06_An_Cranz_586-598_coopia_586-598 10/12/15 10:35 Pagina 588 588 ISABEL CRANZ 588 lation of figurines. Lastly, I discuss the differences between vision and ritual. It will be argued that Zech 5,5-11 redefines the role of ritual actors and audiences, in order to reinforce the prophet’s message of divine re- demption and unconditional forgiveness. II. The Manipulation of Figurines in Assyro-Babylonian Exorcisms Before delving into details about the Assyro-Babylonian exorcisms and Zechariah’s vision, some words are in order concerning the custom of ritually manipulating figurines. This custom was widespread through- out the ancient Near East even if in Judah it can be archaeologically con- firmed only during the Hellenistic period 7. The most extensive and detailed evidence for the ritual manipulation of figurines is known from Neo-Assyrian sources. Both the royal archives and the private libraries of exorcists provide an abundance of ritual material relating to almost every segment of society. The use of figurines in these sources appears in several different contexts and includes rituals against witchcraft, im- potence, ghost hauntings, demonic possession and personal atonement 8. At the same time, figurines could also be used as foundation deposits which protected buildings and their inhabitants from a variety of evils 9. A figurine could come in the shape of a human or an animal or a combi- nation of both. It could represent an evil omen, a curse, a sorcerer, a witch, a ghost, a demon or the supplicant himself. Some rituals necessitated two or more figurines while others could be carried out with one alone. Fig- urines could be fashioned out of wax, tallow, reed, wood, clay, dough or excrement. If the figurine represented the supplicant, it could also function as his substitute, which was either destroyed in his place or purified with him 10. If the figurine embodied a threat, however, its ritual destruction anticipated the demise of the individual it represented. The figurines could be burned, crushed, dispatched on boats, ingested by animals or buried 11. 7 Cf. R. SCHMITT, Magie im Alten Testament (AOAT 313; Tübingen 2004) 189. 8 For figurines employed against ghost affliction, see J. SCURLOCK, Magico- Medical Means of Treating Ghost-Induced Illnesses in Ancient Mesopotamia (Leiden 2006) 49-56. For figurines as evil omens, see S. MAUL, Zukunftsbe- wältigung. Eine Untersuchung altorientalischen Denkens anhand der baby- lonisch-assyrischen Löserituale (Namburbi) (BaF 18; Mainz 1994) 46-47. 9 F.A.M. WIGGERMANN, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits. The Ritual Texts (CM 1; Groningen 1992). 10 See SCURLOCK, Magico-Medical Means, 51. 11 For the principles that underlie the ritual utilizations of figurines, see M.-L. THOMSEN – C. DAXELMÜLLER, “Bildzauber im alten Mesopotamien”, Anthropos 77 (1982) 27-64.