Ghosts in Mesopotamia

Abstract

When we think of ghosts we think of shadowy spirits—as often as not, nobody we know—who flit about and haunt old houses. Things were a bit different in the ancient Near East. It is the aim of this chapter to explore this unfamiliar world. On this journey we shall meet the family ghost that lived beneath the floor of your house and expected to be given periodic offerings of food and water; and there were wandering beggarly ghosts of those whose families no longer existed. There were ghosts of ill omen, and there were ghosts who inflicted illness. There were angry ghosts with some grudge against the living and ghosts who became demons. Festivals of the dead were seasonal opportunities for ghostly visits when every ghost got his due, and the living could consult the dead. Unfortunately, evil persons found ways to exploit these visits (and isolated graves) for nefarious purposes. At the end of our journey, we shall consider the relationship of these spirits of the dead to the soul, human and divine.