There are many references to ghosts in ancient Mesopotamian religion – the religions of Sumer, Babylon, Assyria and other early states in Mesopotamia. Traces of these beliefs survive in the later Abrahamic religions that came to dominate the region.[1]
The concept of ghosts or spirits in Mesopotamia is comparable to the shades of the deceased in the Underworld in the mythology of classical antiquity. The shades or spirits of the deceased were known as gidim (gidim𒄇) in Sumerian, which was borrowed as eṭemmu in Akkadian. The Sumerian word is analyzed as a compound of either gig "to be sick" and dim3 "a demon", or gi6 "black" + dim4 "to approach".[2]
Gidim were thought to be created at time of death, taking on the memory and personality of the dead person. They traveled to the netherworld, Irkalla, where they were assigned a position, and led an existence similar in some ways to that of the living. Relatives of the dead were expected to make offerings of food and drink to the dead to ease their conditions. If they did not, the ghosts could inflict misfortune and illness on the living.
Traditional healing practices ascribed a variety of illnesses to the action of ghosts, while others were caused by gods or demons.[3] Some sources[clarification needed] say the spirit was "inherited from the slain god whose body was used in creating man".[dubious – discuss][4]
^Thorkild Jacobsen (1978). The treasures of darkness: a history of Mesopotamian religion. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-02291-3.
^John A. Halloran, Sumerian Lexicon Version 3.0, sumerian.org
^Jeremy A. Black; Jeremy Black; Anthony Green; Tessa Rickards (1992). Gods, demons, and symbols of ancient Mesopotamia: an illustrated dictionary. University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-70794-0. s.v. "gidim".
^Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat (1998). Daily life in ancient Mesopotamia. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 141–145. ISBN 0-313-29497-6.
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