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Zisurrû
Zisurrû, meaning “ magic circle drawn with flour,” and inscribed ZÌ-SUR-RA''-a'', was an ancient Mesopotamian means of delineating, purifying and protecting from evil by enclosing a ritual space in a circle of flour. It involved ritual drawings with a variety of powdered cereals to counter different threats and is accompanied by the gloss: SAG.BA SAG.BA, Akkadian: ''māmīt māmīt'', the curse from a broken oath, in '' The Exorcists Manual'', where it refers to a specific ritual on two tablets the first of which is extant. The ritual The ''zisurrû'', a word ultimately derived from Sumerian, was used as a defensive measure and drawn on the ground around prophylactic figurines as part of a Babylonian ritual to thwart evil spirits, around a patient's bed to protect against ghosts or demons in much the same manner in which bowls thwart demons and curses, or as a component of another elaborate ritual. It was a component in the ''Ritual and Incantation-Prayer against Ghost-Ind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akkadian Literature
Akkadian literature is the ancient literature written in the East Semitic languages, East Semitic Akkadian language (Assyrian people, Assyrian and Babylonian language, Babylonian dialects) in Mesopotamia (Akkadian Empire, Akkadian, Assyria and Babylonia) during the period spanning the Middle Bronze Age to the Iron Age (roughly the 25th to 4th centuries BC). Drawing on the traditions of Sumerian literature, the Akkadians, Assyrians and Babylonians compiled a substantial textual tradition of mythological narrative, legal texts, scientific works, letters and other literary forms. Conversely, Akkadian also influenced Sumerian literature. Literature in Akkadian society Most of what we have from the Assyrians and Babylonians was inscribed in cuneiform (script), cuneiform with a metal stylus on tablets of clay, called ''laterculae coctiles'' by Pliny the Elder; papyrus seems to have also been utilised, but not been preserved. There were libraries in most towns and temples in Sumer, Akk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Namburbi
The NAM-BÚR-BI are Spell (paranormal), magical texts which take the form of incantations (Akkadian language, Akkadian: ''namburbȗ''). They were named for a series of prophylactic Babylonian and Assyrian rituals to avert Wikt:inauspicious, inauspicious portents before they took on tangible form. At the core of these rituals was an appeal by the subject of the sinister omen to the divine judicial court to obtain a change to his impending fate. From the corpus of Babylonian-Assyrian religious texts that has survived, there are approximately one hundred and forty text corpus, texts, many preserved in several copies, to which this label may be applied. The apotropaic ritual The Sumerian rubric, NAM-BÚR-BI, which devolved from the broader class of counter-rituals, literally means “(ritual for) undoing of it (i.e of the portended evil)” or “apotropaeon," where the Sumerian language, Sumerian possessive suffix BI was originally a reference to a preceding omen Conditional sentence, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet
Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, 1st Baronet, KLS (5 April 1810 – 5 March 1895) was a British East India Company army officer, politician, and Orientalist, sometimes described as the Father of Assyriology. His son, also Henry, was to become a senior commander in the British Army during the First World War. Early life and army service Rawlinson was born on 5 April 1810 at the place now known as Chadlington, Oxfordshire, England. He was the second son of Abram Tyack Rawlinson and elder brother of the historian George Rawlinson. In 1827, having become proficient in the Farsi, he was sent to Persia in company with other British officers to drill and reorganize the Shah's troops. Disagreements between the Persian court and the British government, also involving Russia, ended in the departure of the British officers. Rawlinson began to study Persian inscriptions, more particularly those in the cuneiform character, which had been only partially deciphered by Grotefend and S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nu (cuneiform)
Cuneiform sign nu is a common use syllabic, or alphabetic (for ''n'' or ''u''). It is restricted to "nu", but in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', or elsewhere has a Sumerogram (capital letter, majuscule) use NU, and probably mostly for a component in personal names (PN), god's names, or specialized names for specific items that use Sumerograms. It is also a common use syllabic/alphabetic sign in the mid 14th-century BC Amarna letters. Since the letters often discuss 'present conditions' in regions, or in cities of the vassal Canaanite region, a segue adverb meaning ''"now"'', or ''now, at this time...,'' Akkadian language "enūma" is often used, and almost exclusively using ''nu''. The usage numbers for ''nu'' in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' are as follows: ''nu''-(317), ''NU''-(2). Two styles of "nu" sign Since the ''nu'' cuneiform sign is in a small category of "2-stroke" signs, it is interesting that there exist two simple varieties of the sign. After the first horizontal stroke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assur
Aššur (; AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; ''Āšūr''; ''Aθur'', ''Āšūr''; ', ), also known as Ashur and Qal'at Sherqat, was the capital of the Old Assyrian city-state (2025–1364 BC), the Middle Assyrian Empire (1363–912 BC), and for a time, of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–609 BC). The remains of the city lie on the western bank of the Tigris River, north of the confluence with its tributary, the Little Zab, in what is now Iraq, more precisely in the al-Shirqat District of the Saladin Governorate. Occupation of the city itself continued for approximately 3,000 years, from the Early Dynastic Period to the mid-3rd century AD, when the city was sacked by the Sasanian Empire. The site is a World Heritage Site and was added to that organisation's list of sites in danger in 2003 as a result of a proposed dam, which would flood some of the site. It has been further threatened by the conflict that erupted following the US-led ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kettledrum Rituals
Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. Thus timpani are an example of kettledrums, also known as vessel drums and semispherical drums, whose body is similar to a section of a sphere whose cut conforms the head. Most modern timpani are ''pedal timpani'' and can be tuned quickly and accurately to specific pitches by skilled players through the use of a movable foot-pedal. They are played by striking the head with a specialized beater called a ''timpani stick'' or ''timpani mallet''. Timpani evolved from military drums to become a staple of the classical orchestra by the last third of the 18th century. Today, they are used in many types of ensembles, including concert bands, marching bands, orchestras, and even in some rock bands. ''Timpani'' is an Italian plura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Šumma ālu
Šumma ālu ina mēlê šakin is the title for a series of a collected number of cuneiform texts of ancient Mesopotamia amounting to one hundred and twenty clay tablets. The title translates as ''If a City is Situated on a Height'', and it lists over ten thousand omens. Many of the omens listed in this group begin with the words "Šumma ina āli ma'du (kind of people)," as in, "if there are too many kinds of people," and the omens in this group then proceed with a description of misfortune or negative occurrence. Similarities are recognised within the nature of the series and in other types of works that are concerned with hemerology and menology A menologium (, pl. menologia), also known by other names, is any collection of information arranged according to the days of a month, usually a set of such collections for all the months of the year. In particular, it is used for ancient Roman .... Homosexuality omens The text contains some omens related to homosexuality. Out of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magic Circle
A magic circle is a circle of space marked out by practitioners of some branches of ritual magic, which they generally believe will contain energy and form a sacred space, or will provide them a form of magical protection, or both. It may be marked physically, drawn in a material like salt, flour, or chalk, or merely visualised. Techniques Traditionally, circles are believed by ritual magicians to form a protective barrier between themselves and what they summon. One text known as the Heptameron says of the circle, 'But because the greatest power is attributed to the circles; (for they are certain fortresses to defend the operators safe from the evil spirits); in the first place we will treat concerning the composition of a circle.' Moreover, as magician and historian Jake Stratton-Kent writes, 'In short a circle is not an obsolete symbol of a superstitious fear of spirits, but an intentionally created ritual space for various purposes. It is not always required for all kinds o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flour
Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures. Maize flour, Corn flour has been important in Mesoamerican cuisine since ancient times and remains a staple in the Americas. Rye flour is a constituent of bread in both Central Europe and Northern Europe. Cereal flour consists either of the endosperm, cereal germ, germ, and bran together (whole-grain flour) or of the endosperm alone (refined flour). ''Meal'' is either differentiable from flour as having slightly coarser particle size (degree of comminution) or is synonymous with flour; the word is used both ways. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC has cautioned not to eat raw flour doughs or batters. Raw flour can contain harmful bacteria such as ''E. coli'' and needs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mîs-pî
Mîs-pî, inscribed KA-LUḪ.Ù.DA and meaning “washing of the mouth,” is an ancient Mesopotamian ritual and incantation series for the cultic induction or vivification of a newly manufactured divine idol. It involved around eleven stages: in the city, countryside and temple, the workshop, a procession to the river, then beside the river bank, a procession to the orchard, in reed huts and tents in the circle of the orchard, to the gate of the temple, the niche of the sanctuary and finally, at the quay of the ''Apsû'', accompanied by invocations to the nine great gods, the nine patron gods of craftsmen, and assorted astrological bodies. The ritual The extant corpus of tablets comprising ''mîs-pî'' consist of two ritual accounts, one late Babylonian and one earlier Assyrian, together with several Sumerian incantations to be recited at the various stages of the ritual, recovered from a wide distribution of find spots. These date from the eighth to the fifth centuries BC and ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sumerian Language
Sumerian ) was the language of ancient Sumer. It is one of the List of languages by first written account, oldest attested languages, dating back to at least 2900 BC. It is a local language isolate that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, in the area that is modern-day Iraq, Iraq. Akkadian language, Akkadian, a Semitic languages, Semitic language, gradually replaced Sumerian as the primary spoken language in the area (the exact date is debated), but Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary, and scientific language in Akkadian-speaking Mesopotamian states, such as Assyria and Babylonia, until the 1st century AD. Thereafter, it seems to have fallen into obscurity until the 19th century, when Assyriologists began Decipherment, deciphering the cuneiform inscriptions and excavated tablets that had been left by its speakers. In spite of its extinction, Sumerian exerted a significant influence on the languages of the area. The Cuneiform, cuneiform script, original ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
