II. The second class of PjJMO (mazziqin) are half

supernatural and half human. Of these note two separate kinds :
(1) The $?$ (cf. hf> "night") Lilin, begotten of
Adam on the one side, and Lilith and other female^ spirits on the other. Lilith reigns over these as queen.
(2) The- DHttf (Tltf "to be violent n) Shedim, the
offspring of Eve and male spirits. Their king is Asmedai ! (=Asmpdeus), who,however, resembles the merry if also mischief-making hobgoblins of fairy tales,1 more than he does the Persian Asmai or the Apocryphal Asmodeus (though these last two are not quite identical)
In the time of Solomon all these demons existed and practised their arts. He, however, so long as he kept the commandments of God, had absolute control over
1 Cf. the German Zwerge. 'See Grimm's u Teutonic Mythology/' 1409 and i8£i. .
ii2 mag;c, divination, and demonology
them, their leaders as well. But as soon as he fell into sin, the demons were his master and not he theirs*
These demons, as the corresponding beings among Arabs (Jinns) and Assyrians, carried on their work in the night. The moment the cock crew their work was gone (Weber 255). Has the incident about Peter's denying Christ before the cock crowing any reminiscence of this ? (cf. Matt. xxvi. 75)
COUNTERCHARMS.
Among the Jews the methods of self-protection against demon agency were similar to those in vogue among other nations, Arabs, etc. These consisted 'Of amulets, incantations and physical agents.
Phylacteries (]^9n), mezuzas (J"tfft?D), and tsitsith (/TIPS) were at the first charms against demons, though Weber (p. 27 f.) denies this, maintaining with most modern Jews that their purpose was at the first to remind those who wore tefillin and tsitsith, and those who passed through the doors, of their duty to love and serve Jehovah. *
But according to Menakhot,- 33b and Berishit Rabba, ch. 35, the mezuza served to protect the house against injury. R. Elieser b. Jacob, in Menakhot, 33b, says, 14 Whoever has the tefillin on his head, the mezuza on his door, and the tsitsith on his mantle, may feel sure that he cannot sin, for it is said, Qohel. iv. 12, * a threefold cord is not easily broken/ " Weber explains the impossi- bility of sinning on religious grounds— the power of the tefillin etc., to keep the commands of Jehovah in
1 See Kohut, p. 81 f., and Griinbaum, Z.D.M.G., xxxi. p. 3Q
DHMONOLOGV II3
remembrance. But the quotation shows that it is a magical binding that is meant.1
Weber gives quotations from Jewish writings (Talmud, etc.) to show that the religious explanation was the true one. But all that he succeeds in showing is that there were in early times, Jewish scholars who endeavoured to explain these charms in a rational way, and this either for the sake of vindicating Judaism from the calumniations of Christians, or in order to supply a rational basis for these primitive superstitions, which are to be found in our own time among the Jews of all countries. Modern Jews will often wear tifillin and • tsitsith as they go about, believing them to prevent accidents, sickness and death. In December, 1887, I travelled from Alexandria to Jaffa in a steamer in company with a Jew who wore his tifillin the whole journey. But while we reached Palestine in safety, the tifillin did not keep off from either him or me the demon [of sea-sickness.
Other safeguards were the pronunciation of the Aaronic blessing,2 of the uShema4 "3 and its accompanying prayers, and of passages of Scripture which had power under special circumstances. Thus, if the traveller recited Zech. iii. 2,4 he could keep away the angel of death. If Psalm xci. was said before the sleeper closed his eyes, he would be sure to awake safely in the morning.' Upon waking, he was not to rub his eyes until he had , washed them, lest the JHV? D2 (demon of sickness) should .blind him.
1 See Targum on Cant. viii. 3. W. Robertson Smith (Journ. Phil., xiii. 286) says, " the phylacteries are survivals of old superstition." • Num. vi. 24 — 26. 3 Deut. vi. 4 — 9.
% "Jehovah said unto Satan, 'Jehovah rebuke thee/ " etc.
H4 .MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DBMONOLOGY
Fumigation was another device employed (cf. Tobit vi. 1 6, viii. 3). Perhaps the smoke of the fish's liver in Tobit was believed by its offensiveness to drive away the demon, just as the sweet-smelling odour1 served to attract Jehovah.
