Neptune's Dolphins

 

In the Old Babylonian Calendar, it was called Ezem Gusisu because of the Gusisu Festival. Since this is the month of spring storms, the land is prepared for sowing. The Gusisu Festival is held at the full moon for three days. Ningirsu, who is the Warrior God, becomes Ninurta, the Farmer God. The Son of Enlil (the Keeper of the Tablets of Destiny), Ninurta brings the rains of spring. Before the inundation of the fields in May/June, irrigation ditches are repaired and filled. In addition, the oxen and ploughs are prepared for the spring farrowing. This festival was held for three days with the entire pantheon of Gods receiving offerings. (Note 4)

 

To honor Ninurta as Lord Plough and Master of the Fields, “The Debate Between the Hoe and the Plough” is read. (Note 5) This debate highlights the Hoe’s importance in civilization, since it builds the cities. Meanwhile, the Plough provides grain for the cities. Afterwards, a plough is symbolically used with the dropping of the first seed to be planted.

 

Then, the “Song of the Ploughing Oxen” is sung. This song depicts spring ploughing as the “faithful farmer with oxen.” One stanza is:

“My king, I want to praise the leading oxen of the plough:

‘Ellu! go, oxen, go, put the neck under the yoke,

go, royal oxen, go, put the neck under the yoke!

Step on the furrows of the fertile field, that the sides be made straight.

With your lion’s tail beat the sides of the plough,

Your step, oxen, rejoices the people, you have been given strength to work!

The oxen you guide, Lipit-Istar (the king), and your song is a pleasure.” (Note 6)

 

At the end of the Gusisu Festival, the plough and oxen are blessed. Then, a final praise hymn is sung:

“The Hero has performed his divine function.

Ningal, the servant of Enlil, let go of the plough and removed the yoke.

From that place the Gods depart to perform their routine duties.

Ninurta stands by the Ekurzagin (Note 7), head raised high,

And calls forth to his Father, the Great Mountain Enlil:

‘My Father, the divine functions of the month Gusisu have been completed; seed has touched the earth.’”

 

Late in the month, the Sacred Marriage of Nabu and Tasmetu is celebrated. (Note 8) This Marriage of these Gods ensures the fertility and abundance of the land. During the Sacred Marriage of Nabu (God of Wisdom and Abundant Harvest) with Tasmetu (Goddess of Listening and Sexual Attraction), their statues are placed together. As a Divine Couple, They come together as Bride and Groom. After spending six days and seven nights together, the two Gods are served a banquet by the king and the people. From this marriage will come peace and prosperity to the land.

 

Notes:

Note 1. The Babylonians had a lunar calendar and added months beyond the 12-month year. They kept their year keyed to the equinoxes. Between 1750 – 1500 BCE, the Babylonians standardized their calendar – the Standard Mesopotamian Calendar to unify their empire.

 

Note 2. Astrolabe B has 12-month sectors with the rising of the stars. It lists the main events in the Babylonian Wheel of the Year.

 

Note 3. The Seven Gods, who are associated with the Pleiades, can be called to fight evil demons. (They are usually referred to as a group, not as individuals.)

 

Note 4. The first day’s offerings go to Enlil, Ninlil, Ninurta, and the Chair of Enlil. The second day’s offerings go to Ninlil, Nanna, Ninurta, Nintinugga, Ninhursag, Nuska, Inanna, Enki, Nisaba, and Ningagia. Also, to the Sacred Mound, Door of Enlil, “Abzu” (Pool) of Ninlil, the Plough, the Threshing Sled, the Harp, and the Chariot. The third day’s offerings are for Ninurta and the Plough.

 

Note 5. The Sumerians wrote debates (disputations) as a part of their theology to explain the relations between the Gods and humans. Seven are known – Bird and Fish, Copper and Silver, Millstone and Gulgul-stone, Hoe and Plough, Date Palm and Tamarisk (Tree and Reed), Winter and Summer, and Sheep and Grain.

 

Note 6. From Mark Cohen, “Festivals and Calendars of the Ancient Near East.”

 

Note 7. The Ekurzagin is the “Mountain House of the Gods.”

 

Note 8. Tasmetu is first named as Nabu’s Consort. However, the Babylonians regarded Nanaya to be his Consort, while the Assyrians thought that Tasmetu was.

The Patron God of Babylon, Marduk rose to become the Ruler of the Gods of Mesopotamia. He is the third God to head this pantheon. Apsu, the Deep and Tiamat, the Primordial Mother, who together created the world, ruled at the beginning according to the Enuma Elish (The Story of Creation). Then One of the Younger Gods, Enlil who Holds of the Tablets of Destiny, overthrew the Divine Couple by using magic. When Tiamat wanted vengeance for the murder of Her Mate, the Great Gods (Note 1) met and conferred on Marduk their powers to destroy Her. After their battle, He recreated the Cosmos with the body of the slain Tiamat.

 

Marduk is the God who shaped the Cosmos. Making the Heavens and the Earth from the body of Tiamat, He demonstrates the transformative power of creating order from chaos. By restoring order to the Cosmos, Marduk allows it to flourish. Besides kings ruling justly in his name, judges call upon the blessings of Marduk in legal proceedings.

