Editing Magic (supernatural) (section)

===Mesopotamia===
{{See also|Mesopotamian divination|Enmerkar and En-suhgir-ana|Maqlû|Zisurrû}}
[[File:Lamashtu plaque 9167.jpg|thumb|Bronze protection plaque from the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian era]] showing the demon [[Lamashtu]]]]
Magic was invoked in many kinds of rituals and medical formulae, and to counteract evil omens. Defensive or legitimate magic in [[Mesopotamia]] (''asiputu'' or ''masmassutu'' in the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] language) were incantations and ritual practices intended to alter specific realities. The ancient [[Mesopotamia]]ns believed that magic was the only viable defense against [[demon]]s, [[Ghosts in Mesopotamian religions|ghosts]], and evil sorcerers.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|pp=1896–1898}} To defend themselves against the spirits of those they had wronged, they would leave offerings known as ''kispu'' in the person's tomb in hope of appeasing them.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|p=1897}} If that failed, they also sometimes took a figurine of the deceased and buried it in the ground, demanding for the gods to eradicate the spirit, or force it to leave the person alone.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|pp=1898–1898}}

The ancient Mesopotamians also used magic intending to protect themselves from evil sorcerers who might place curses on them.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|p=1898}} Black magic as a category did not exist in ancient Mesopotamia, and a person legitimately using magic to defend themselves against illegitimate magic would use exactly the same techniques.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|p=1898}} The only major difference was that curses were enacted in secret;{{sfn|Sasson|1995|p=1898}} whereas a defense against sorcery was conducted in the open, in front of an audience if possible.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|p=1898}} One ritual to punish a sorcerer was known as [[Maqlû]], or "The Burning".{{sfn|Sasson|1995|p=1898}} The person viewed as being afflicted by witchcraft would create an effigy of the sorcerer and put it on trial at night.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|p=1898}} Then, once the nature of the sorcerer's crimes had been determined, the person would burn the effigy and thereby break the sorcerer's power over them.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|p=1898}}

The ancient Mesopotamians also performed magical rituals to purify themselves of sins committed unknowingly.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|p=1898}} One such ritual was known as the [[Šurpu]], or "Burning",{{sfn|Sasson|1995|p=1899}} in which the caster of the spell would transfer the guilt for all their misdeeds onto various objects such as a strip of dates, an onion, and a tuft of wool.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|p=1899}} The person would then burn the objects and thereby purify themself of all sins that they might have unknowingly committed.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|p=1899}} A whole genre of [[Love magic|love spells]] existed.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|pp=1900–1901}} Such spells were believed to cause a person to fall in love with another person, restore love which had faded, or cause a male sexual partner to be able to sustain an erection when he had previously been unable.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|pp=1900–1901}} Other spells were used to reconcile a man with his patron deity or to reconcile a wife with a husband who had been neglecting her.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|p=1901}}

The ancient Mesopotamians made no distinction between rational science and magic.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|p=1895}}{{sfn|Abusch|2002|p=56}}{{sfn|Brown|1995|p=42}} When a person became ill, doctors would prescribe both magical formulas to be recited as well as medicinal treatments.{{sfn|Abusch|2002|p=56}}{{sfn|Brown|1995|p=42}}{{sfn|Sasson|1995|pp=1901–1902}} Most magical rituals were intended to be performed by an ''[[Asipu|āšipu]]'', an expert in the magical arts.{{sfn|Abusch|2002|p=56}}{{sfn|Brown|1995|p=42}}{{sfn|Sasson|1995|pp=1901–1902}}{{sfn|Kuiper|2010|p=178}} The profession was generally passed down from generation to generation{{sfn|Sasson|1995|pp=1901–1902}} and was held in extremely high regard and often served as advisors to kings and great leaders.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|pp=1901–1904}} An āšipu probably served not only as a magician, but also as a physician, a priest, a scribe, and a scholar.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|pp=1901–1904}}

