Bīt mēseri at Aššur

Abstract

A 191, a Neo-Assyrian tablet from the Haus des Beschwörungspriesters in Aššur, preserves instructions for the performance of an apotropaic ritual called Bīt mēseri (“house of enclosure”). The tablet, which is edited here for the first time, offers a version of the ceremony that is markedly different from the standard Bīt mēseri ritual known from other first-millennium sources found at Nineveh, Aššur, and various Babylonian sites. Whereas the core rites with their apotropaic images (figurines and paintings) are far less complex than their counterparts in the standard ritual, the ceremony attested on A 191 also includes elements that are absent in other Bīt mēseri sources. These elements include a Pazuzu rite, ointments, and the burning of incense, all of which are known from other āšipūtu (exorcistic) text series, such as Muššuʾu, Qutāru, the Zi-pà Compendium, and the Pazuzu Compendium.