The incantation and ritual series Šurpu

Šurpu, which means "burning", is the ancient Akkadian title of a collection of Sumerian and Akkadian incantations, written in either or both languages. It refers to a ritual designed to purify the āšipu's client, by burning objects that impersonate him/her while reciting the appropriate incantation.

The procedure may be used in any circumstances for anybody. The victim thus remains anonymous in the texts: he or she is referred to as the "the sick person" (^lu2GIG, Akk. marṣu) or "Mr/Mrs So-and-So" (NENNI). The main characteristic of Šurpu is that it is performed when the patient doesn't know why the gods are angry with him. This explains why most Tablets are lengthy lists of various situations: they simply give rituals or incantations to be performed in a very wide range of circumstances.

In the first millennium, the series covered nine Tablets: the first describes the ritual, while the following eight list incantations and the possible causes of the client's misfortune. These often amount to misbehaviour towards the family or the gods, or else to various kinds of wrongdoings.

The first Tablet of Šurpu, whose only surviving manuscript is from Assur, describes the ritual. The brazier, in which all the objects will be burnt, is set up in "sacred area" marked out with flour. First the āšipu, then the client, recite incantations. The client selects, wipes off or peels the objects and throws them into the brazier, together with some particles of his skin. He finally lights the fire.
Tablet 2 contains a lengthy list of moral misconduct, such turning away from a widow or having sex with the neighbour's wife; or else cultic offences, such as disarranging an altar prepared for a ceremony (e.g., SpTU 2, 13 [/cams/gkab/P348618/]). The text then specifies how to identify the client's misdemeanour. Finally there is a list of gods who may be invoked to release the client.
The first line of Tablet 3 appeals to the god Marduk, here called Asalluhi, to undo a series of curses (e.g., SpTU 2, 14 [/cams/gkab/P348619/]). Their causes are either criminal ("making an oath to a friend then killing him"), inappropriate ("praying the gods with unwashed hands") or apparently innocent ("tearing out plants in the steppe").
Tablet 4 is also addressed to Marduk, and lists a further series of situations that the god is supposed to fix or heal (e.g., STT 1, 84 and 85 [/cams/gkab/P338401,P338402/]).
Tablets 5 and 6, for which there are no surviving manuscripts in the CAMS/GKAB corpus, contain Ea's instructions to his son, Marduk, on how to heal a man who has been seized by the gallû-demon, provoking dumbness and daze. It describes the ritual, in Akkadian and Sumerian, which consists of burning various objects (onions, wool, etc.) that represent the patient, and provides a number of suitable incantations.
Tablet 7 (e.g., CTN 4, 94 [/cams/gkab/P363508/]) is similar to Tablets 5 and 6 and is also bilingual. It is a dialogue between Ea and Marduk, containing a more vivid description of the demon's attack on a man.
Tablet 8 (e.g., SpTU 2, 15 [/cams/gkab/P348620/]) is similar to Tablet 3. It invokes several deities to release the patient from various curses.
Tablet 9 is the only one written solely in Sumerian. It is a series of invocations to the objects used during the rituals (tamarisk, reed, incense, etc.) (e.g., STT 2, 204 and 205 [/cams/gkab/P338523,P338524/]).

The most complete version of Šurpu dates from the first millennium, even though some passages are already mentioned in early second-millennium writings. Neo-Assyrian versions from Nineveh, Assur, Huzirina and Kalhu show many variants between them, both in the choice and ordering of the incantations. The two manuscripts of Tablet 4 [/cams/gkab/P338401,P338402/] from Huzirina are duplicates and were copied by scribal apprentices, namely Ubru-ili PGP and Aššur-šumu-iddina PGP (around 670 BC).

SpTU 3, 72 [/cams/gkab/P348675/], an early Hellenistic manuscript from Uruk, is related to Šurpu, but cannot be properly placed in the the series. The text provides equations between the gods Ellil and Anu, who are given similar roles in the incantations. It thus shows how the scribal elite from Uruk tried to confirm Anu's predominance at the head of the Mesopotamian pantheon (see also AN = Anu).

The incantation and ritual series Šurpu

Further Reading