of doing
things.

The ethical features of the texts can, without much question, be put
down as the work of the later editors. They belong to a period when
already an advanced conception not only of right and wrong, but also of
sin had arisen among the religious leaders of the people, and perhaps
had made its way already among the masses, without, however, disturbing
the confidence in the traditional superstitions. The strange combination
of primitive and advanced religious beliefs is characteristic, as we
shall have occasion to see, of various divisions of the Babylonian
religious literature. The lapse from the ethical strain to the
incantation refrain is as sudden as it is common. The priest having
exhausted the category of possible sins or mishaps that have caused the
suffering of the petitioner, proceeds to invoke the gods, goddesses, and
the powerful spirits to loosen the ban. There is no question of
retribution for actual acts of injustice or violence, any more than
there is a question of genuine contrition. The enumeration of the causes
for the suffering constitutes in fact a part of the incantation. The
mention of the real cause in the long list--and the list aims to be
exhaustive, so that the exorciser may strike the real cause--goes a long
way towards ensuring the departure of the evil spirit. And if, besides
striking the real cause, the exorciser is fortunate enough in his
enumeration of the various gods, goddesses, and spirits to call by name
upon the _right_ god or spirit, the one who has the power over the demon
in question, his object is achieved. Speaking the right words and
pronouncing the right name, constitute, together with the performance of
the correct ceremony and the bringing of the right sacrifice, the
conditions upon which depends the success of the priest in the
incantation ritual. Hence the striking features of these texts, the
enumeration of long lists of causes for misfortune, long lists of powers
invoked, and a variety of ceremonies prescribed, in the hope that the
priest will "hit it" at one time or the other.

Incantations and Prayers.

The incantations naturally shade off into prayers. Frequently they are
prayers pure and simple. Powerful as the sacred formulas were supposed
to be, the ultimate appeal of the sufferer is to the gods. Upon their
favor it ultimately depends whether the mystic power contained in the
sacred words uttered shall manifest itself to the benefit of the
supp