ABSTRACT
Magic permeated all aspects of Mesopotamian life. All kinds of misfortune, disease and even psychological problems were attributed to malevolent influences. The hymns and prayers, addressing the great gods, stress that they alone were responsible for the good or bad ‘fate’ of the country and its inhabitants, but an even greater number of texts, especially from the mid-second millennium onwards, blame demons, witches and evil spirits for bad luck and illness.
