The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia

Abstract

THE present volume is the first of two which Mr. Thompson intends to devote to a study of the evil spirits and devils of Babylonia, and it will, we believe, be welcomed by readers of many classes. We have been long familiar with the generalisations which writers are fond of making upon this fascinating subject, but so far as we know, no one has before attempted to give a systematic account of Chaldean demonology, and to add at the same time the reasons for the faith which is in him. Those who are interested in cuneiform decipherment will remember that some few years ago the Trustees of the British Museum began to publish a series of classified Assyrian and Babylonian texts, which they issued in parts, each containing 50 plates of text. The earliest parts contained all the material for the syllabary and grammar, then followed lists of words, and afterwards Mr. L. W. King's edition of the Creation tablets. In the present year were published the sixteenth and seventeenth parts of the series, which supplied copies of all the tablets relating to “evil spirits,” “fever-sickness,” and “headache,” carefully made by Mr. R. C. Thompson, and these are the sources of the materials which liave been translated in the present volume.

The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia.

Vol. i. By R. C. Thompson. Pp. lxv + 212; with 2 plates. (London: Luzac and Co.)