Demons were supposed to feed on certain particles at night. It was therefore dangerous to drink water in the night lest Shabriri (HH3tt>), the demon of blindness, should smite the drinker.2 The latter might, however, cause the demon to gradually decay by lopping off the syllables of his name one by one and pronouncing the continually shortening name. Thus Shabriri, briri, riri, ri. Directly the drinker said ri the demon died. This answers to what is now called sympathetic magic.
Sources of Jewish Magic and Demonology.
Two main views have been held as to the principal quarter from which Judaism was influenced in its magical and demonological beliefs.
On the one hand, Persia with its Zoroastrianism is claimed as the chief factor. On the other, Babylon and contiguous Aramaic countries are pointed to as that.
The first view is defended with considerable learning and with great vehemence by two Jewish Rabbis, Kohut and Schorr.
The second and more recent view is advocated by Lenormant,3 and by Dr. Gaster,4 the last making Gnosticism the immediate and Babylonianism the ultimate factor.
1 nTP3 m» Lev. i. 9, and often. 2 Abodah Zarah, 12b.
* "Chaldean Magic." A Asiatic Journal r, Jan., 1S96.
DEMONOLOGY 1 1 5
Schorr's first volume appeared before Kohut's, and he probably suggested to the latter some points, and perhaps the drift of his argument. But his second Heft came out in 1872 ; i.e. six years after Kohut's book was published. Schorr's special aim was to show that the Talmud is of little worth, as it owes nearly all it contains to other religions and especially to Parseeism. In his second wd/k he charges Kohut with gross inaccuracies, alleging that he did not understand the Talmud. He is profoundly surprised that the German Oriental Society (D.M.G.) should have issued with its imprimatur so unscientific a production. Prior to this, however, Kohut had in th,e Nachtrag of his work1 made an attack upon Schorr.
There are in Kohut's work many blunders which ordinary care could have prevented. Thus at p. 33 he translates ID as a proper name, and has therefore to insert
>Gott to make a subject for the following verb.
Mar is not a Jewish doctor as Kohut assumes, but simply a name of God — " The Lord stretched forth His hand."
For his acquaintance with Zoroastrianism the author is indebted, as he acknowledges, to the writings of Sprenger and Windischmann, which he constantly cites.
He thinks he has proved his thesis when he has shown that there are resemblances between post-exilic Judaism and Parseeism. This is therefore the task he sets himsejf to accomplish, and in this he succeeds, as it was easy to succeed. But Kohut shows no knowledge of the Baby- lonian religion, from which Parseeism borrowed its most essential doctrines, and to which scholars are more and
1 p. 96, ff.
Il6 MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEMOXOLOGY
more disposed to trace the magic and demonology of later Judaism.
Kohut says, that although Jews were transplanted to Mesopotamia and Babylon, many of them crossed over to Persia. According to Esther iii. 8, Jews dwelt in all the provinces of Persia. Josephus1 says the Jews were carried by Nebuchadnezzar to Media and to Persia : further on2 in the same work he says, many of the Jewish exiles had passed from Assyria to Persia.*
Granting all this, it is nevertheless true that the majority of Jews remained in Mesopotamia* and Babylon, and it is much more likely that they were influenced by the religions of these countries.
Kchut cannot resist the temptation to quote Isa. xlv. 7* as showing Persian influence. But fire or light was worshipped among the Accadians long before we read ,of it among the Persians. From the Accadians it passed to the Babylonians, who took over5 not onlyttie country, but the Cuneiform mode qf\ writing and much of the religion. From the Babylonians it was received hy the Zoroastrians.. ■
Lenormant* and Tallqvist^ show the importance of the £re-god (cf. the Agni of the Vedas). Dr. Friederich Jeremias says that Gibil, the Babylonian fire-god, was undoubtedly the most powerful deity invoked by the exorcist.7
So likewise dualism was rife among the Accadians and Babylonians as well as among the Persians, though they
1 Antiqq. ix. 15. s xi. 52. 3 Kohut, p: 4 f.
4 " I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil.". fc " Chald. Magic," p. 184 f. « "Assyr. Besdbu," p. 23.