 

Originally a God of Agriculture, Marduk became the Mediator between the Gods and Hammurabi, the king (1792-1750 BCE). Later kings of Babylonia received the commands of the Gods through Him. By the time of Nebuchadnezzar I (1121-1100 BCE) (Note 2), Marduk was the Supreme King of the Gods, Lord of the Lands (which was formally Enlil’s title). For the kings of Neo-Babylonian times, He was the source of their authority.

 

For Babylonians, their empire brought peace, ending the many wars between the cities. Misery abounded and cities burned until Babylon rules the region. Babylon, as Marduk, established order and justice in the land.

 

Selected Notes About Marduk

 

Marduk’s Consort is Sarpantu, whose attributes are unknown. She is the Queen of the Gods because of Markuk. However, Sarpantu can be called upon to assist with pregnancy and childbirth.

 

Marduk’s symbols are the hoe, the thunderbolt, and the bow with arrows. The hoe is for fertility and agriculture since this God brings the rains. Often depicted riding his battle chariot, Marduk wields a thunderbolt. This connotates the destruction and renewal that comes afterwards. His bow and arrows are for the war He wages against chaos. (Meanwhile, the Mushhushshu, a type of dragon who is associated with Him, represents the chaos.)

 

Esaglia, the temple tower of Marduk, was recreated as the “Tower of Babel” in the Old Testament. Mentioned in the “Enuma Elish,” Esaglia was built by the Gods, making it the highest tower in the region. The shooting of the arrow from “Babel” is from the Sixth Tablet of “Enuma Elish.” (Note 3)

 

Some of Marduk’s epithets:

God of Fifty Names and Powers

King of Heaven

Guardian of the Four Quarters

Overseer Who is Good

Shepherd of the Gods

Light of His Father

Young Steer of the Day

Bull-Calf of the Storm

Glorious Word of Power

Citadel of Prayer

Shepherd of the Stars

Lord of Life

Master of Magic

Restorer of Joy to Humankind

Patron of Babylon

 

Notes:

Note 1. The Great Gods did not include Marduk until the time of the Assyrian Kings, who “raised” Him and Assur, their Patron God.

 

Note 2. Not to be confused with Nebuchadnezzar II of the Old Testament. Nebuchadnezzar I was a devotee of Marduk.

 

Note 3. Scholars have thought that Etemenanki, which is the temple complex that contains Esaglia, was the “Tower of Babel” of the Old Testament. (Meanwhile, Marduk is called “Merodach” in the Old Testament.)

The Wheel of the Year in Mesopotamia starts at the Vernal Equinox. This is celebrated as zagmu, “the turning of the year.” (Note 1) At this time, the major festival of Akitu focuses on the Gods returning to their cities for the new year. Then, the Gods are re-installed as the leaders of each city. The spring harvest of barley is blessed. At the end of Akitu festival, the Gods determine the destiny of the people for the coming year.

 

The Akitu (New Year’s) Festival is one of the most complex and important ceremonies in Mesopotamia. Starting at the Spring Equinox, this festival continues for twelve days. It involves purification, the re-establishment of creation, and the re-affirmation of life, death, and the family. The rituals re-enforce the bonds of the community between the people, their Gods, and leaders. (In Ancient Mesopotamia, elaborate and lengthy rituals for the Akitu were conducted. Modern followers of the Mesopotamian Gods have a much simpler ceremony.)

 

During the Akitu, the God’s statue is taken on the Boat of Heaven to the Akitu house outside the city walls. (This is the house where the God resides when They are on the earth.) During the first three days, offerings are made at the Boat of Heaven and at the Akitu house – during daybreak, evening, and midnight. Afterwards, the statue of the God is taken through the city and welcomed.

 

Originally, the Akitu focused on Nanna-Suen, the Moon God. He is the God of Time, measuring the months by the waxing and waning of the moon. Later each city held the Akitu festival for their principal Gods. The Nippur Compendium lists the Gods for the Akitu (Note 2). According to Mark Cohen, Akitu festivals were celebrated at Uruk for Anu, Beltu-sa-Uruk, and Usur-amassa; at Babylon for Marduk and Nabu, at Nippur for Marduk, Ninurta, and Nanna-Sin.

 

The Ishtar Gate lists a ritual for modern Sumerian Polytheists to follow. The following is a summary:

Day before Akitu: Reflect on the past year.

Day 1. Remove the statues from your altar to a ceremonial Akitu-House.

Day 2. Make offerings at the Akitu-House. Reflect on the Gods in your life.

Day 3. Read the “Enuma Elish”

Day 4. Day of Atonement. Reflect on how to do better in the coming year.

Day 5. Clean your home, take a bath, and clean the altar.

Day 6. Praise the Gods. Read “Enki and the World Order.”

Day 7. Take statues back to the altar and make offerings.

 

Notes:

 

Note 1. “Zagmu” translates to “the New Year” or “Spring.” It is believed that the term denoted the spring fruit, or the yield of the first month.

 

Note 2. Nippur Compendium:

Marduk ,for His Supreme Divinity

Ninurta, for His Father Enlil

Ishtar (Inanna), the Queen of Nippur

Nanna-Sin

 

Sources:

Jeremy Black and Anthony Green, “Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia”

Mark Cohen, “Festivals and Calendars of the Ancient Near East.”

