Divine Actors in Babylonian Anti-Witchcraft Incantations

Beschreibung

This paper examines the role, significance, and functions of gods and goddesses in the Babylonian anti-witchcraft ritual Maqlû. The ritual involves a practitioner who organises a ritual around a patient seeking a cure for afflictions caused by witchcraft. While the roles and (inter)actions of practitioner and patient are up for scrutiny because of the ambiguity of the incantations and ritual instructions, this paper will focus chiefly on the gods and goddesses appearing in the incantations, as invoked entities, as actors in narration, and as speakers as well. The paper argues that divine names and epithets play a crucial role in the linguistic make-up of an incantation, which in the framework of Babylonian magic makes the incantation ‘magically effective’. Through close analysis of the incantation texts, including a quantitative analysis of divine names and epithets, and a critical reflection on the notion ‘actor’ and ‘speaker’, the paper sheds light on the function of gods and goddesses within the ritual Maqlû. The findings contribute to our understanding of the interplay between religious beliefs and magical ritual practices in ancient Mesopotamia.

Zeitraum	4 Mai 2023
Ereignistitel	The Egyptological-Assyriological Conference in Cophenhagen 2023
Veranstaltungstyp	Konferenz
Ort	Kopenhagen, DänemarkAuf Karte anzeigen
Bekanntheitsgrad	International