? De la Saussaye, i. p. 214, ,
DEMONOLOGY II 7
had" hot reached the two unities which tRe Parsees had worked to, Ahuramazda and Agromainyus. Lenormant l holds, however, that the Babylonians had a clear concep- tion of the divine unity, notwithstanding their apparent Pantheism and Polytheism.
It is important to note that for seven or eight hundred years after the Exile, the Jews shew scant traces of the alleged Parsee influence. The doctrine of Satan in Job, Zech. etc., of the good and bad angels of Ezek. ix. 2—4, of the archangels Gabriel and Michael— these might iust as well have come by way of Babylon.
Kohut2 tries to show that Gabriel is the counterpart of the Zoroastrian Qraosho. But Lenormant 3 points out that Qraosho js taken from the Accadian Silikmulukhi. It is possible, in general, when Kohut finds in Parseeism parallels to Old Testament angelology or demonology, to find such parallels in the Babylonian and often in the Accadian religion.
Kohut thinks the principle of arranging angels in orders, arch^gels (Michael and Gabriel) and angels, is a sign of contact with Persia. But Lenormant4 says that among the spirits believed in by the Accadians there were such hierarchical ranks.
It is in the period subsequent to the second century of our era that Judaism shows the most remarkable development in regard to angelology, demonology and magic. It is not therefore so much a question as to what people influenced the Jews during the Exile, but rather who influenced them most during the Talmudic period* The Amoraim had schools in Palestine (Tiberias, Sepphoris, Caesarea and Lydda) and in Babylon
1 " Chaldl Magic." p. 112. 3 p. 28.
8 « Chald. Magic," p. 195J *Jb., p. 24 f.
1 1 8 MAGIC, DIVINATION,. AND DgMONOLOGY
(Neharda, Sura, Pumpaditha, Mahusa and Neresh) ; but those of Babylon were the largest, drew the best teapherst and they lasted the longest.
Anz.1 has shown that the Babylonian religion continued to flourish until the s.econd century of our era at least ; and traces of Gnosticism can be found in the very first centuries, if not, indeed, in the time before our era set in. When the ancient religion of Babylon ceased to exist as an institution, ifs .dogmas did not cease to be known or even believed ; nor did they cease to be operative upon the forces of heathenism, Judaism and Christianity, with which they came in contact;
In Zoroastrianism, which it always modified in the Jewish schools of the country, and in the Talmud which preserves their teaching, we haye the continued life of the old religion of the Accadians.^
It may be said that Zoroastrianism was'the immediate factor that operated upon Babylonian Judaism ; but even this is not to be conceded, for there were in Babylonia at this time Gnostic sects which inherited and handed on, much of the old national religion;
It is being more and more acknowledged that Judaism owed much, if not most, of its magic to Gnostic influence. (See Gaster, p. 152 f.) It is only now getting to be seen how deep and widespread was the power wielded by Ophites, Mandaeans and other Gnostic sects/
The mystic magic of the Qabbalah is certaiiiLy due to this influence.
Prof. Kessler2 and Ans — the latter with much learning — show that Gnosticism, heathen, Jewish and Christian,
1 "Zur Frage" etc., p. 60 f.
3 Encyc. Brit. " Mandaeans !> : llev/og — Plitt " Mandaev" ; cf. also his " Ueber Gnosis und AUbabylonische Religion" in Transaction* Berlin Oriental Congress, 18S2.
"DEMONOLOGY 11 9
has its foots in the ancient religion of Babylon. The Mandaeans exist at. the present time,' and have been visited in recent "years by the late Dr. Petermann and by Prof. Dr. A. Socin...
Gunkel says,1 " The more Babylonianism becomes known to* us, the clearer does it get that it operated- powerfully in very late post-Christian times. Babylonian elements are' to be traced among Hellenistic Greeks, Gnosticism and, later, Manichaeism as well as Madaism,^ have preserved in^ them -considerable/ elements of Babylonian tradition."
The late Principal Tullock2 defends the old view that .Gnosticism was indebted principally to the theology of Alexandria (Philoh), and especially to Parseeism.
