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Entrusting the witches to Ḫumuṭ-tabal: The ušburruda ritual BM 47806 +

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2014

Daniel Schwemer
Daniel Schwemer*
Affiliation:
School of Oriental and African Studies, Department of the Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG, dsll@soas.ac.uk
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Abstract

The hitherto unpublished Late Babylonian fragment BM 47806 + adds another example to the group of rituals which counteract witchcraft by banning sorcerers to the netherworld. Šamaš is asked to hand them over, on his journey to the netherworld, to Ḫumuṭ-tabal, the ferryman of the dead. The edition of BM 47806 + is preceded by a brief overview of rituals of this type, including a discussion of the relationship between ritual burial of figurines – symbolising the dismissal of sorcerers to the netherworld – and their ritual burning, the other single most important technique of figurine magic deployed to kill warlock and witch.

Type
Research Article
Information
IRAQ , Volume 72 , 2010 , pp. 63 - 78
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute for the Study of Iraq 2010

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