The Ishtar Gate, https://theishtargate.com/

Since the beginning of COVID-19, various Monotheists have worried about the world becoming post-Christian. They describe how society is unraveling, making them fearful. From this increasing “dark” chaos, many have concluded that the hegemony of Monotheism is ending. Troubled, some have ascertained that evil entities are to blame. Notably Jonathan Cahn and Naomi Wolf (Note 1) have written about the “Ancient Gods” returning to wreak havoc. (Note 2)

 

In a series of books, Jonathan Cahn decries how the United States has turned from God. Claiming to be a prophet, he receives special insight from the mysteries unveiled in the Old Testament. Cahn says that the future is dire unless the U.S. repents its ways. (Note 3)

 

In his latest book, “The Return of the Gods,” Cahn details the plot of the Gods of Mesopotamia to take back control from God (Yahweh). He writes “could these gods, or beings, actually be the unseen movers and catalysts of modern culture?” In the introduction, Cahn continues “And so the gods returned. And having returned they began working their dark magic…And as the seeds of their planting come to fruition and their spirits infused more and more of the modern world, they grew still more powerful.”

 

The thesis, which Cahn has presented in his earlier books is that the “Word of God, the Spirit of God, the Gospel” came to the Roman Empire. This Spirit of God cast out the “Pagan” Gods and cleansed the West of their evil. According to Cahn, blessed by God, Western Civilization became hegemonic in the world. However, beginning in the 1960s with the ending of prayers in public schools, the United States cast out God. Because nothing has replaced God, the “old” Gods came back in force to dominate.

 

Cahn focuses on what he calls the “Dark Trinity.” (Note 4) He accuses Ba’al, Molech, and Ishtar with destroying society. Ba’al, a rival of Yahweh in the Old Testament, is the Possessor, who has taken possession of the children in the modern age. Ishtar, who is a stand-in for Astarte (Note 5), is the Enchantress and the Transformer. (Note 6) The Destroyer, Molech is the God that Christians often use to defame Polytheists by accusing them of child sacrifice.

 

Since these three Gods are often named in the Old Testament, They are usually considered the “Gods of Apostasy.” It is little wonder that Cahn has fixated on Them. He stresses that the Trio is active in the spiritual realm and now work to “re-paganize” the West. In other words, “evil” is winning. He writes “we are largely unaware of how the other realms affecting our world and lives.” (Note 7) He continues “Modern culture …. is now marked by the same signs that once marked the ancient pagan world: purposeless, emptiness, and hopelessness.” Meanwhile, Naomi Wolf has been more emphatic saying “This may, indeed, be what Hell itself looks like.” (Note 8)

 

Edward Butler’s “The Way of the Gods,” puts Cahn in perspective. According to Butler, Polytheism is the record of human relations with the Divine. Therefore, having multiple Gods is a natural part of being human. Polytheists have a rich body of relationships with various and many Gods. It was the default religion of the world until Christianity and later Islam sought to eradicate it.

 

Cahn has employed reductionism to make his points. Butler notes “…this to be a common circumstance with respect to every (Polytheist) tradition…these reductionism dismantle the meaning of traditions in order to build their own edifice whether it is a univocal narrative of world history of a totalizing psychological narrative, just as a temple is disassembled and its stones incorporated into a different building.”

 

In “Gods in the Desert,” Glenn Holland notes, “A monotheistic religious culture also offers worship and devotion to only one god, but his or her worshippers believe their god is the one and only god that truly exists. The devotees of the god maintain that all other beings called ‘gods’ and worshipped by other people are not really gods at all.” Holland observes, “The god is also the absolute moral arbiter of right and wrong, and as such is absolutely righteous.”

 

In other words, these “dark Gods” are of Cahn’s owns fears. They stem from the very real efforts of the Bible writers to erase Polytheism in order to have the “one true God.” Therefore, Ba’al and the other Gods have become the generators of chaos with Yahweh the restorer of order. For Yahweh to reign supreme, the others must be demonized by claiming that they have nefarious ends.

 

What Cahn writes are the usual things that Monotheists say of any Polytheistic culture. He puts Monotheistic fears onto “straw man” Gods. What Cahn and others do not understand is that the Pax Deorum (Peace of the Gods) is beneficial. The Pax Deorum is the right relationship between the world of humans and the Divine Powers. As as long as Divine laws remain unbroken, grace, beauty and harmony will be the norm. The world of the Gods is a far different one than what Cahn is imaging.

 

Notes:

Note 1. Cahn is a Messianic Jewish minister. Wolf, who is Jewish, was inspired by Cahn’s latest book, “The Return of the Gods,” to ponder this evil in her essay on Substack. “Have the Ancient Gods Returned?”. https://naomiwolf.substack.com/p/have-the-ancient-gods-returned

 

Note 2. At the same time, various Neo-Pagans have written about the “Great War” between those who would do humans harm and those who would prevent that. They cite the climate change crisis and the rise of Donald Trump as evidence. Most Neo-Pagans are Progressive, while Cahn and others are Conservative.