The discovery and interpretation of Cuneiform monuments'; and careful, study ofv Eastern religions, is proving that it has been' the habit to over-estimate the influence of Parseeism in shaping Judaism, and to under- estimate that of Babylon.
It would be wrong, however, to" deny that Persian religioji did have some formative power upon both i Babylonianism and upon Judaism.
Joel differs from his* brother Rabbi in that he attaches more weight to the Babylonian than to the Persian influence.8
PEMONOLOGY AMONG THE ARABS AND MOSLEMS.
Freytag 4 and Wellhausen 5 are our principal authori- ties^ on this subject. If ane \p his " Thousand and one
r1 " Schorfung und Chaos," p. 294'. 2 Encyc. Brit. " Gnosticism. " W Professor Cheyne's " Jewish Religious Life after the Exile" has
come into my hands as I am correcting the final proofs. I am glad to
see that he attaches greater importance to Babylonian than to Persian
influence. (See p. 25 ff.)
' * " Einleitung," p. 164 ff. J " Reste," p. 148 ff.
1 20 MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEMONOtOGY
Nights "l and in his "Modern Egyptians," has a long and valuable note on "Jinns." This Hughes has epito- mized and somewhat adapted in his dictionary under M Genii." Goldziher i gives some valuable notes on the subject.
The Jinns of the Arabs are not to be considered as demons sui generis, as seems to be implied by many writers. This has been rightly emphasized by W. R. Smith.3
Yet the name is peculiar to the Arabs, for the derivation from the classical Genii, or the identifying of the roots, has been rejected by all modern Arabicists. In the first edition of his " Reste " Wellhausen contended that Jinn was a loan-word ; Noldeke 4 showed, on the contrary, that it is a genuine Arabic word, and in the new edition of his acknowledges Noldeke's correction to be just, and he accordingly adopts it. Its strict meaning is u covering," 11 hiding ' ' it being the noun of action of the verb jy*. Then from its abstract meaning it acquires the concrete meaning of those who hide themselves, or who dwell in secret places. ^^H is also a term used for the Jinns.
($W the participle of the same verb is another designa- tion of the Jinns. But Arabian writers are not consistent in their use of this word, as sometimes it stands for Iblis, the father and ruler of the Jinns, while at other times it
9
is used interchangeably with Jinn ( Islamic writers distinguish between angels ( •) — all of whom are good, devils (e^^*) — a^ °f whom are bad, and Jinns '-(
1 Ch. L, note 2i. 3 " Abhand." i. s "Rel. Sem.," p. 424.
4 Z.D.M.G., xli. p. 717 ff. * p. 148, note 3,
DEMONOLOGY 121
In Ouran lxxii. 1 1 the Jinns are made to say fi some of
- f " j us are good and some otherwise" (
meaning the antithesis to good — bad, though the com- mentator Zamakshari takes the sense of the last clause to be intermediate between good and bad.
The demons of Islam were, for the most part, gods worshipped in the "time of ignorance," just as the prophets of Yahwe reduced heathen deities to the same level.1 Ouzah (t)j*) the pre-Islamic god was to the Moslems a Satan or Jinn.2
This accounts for the important fact rightly emphasized by Wellhausen 3 that the Jinns so commonly assume a
serpent form. Indeed, the words jann IqW) and ghoul
( jyO became names for the serpent. Among other names of Jinns the following may be
given \-*-Mak : Ifrit («h/^) ; Azabb (vr>j% literally harry,; cf. Hebrew 'VJrtP) ; Izb (v>^) ; Aziab (v>^). Female :
Ghul (j^); 'Aulaq (jJy); Aluq (js^=Heb. n|WJT in Prov, xxx. 15). Freytag (p. 167) adds several others to this list. J*W} literally " corrupter," is used for Jinn and devil.
Several attempts have been made to differentiate between the functions of these several evil spirits.4.
In the Quran, Sur. $5, the inhabitants of the earth are represented as of two kinds, men and demons. In
verse 31 ($& literally "two heavy ones," or weights, i.e. two bodies of creatures is used to describe them. Among the Moslems the word Satan came to be used
1 See supra, p. 38. * Goldziher, " Abh.," p. ira t
3 " Reste," p» 1 $3. * See Lane's note, and Freytag, p« *6f>
T22 MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEMONOLOGY
in the same sense as Jinn. Hence we have in the Quran */ the plural Satans (^*kUa.)j and the activity ascribed to these Satans is of a piece with what is elsewhere said of the Jinns.
