What was it? The name says almost everything: in Sumerian, NAM.BURIBI means "undo it," that is, to nullify the evil that an omen has announced. The corpus namburbù included more than 100 individual rituals, critically studied by Stefan Maul in his monumental work Zukunftsbewältigung (1994). Each ritual responded to a specific type of unfavorable omen: lunar eclipses, the appearance of certain animals in the house, weather phenomena, ghost cries, or a dog peed on someone.

How did it work? Namburbù was a legal and religious act. The patient did not passively accept the divine decree: he appealed it. He stood before the divine court —with Šamaš as supreme judge— and argued that the punishment announced was disproportionate or deserved mercy. The canonical sequence had six steps: preparation of sacred water (mê ellūti) with precious stones, metals and purifying plants; purification of space by sweep and sprinkler; installation of a table of offerings with bread, meat, dates, incense, water and beer; recitation of prayers to the divine court; transfer of evil to an object or animal that would "carry it"; and definitive elimination of that carrier, usually throwing it into the river to be "dragged into the apsù" (primordial sweet waters under the earth).

Who took part? The āšipu led the process. The patient was actively involved: he recited formulas before Šamaš and executed the prescribed gestures. The complexity of the ritual varied according to the economic and social status of the client.

Space and time: The canonical stage was the bank of a river. It could also be done on the roof (ūru) or in open field. The ritual space was defined with a circle of flour (zisurrù). The ideal moment was a "propitious day" (ūmu magru), preferably immediately after observing the omen, because the effectiveness of the ritual depended on intervening before the evil took tangible form.

Plants and aromas: The censary with juniper (burāšu) was practically inseparable from this ritual: its resinous smoke "reached the gods" and purified space. Lebanese cedar branches (erīnu) were also involved in the sacred water, Tamarisco (bīnu) for rods and ritual figurines, and the purifying plant maštakal. Beer and bread offerings could add fermented and roasted notes to the ceremony environment.

What was it? Maqlû means "burning" in acadio. The ritual was the most extensive of all the anti-mesopotamic witchcraft corpus: about a hundred incantations distributed on nine cuneiform tablets. Its canonical composition dates from the second late millennium in Babylon. More than 100 tablets and fragments have been found in the royal libraries of Nineveh, in the library of the exorcist Kišir-Aššur (Assur), and in Iqīšâ (Uruk). The final critical edition is that of Tzvi Abusch (The Magic Ceremony Maqlû, Brill, 2016).

How did it work? The Maqlù conceptualized sorcery as a perverted legal process: the witch had unjustly "slandered" the patient before the gods, causing his illness. The ritual reversed that verdict: the patient was acquitted; the witch received the fate she had set for her victim.

The ceremony was divided into three major sequences. The first, during the night: the exorcist drew a magical circle of flour around a ritual crucible and burned in it figurines of the sorcerer and the witch made of clay, sebo, wax, asphalt, tamarisk or cedar. The clay was broken, the fat melted into contact with fire, symbolically enunciating the destruction of the enemy. The second, in the morning: the destructive rites gave way to the purifiers. The exorcist smoked the house and massaged the patient with oils. The third, at dawn: the ritual culminated with the patient contemplating his own reflection in a pot of pure water under the first light of the sun —rebirth symbol.

Who took part? The āšipu was the main operator. The patient was involved with specific gestures: hand washing, recitation of formulas. The incantations of the Maqlû include different "voices": the patient speaks in the first person against the witch, the exorcist acts as an intermediary, and the gods are summoned as judges.

Space and time It developed mainly on the outside or in the courtyard of the patient's house, under the starry night sky —Celestial visibility was essential because the first incantations invoked the "gods of the night" (the stars). It began after sunset and extended for approximately twelve hours, until dawn. The new moon was the preferred astral moment.

Plants and aromas The smell was a fundamental sensory axis in the Maqlù. Rhinestone (burāšu) and cedar (erīnu), burning sulphur —of acre odour, associated with purification—, burning myrtus (asu, Myrtus communis) of balsamic aroma, and kukru —an aromatic identification plant still under discussion, possibly Inula helenium or Acorus calamus— with his spicy and resinous note. The oil applied in the night massage added perfumed vegetable fragrances.

