Necromancy in Endor and beyond (Continuity of magic from East to West, Part 8)
I’ve previously written incidentally about magic in the bible. I’ve gone into passages discussing cursing and binding rituals, ex voto oaths, and the often hereditary offices of various types of augurs. More evidence supports the existence of soothsayers, including the reviled necromancer.
All this is interesting as there are also quite explicit bans on these practices. In Judges, this is excused because the Israelites had no king and no laws when they first came to live among the Canaanites:¹
In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.
However, it’s important to understand that we cannot take the Bible as a historic account. Recent studies show the Israelites and Canaanites to be essentially the same people. While the bible has it that Israel is a foreign element settling in Canaan, archaeologist Ayelet Gilboa tells us:²
[I]n these territories that will become the […] core areas of Israel and Judah, […] from the 12th and into the 11th century [BCE] there’s definitely a new wave of settlement. […] because of circumstances that we’re not really sure [of … people] are actually starting to resettle in areas [that] were abandoned [for] centuries.
As with some other cultures following the Late Bronze Age collapse, we see very few documents 1200–900 BCE in these regions. Not so in the coastal regions of Philistia and Phoenicia. As noted, the Canaanite substratum—material culture, language, genetics—is the same as that of the inland areas, but with an admixture of artifacts, goods, and likely people from Cyprus and the Aegean, and still farther away in the case of Phoenicia, including silver from Iberia and even cinnamon from southeast Asia.³
In ca. 800 BCE, we see the first Hebrew inscriptions, the Samaria Ostraca, and unsurprisingly they are administrative; in this case, tax records.⁴ Apart from the Hebrew language in the Paleo-Hebrew script, similar to Phoenician, we see the various names of those taxed:⁵
[T]he endings of the names, what we call the theophoric endings, that are usually a shortened version of the name of the main deity […]: Gaddiyau, Yedaʿyau [𐤅𐤉𐤂𐤃 ,𐤅𐤉𐤏𐤃𐤉]—they finish with 𐤅𐤉- [-yw] which is a shortening of the name Yahweh [𐤅𐤇𐤇𐤉 …]. We assume that these are people that actually worship Yahweh. [But] not all of them. Some of the […] people of this period have names [that] finish with Baʿal [𐤁𐤏𐤋 …], so not all of them, apparently, were Yahweh worshippers.
Note these people aren’t called out as either Israelite or Canaanite. We can see the remnants of theophoric names with Baʿal from the biblical figure of Jezebel (אִיזֶבֶל, probably originally 𐤁𐤏𐤋𐤀𐤆𐤁𐤋, Baʿalʾtzebel, “Baʿal is exalted”) down through the historical Hannibal (𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋 (Khanibaʿal, “may Baʿal grace me”). Of course, such endings invoking the name of El (אֵל ,𐤀𐤋), another chief god of Canaan, are also common today in names like Michael (מִיכָאֵל, “who is like God?”), Raphael (רָפָאֵל, “God has healed”), etc.
And even the Yahweh of these early texts seems pretty different from the biblical one. An inscription from Kuntillet ʿAjrud reads:⁶
[…] lyhwh šmrn wlʾšrth
[…] to Yahweh of Samaria and his Asherat
Another inscription from the same site is substantially similar, but invokes “Yahweh of Teman”.⁷ In both, Asherat is clearly the head deity’s consort and also clearly the same goddess we know through Ugaritic 𐎀𐎘𐎗𐎚 and Punic 𐤏𐤔𐤕𐤓𐤕 as Athtar/ ʿAshtart, Akkadian Ishtar (𒀭𒈹), and ultimately, Sumerian Inanna. Still, some degree of Yahweh worship seems tied to Israelite and Judahite identity.
When the Israelite culture becomes the dominant one in these so-called Canaanite lands, and there is a king, many of the native magico-religious praxes are outlawed. As Deuteronomy states:⁸
[B]ecause of these abominations the LORD thy God is driving them [i.e., the Canaanites] out from before thee […]. For these nations, that thou art to dispossess, hearken unto soothsayers, and unto diviners […].
Still, it’s important to note there are kinds of magic and foretelling, either tacitly or explicitly, given the nod. The mysteriously named Urim and Thummim (אורים, תמים) are linked to divination via cleromancy, but there is some debate as to how they were used.