The Sumerian god [[Enki]], who was later syncretized with the [[East Semitic]] god Ea, was closely associated with magic and incantations;{{sfn|Sasson|1995|p=1843}} he was the patron god of the ''bārȗ'' and the ''ašipū'' and was widely regarded as the ultimate source of all arcane knowledge.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|p=1866}}{{sfn|Delaporte|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=LQtUAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA152 152]}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Abusch |first1=I. Tzvi |last2=Toorn |first2=Karel Van Der |title=Mesopotamian Magic: Textual, Historical, and Interpretative Perspectives |date=1999 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-5693-033-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z7qmCUkx60sC&pg=PA24 |access-date=15 May 2020 |language=en}}</ref> The ancient Mesopotamians also believed in [[omen]]s, which could come when solicited or unsolicited.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|pp=1899–1900}} Regardless of how they came, omens were always taken with the utmost seriousness.{{sfn|Sasson|1995|pp=1899–1900}}

====Incantation bowls====
{{Main|Incantation bowl}}
{{See also|Jewish magical papyri}}
[[Image:Bowl with incantation for Buktuya and household, Mandean in Mandaic language and script, Southern Mesopotamia, c. 200-600 AD - Royal Ontario Museum - DSC09714.JPG|right|thumb|[[Mandaic language|Mandaic-language]] [[incantation bowl]]]]
A common set of shared assumptions about the causes of evil and how to avert it are found in a form of early protective magic called incantation bowl or magic bowls. The bowls were produced in the Middle East, particularly in [[Upper Mesopotamia]] and [[Syria (region)|Syria]], what is now [[Iraq]] and [[Iran]], and fairly popular during the sixth to eighth centuries.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Noegel |first1=Scott |last2=Walker |first2=Joel Walker |title=Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World |date=2010 |publisher=Penn State Press |isbn=978-0-271-04600-6 |page=83 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gb-jl0nef-4C&pg=PA83 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery |url=http://www.bmagic.org.uk/objects/1961A316 |title=Incantation bowls |website=Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery |access-date=2013-09-06}}</ref> The [[bowl]]s were buried face down and were meant to capture [[demon]]s. They were commonly placed under the threshold, courtyards, in the corner of the homes of the recently deceased and in [[cemetery|cemeteries]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/108169/def2.html|title=Babylonian Demon Bowls|website=Michigan Library|publisher=Lib.umich.edu|access-date=2013-09-06}}</ref> A subcategory of incantation bowls are those used in Jewish magical practice. [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] incantation bowls are an important source of knowledge about Jewish magical practices.<ref>{{cite journal |first=C. H. |last=Gordon |title=Aramaic Incantation Bowls |journal=Orientalia |place=Rome |year=1941 |volume=X |pages=120ff (Text 3)}}</ref><ref>''Orientalia'' 65 3-4 Pontificio Istituto biblico, Pontificio Istituto biblico. Facoltà di studi dell'antico oriente - 1996 "may have been Jewish, but Aramaic incantation bowls also commonly circulated in pagan communities". ... Lilith was, of course, the frequent subject of concern in incantation bowls and amulets, since her presence was ."</ref><ref>J. A. Montgomery, "A Syriac Incantation Bowl with Christian Formula," AJSLL 34</ref><ref>''The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia'' p. 217 Geoffrey W. Bromiley 1986 2007 "D. Aramaic Incantation Bowls. One important source of knowledge about Jewish magical practices is the nearly eighty extant incantation bowls made by Jews in Babylonia during the Sassanian period (ad 226–636). ... Though the exact use of the bowls is disputed, their function is clearly [[Apotropaic magic|apotrapaic]] in that they are meant to ward off the evil effects of several malevolent supernatural beings and influences, e.g., the evil eye, Lilith, and Bagdana."</ref><ref>''A Dictionary of biblical tradition in English literature'' p. 454, David L. Jeffrey. 1992 "Aramaic incantation bowls of the 6th cent, show her with disheveled hair and tell how"</ref>