What was it? Šurpu also means "burning" in acadium, but its object was not an external enemy but the patient's own transgressions. With more than a thousand lines on nine tablets, it is the longest mesopotamic composition dedicated to appeasing divine anger. Probably in the Middle Babylonian period (ca. 1350-1050 BC) from much older incantations, texts are preserved in virtually all the great literary sites of Mesopotamia: Nineveh, Assur, Babylon, Kish, Nippur, Sultanze, Sippar, Ur and Uruk.

How did it work? The Šurpu was based on a premise: every disease or misfortune was the result of a real or accidental transgression that had offended the gods. The patient was under a māmītu —a curse by broken oath or taboo violation— Even though I didn't know exactly what I had done. The list of possible transgressions was extensive and detailed: adultery, theft, perjury, arrogance towards the gods, contact with cursed people, transgression of food taboos, insolence with parents. The aim of reciting them all was to identify the cause before the gods, even if the patient did not remember it.

The central act was analog magic: the patient peeled a garlic, bowed a branch of dates, untied a stick of cane, unleashed a knot of flax or red wool, and threw every object into the fire. With each action, the exorcist recited: "As this onion is peeled, let my evil be peeled today; let the fuego--God, the burner, consume it today." The guilt was transferred to the objects and burned with them.

Who took part? The āšipu led and recited the incantations. The patient performed the physical acts of burning, peeling and throwing objects, and recited the formulas of absolution. The ritual is, of all the corpus, the most directly "moral": it links disease with ethical responsibility and recovery with the recognition of that responsibility.

Space and time Šurpu could be performed inside the patient's home or in a purified outer space. Unlike the Maqlù, it did not require an exclusively night stage. It was executed when the āšipu diagnosed the presence of māmītu, choosing good days from the liturgical calendar.

Plants and aromas The aromatic profile of the Šurpù was the most domestic of the corpus: burnt garlic and onion (sulfurated notes, acres, spicy), roasted cane (dry vegetable aroma), juniper smoke (resinous, fresh), and rough note of flax and burning wool. A mixture that would be strange today, but that for its participants was the smell of sin that was gone.

What was it? The term Sumerian uš.bur.ru.da can be translated as "dissolving witchcraft." The Ušburruda was an anti-witchcraft ritual in which the sorcerers were "handed over" to the underworld, entrusted to the barber of the dead "umuğ -tabal" ("Take him fast!") so that he would have them there forever. The Corpus de Rituals Anti- sorceria de Mesopotamia (CMawR) classifies these texts as "Group 7." His most important testimonies are the Oracc paleobabilonic tablet and the late BM 47806 + tablet, edited by Schwemer in Iraq 72 (2010).

How did it work? The ritual combined burning and burial of sorcerer figurines. The exorcist made figurines representing the sorcerer and the witch in clay on both sides of the river, sebo, wax, tamarisk or cedar. He cursed them by invoking the solar god Šamaš, and requested that, on his night trip to the underworld, he give these figures —and the beings they represented— the guardian of the world of the dead. The burned figurines ascended to heaven as smoke (celestial destruction); the buried ones descended to the underworld (eternal prison).

The logic was strong: the underworld (erħetu) was a prison without return. What was sent there could never come back to do harm.

Who took part? The āšipu as the main performer; the patient as a beneficiary who could recite some formulas. Šamaš acted as a divine intermediary who carried the sentence to the underworld during his night journey.

Space and time The burial of the figurines was carried out in open field (Đēru) or in the steppe outside the limits of the settlement, in a place that symbolized the border between the world of the living and the rule of the dead. The burning could be done in the courtyard of the house or in the open air. The time was night, synchronized with the journey of Šamaš to the underworld —some texts specify "when Šamaš is deep," that is, midnight or the hours before dawn.

Plants and aromas The predominant smell was the juniper smoke on the incensary, combined with the excavated ground smell of the ritual hole and the resinous aromas of the cedar and the burning tamarisk.

What was it? The name Sumerian zi.ku ¥.ru.da means "throat cut." The Zikurudù designated one of the most feared forms of mesopotamic witchcraft —an aggressive magic directly intended to cause the patient's death—, and the anti-Zikurudù ritual was the canonical response. The corresponding texts are classified in the "Group 10" of the CMawR and appear along with other types of serious witchcraft such as Kadabbedù and zīru.

