OBVERSE.
(PLATE XXXI.)
Incantation:–
The evil Spirit hath laid in wait in the desert unto the
shade of man [hath drawn night],
The evil Genius for ever is rampant
And none can [resist him],
The evil Ghost goeth furtively in the desert and
[Causeth] slaughter [among men].
The evil Devil prowelth in the city,
[It hath no rest?] from slaughtering men.
They smite the hero,
The law low the maiden,
The little ones like a leek that tear in pieces,
They tear out the heart. . .
Like a demon they envelope. . . .
They draw near. . . .
[Where?] he sitteth they turn him back like a shut gate(?)
Unto his house they drive him . . .
. . . is estranged (?), he falleth in the marsh.
He cannot lift [his limbs], nor turn his side.
He hath no desire to eat food,
Nor drink water,
His members are dissolved, and his body is filled with pain.
Marduk hath seen him (etc.),
What I (etc.),
Go, my son (Marduk),
Fill a pot with water and
Binu the maštakal-plant, suhuššu, a stalk of šalalu,
cypress,
And white cedar put therein and
Perform the Incantation of Eridu and
Make perfect the water of the Incantation and
Make perfect thy pure exorcism,
Sprinkle the man with water and
Set li’l-food at his head and
Make the ‘atonement’ for the wanderer, the son of his god and
REVERSE
(Plate XXXII.)
Fashion a figure of him in dough,
Put water upon the man and
Pour fourth the water of the Incantation;
Bring forth a censer (and) a torch,
As the water trickleth away from his body
So may the pestilence in his body trickle away.
Return these waters into a cup and
Pour them forth in the broad places,
That the evil influence which hath brought low (his) strength)
May be carried away into the broad places,
That the spittle which hath been spat
May be poured forth like the water,
That the magic which mingleth with the spat-forth spittle
May be turned back,
But the magic of the Word of Ea,
The Chanting lips which have uttered the ban,--
May their bond be loosened!
That this man may be pure, be clean!
into the kindly hands of his god may he be commended. (The Penguin Book of
Exorcisms, ed. Joseph P. Laycock [Penguin Books, 2020], 4-6)
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