,
threatening the witches with the same evils that they have
inflicted:[363]

They have used all kinds of charms
to entwine me as with ropes,
to catch me as in a cage,
to tie me as with cords,
to overpower me as in a net,
to twist me as with a sling,
to tear me as a fabric,
to fill me with dirty water as that which runs down a wall (?)
to throw me down as a wall.

At this point the exorciser takes up the thread and declares:

But I by command of Marduk, the lord of charms,
by Marduk, the master of bewitchment,
Both the male and female witch
as with ropes I will entwine,
as in a cage I will catch,
as with cords I will tie,
as in a net I will overpower,
as in a sling I will twist,
as a fabric I will tear,
with dirty water as from a wall I will fill,
as a wall throw them down.

Accompanying these threats, the actions indicated were symbolically
performed by the exorciser on effigies of the witches made, in this
case, of bitumen covered with pitch.

Corresponding again to the potions prepared by the witches, the priests
prepared draughts compounded of various weeds and herbs that were given
to the victim, or concoctions that were poured over his body. This
constituted the medicinal phase of the priest's labors, and marks the
connection between magic and medicine. Naturally such herbs and weeds
were chosen as through experience had proved effective.

The Gods of the Incantation Texts.

A feature of the incantation texts is the appeal to the gods, which is
seldom, if ever, wanting. Just as the kings sought, by the enumeration
of a large pantheon, to secure the protection of as large a number of
powers as possible, so the priests endeavored to strengthen their magic
formulas by including the mention of all the chief and a varying number
of the minor deities. This invocation of groups of deities, as the
invocation of groups of spirits, became more or less conventional, so
much so that, instead of mentioning the gods individually, the scribe
would content himself with an indication, at the proper point, of the
number of gods to be appealed to,--six, ten, fifteen, as the case may
be, to as many as fifty.[364] Precisely what gods he had in mind we are
no longer in a position to know, but no doubt the chief members of the
pantheon were included in the first place. Lists of these deities are
often added. The superior triad, Anu, Bel, and Ea, head the list, at
times accompan