We also know Joseph uses a silver cup to scry—catoptromancy. In Genesis, he tells his steward to find his cup and say:⁹
“Is not this [the cup] in which my lord drinketh, and whereby he indeed divineth?”
These things clearly sound like what we’d term magic, but the biblical prohibitions also explicitly include them, as in the Deuteronomy passage I’ve already cited, and also more generally, in Exodus:¹⁰
Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live.
And again, in Deuteronomy, more exhaustively:¹¹
There shall not be found among you any one that […] useth divination, a soothsayer, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or one that consulteth a ghost or a familiar spirit, or a necromancer.
The translations here prove difficult as the meanings of the terms are long forgotten, so more generic ones are used. Some we can guess at:
- קסם קסמים (qosem qesamim) means “one who determines by lots”; a cleromancer
- מעונן (meʿonen) uses the term for “cloud”: an aeromancer
- מנחש (menakhesh) from “snake”; an ophiomancer
- שאל אוב (shoʾel ʾov) is a “consulter of mumbles”; a type of necromancer
- דרש אל־המתים (doresh ʾel-hammethim) “one who seeks among the dead”; another type of necromancer
And others are quite vague:
- חבר חבר (khover khever) some parse this as “binder of friends”, others “binding spell”; either one who uses love charms or curses.
- מנחש (mekhasheph) the term here is “whisper”, possibly describing a manner of incantation
- ידעני (yideʿoni) refers to “knowing”, so could be nearly any type of sorcerer
Leviticus similarly prohibits נחשו (nacheshu) and עוננו (ʿonenu) forms of the words referring to ophiomancy and aeromancy, respectively,¹² being a yideʿoni, or having an ʾov,¹³ all demanding capital punishment.
Isaiah warns against backsliding to these practices:¹⁴
[T]hey shall say unto you: “Seek unto the ghosts and the familiar spirits, that chirp and that mutter; should not a people seek unto their God? on behalf of the living unto the dead for instruction and for testimony?”
In accordance with these pentateuchal dictates, we learn in Samuel:¹⁵
Saul had put away those that divined by a ghost or a familiar spirit out of the land.
Nonetheless, after consulting prophets, hoping for foretelling dreams and having recourse to the Urim and Thummim as to the war against the Philistines, all to no avail, he goes rogue, consulting the deceased prophet Samuel:¹⁶
Then said Saul unto his servants: “Seek me a woman that divineth by a ghost, that I may go to her, and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him: “Behold, there is a woman that divineth by a ghost at En-dor.”
This is the famous Witch of Endor. Again, however, this common translation is genericized. The original text has אשת בעלת־אוב בעין דור (ʾeshet baʾalat-ʾov bʿEin Dor) “the woman who was the mistress of the ʾov at En Dor”.
Samuel approaches her in disguise, asking her to perform the necromantic ritual, and she demurs, knowing it’s forbidden. When he gives her immunity, she summons Samuel’s ghost, and the news is dire.¹⁷ The description of the actual necromantic praxis is unfortunately sparse.
There’s a strong case to be made our version of Samuel is post-Deuteronomy revisionism using legalistically specific language for the prohibitions on necromancy appearing in the Pentateuch to label Saul’s actions improper. The same two main terms we’ve seen for necromancy are used in Deuteronomy, Leviticus and Samuel: shoʾel ʾov and doresh ʾel-hammethim. Chronicles even implies Saul’s death is directly attributable to his visit to the mistress of the ʾov:¹⁸
So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, because of the word of the LORD, which he kept not; and also for that he asked counsel of a ghost, to inquire thereby, and inquired not of the LORD; therefore He slew him […].
I guess we’re meant to forget dude tried the apparently legit routes of oenomancy and cleromancy to no avail, and only sought the advice of the dead prophet because the living ones were so useless. Saul’s failure to destroy all the cattle of the Amalekites after defeating them in battle is also given as the moment God rejects him as king,¹⁹ so he’s already on the shit list. Samuel even compares Saul’s disobedience to קסם (qésem), from Akkadian 𒆠𒅖𒌝, kišum, which we’ve already seen associated with cleromancy in Deuteronomy. This might seem random, but being a prophet, Samuel knows what’s going to go down.