 

Note 3. Cahn had said that the Clintons were the modern Ahab and Jezebel, while Trump was Jehu, sent by God to “drain the swamp.”

 

Note 4: Three Gods are mentioned more often in the Old Testament by the various Prophets – Ba’al, Asherah, and Moloch. In his book, Cahn claims that Asherah, Astarte, and Ishtar are the same Goddess. Ba’al is the Canaanite God of Storms and Fertility. Ishtar is the Mesopotamian Goddess of Sex and War. She is often conflated with Astarte, who is the Canaanite Goddess of Fertility and sometimes Consort of Ba’al. Moloch (Molech) is only found in the Old Testament. Scholars believe that the term means “sacrifice,” and is meant as an insult to Polytheists.

 

Note 5: Asherah and Astarte are often confused. Asherah is the Sister of El and the Mother of Gods, while Astarte is the Daughter of Asherah.

 

Note 6: Cahn spends half of his book focused on Ishtar’s sexual proclivities. According to him, She is the reason for the destruction of humanity through gender confusion, homosexuality, and women’s liberation. He uses reductionism to conflate her with other Gods of Love, notably Venus.

 

Note 7: Various Neo-Pagans mirror this observation by writing how the spiritual realm is leaking into this world.

 

Note 8: Many Neo-Pagans believe that Hell is the imposition of Christian values on modern life, which has Progressive values.

 

Further Reading:

Edward Butler, “The Way of the Gods.”

Glenn Holland, “Gods in the Desert.”

Johnathan Kirch, “God Against the Gods.”

Lynn Prickett and Clive Prince, “When God Had a Wife.”

 

While Ninurta is at a banquet, Sharur (Note 2), his loyal Mace tells the God that the rocks and plants of the mountains have revolted. Lead by Azag, they seek to destroy the plains and cities. Ninurta leaves at once in his boat, Ma-kar-nunta-ea (Beloved Barge). However, He loses the first battle and retreats.

 

From “The Lugal-e:”

“The mace snarled at the Mountains, the club began to devour all the enemy. He fitted the evil wind and the sirocco on a pole, he placed the quiver on its hook. An enormous hurricane, irresistible, went before the Hero, stirred up the dust, caused the dust to settle, levelled high and low, filled the holes. It caused a rain of coals and flaming fires; the fire consumed men. It overturned tall trees by their trunks, reducing the forests to heaps, Earth put her hands on her heart and cried harrowingly; the Tigris was muddied, disturbed, cloudy, stirred up…. The storm flooded out the fish there in the subterranean waters, their mouths snapped at the air. It reduced the animals of the open country to firewood, roasting them like locusts. It was a deluge rising and disastrously ruining the Mountains.”

 

The Demon King Azag (Note 3) was born from the mating of the Gods – An (Heaven) and Ki (Earth). Although He was the King of the Plants, Azag mated with the mountains, creating stone children. Besides ruling over plants and rocks, He could boil the rivers and kill the fish. After defeating Ninurta the first time, Azag set up a throne and ruled the plains and the cities. Sharur, the Mace describes Him as “Who can compass the Asag’s dread glory? Who can counteract the severity of its frown? People are terrified, fear makes the flesh creep; their eyes are fixed upon it.”

 

Meanwhile, Enlil, Ninurta’s father counsels his son to bid his time. He tells Ninurta to wait until the springtime and then unleash his storms. While waiting, Ninurta reforms the ruined mountains, torn up from the first battle with Azag. He constructs embankments to channel the flood waters. This creates rivers for the well-being of the cities. By controlling the spring floods, Ninurta ensures abundance for the “black-headed people.” Finished, Ninurta marches off to do battle, again.

 

From “The Lugal-e:”

“But the Lord howled at the Mountains, could not withhold a roar. The Hero did not address the rebel lands, He reversed the evil that it had done. He smashed the heads of all the enemies, he made the Mountains weep. The Lord ranged about in all directions, like a soldier saying ‘I will go on the rampage.’ Like a bird of prey, the Asag looked up angrily from the Mountains. He commanded the rebel lands to be silent. Ninurta approached the enemy and flattened him like a wave. The Asag’s terrifying splendour was contained, it began to fade, it began to fade. It looked wonderingly upwards. Like water he agitated it, he scattered it into the Mountains, like weeds he pulled it up, like rushes he ripped it up. Ninurta’s splendour covered the Land, he pounded the Asag like roasted barley, he piled it up like a heap of broken bricks, he heaped it up like flour, as a potter does with coals; he piled it up like stamped earth whose mud is being stirred. The Hero had achieved his heart’s desire. Ninurta, the Lord, the son of Enlil, began to calm down.”

 

After defeating Azag, Ninurta reorders the land.

 

From “The Lugal-e:”

“The Lord applied his great wisdom to it. Ninurta, the son of Enlil, set about it in a grand way. He made a pile of stones in the Mountains. Like a floating cloud he stretched out his arms over it. With a great wall he barred the front of the Land. He installed a sluice on the horizon. The Hero acted cleverly. He dammed in the cities together. He blocked the powerful waters by means of stones. Now the waters will never again go down from the Mountains into the earth. That which was dispersed he gathered together. Where in the Mountains scattered lakes had formed, he joined them all together and led them down to the Tigris. He poured carp-floods of water over the fields.”

