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Document Details : Title: Aspects of Mesopotamian Witchcraft Author(s): WORTHINGTON, M. Journal: Bibliotheca Orientalis Volume: 61 Issue: 3-4 Date: mei-augustus 2004 Pages: 259-277 DOI: 10.2143/BIOR.61.3.2015568 Abstract : This work, the fifth volume in Styx/Brill’s valuable series Studies in Ancient Magic and Divination, is a collection of fourteen essays by the same author on various aspects of Mesopotamian perceptions of witchcraft, and techniques for combating it. Ten of the essays are re-issues, having been published previously between 1974 and 1999, while four appear here for the first time. Reissuing the older articles in the same two covers as new ones was a good idea, both because the essays frequently cite each other, and because synergies make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. A leading authority on Mesopotamian witchcraft studies, the author is the foremost exegete of Maqlû (the longest and most important of the anti-witchcraft texts). What he has written over decades has acquired a reputation for being thoughtful, erudite, and stimulating, and has often been influential. The book can be warmly recommended to all those interested in the history of magic and religion. |
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