Mohammed showed his usual diplomacy in accepting! the heathen belief in Jinns, though in a modified form.1 In the Quran,2 in the Hadeth, in the life of the Prophet1 by Ibn Isham, and in other quarters, Mohammed's doctrine of Jinns is more or less folly spoken of;
In the opening of Sura 72 are these words : "Say, it hath been revealed to me that a company of Jinns listened, and said : * Verily we have heard a marvellous discourse }%{ (Quraji). Here the Prophet clearly assumes the real existence of the Jinns;
But what the Prophet strongly /reprobated was the* lieathen practice of worshipping the Jinns^
Musejlima;.; and the false prophet al-Aswad al 'Ansi^ too; .were -acknowledged to be under the, influence o£ Jinnsv ^Ijat ^of .J, truth thcijr^^\ predicted was* by; Mohammed ascribed to the fact' that it came from tlie^
:Jinn,C.r .._.
Even .the Mu'tasiliten, who professed to contend for;
pure .and unadulterated Islam,' assumed the Jirins to
have a re51 existence. ^
Moslem philosophers were disposed to minimize the
role played by demons. ^Neither al-Farabi, the Arab,
Aristotle (t9So),cpor Masa'udi (t956), denied the existence
of Jinns. : Abu Sina (Avieenna 17037) was the first
Moslem writer of note whp relegated the Jinns to the
realm of mere fable. On the relation of Islam, to the
doctrine of JinnsJ see Goldziher,' J07 #, • ^pd 5prepger'%
* vi. 70 ; xxui. 99H8&^9^ ^ 333m imh 9, ttc*
DEMONOLOGY 12$
11 Leben und Lehre des Mohammads,-' ii. pp.239— 251, quoted by Goldziher.
The English " Will o' the Wisp," or " Jack o' lanthern," was supposed by the early Arabs as by our European forefathers, to be carried by Jinns* Indeed, similar be- liefs are still to be met with in our own country* Among the pre-Islamic and Islamic Arabs the Jinns were com- monly conceived of as carrying with them lights,1 and also as riding on animate, .especially the fox.3 It will be of interest in this connection to note the divine appear- ance to Moses in the burning bush (Exodus iii. 2).?
Locations — They dwell specially in sandy barren deserts (u*V> sing- *")*) unapproachable to man, such as Abgar, Barahut, Baqqar, Tsaihad and Jabrin. Really, however, these spots are magic oases in such deserts. But the tame and friendly Jinns are not seldom denizens in the homes of human beings. They are to be found in large numbers among the mountains of Qaf («~rtl) which surround this world. They live, too, in holy trees, and in damp, dark places of the earth ; in fact, they may be found anywhere.
Time of Action.— It is in the night they carry on their work.
Form. — Though their proper and distinct form is that of the serpent,3 they can assume any form at will, animal or human. But they are generally invisible, and it is the work not the worker that is to be seen. If a man or woman disappear in the wilderness, it is at once put down to the Jinns who have carried them off. Any abnormal, unexplainable event is credited to them.
1 See Goldziher, " Abh.," p. 20. a lb., p. 209.
3 Wellh. Reste, p. 152 f. W. Robertson Smith, however, denies this, see «' Rel. Semites," p. 422.
124 MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEMONOLOGY
Indeed they are a kind of dens ex machina to account for what else would be unaccountable, this suggesting a possible cause of their being so largely believed in by the curious Arabs.
Work, — Accidents, sickness, insanity (hence called QF*)i the inspiration of singers, of poets, and of prophets — these and much else? are ascribed to Jinns. They often post themselves at windows and on roofs, and throw large stones at people who pass by. They steal clothes, food, etc., and when anything is missing they are often blamed for the theft — a boon for the real thief !
