The work ''šēp lemutti ina bīt amēli parāsu'' (inscribed GÌR ḪUL''-tim'' AŠ É LÚ TAR''-si''), “to block the entry of the enemy (‘foot of evil’) into someone’s house,” also referred to as ''ana nasāḫ šēp lemutti'', "to expel the 'foot of evil'," is a first millennium BC

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

n ritual text

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a Literal and figurative language, figurative or non-literal meaning (linguistic), meaning, rather than making any literal sense. Categorized as formulaic speech, formulaic ...

well attested in the apodoses of divinations which provides the procedures to protect a house with magical defenses from demonic attack. Sickness, death, misfortune, and ominous occurrences in the house, were perceived to be the result of actions of the hordes of demons from the netherworld. These involve the use of apotropaic figurines, whose god,

apkallu Apkallu or and Abgal (; Akkadian and Sumerian, respectively) are terms found in cuneiform inscriptions that in general mean either "wise" or "sage". In several contexts the ''Apkallu'' are seven demigods, sometimes described as part man an ...

, and monster alter-egos, are invoked by an incantation, and their interment in various parts of a private house. Archaeological excavation has uncovered many instances of small figurines buried in boxes in the foundations of structures such as palaces and domestic houses of the Neo-

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

n and Neo-

Babylonia Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...

n periods.

The text

The purpose of the ritual is defined at the beginning as to evert evil from a house. It then prescribes the fashioning of the various wooden models of the seven ''apkallus'', from seven Babylonian cities, with the faces and wings of birds, or their cloaks from the skin of a fish, their conjuration and distribution in five groups of seven around the building: at the head of the bed, the foundations of the house, the threshold of the chapel, the front of the door, behind the chair or throne, and the middle of the house in front of the chair or throne. Their arrival at the first of the locations is addressed with an invocation followed by ''šiptu attunu ṣalmānu apkallu maṣṣari'', “incantation: you are the statues of the apkallus, the watchers,” which was to recur at each of the subsequent locations. Other figurines were fashioned from clay: Those of the

Sebitti The Sebitti or Sebittu are a group of seven minor war gods in Neo-Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian and especially Assyrian tradition. They also appear in sources from Emar. Multiple different interpretations of the term occur in Mesopotamian l ...

were formed with a ''qulmû'', an ax, in their right hand and a dagger in their left. Other models that were fashioned included dogs, ugallus, various gods (e.g. Meslamtae’a) and monsters, all invoked with the purpose to further the cause that "the evil one and the enemy will be put to flight." The text is known from four copies and also from excerpts included in other ritual texts, such as that known as KAR 298, a derivative work of a similar purpose.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shep lemutti Akkadian literature