How did it work? The exorcist swept the ground, sprayed pure water and erected a shack of rods (bītu ša qanê) before the constellation of Ursa Major, the Big Bear —a focal point of astral power in the mesopotamic sky. In front of this cabin was a standard decorated with red wool and blue wool, and a portable altar (paššūru) on which dates and fine flour were spread. The incantation was recited three times, calling on the astral deities to annul the witchcraft. The astral orientation was decisive: constellations served as a channel of communication with the forces that could reverse the most lethal magic.

Who took part? The āšipu as the main operator. The patient as a recipient of the release. The astral deities —in particular the stars of Ursa Major— were the divine witnesses and executors of the verdict.

Space and time Outdoor, under the night sky, with direct visibility of the constellation of Ursa Major. The ritual corresponds to the periods of maximum visibility of this constellation on the mesopotamic horizon.

Plants and aromas The offerings on the altar included dates and flour: their sweet and roasted aromas were floating in the open night. In the parallel rituals of the CMawR the juniper appears as standard incense. Given the night and exterior character of the ceremony, the olfactory environment was essentially that of the mesopotamic night: wet earth, fresh cane, and the breeze of the river.

What was it? Ka.dab.bé.da in Sumerian: "holding of the mouth." Kadabbedù was a form of witchcraft that left the patient unable to defend himself before judges and superiors. —and that in its most severe forms it was manifested as real disorders of speech and thought. In Mesopotamia, the ability to speak and appear before judges was the basis for a person's social and legal existence. To lose that capacity was to be "tied" or "gagged" in the cosmic-social order. The rituals against Kadabbedû are part of the CMawR Group 10.

How did it work? The operating principle was the reversion: "The witchcraft of mouth-holding that you have practiced against me... I practice against you." The ritual included the burning of figurines, recitation of specific incantations that "open the mouth" of the patient, and the application of medicinal-magical ointment to the oral and pharyngeal region. In some cases the doctor (asù) worked with the exorcist by providing herbal preparations for physical speech disorders. The adversary's figurine was made with his right hand covering his own mouth and the left covering the anus, sealed with šubù stone and lapislazuli, and buried or crushed with the heel.

Who took part? The āšipu as a specialist; the doctor (asù) in cases with specific physical symptoms. The patient performed some ritual gestures.

Space and time In the patient's home space or in the house yard. The diagnosis was established by observing that the patient had difficulty speaking, expressing or defending himself in legal processes.

Plants and aromas Cypress oil (šamnu ša šurmēni) —resinous, fresh, balsamic aroma— used in ointment to restore power and facundia. Kukru smoke on carbon (spicy, resinous). Tamarisco (bīnu) in complementary formulations. The combination resulted in an aromatic profile dominated by fresh resins and dry spices.

What was it? Zīru means "hate" in acadio. This form of witchcraft transformed the patient into an object of hostility.

and widespread social isolation: the sorcerer sought to be detested, rejected and removed from the victim by all those around the victim. It was the direct investment of rāmu (love, magic of attraction). In the mesopotamic cosmovence, the network of social relations —family, community, employers, personal gods— It was the fundamental sustenance of existence. The zīru broke that network leaving the individual unprotected. The anti-zīru rituals are frequently listed with other forms of witchcraft in the great incantations of the Maqlù.

How did it work? The anti-zīru rituals followed the general anti-witchcraft pattern: retaliatory invocation, burning of the sorcerer figurines, purification of the patient with water and fumigations, and application of aromatic oils to restore the social charism and favor of the gods. The central formula after anointing with oils was recited three times by the patient: "I am favored, I am favored!." Then the appeal to the deities: "I am favored before Utu, I am favored before Anu... that the God may unbind my heart!"

Who took part? The āšipu; in complementary treatments also the doctor when the symptoms had associated physical manifestations.

Space and time Purified home or outside space. The texts mention preference for new moon nights.

Plants and aromas Aromatic oils with "attraction" properties —the opposite of the zīru—, juniper (burāšu) in purifying fumigation, and kukru with atāňišu on coal: their ashes were poured seven times in water, which was then sprayed throughout the house. The aromatic profile was that of the general anti-sorcery corpus: resinous notes of juniper, dried spices of kukru, and vegetable oils with sweet and balsamic aromas.

