens, which could come when solicited or unsolicited. Regardless of how they came, omens were always taken with the utmost seriousness.
caption: Bronze protection plaque from the Neo-Assyrian era showing the demon Lamashtu
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