In any case, the necromantic traditions described in the bible purport to belong to the Canaanites, but there is little evidence for them apart from these biblical references.
Ugarit, a northwest Canaanite city, in what’s now northern Syria, had extensive archives that have been unearthed. From among these, a single tablet in Ugaritic discusses how:²⁰
Through a mediator [the dead] give precise advice on how to cure a sick child.
As to the manner of such augury, the historical record remains silent. Some point to the marzeaḥ ritual as a description of such rites.²¹ If it is, all the terms employed are deeply couched in metaphor, as it appears to be simply a drunken revel.
However, besides its trove of works in Ugaritic, the library of Ugarit held many in Babylonian, showing extensive contact with that culture. Certainly Mesopotamia had a strong influence across the region. There are more than a dozen such tablets on various forms of omina, including ophiomancy and aeromancy. The lore of ancient Mesopotamia also makes clear and specific reference to necromantic praxes, which include:²²
[…] rubbing salves on the necromancer’s face or skulls or figurines as temporary houses for the spirit which was being summoned up.
Interestingly, dust from a crossroads is one ingredient of the anointing concoctions. The texts assure the practitioner through these methods:²³
You will see the ghost: he will speak with you; you can look at the ghost: he will talk with you.
One incantation text brings these elements together, specifically referencing the use of a skull as a device to call up and embody a ghost, which then may answer the necromancer:²⁴
Dust of the Underwor[ld…] May he bring up a ghost from the darkness for me! May he [put life back(?)] in the dead man’s limbs! I call [upon you], O skull of skulls: May he who is in the skull answer [me!] O Šamaš who brings light in.
The best known use of this type of divination was for Ashurbanipal himself:²⁵
Essarhaddon’s [the king prior to Ashurbanipal] chief exorcist, Addad-šumu-usur, reported that, through necromancy, the ghost of the deceased queen appeared to Assurbanipal confirming his status as successor to the throne. His report reads: “‘Aššur and Šamaš ordained me to be the crown prince of Assyria because of her (= the dead queen’s) righteousness.’ (And) her ghost blesses him in the same degree as he has revered the ghost: ‘His descendants shall rule over Assyria!’”
Obviously, it’s rather convenient to settle a succession crisis by declaring one’s dead mother conferred it on you. Still, for such a claim to be effective implies a widespread belief in necromancy. Indeed, some argue paradoxically the pentateuchal polemic against necromancy is directly attributable to the Israelite tradition’s:²⁶
[…] acquaintance with Assyrian and perhaps Babylonian religion and magic. Several arguments support a Mesopotamian influence vis-a-vis Israelite belief in the beneficent dead as expressed in necromancy. The rise in divination’s popularity during the reigns of late Assyrian kings, the marked increase in the number of necromancy texts in Mesopotamia beginning in the Neo-Assyrian period, and the absence of necromancy in other ancient Near Eastern traditions support the likelihood of a Mesopotamian backdrop […].
Such contact between the Jewish peoples and Mesopotamia was only to increase with the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II (𒀭𒀝𒆪𒁺𒌨𒊑𒋀) and the subsequent Babylonian exile of the Judeans beginning in 587 BCE.
Turning to much later interpretations of the praxes mentioned in the bible, Dr. Justin Sledge cites the Talmud, stating the yideʿoni is named for a bone the practitioner puts in their mouth to gain necromantic power. The bone comes from a yadua, but it’s unclear what that is.²⁷ Another Talmudic source relates:²⁸
Our Rabbis taught: Baʾal ob denotes both him who conjures up the dead by means of soothsaying and one who consults a skull. […] And one who asks the dead: Some Tannaim state: this is one who interrogates a skull.
Note Baʾal ob is the masculine form of the term used for the Witch of Endor.
There are five skulls from the Babylonian Jewish Aramaic context from late antiquity (third–seventh centuries), at Nippur (𒂗𒆤𒆠, in the modern Afaq District, عفك, of Iraq), that seem clearly linked to soothsaying:²⁹
Although what we can read of the inscriptions on the skulls does not appear to bear any evidence that necromancy was their purpose, it would be fair to assume that their authors relied on the belief that the spirits of the dead, to which skulls are obviously connected, have access to the spiritual realm.
