考古与文献证据显示，美索不达米亚地区关于巫术的文字记载可追溯至4500多年前 1。目前已知最早展示巫术对决场景的文本，是约公元前1900年写成的苏美尔史诗《恩美卡尔与恩苏赫什丹纳的故事》 1。在这部作品中，被称为“智慧女性”的萨格布鲁（Saĝburu）与一名无名男巫师展开魔法较量，双方使用魔法将鱼卵变为动物进行搏斗，最终萨格布鲁获胜并杀死对方 1。
当时的社会对巫术持有复杂的法律与宗教应对机制。汉谟拉比法典包含282条法律，其中第二条规定了“神圣河流审判”制度：被指控者自愿入河，幸存即无罪，死亡则有罪 1。这一逻辑与后来欧洲猎巫运动的常见做法相反 1。到了公元前1千年初期，出现了一本名为Maqlû（意为“燃烧”）的反巫术仪式手册，供祭司阿希普（ašipu）使用，通过焚烧象征施术者的泥偶来反击巫术 1。在美索不达米亚的宗教观念中，火葬被视为极刑，因为它阻碍死者进入冥界 1。
Textual evidence of witchcraft in ancient Mesopotamia dates back more than 4,500 years 1. The earliest surviving text depicting a magical duel is the Sumerian epic "The Tale of Enmerkar and Ensuḫkešdanna," written around 1900 BCE 1. In this narrative, a "wise woman" named Saĝburu uses magic to transform fish eggs into beasts for combat against an unnamed male sorcerer 1. Saĝburu ultimately wins the confrontation and kills her opponent 1.
Legal and Ritual Responses to Sorcery
The Code of Hammurabi contains 282 laws, including provisions on accusations of witchcraft 1. Law number two establishes the "divine river ordeal": the accused voluntarily enters a river, where survival indicates innocence and death indicates guilt 1. This logic contrasts with later European witch-hunt practices 1.
By the early first millennium BCE, a ritual handbook called Maqlû, meaning "burning," emerged 1. This text guided priests known as ašipu to counteract sorcery by creating clay figurines symbolizing the attackers and then burning them 1. Within the Mesopotamian religious worldview, cremation was considered an extreme punishment because it prevented the deceased from entering the underworld 1.
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