 

“Now, today, throughout the whole world, kings of the Land far and wide rejoice at Lord Ninurta. He provided water for the speckled barley in the cultivated fields, he raised up the harvest of fruits in garden and orchard. He heaped up the grain piles like mounds.”

 

The second half of this myth details Ninurta’s assigning duties to various stones. He is reorganizing the landscape for civilization to thrive. The rocks who fought against Him like flint were sentenced to be easily flaked and used by other stones. His allies like lapis lazuli were rewarded as being pleasing to the Gods.

 

Various interpretations of this myth have been made. A major one is that “The Lugal-e” depicts Ninurta as a force of nature. The thunderstorms raging over the mountains symbolizes the battle between Him and Azag. These storms create the spring floods that eventually form the rivers and streams of the plains. The cities, downstream, receive the bounty of this water.

 

From “The Lugal-e:” “The Lord caused bilious poison to run over the rebel lands. As he went the gall followed, anger filled his heart, and he rose like a river in spate and engulfed all the enemies. In his heart he beamed at his lion-headed weapon, as it flew up like a bird, trampling the Mountains for him.” This passage describes Ninurta, the Lord of Storms.

 

Others scholars believe that the “Lugal-e” describes how Ninurta defeated the mountain peoples. In his role as “Protector of the Cities,” the God ensures that the Assyrians, Kassites, Mitanni and others remain in the Zagros Mountains. In that, He is the Warrior God.

 

Meanwhile, noted Mesopotamian scholar Thorkild Jacobson in “Treasures of Darkness” writes that Azag was the original form of Ninurta. The God was first depicted as the Thundercloud, Who Throws Hailstones. In fact, the name “Azag” refers to “slingstones,” which is another name for hailstones. The conflict then becomes a struggle between the human and the non-human forms of the God. As the “human,” Ninurta becomes Lord Plough, the God of Agriculture.

 

I see the myth as the blending of order and chaos to form a stable civilization. For fertility to occur, chaos must be allowed free reign. However, to contain the chaos, Ninurta does his duty. From the battles, a new world emerges, and reemerges every spring. The myth could be seen as Ninurta recreation the Cosmos as Lord Plough granting abundance.

 

Selected Stones and Their Duties

 

Allies:

Alabaster: Purifies silver. Seal keeper for the Treasury.

Carnelian: Decorated with precious metals. Revered as from the Gods.

Diorite: Holy statues and offerings made from this stone.

Hematite: Value as if gold. Worthy of respect. Reflects the light.

Kohl: Favorite of artisans

 

Enemies:

Emery: Used to file down other stones

Flint: Smashed into small pieces. To be used in metal work.

Lava and Basalt: Mold for goldsmiths

Limestone: Used for foundations on muddy ground.

 

Notes:

Note 1. The full name of this myth is “Lugal-e ud me-lam-binir-gal,” which means “King, Storm, the Glory of Which is Noble.” Scholars only have the middle part of this myth. The beginning and ending are still missing.

Note 2. Sharur (“Smasher of Thousands”) is considered to be a Holy Being. Meanwhile, the Boats of the Gods, which all have names, are revered for containing the essence of the Gods.

Note 3. Azag (Asag) is also a name for a demon who attacks and kills people with head fevers.

 

Another festival held during this month is the Na-ab-ri-um. The focus is on divining for the coming agriculture year. Babylonians are well-known for their divination by liver (extispicy). Other divining methods used are oil in water (lecanomancy) and incense (libanomancy).

 

The name for the eighth month of the Standard Mesopotamia Calendar is odd. Usually, the months are named for what happens during that time. However, this month is simply named, “Arahsamna,” the eighth month. Samsu-iluna, King of Babylon, created this luni-solar calendar to standardize time across the region. Other city states in the area used lunar calendars, all of them different. In constructing his calendar, Samsu-iluna selected various months from these other calendars. This name for this month was a corruption of the Old Persian Calendar for their name of the “eighth month.”

 

Notes:

The month for the Dead in the Mesopotamian calendar is in July and August. That is when the Seven Gates of the Underworld are open, and the Dead are allowed to leave to visit their families. Unlike the standard Neo-Pagan calendar, October is not a month of the thinning of the veil or for Ancestor honoring.

 

Gliding over to Tataya, the gaunt specter stops in puzzlement. “Madame Wife, no lit fire for me? No hot soup? Are you not you glad to see me?”

 

Tataya whitens, “Go away, Husband. Just go.” Shaken, she tries to step around him, but the Ghost, who now has form and substance, continues to block her. “Wife, why no welcome? Why no musicians playing their lyres for my arrival?”

 

Before he loses his last nerve, Remutu stammers, “Noble Gidim, can-can-can you tell-tell us the witches that your wife sicced on Nabu-Sama-Iskien? Em… follow-follow us, and we will give-give you barley broth.”

 

“NO!” screams Tataya. She starts to punch the astonished specter with her fists. Her earrings jangle and her necklaces rattle sounding discordant chords.

 

Her dead husband holds her at arm length. “What? Why?”

 

“Leave ME alone. I never loved you. I’m glad you’re dead. I HATE YOU. I HATE HIM. I HATE ALL OF YOU.”