It seems clear during the time portrayed in Samuel, the Israelites and Judahites wanted to draw increasingly clear lines between themselves and the other Canaanites. First, reducing the pantheon to a father and mother pair, then a single god. This done, the sources of foreknowledge, and indeed all magic, likewise had to be restricted so only the priestly class of the one god—like Samuel—could mediate. The terms used for practitioners were similarly divided where the terms I’ve referenced here are the sinful, alien ones, using the term נביא (navi, “spokesperson”). We see it used definitionally in Deuteronomy, thus:³⁰
I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
As with many things I’ve discussed in this series, the connection between Judaic and ANE techniques of augury is a repeated one. Biblical necromantic praxes reflect earlier contact, perhaps especially via Ugarit, while the Mesopotamian and Talmudic ones reflect their rediscovery.
Read previous articles in the Continuity of Magic from East to West series
Part 1: The Griffin and the Phoenix
Part 2B: Go West, Young Mantis
Part 3B: Devoted More Than All Others
Part 4A: Romancing the Hellenes
Part 5: Hellenism, Schmellenism
Part 6: Myth and Magic in the Cultural Koiné
Notes
- Judg. 21:25, NLT, 1996.
- Ayelet Gilboa. “The Rise of Ancient Egypt and Other Problematic Entities (A ‘dirt archaeologist’s’ point of view)”, Membership Lecture, ISAC, October 2019.
- Ibid.
- KAI 183–188, Samaria Ostraca, ca. 850–750 BCE.
- Gilboa, 2019.
- 8.017 (Pithos A), Kuntillet ʿAjrud Inscriptions, ca. first half of the eighth century BCE.
- “lyhwh htmn wlʾšrth”, 8.021 (Pithos B), Kuntillet ʿAjrud Inscriptions, ca. first half of the eighth century BCE.
- Deut. 18:12–14, JPS Tanakh, 1917. I’ve used the JPS Tanakh throughout for consistency rather than jumping around to different ones here.
- Gen. 44:5.
- Exod. 22:18.
- Deut. 18.10–12.
- Lev. 19.26.
- Lev. 20:27.
- Isa. 8:19–20.
- Sam. 28:3.
- Sam. 28:6–7.
- Sam. 28:8–19.
- 1 Chr. 10:13–14.
- Sam. 15:20–23.
- KTU 1.124 in Klaas Spronk, “The Incantations”, Wilfred G.E. Watson and Nicolas Wyatt, eds., Handbook of Ugaritic Studies, 1999.
- Gregorio del Olmo Lete, “The Marzeaḥ and the Ugaritic Magic Ritual System: A Close Reading of KTU 1.114”, Aula orientalis: revista de estudios del Próximo Oriente Antiguo, 2015.
- JoAnn A. Scurlock, “Magic (ANE)”, David N. Freedman, ed., The Anchor Bible Dictionary, 1992.
- K.2779, Babylonian necromantic incantation, one imagines Irving Finkel, British Museum, 7th century BCE.
- Irving L. Finkel, “Necromancy in Ancient Mesopotamia”, Archiv für Orientforschung, 1983.
- Beate Pontegratz-Leisten, “Cassandra’s Colleagues: Prophetesses in the Neo-Assyrian Empire”, The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies Journal, Fall 2006. The tablet referenced is SAA (State Archives of Assyria) X 118 rev. 3-8.
- Brian B. Schmidt, “Israel’s Beneficent Dead: The Origin and Character of Israel Ancestor Cult and Necromancy”, 1991.
- Tractate Sanhedrin, 65b, third–sixth centuries, paraphrased in Dr. Justin Sledge, “Magic in Ancient Israel and the Hebrew Bible”, Esoterica (YouTube), August 2020.
- b. San. 65b. The Babylonian Talmud, Isidore Epstein, trans. and ed., 1978.
- Dan Levene, “Calvariae Magicae: The Berlin, Philadelphia and Moussaieff Skulls”, Orientalia, 2006.
- Deut. 18:18.
Deru Kugi 