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Some idea of the antiquity of demonology and
magical practices might be gathered from notices in the Bible or
in classic literature, to say nothing of the argument that might
be drawn from the universality of these beliefs and practices.
But still more striking evidence has been brought to light by the
decipherment of the cuneiform hieroglyphics which has opened a
way to the study of the rich literature of Babylon and Assyria.
In consequence of their bearing on the problems of Biblical
history, attention has been attracted to the evidence of the
monuments in regard to such matters as the cosmology, the
tradition of the Deluge, or the relations of Assyria and Babylon
with the people of Israel. And possibly less interest has been
taken in the religious beliefs and practices of the Assyrians
themselves. In this question of demonology, however, some of the
Assyrian monuments may be said to have a special importance.
From certain cuneiform texts which are more especially described
as "religious", it appears that besides the public and
official cult of the "twelve great gods" and their
subordinate divinities, the Assyrians had a more sacred and
secret religion, a religion of mystery and magic and sorcery.
These "religious" texts, moreover, together with a mass
of talismanic inscriptions on cylinders and amulets, prove the
presence of an exceedingly rich demonology. Below the greater and
lesser gods there was a vast host of spirits, some of them good
and beneficent and some of them evil and hurtful. And these
spirits were described and classified with an exactness which
leads some to liken the arrangement to that of the choirs and
orders of our own angelic hierarchy.
The antiquity and importance of this secret religion, with its
magic and incantations of the good spirits or evil demons, may be
gathered from the fact that by order of King Assurbanipal his
scribes made several copies of a great magical work according to
an exemplar which had been preserved from a remote antiquity in
the priestly school of Erech in Chaldea. This work consisted of
three books, the first of which is entirely consecrated to
incantations, conjurations, and imprecations against the evil
spirits. These cuneiform books, it must be remembered, are really
written on clay tablets. And each of the tablets of these first
books which has come down to us ends with the title, "Tablet
No. - of the Evil Spirits". The ideogram which is here
rendered as kullulu—"accursed" or
"evil" - might also be read as
limuttu—"baneful". Besides being known by the
generic name of udukku—"spirit" - a demon is
called more distinctly ecimmu, or maskimmu.
One special class of these spirits was the sedu, or divine bull,
which is represented in the well-known figure of a man-headed
bull so common on the Assyrian monuments. This name, it may be
remarked, is probably the source of the Hebrew word for demon.
The Assyrian sedu, it is true, was more commonly a beneficent or
tutelary spirit. But this is hardly an obstacle to the
derivation, for the good spirits of one nation were often
regarded as evil by men of rival races.
Assyrian and Akkadian Demonology