Medical Care, From Sex Through Birth

Author: * Apiladey ApilSin - 0 Posts on this thread out of 2,666 Posts sitewide.
Date: Oct 2, 2003 - 03:07

The asu apparently didn't treat patients prior to conception. A prescription is mentioned to make the birth easier for the woman, but the ingredients weren't mentioned. There is another prescription mentioned for aborting fetuses. It is to be mixed in wine and drunk on an empty stomach but, again, the ingredients weren't mentioned. There are a number of texts mentioned (but not described) showing that the asu treated women who've had complications after delivery. During the birth, however, the mothers always relied on a midwife (sabsutu), with the help of a female relative of the patient. The asipu (magical physician) had numerous pre-conception duties. Their prescription for helping a barren woman conceive involves her wearing a ‘necklace' of 21 stones strung on a linen thread. The following quote is from Civilizations of the Ancient Near East (Jack M. Sasson, Ed.), the chapter on medicine having been written by Robert D. Biggs, "Besides dealing with illness of various sources discussed above, the asipu was a sort of sex thereapist. There was a special collection of texts known by its Sumerian name, SA.ZI.GA (translated into Akkadian as nis libbi, literally, "lifting of the heart," where "heart" seems to be a euphemism for penis). Some of the incantations, often of an erotic nature, are ostensibly recited by women. When any cause is given for a man's loss of potency, it is usually attributed to sorcery. Some of the usual herbal remedies are prescribed, which differ in no significant way from standard therapeutic prescriptions, but specific to this group of texts are items taken from sexually excited or copulating animals or birds. An example is the following passage from a Middle Babylonian text: "If a man loses his potency, you dry and crush a male bat (?) that is ready to mate, you put it into water which has sat out on the roof, you give it to him to drink; that man will then recover potency." A quite different approach is involved when the man's and the woman's sexual organs are to be rubbed with specially prepared oils, sometimes mixed with magnetic iron ore." Some of you may remember an earlier post in which I mentioned the wearing of amulets to protect the wearer from certain demons. Well, there was one particular demon which enjoyed picking on pregnant women and newborn children (as well as drinking the blood of men and eating their flesh).

This fierce, lion-headed demon was Lamashtu (Akkadian) or Dimme (Sumerian), the daughter of Anu (Akk) or An (Sum.). She was a major demon-goddess of forgetfulness who was also called "she who erases". During the time when the Hebrew/Semitic values became popular in the Near East Lamashtu was merged with Lilitu (Akk.) Or Lil (Sum.), a goddess of destructive winds, to produce the Hebrew demon Lilith. There are several amulets which show a patient lying on a bed with her arms raised. There is an asipu at each end of the bed trying to drive Lamashtu away. The caption under the picture of the Lamashtu amulet reads "Amulet depicting the ‘other way' of treating disease: two sorcerers disguised as fish try to induce Lamashtu (the lion-headed goddess) to retreat from the patient, cross the Bitter River, and go back to the world below". Alternatively, several amulets have been found depicting the demon, Pazuzu (see lower image),

who stands two-legged like a man but has a scorpion's body. He also has a lion's face on both front and back of his head and the talons of a bird, as well as feathered wings and legs. He is the king of the evil wind demons. Though he normally isn't friendly to mankind, he is more of an enemy to Lamashtu. For this reason, his image on an amulet was also popular for driving away Lamashtu. The following are incantations used in childbirth by asipus. They were kindly provided for me by Ishtarlight from "From Distant Days" by Benjamin R. Foster (Yale University), CDL Press, 1995: "For Use Against Lamashtu" Anu begot her, Ea reared her Elil doomed her a dog's face She is tiny of hands She is long of finger, longer still of nail, Her forearms are... She came right in the front door, Slithering over the doorpost casing! She slithered over the doorpost casing She has caught sight of the baby! Seven seizures has she done him in his belly Pluck out your nails! Let loose your arms! Before he gets to you, Ea, the warrior, as sage for the task, The doorpost casing is big enough for you, the doors are open, Come then, be gone through the doorpost casing! They fill your mouth with dust, your face with sand With fine-ground mustard seeds they will fill your eyes! I exorcise you by Ea's curse: You must be gone! "Be Still AS Swamp Water" Dweller in darkness, who had not seen the sunrise You've come out, you've seen the sunlight, Be still as swamp water Sleep like a baby gazelle Like a boundary stone protected by the gods, May there be no one to disturb you! I don't think any greeting card company could write a more beautiful wish for general well-being. The next one is to release a child, stuck in the womb, to the waiting midwife. Asalluhi is the god of magic. "The Child's Arms Are Bound" In the waters of intercourse Bone was formed In the flesh of sinews Baby was formed In the ocean waters, fearsome, raging In the waters of the far-off sea, There is the little one, his arms are bound! There within, where the sun's eye cannot bring brightness Asalluhi, Enki's son, saw him. He loosed his tight-tied bonds, He set him on the way, He opened him the path. "The path is opened to you, "The way is made straight for you "The physician is waiting for you "She is maker of blood(?) "She is maker of us all. She has spoken to the doorbolt, it is released. "The lock is freed "The doors thrown wide "Let him strike [ ] "Bring yourself out, there's a dear!" Since Babylonians believed most birth-complications to be caused by a demon, the following incantation is general enough to work against all of them, Lamashtu or otherwise. "I Have Seized Him" The magician has caught a firm hold on the oppressor I have seized him - like waer I have blocked him off, like a watercourse - Like a dog by his neck Like a whelp by his scruff, I have seized him! Countless citizens over thousands of years relied (if not on these) on many incantations just like these. Since healthy babies were just as important to them as they are to us, respect these incantations. Even if you don't believe in them, feel the hope that the millions of people who chanted them felt. Use this feeling as you go back and reread them.