 

Panicked Nabu-Sama-Iskien flies at Tataya. Slamming into her, he falls on top of her, the brick walkway under them. “TELL ME! TELL ME!” The frantic man pounds Tataya’s head against the bricks. A trickle of dark blood seeps out from her hair. Putting his dirty fingers in the sticky liquid, Nabu-Sama-Iskien faints at the metallic scent.

 

Silence like the fog envelops the little group.

 

The orange and red sky blossoms into blues and purples. Remutu glances at the Ghost and the Fly, who ignore him. He stammers, “She-she want-want him dead. All dead. All of-of ‘em.”

 

The Ghost of Tataya’s Husband stands transfixed by the ghastly scene. For what seems to be an eternity, he remains silent. Then the Ghost turns to the Fly. Softly, he says, “I wish to atone for my wife’s actions.” He kneels down at her body. “Tataya, you are dead. Tell them, or else. DO NOT make me furious.”

 

“BOATMAN! WE HAVE THE NAMES. NOW GO!”

Pushing through the gathered crowd, Remutu and Iltani come for her weeping husband. As he rocks back and forth, Nabu-Sama-Iskien compulsively plucks at his bloodstained kilt. While the large boatman stands between the diminutive Iltani and the restive crowd, she crouches beside her distraught husband. She takes his hand into hers. “Come home, Husband. We are all well.”

 

Blankly, Nabu-Sama-Iskien stares at his wife. Iltani tenderly squeezes his hand. “Husband, we are alive because of you.” Rising, she gently pulls him up, and takes his arm. Iltani quietly guides him through the crowd.

 

Sitting in Remutu’s reed boat, Iltani rubs Nabu-Sama-Iskien’s back. The only sound is Remutu’s grunts as he poles the craft. The round silver moon guides them home.

 

Since this is the time in Sumer when the Dead return to dine with the living, I am presenting a ghost story. I wrote this myself with a lot of research into the City of Ur.

 

Between Love and Madness

The summer sun rules the countryside of lower Mesopotamia, lingering longer each day. Heat saps the city of Uruk, which longs for the coolness of the brief night. Smokey haze hangs over the subdued city from numerous braziers. Under the sun’s glare, the passage from the Underworld opens. Now, ghosts wander the city searching for their former families. Even in the brilliant sunlight, Darkness lurks.

 

Yellow sunshine washes over the white-washed brick home of Nabu-Sama-Iskien. Home for the midday meal, the scribe dines with his assembled family. Sitting in the cool of his shaded courtyard, he relaxes on his carved tamarisk chair. Enjoying the shade of the palms, the squat toad of a man sips his warm beer from a ceramic bowl. Placing it on the low dining table, he points his reed straw at Bitiatum. “Daughter, do not slurp. Use a straw for your beer porridge.”

 

“Husband, leave the little one alone.” Sighing, his quiet mouse of a wife puts a straw in the toddler’s chubby hand. Smoothing Bitiatum’s rumpled tunic, Ilanti wipes her daughter’s chin. After filling the girl’s bowl, her mother turns to … “Bitti!”

 

The little girl slumps forward shattering her bowl. Grey porridge splatters on Nabu-Sama-Iskien. Jumping up, he screams at the fallen child. “Now, look at my white kilt! It is freshly laundered.”

 

“Stop, Husband!” Ilanti, attentively raises her hand. Turning to their two teenaged boys eating under the palms, she yells, “Puzu, take Enlil and fetch the doctor! Quickly find the Asiputu Nidintu!” Ilanti searches for a faint pulse on her daughter’s neck. Finding one, she gently coos, “Bitti, Bitti.”

 

Ilanti settles her daughter’s body into her soft lap. Her thin fingers search for Bitti’s amulet. The bronze head of Pazuzu is missing. The canine head with the bulging eyes can no longer ward off any demon or ghost.

 

Clad her garish fish regalia, a grey-haired woman strides into the courtyard, followed by an incandescent green fly. Nodding to the gathered family, the Asiputu sets her blue bowl on the sturdy table. “The little girl?” Nidintu points to the small body lying on the lap of Ilanti.

 

Nidintu pours her olive oil and water into her divining bowl. Then she quietly prays. “O Merciful Healing Gula, guide my divination. Merciful Enlil, Holder of the Tablets of Fate, be at my right hand. Fierce Nergal, Bringer of Death, be at my left hand. O Divine Nergal hold your demons, send your galla away. Bless my divination of water and oil. Divine and Wise Enki, show what I need to know.” She turns to the large house fly. “Fly of Nergal, help me diagnose what is wrong.”

 

After a long silence of staring at her sacred bowl, Nidintu lifts her fish-head cowl. “OUT! OUT! Evil Maskim!” She gestures to the two lanky boys staring at her. “YOU take flour and make a circle around your sister and mother.” The asiputu turns to Nabu-Sama-Iskien, “You take your older daughter, and white-wash a circle around your doorway. NOW. Your daughter has been attacked by maskim. We need to stop all of the demons.”

