Fumigation and Ointments against Diseases and Demons: An Edition of the Late Babylonian Tablet BM.43975+

Abstract

This paper presents the edition of a still unedited medical-magical tablet kept in the British Museum. The tablet, BM.43975+ belongs to the group of Neo-, or Late Babylonian medical compendium tablets and contains healing procedures (ointments and fumigations) for treating various diseases (such as ‘gnawing fire’, muscle or joint diseases ( sagallu and maškadu ) and demonic attacks (like Lamaštu and evil Alû). In several prescriptions, a healing procedure is accompanied by incantations. Among parallels, a further unpublished Neo-Babylonian fragment BM.48809+ is also presented in the Appendix.