Semitic magic, its origins and development / by R. Campbell Thompson.

  • Reginald Campbell Thompson
Date:
1908
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Semitic magic, its origins and development / by R. Campbell Thompson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    The Children of the Deep, seven are they, They purify the water, cleanse it, make it limpid, Before your father Ea, Before your mother Damkina, May it be pure, be bright, be clean ; That the Evil Tongue may stand aside. Prayer : Repeat the incantation three times before the bowl of water. “ Incantation : — The River God, brightly shining, Before whom (is) the Ban, whose attack like a demon Bindeth all lands as the twilight doth the heights above, v v May Samas, when he riseth, remove the darkness thereof, that it may not be held back in the house, That the Ban may go forth to the desert, a clean place. 0 Ban, by heaven be thou exorcised, by earth be thou exorcised 1 Prayer for removing the Ban : fumigate him on the bank of a river. “ Incantation :— Fire-god, chief, high upon earth, Hero, son of the Deep, high upon earth, 0 Fire-god, by thy pure fire, Thou bringest light into the house of darkness, Thou settest a destiny to all things named, It is thou that meltest copper and lead, It is thou that purgeth silver and gold, It is thou that art the comrade of Ninkasi, It is thou that repelleth the evil that cometh by night. May the members of the man, son of his god, be cleansed, May he be bright as the heaven, May he shine like the earth, May he be resplendent as the midst of heaven ! May the evil tongue (?) [stand] aside ! Prayer for removing the Ban . . .”1 1 W.A.I, iv, 14, 2.