 

The rail-thin asiputu stoops to whisper in the stubby scribe’s ear. “Your family will die before sundown unless…” When Nabu-Sama-Iskien faints, she dumps tepid water on his head. Nidintu puts her hatchet face into his full moon one. “You must find out the names of the witches who cursed you. Go to the canal outside of this city ward. Ask for the Boatman Remutu. He owes me for a healing. He will take you wherever you need to go.” Grabbing Nabu-Sama-Iskien’s flabby arm, she presses her bony fingers deep. “Follow the Fly of Nergal. I need this information before sundown to perform the Maqulu, the Burning to save your family. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? NOW GO!”

 

The early afternoon sun bakes the city as Nabu-Sama-Iskien plods along. Farmers with wagons full of dates, onions, and peas dodge the muttering scribe. Laborers carrying jugs of olive oil and beer bump into him to go faster. Deep in self-pity, he steps into the fresh dung dropped by the sheep which are being herded around him. “Why Remutu? Why me? Why flies? I detest those insects! Who wants me dead? What harm have I done to anyone?”

 

Assaulted by the fetid smells of the canal, Nabu-Sama-Iskien chokes and gasps for breath. “Yo! Soft Hands, you talkin’ to me?” taunts a colossal mountain of a man standing next to his broad reed boat. Swatting at a swarm of flies, the burly boatman mutters, “Demon flies!” Remutu shakes his fly whisk at the scribe’s leather sandals, “Hey, Three-Names, stop bringin’ the flies with you!”

 

Flustered, Nabu-Sama-Iskien raises his manicured hands. “Please Boatman Remutu, help me! The Asiputu Nidintu said that you would help.” He flaps his sweaty arms at the boatman who is busy attacking flies. “Do not do that! That is the Fly of Nergal! Nidintu’s Fly!”

 

“So?”

 

“Remutu, I must discover who cursed my family. They are going to expire at sundown. Argh, detestable flies! I abhor flies.” Nabu-Sama-Iskien slaps at the curved prow of the high boat. “Argh.” His palm is now covered with sticky bitumen.

 

“Hey! I just waterproofed everythin’ Soft Hands. For the love of the Gods, just get in the boat, sit down, and shut up.”

 

Gingerly stepping into the rocking boat, Nabu-Sama-Iskien says, “The Fly says to go to the Eanna District.”

 

“O, just wonderf’l. Clear to the other side of the city. And the ghosts. And the Wall ‘round it. What are you thinkin’?” grumbles Remutu.

 

“Please, my family will …”

 

“Yeah, yeah.” Taking his pole in hand, Remutu starts down the busy canal.

 

In the Mesopotamian Wheel of the Year, from mid-June to mid-September, the confluence of An (the heavens), Ki (the earth) and Kur (the Underworld) (Note 1) (Note 2) occurs. During this time, the Dead wander freely among the living. Fires are lit to guide Them to their families, where the Dead stay for a brief time.

 

In Sumer, the month is called Ne-izi-gar, and in Babylon, it is Abu. These names refer to the rituals for the Dead. There are three that are done during this month – the Maqlu (the Burning), the Ne-izi-gar (The Return of the Dead), and Ab/pum (the Offering at the Mounds).

 

As the moon wanes until it disappears completely (The Day of the Disappearance of the Moon), malevolent spirits come out. Because this is a perilous time for the living, the Maqlu ritual is conducted. First, offerings are made to the Gods of Fire, Nusku and Girra, at night. Then at dawn, people recite the following, “Evil demon, to your steppe” or “Get out evil rabisu! Come in, good rabisu!” Afterwards, they encircle the entrance of their homes with flour paste,

 

The Ne-izi-gar is the Festival of Ghosts, when the Dead (Note 3) eat a ceremonial meal with their families. The Benevolent Dead have to follow a special passage from the dark Netherworld to the land of the living. For these Dead to find their way to their families, the people light braziers to guide Them.

 

Three days before the full moon, offerings are made for the journey of the Ancestors. When the full moon arrives, the doors of the Netherworld are at their widest. This is the time when Ancestors return through the ab/pum (the mound). (The ab/pum is a mound placed over the passage to the Netherworld.) At the Abe (Ab/pum) festival, beer, honey, oil and wine are poured into the mound. Then the person places their foot over the ab/pum and kisses the ground.

 

Since the Dead do not sever their ties to the living, Babylonians regard death as a transition from being human to that of a gidim (spirit). (Note 4) After dying, the gidim is reunited with their dead relatives, and assigned a place in the Netherworld. Funeral rites ensure the gidim’s integration into that world. Offerings of food and water are made since the Netherworld have little of either for nourishment. If they do not receive this, then the gidim will become vicious and haunt the living.

 

In Babylonian theology, diseases are often caused by the angry Dead. Ghosts who were ignored would seize a person through the ear. (This was called the “hand of the ghost” (Qat etemmi) which caused mental illness. Seizures was known as “seizure by the ghost” (sibit etemmi). Meanwhile, angry gidim demanded that they be fed hot soup before promising to leave.

 

Notes:

Note 1. The Mesopotamian Netherworld was neither a place of punishment or reward. It was the Great City where the Dead, who received proper rituals, went.

 

Note 2. The Netherworld is known by many names – arali, irkalla, kukku, ekur, kigal, and ganzir. Kur means “the land of no return.” Arallu (Akkadian) (or Ganzer (Sumerian)) was the Great City (iri-gal) of the Dead.