Mode of Life.— The Jinns eat and drink like other, people. They are male and female, marry and get children. Sometimes they have children by human beings, the offspring partaking of the nature of both parents. Some Jinns are peaceable and friendly, others the reverse. Like men, they are divided into believers and unbelievers. Those who are good Moslems discharge the duties of religion — prayer, alms, fasting during the month Ramad&n, the pilgrimage to Mekka and Mount Arafat, with as much care as the most devoted among believing men.
As among later Jews, so among Moslems, Solomon plays an important part in reference to the Jinns. The means by which he was able to control them was a most beautiful sealing-ring, which he received direct from heaven, and on which was engraved the "great name",
j -C?C J c c-
of God (fk*$\ (*~l\). By virtue of this ring Solomon was able to compel the Jinns to assist in building the temple of Jerusalem.
Lane l gives a sketch of some spirits generally believed to be an inferior kind of Jinn. Among these he names the Ghul, Si'lat or Si'la, Ghaddar, Dalhan and Shiqq. 1 "Arab. Nights/' i. p. 36 ft
DEMONOLOGY 12$
COUNTERCHARMS.
(See also "Magic among the Arabs," p. 63 ff.)
These, in the main, are of the usual kind : amulets, material agents and formulae of incantation, showing that we are dealing with a general superstition and not with anything that was confined to the Arabs, though there ar£ in ali such cases peculiarities due to physical environ- ment, temperament, and religion.
Among amulets may be mentioned rings suspended from the ears and nose and worn on the fingers. Bands and girdles were worn, much as the modern Jew carries under his clothing the Talith Qaton l (18 j? wb&).
Among physical agents the plant called ©\^» was believed to act as a deterrent to demons. Citron in the house kept demons away.
Incantations were also used. Among the Moslems these were parts of the Quran and other religious formulae. The " spell " called J&s> consisted of a string of passages from the Quran. The same passages could be written on an amulet.
Assyrian Demonology.
Under the head of " Assyrian Magic," 2 much was of necessity said that forms part of demonology.
To the innumerable company of demons belong the seven evil spirits whose names and full character are unknown ; the depths of whose nature have never been
1 A small garment worn next the skin, covering the breast. It answers to the large garment (Talith Gadoi) worn in the synagogue. Both have at the corners the tassels (/V2K0, wrongly translated M hems" in the Eng. versions, ' '
* See supra; p. 67.
126 MAGIC, DIVINATION, AND DEMONOLOGY,
fathomed in , heaven or v on vearth. But rthere is an innumerable company in addition to these seven.
They work evil upon human beings either r of their own free. will on their own account, or by command of the gods, who use them to execute vengeance upon the wicked..
They sow the seeds of discord in family life. They cause the most attached friends and even lover^ *-o detest each other. kTo bring about strife, quarrels and wars, is their delight. ; There is no disease which they may not induce. v Sickness, calamity, sudden death, these and all nameable and even conceivable , ills they produce and promote.,
They accomplish their nefarious ends in ways similar to those rampant among the Jinns or demons of other nations ; such as the evil eye, the magic word, by breath and by spittle^
They can be overcome and their work undone with the help of the supreme deities, and especially by that of the Magic Trinity, Ea, Marduk and Gibil. ^In this we have nothing really unique, though among ' the Baby- lonians the intervention of favourable spirits, or, if you will, deities, is made particularly prominent.
But either implicitly or explicitly all efforts to frustrate the activity of evil spirits involve the good offices of friendly ones. .^Tn all 'magic and demonology. whether among savages or among civilized people, there is implied a dualism of good and evil — the counterpart and reflex of what is seen in human life. The modern science of comparative religion will render good service by showing the sameness, or, at any rate, the similarity of the prin- ciples underlying magic and demonology in all ages and climes.
DEMONOLOGY 127
COUNTERCHARMS.
These are much the same as those we have had to look at as obtaining among Hebrews, Arabs and others.
We have, as preventives, amulets, incantations and material agents.
Incantations are said, but in Assyria as in Egypt it is the priests wha,% in the main, recite them. Each disease, each demon-caused evil has its peculiar formulae, and it required much training to know which to employ. Besides, in both countries the mode of repeating the charms—generally in a low, gurgling monotone— was of great moment.
