Exhibition Lecture: I Call Upon You, Gods of the Night: Protecting against Witchcraft and Demons in Mesopotamia

This lecture will take place in person at ISAW (15 East 84th Street).

Registration is required at THIS LINK.

The ancient Mesopotamian world was populated with a wide range of demonic and monstrous creatures, all of which intersected with daily life in a variety of mostly-malignant ways. Most often, demons, or the chaotic figure of the witch, could cause serious harm, being associated with disease and illness, or even death, particularly in infants and young children. But these forces could also be responsible for more mundane ills, with even a run of bad luck being attributable to witchcraft. This talk will discuss some of the major threats found in Mesopotamia—the demonic, chaotic witch; the demoness Lamashtu, who was often responsible for infant mortality; and others—examining in detail how they could be safeguarded against, or actively opposed once they were believed to be present. Mesopotamian ritual practices offered a range of possible options, from the exhaustively (and expensively) detailed to simpler, even mass-produced, remedies.

Gina Konstantopoulos (PhD, University of Michigan, 2015) is an Associate Professor in Assyriology and Cuneiform Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA. Her research centers on religion, magic, and literature in Mesopotamia, with a focus on the role of demons and monsters. Her monograph on this topic, The Divine/Demonic Seven and the Place of Demons in Mesopotamia, was published in 2023 by Brill. Her current research focuses on two major projects: one on the creation of distant and imagined lands and notions of space and place in the ancient Near East, and another on the works of Enheduana and Sumerian myths of Inana.

This talk is given in conjunction with ISAW's exhibition Cursed! The Power of Magic in the Ancient World. The exhibition is organized by the Toledo Museum of Art; its presentation at ISAW is made possible by generous support from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and the Leon Levy Foundation.

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