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Chapter 1 - The Ancient Near East

from Part I - Antiquity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2015

By
Daniel Schwemer
Edited by
David J. Collins, S. J.
David J. Collins, S. J.
Affiliation:
Georgetown University, Washington DC
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Summary

Purity is the state of undisturbed, flawless perfection that is characteristic of the divine sphere but achieved by humans only temporarily and not without effort. The transition from impurity to purity is one of the basic goals and regular elements of magic rituals in all ancient Near Eastern cultures. Ancient Near Eastern magic as a whole can be subdivided into four categories: liminal magic, defensive magic, aggressive magic, and witchcraft, an illegal and aggressive form of magic. A Babylonian purification ritual for the king, the recitation of numerous Akkadian and Sumerian incantations and prayers, the ceremonial washing of the king in seven huts erected outside the city, and the performance of rituals against evil signs and divine anger. The art of the Mesopotamian exorcist was not restricted to dispelling an evil that had be fallen or threatened to be fall the patient.
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Chapter
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The Cambridge History of Magic and Witchcraft in the West
From Antiquity to the Present
 , pp. 17 - 51
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2015

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