Physical agents bulk largely in Assyrian demonology. Many were really medicinal, and had their origin in their healing character, though ostensibly they were efficient because anti-demoniacal. In line with what we now call sympathetic magic,1 fruits, animals, etc., were burnt, and as these disappeared in smoke and flame the ills also vanished. It is quite open to conjecture that these holocausts of fruits, animals, etc., had a sacrificial origin, though the conception connected with images of demons (see below) favours our regarding them as a part of sympathetic magic.
If, as noted before,2 an image of a demon was made, to injure and even to destroy the image was to bring a corresponding fate upon the demon whose image this was.
The material of which the image was made varied according to the locality and the means of the person who wished to punish the demon in question. Wood, wax, clay, were among the ingredients used.
1 Sec Jevons, p. 28 ff., and suj>rat p* 17 L 8 See suj>ra,rp. 69,
128 magic, divination, and demonology
Egyptian Demonology. i
The Egyptians had their gods whom they worshipped, and whom they invoked against the demons. For a succinct and up-to-date account of the Egyptian deities, see Wiedemann, p. 103 ff.
But they believed equally in demons whose power is exercised in this world and in the next.
Among this people, as among the Assyrians, the friendly and hostile deities are sharply distinguished, and in this case, too, magic is but the employment of appropriate means to bring the influence of the friendly deities to bear against the hostile ones.
It is characteristic of Egyptian magic and demonology that they busied themselves very much with the affairs of the future life. This could hardly be otherwise with a people in whose religion the doctrine of a life to come constituted a very vital part.
Demons were believed by the Egyptians, as by others, to bring about sickness, death, and all sorts of misfor- tunes. Diseases were particularly thought to be their work, as I have more than once had to notice. Magic and medicine were therefore inseparably combined,
COUNTERCHARMS.
These are, as before, amulets, incantations and material agents.
As regards amulets, they were of various kinds and worn on the bodies of all sorts and conditions of men. Moreover, when buried with a dead body they were supposed to secure safe entrance into the fruitful fields where Osiris reigrjs, and protection during the subse- quent life there.
DEMONOLOGY 129
Wiedemann1 gives a full account of the amulets used by the Egyptians for the dead and for the living.
Incantations were also used. When a body was being embalmed, and afterwards when it was interred, sundry formulae were pronounced, generally by the priests.
Much importance was attached to the way in which the incantations were said. If beautifully uttered and repeated* with sufficient frequency, these incantations possessed unlimited power. But the very conditions demanded, wherever possible, the services of a priest. Indeed prayer among the Egyptians was almost exclu- sively magical, i.e. its efficacy resided in the manner in which it was said, and not in its contents, and still less in subjective or ethical conditions.
Phoenician and Syrian Magic and Demonology.
Little has been written «on the prevalence and character of magic and -.demonology among these peoples. In the work of De la Saussaye, which deals briefly with the religions of the Syrians and Phoenicians, nothing is said of magic and related subjects.
These peoples were in religious matters less original than the Hebrews, the Assyrians, the Egyptians, or the Arabs, and they have left fewer and less important remains, literary or monumental, than the other nations named.
We know, however, that the Syrians believed in demons, and practised magic even after they embraced Christianity. The Syriac legends of Tur Abdin collected by Prym and Socin are important as showing this. (See index, "Damonen, etc.")
* p. 284 ff.
K
X
HO MAGIC, DIVINATrON, AND DEMONOLOGY / £ Th /
O (*
Wellhausen1 refers to the legend that Simon Stylite banished from the land of Lebanon demons and wild beasts.
Rev. G. Margoliouth, M.A., Keeper of Oriental MSS. in the British Museum, tells me there is but one Syriac MS. in the Museum containing magical charms in Syrfac. Two or three years ago two others were offered for sale to the Museum, but were refused. The Rev. H. Gollanz, M.A., of the Battersea Synagogue, London, purchased and has since made a translation of them. This translation he is about to publish in the transac- tions of some learned society. These MSS. are, how- ever, small and rather modern. In January, 1897, I was permitted to see both the MSS., and also the transla- tion.
Mention may be made of the inscribed cups and bowls from ancient Babylon with Aramaic inscriptions.
1 " Reste," p. IJ2> note 2^