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CHAPTER 3 Magical Solutions to Deadly Problems The Origin and Roles of the Goes Martha's knees gave under her. Shesank down. . . .She looked up and saw the wizard standing before her, a book in one hand and a silver wand in the other. The upper part of his face was hidden, but she saw his pale lips move and presently he spoke, in a deep husky tone that vibrated solemnly in the dim room: "d) TTeuov, ei p,ev yap, TroXeuov irepi rovSe ; and forthcoming (including discussion of similar practices in a variety of cultures). On the Greek meals, see pp. 60-61 above and Johnston 1991. 8. To my knowledge there is no work that focuses primarily on this topic and collects all the evidencein one place. It is mentioned in passing in many of the works cited in n. 6, however. For specific examples, see Scurlock 1988, 103-12.; 19953, 1889; 1995!), 106; and forthcoming, 10 (in which the etymology of etemmu is discussed). It is mentioned in passing in Bottero, 2,83. Although Mesopotamian necromancy per se is not the focus of Brian Schmidt 1994 and 1995, he discusses it often in the context of tracing the development of Israelite beliefs in necromancy. 9. Brian Schmidt 1994, esp. 121-43 and summary, 241-45; 1995, esp. 115-20 (115-16, and works cited in notes, specifically on the lack of Egyptian necromancy before the middle of the millennium).In the Egyptian Book of the Dead, spells 148 and 190, spirits describe the nature of existence in the Underworld, but this can scarcely be taken as evidence for anything approaching widespread consultation of the dead. 10. Most recently, West 1997, 46-51, and Burkert 1992, 46-53, both of whom cite earlier works on the topic. Magical Solutions to Deadly Problems 89 Mesopotamian magicians also used the dead offensively in a variety of ways.11 For example, we hear of ghosts being told by magicians to "seize" victims, which reminds us of the Greek inscriptions from Selinus and Gyrene discussed in chapter z, in which ways of warding off attacking ghosts are described. We also hear about Mesopotamian practitioners "marrying" victims to ghosts; we do not know exactly what this was supposed to do, but it certainly does not sound good. Practitioners might also place a figurine of a victim in a newly dug grave—even in the lap of a corpse. The ghost of the corpse was expected to carry the victim off to the Underworld, which surely would have had deleterious effects. Some portion of the victim—fingernail, hair, even semen—might supplement or replace the figurine.12 This rite has analogies in the Greek use of figurines to curse enemies and may have been borrowed by the Greeks from the Mesopotamians (although the Egyptians had a similar practice as well, suggesting another possible point of adoption); the Greeks, too, often added some physical remnant of the intended victim to the doll.13 There were many rituals designed to "cure" those who suffered from these ghostly attacks, as well as many amulets and ointments against them (some for the body and some to be smeared on strategic places such as the door of the house). Often, a figurine made of clay or wax was used to represent the ghost. It might be treated well: be offered food and drink and literally "sent down the river" with traveling provisions or be buried if it represented the ghost of an unburied person. Or the figurine might be treated badly: be burned or melted.14 This Mesopotamian idea that a ghost might be controlled through the manipulation of a statue is similar to the Greek practice of binding or exiling statues that represent 11. As in the case of Mesopotamian necromancy, I am not aware of any work devoted exclusively to this topic, although many scholars mention it in passing. For example, see Bottero 283-85; Scurlock 1988, 54; 112,; 1991, 140-42,; 1995!), 105-6. An important discussion within the broader context of Mesopotamian magic is offered by Abusch 1989, who shows that eventually the practitioner who sent the ghost against someone else and the ghost itself were combined into a single, demonic figure. For specific discussion of the practitioner using the dead, seeAbusch 1989, 31, 36-37,45. Graf 1997^ 172-73,seems too skeptical to me. 12. The information I offer here was kindly provided to me by JoAnn Scurlock and Richard Beal of the...

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