06_An_Cranz_586-598_coopia_586-598 10/12/15 10:35 Pagina 592 592 ISABEL CRANZ 592 which contains a ritual against this demon (W 23287:91-98) 28. This ritual appears on a tablet together with similar rites which are all meant to pro- tect against complications during pregnancy, birth and early infancy. It is not clear whether the ritual in question is aimed at Lamaštu, even though it does prescribe the fashioning and disposal of a figurine which is often associated with rituals against this demon 29. As opposed to the previous rituals, the manuscript of this text dates to the fifth century and was found in the library of the Babylonian exorcist Anu-ikṣur 30. In the concluding section for this exorcism we learn the following: 91. This is the robber who robs the offspring again and again, who carries away the seed of so-and-so the daughter of so-and-so. 92. Who lets the nursemaid cry each year, who lets the wet nurse weep, 93. who is now facing you, you let him […] like the one of your … […] … your […] 94. …may nobody hear (it). The grief of the children belonging to so-and- so daughter of so-and-so may nobody perceive. 95. You say this seven times and place this figurine into the porous laḫannu- vessel, you seal its o[pening]. 96. If (it) was the hand of Gula, you bury (the vessel) in the corner of the wall. If (it) was the hands of Lamaštu, you place it in the shade of the wall. 97. If (it) was the hands of the oath, you bury it behind the stove. If (it) was the hand of the adversary, you bury it on the street crossing. Then your children will be spared. 98. Incantation: all-powerful, strong master, great in strength, offspring of heaven, master of the lower ones. Since the sealing and burial of figurines is also employed against demons, this practice may be interpreted as an attempt to send evil enti- ties back to the netherworld from where they originated 31. In accordance with Mesopotamian custom, each exorcism is accompanied by an incanta- 28 E. VON WEIHER, Spätbabylonische Texte aus Uruk. Teil 3 (Ausgrabun- gen der deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft in Uruk-Warka 12; Berlin 1988) text 84:91-97. This text has been paraphrased and partially translated by Wal- ter Farber. Cf. IDEM, “Lamaštu, Enlil, Anu-ikṣur: Streiflichter aus Uruks Ge- lehrtenstuben”, ZA 79 (1989) 230-232. Some of Farber’s suggestions are incorporated in the above translation. 29 Cf. FARBER, Lamaštu, 335. This custom is also referenced in footnote 12 of the present paper. 30 E. VON WEIHER, Spätbabylonische Texte aus Uruk. Teil 1 (Ausgrabungen der deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft in Uruk-Warka 12; Berlin 1988) 11. 31 See SCURLOCK, Magico-Medical Means, 51.