Historical Dictionary of Mesopotamia

MAGIC

MAGIC: translation

Religion and magic cannot be distinguished as separate concerns in the context of Mesopotamian attitudes to the “supernatural.” The great gods were all invoked to combat destructive and malevolent forces by lending efficacy to spells and apotropaic rituals. Eaand Marduk, for instance, were seen as “master magicians” whose divine powers were harnessed for combat against evil. Human beings were under constant threat of falling victim to harmful influences; any accident, misfortune, illness, or death could be interpreted as a demonic attack, witchcraft, or even the “anger” of one’s personal god. Magic protection, in the form of amulets, unguents, or special invocations (prayers) acted as a prophylactic. Once the harm was done, however, and sickness and ill luck would not go away, the afflicted person would seek professional help from a magician-healer.The kingand the elites could afford to avail themselves of the services of experienced specialists (asipu) who had spent many years of apprenticeship and training, while the less wealthy had to be content with “unlicensed” amateurs. Before any treatment could begin, the cause of the affliction had to be determined. This was a lengthy process that involved divination to aid diagnosis—to identify which evil spirit or demon was to blame. Then followed an exorcism to expel the offending agent and thereby rid the patient of his torments. Since sinfulness and ritual pollution could also attract demonic attacks or cause divine anger, purification rituals could be added for good measure.
Kings were especially in grave danger from evil influences. They had to undergo time-consuming and uncomfortable ritual treatment to ward off danger or reverse an ill-fated course of events. The correspondence between some Assyrian kings (e.g., Esarhaddon) and their diviners and magician-priests show that there were rivalries between different royal advisers and often a lack of unanimity. There is a great amount of cuneiform literature on the subject, including incantations and spells, as well as instructions for the accompanying ritual actions and which materials and substances had to be used, how, and at what stage of the proceedings. These are difficult to understand since they were written for persons with insider knowledge and must have relied on oral commentaries. The earliest magic spells date from the Akkadian period and concern love magic. ASumerian incantation series that was also translated into Akkadian (uttukki lemnuti) tried to address all evil spirits and find the right formula to banish them. The most famous Babylonian magic series are Maqlu and Shurpu (both mean “Burning”), which concern witchcraft. The texts refer to a seven-day ritual combat and cosmic trial of the “witch” in the widest sense, by a divine assembly. It involved the burning of specially prepared effigies.

  1. magic—magic translationRoman noun strong secret powerADJECTIVE black white ritual folk powerful ancient VERB MAGIC cast do perform practisepractice He earns extr...Collocations dictionary
  2. magic—Magic translation The Jews seem early to have consulted the teraphim q.v. for oracular answers Judg. Zech. . There is a remarkable illustration of this divining by tera...Easton's Bible Dictionary
  3. magic—Magic translation The Renaissance was the golden age of belief in magic defined as an organized science focused on the understanding and practical application of observed...Historical Dictionary of Renaissance
  4. magic—magic translationSynonyms and related wordsProspero abracadabra airiness alchemy allure allurement appearance augury aura bewitchery bewitching bewitchment black art blac...Moby Thesaurus
  5. magic—magic translationThe philosophical questions posed by the practice of magic and witchcraft in many cultures concern the nature of rationality and the nature of interpreta...Philosophy dictionary
  6. magic—[mk]волшебство магияочарование...Англо-русский большой универсальный переводческий словарь
  7. magic—магия волшебство очарование волшебный магический...Англо-русский дополнительный словарь
  8. magic—Магический...Англо-русский морской словарь
  9. magic—магический additionmultiplication magic square магический квадрат сложения и умножения diabolic magic square совершенный магический квадрат generalized magic square об...Англо-русский научно-технический словарь
  10. magic—волшебный...Англо-русский онлайн словарь
  11. magic—волшебный...Англо-русский онлайн словарь
  12. magic—волшебный...Англо-русский политехнический словарь
  13. magic—transcription транскрипция [ mdk ] carpet n. ковер самолет....Англо-русский сленговый словарь
  14. magic—n магия...Англо-русский словарь Лингвистика-98
  15. magic—a волшебный...Англо-русский словарь Лингвистика-98
  16. magic—magic [mdk] . nu магия волшебство очарование . au волшебный магический...Англо-русский словарь Мюллера
  17. magic—. noun волшебство . adj превосходный...Англо-русский словарь непристойных выражений
  18. magic—. сущ. волшебство магия to perform magic показывать фокусы black magic черная магия by magic по волшебству the medicine worked as if by magic лекарство оказало волше...Англо-русский словарь общей лексики
  19. magic—n .strong магия волшебство колдовство вера в возможность влияния на сверхъестественные силы .strong работа фокусника .strong очарование. strong магия волшебство колдовс...Англо-русский словарь по социологии
  20. magic—adj. волшебный магический феерический...Англо-русский словарь редакция bed
  21. magic—n. магия волшебство очарование...Англо-русский словарь редакция bed
  22. magic—. machine for automatic graphics interface to computer устройство автоматической графической связи с ЭВМ. manipulator and gantry intelligent control интеллектуальное уп...Англо-русский словарь технических аббревиатур
  23. magic—магический magic square magic squares...Англо-русский технический словарь
  24. magic—u Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp.см. mortgage insurance....Англо-русский экономический словарь
  25. magic—.strong nмагя чари чарування чаклунство.strong adjмагчний чарвний чародйнийmagic lantern чарвний лхтар...Англо-украинский словарь
  26. magic—чарвницький чарвливий зачарування магчний...Англо-український словник
  27. magic—. n магя чари чарування чаклунство чарвнсть . adj магчний чарвний чародйний lantern чарвний лхтар eye рад. ндикатор настроювання....Англо-український словник Балла М.І.
  28. magic—.strong [mdk] n. магия волшебство колдовствоblack magic чрная магия чернокнижиеwhite magic белая магияas if by magic словно как по волшебству. работа фокусника иллюзио...Новый большой англо-русский словарь
  29. magic—magic . [mdk] ni . магия волшебство колдовство black чрная магия чернокнижие white белая магия as if by словно как по волшебству . работа фокусника иллюзиониста ори...Новый большой англо-русский словарь II
  30. magic—.strong mdk n . магия волшебство колдовство black чрная магия чернокнижие white белая магия as if by словно как по волшебству . работа фокусника иллюзиониста ор...Новый большой англо-русский словарь под общим руководством акад. Ю.Д. Апресяна
  31. magic—c ci ce adj. магический волшебный cuvinte magice магические слова baghet magic волшебная палочкаlantern magic волшебный фонарьochi magic магический глаз....Румынско-русский словарь