 

Note 3. The Dead had to cross a steppe infested by demons, pass over the Khuber River (of the Underworld), go down a staircase, and be admitted through the Seven Gates. Then they could reside in the Great City of the Dead. During the Ne-izi-gar, They journeyed back the same way.

 

Note 4. The gidim (or etemmu (Akkadian)) is associated with the corpse. After death, the gidim still retained hunger and thirst.

 

Ronald Hutton (1953-, U.K.) in his essay, “Framework for the Study of European Magic,” observed that the materials from Mesopotamia showed “no sign that human beings were believed to be capable of coercing deities… without divine help.” He continues that the peoples of Mesopotamia “made a practice of timing important actions in harmony with heavenly bodies.” Moreover, they had an acute fear of witchcraft (i.e. “magic employed secretly and maliciously by other human beings.”) A few years later, writing in “The Witch” in 2017, Hutton noted that magic was a part of official religion in Mesopotamia. Since the peoples of that region made no distinction between religion and magic, both were a part of their daily lives.

 

Hutton’s later perception agrees with the various experts of Mesopotamia – Thorkild Jacobsen (1904-1993, Demark), Jeremy Black (1951-2004, U.K.) and Anthony Green (1956-2012, U.K.). Knowledgeable about the cultures of this region, these three Assyriologists stated that the various cultures believed that the world to be numinous and immanent for the Spirits were indwelling. For example, a Babylonian would have regarded the Burning Bush differently from Moses. They would have recognized as Moses did that the God, who was separate from the Bush. However, they would also have worshipped the Bush as a place where the God resided at one time. For a Babylonian, a God could reside in an object without their power diminishing elsewhere. In the mind of a Babylonian, a statue (or bush) could be a repository of the God but not be the God. Therefore, in Mesopotamia, the capture of the statue of a city’s God would be a calamity.

 

Within the cultures of Mesopotamia, magic consisted of asking for intercession with the Gods (and other Beings). Rituals could involve redirecting a potentially bad event or bringing comfort and healing. Before doing any ritual, divination was used for learning what the person was dealing with. (Divination was also considered to be magic.)

 

If the signs from the divination were ominous, the ritual of Namburbu (“the undoing of potential evil”) was conducted. In this ritual, people would apologize to the various Gods (known and unknown). Since people could disrupt the order of the universe accidentally, the Surpu (“burning”) would be conducted. This ritual was for the “undoing of unknown ‘sins.’” (Note 1.) During this ritual, a person would peel and onion while reciting their actions, and then feed the fire with the peelings. Once the onion was burnt, the person became “right with the universe.” In the case of illness, a medical magician (Asipu) would divine the problem and address the demons of the illness in the name of the Gods.

 

My definition of magic is that it how a person participates in the Cosmos with the Holy Powers. For me, magic and religion are the same, since they both entail participation in the ecology of the Cosmos. Therefore, I feel aligned with the Mesopotamian sense of magic. As they did, I believe that we all live under the same universal laws (Gods, Humans, spirits). Sometimes we inadvertently disrupt the order and things happen. One way of setting things right is through offerings and prayers.

 

For example, when I sustained my brain injury, I did make offerings for healing. Since the injury was a random event, I could have, earlier, disrupted the ecology of the Cosmos, quite by accident. My usual practice is to do divination before deciding what action to take. By conducting rituals and prayers, I have recovered from the trauma of what happened to me. I still have the injury but I now feel “right with the Universe.” Thus, my sense of magic fits well into the cultures of Mesopotamia.

 

Notes:

Note 1. In Mesopotamian cultures, a “sin” is an “act or omission of offending the Gods and disturbing the world order.” Prayer can undo “sin.”

 

Works Used:

Bairgent, Michael, “Astrology in Ancient Mesopotamia.” Bear and Co.: Rochester (VT). 1994.

 

Black, Jeremy and Anthony Green, “Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia.” University of Texas: Austin. 1992.

 

Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Ebeling, J., Flückiger-Hawker, E., Robson, E., Taylor, J., and Zólyomi, G., “The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature,” Oxford University. 2006. http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/,

 

Davis, Owen, ed. “The Oxford Illustrated History of Witchcraft & Magic.” Oxford University Press: Oxford. 2017.

 

Hutton, Ronald, “The Witch.” Yale University Press: New Haven. 2017.

—, “A Framework for the Study of European Magic.” Grey School of Wizardry Class Materials. Dell.Urgano, Ombra, “The Development of European Magic.”

 

Jacobsen, Thorkild, “The Treasures of Darkness.” Yale University Press: New Haven. 1976.

 

Koutrafouri, Vasiliki G. and Jeff Sanders, eds. “Ritual Failure: Archaelogical Perspectives.” Sidestone Press: Leiden. 2013.

 

Moro, Pamela, “Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Magic.” International Library of Anthropology. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/9781118924396.wbiea1915, .

 

Van Buylaere, Greta, Daniel Schwemer, et. al. “Sources of Evil: Studies in Mesopotamian Exorcistic Lore.” Koninklijke Brill NV: Leiden. 2018.