What was it? É.gal.ku ¥.ra in Sumerian: "enter the palace." It was a category of rituals designed to help an individual win legal cases, succeed before the authorities and be well received by the king or the nobles. Unlike other rituals of the corpus, the Egal-kura had a strong component of what we would today call behavioral psychology: its object was not a demon or a sorcerer, but the self-fear and hostility of the social environment.

How did it work? The logic of the ritual rested on magic by analogy and in language games. The most documented procedure prescribed rubbing animal uteros (rēmu) on the patient's face: in acadio, rēmu means both "uterus" and "mercy." The act symbolized attracting the leniency of the authorities to the individual. The magnetite (šadânu Śābitu), with its physical property of attraction, was used to "attract" the favor of gods and powerful. Collars with seven specific stones were made —carnelian, silver, gold— intended to serve as "divine intercessors" in the face of the stress of facing a superior.

Who took part? The āšipu and the patient, who was to carry out the acts of anointing and recitation. The ritual led the patient to "become brave and strong" in situations of high anxiety as a legal process.

Space and time In the patient's home space, before an appearance before the king, a court, or a senior official.

Plants and aromas The sources document composite oils that included cypress, cedar, myrrh and sweet cane. Wheat and barley flour spread in protective circles. The result was a rich aromatic profile: wood, eastern resins and warm myrrh notes, all oriented —at least in ritual intent— that the patient's body emanated a favourable fragrance, attractive to the divine and human powers.

What were they? Bīt mēseri means "House of Confinement" or "House of Enclose" in acadio. It was a ritual preserved on four cuneiform tablets intended to protect a house against the attack of demons when one of its inhabitants had been ill. The oldest specimens are neo-Assyrian, from the Assurbanipal library, but there is also a late-Babylonian recension (IV-III BC centuries) copied in Uruk. The text is listed in the Exorcist Manual as part of the compulsory curriculum of the āšipu.

Šēp lemutti (literally: "blocking the foot of evil in a man's house") was the preventive complementary text: the Bīt mēseri was executed when the disease had already broken out; the Šēp lemutti established the barriers before that happened. Together they constituted the complete system of domestic security in the mesopotamic conception of the world.

How did they work? The ritual was extended for five days, according to the analysis of F.A.M. Wiggermann in his work Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts (1992). The first two days the exorcist went to the forest to prepare cornwood for the first group of statues, returned to the city and carved a set of seven apkallu figures —the half-life former sages, guardians of the cosmic order. On the third day, the exorcist visited the clay well, bought ritual clay and made 17 groups of additional figurines. On the night of the third day, the statues were taken to the bank of the river and purified. On the fourth day, they moved to the threatened house, offered to deity groups at night. On the fifth day, at dawn, the house was swept away, the waste thrown into the river was recited the incantation "Go out, evil!" and the statues were buried in their canonical positions: at the head of the bed, at the foundations, at the threshold of the domestic chapel, at the door and at the center of the main room.

The statues transformed the physical structure of the house into a space protected by permanent supernatural guardians. The Aššur version added a rite with Pazuzu —the devil-king of the south-west wind, adversary of the demonic Lamastu—as well as application of ointment and burning of multiple incense.

Who took part? The āšipu as technical director of the entire process. He could have assistants for the size and manufacture of the statues. The head of the family (bēl bīti) was the beneficiary and participated in the night offerings.

Space and time The ritual began in the forest, continued in the clay well and on the river bank, and was completed inside the threatened house. According to the Neo-Assyrian text, it was carried out regularly in the months of Tašrītu (septibre- October) and Arağ samna (octubre- November). It was also called as a matter of urgency when someone in the house fell ill with symptoms of demonic origin.

Plants and aromas The rite of Aššur explicitly documents multiple incense burning —including the juniper— along with aromatic ointment. The fresh wood of tamarisk and newly carved cornejo in the forest added vegetable notes in the first days. The censary with juniper accompanied the offerings to Šamaš. The tamarisk (bīnu) performed a purifying function in both statues and in sacred water; the cornejo (eħlu) was the defensive wood par excellence, associated with the apotropaic warrior force.

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