THE DEMONS： EXORCISMS AND CEREMONIES
Good and evil spirits， gods and demons， were fully believed in by the Babylonians and Assyrians， and many texts referring to them exist.
Naturally it is not in some cases easy to distinguish well between the special functions of these supernatural appearances which they supposed to exist， but their nature is， in most cases， easily ascertained from the inscriptions.
To all appearance， the Babylonians imagined that spirits resided everywhere， and lay in wait to attack mankind， and to each class， apparently， a special province in bringing misfortune， or tormenting， or causing pain and sickness， was assigned.All the spirits， however， were not evil， even those whose names would suggest that their character was such--there were good "liers in wait，" for instance， as well as evil ones， whose attitude towards mankind was beneficent.
The /utukku/.This was a spirit which was supposed to do the will of Anu， the god of the heavens.There was the /utukku/ of the plain， the mountains， the sea， and the grave.
The /al？/.Regarded as the demon of the storm， and possibly， in its origin， the same as the divine bull sent by I？tar to attack Gilgame？， and killed by Enki-du.It spread itself over a man， overpowering him upon his bed， and attacking his breast.
The /êdimmu/.This is generally， but wrongly， read /êkimmu/， and translated "the seizer，" from /êkemu/， "to seize." In reality， however， it was an ordinary spirit， and the word is used for the wraiths of the departed.The "evil /êdimmu/" was apparently regarded as attacking the middle part of a man.
The /gallu/.As this word is borrowed from the Sumerian /galla/， which has a dialectic form， /mulla/， it is not improbable that it may be connected with the word /mula/， meaning "star，" and suggesting something which is visible by the light it gives--possibly a will-o'-the-wisp，--though others are inclined to regard the word as being connected with /gala/， "great." In any case， its meaning seems to have become very similar to "evil spirit" or "devil" in general， and is an epithet applied by the Assyrian king A？？ur-bani-apli to Te-umman， the Elamite king against whom he fought.
The /？lu limnu/， "evil god，" was probably originally one of the deities of Tiawath's brood， upon whom Merodach's redemption had had no effect.
The /rabisu/ is regarded as a spirit which lay in wait to pounce upon his prey.
The /labartu/， in Sumerian /dimme/， was a female demon.There were seven evil spirits of this kind， who were apparently regarded as being daughters of Anu， the god of the heavens.
The /labasu/， in Sumerian /dimmea/， was apparently a spirit which overthrew， that being the meaning of the root from which the word comes.
The /ahhazu/， in Sumerian /dimme-kur/， was apparently so called as "the seizer，" that being the meaning indicated by the root.
The /lilu/， in Sumerian /lila/， is generally regarded as "the night-monster，" the word being referred to the Semitic root /l？l/ or /layl/， whence the Hebrew /layil/， Arabic /layl/， "night." Its origin， however， is Sumerian， from /lila/， regarded as meaning "mist." To the word /lilu/ the ancient Babylonians formed a feminine， /lil？thu/， which entered the Hebrew language under the form of /lilith/， which was， according to the rabbins， a beautiful woman， who lay in wait for children by night.The /lilu/ had a companion who is called his handmaid or servant.
The /namtaru/ was apparently the spirit of fate， and therefore of greater importance than those already mentioned.This being was regarded as the beloved son of Bêl， and offspring of /Ere？-ki-gal/ or Persephone， and he had a spouse named /Hu？-bi-？aga/.Apparently he executed the instructions given him concerning the fate of men， and could also have power over certain of the gods.
The /？êdu/ were apparently deities in the form of bulls.They were destructive， of enormous power， and unsparing.In a good sense the /？êdu/ was a protecting deity， guarding against hostile attacks.Erech and the temple ê-kura were protected by spirits such as these， and to one of them I？um， "the glorious sacrificer，" was likened.
The /lamassu/， from the Sumerian /lama/， was similar in character to the /？êdu/， but is thought to have been of the nature of a colossus--a winged man-headed bull or lion.It is these creatures which the kings placed at the sides of the doors of their palaces， to protect the king's footsteps.In early Babylonian times a god named Lama was one of the most popular deities of the Babylonian pantheon.
A specimen incantation.
