In ancient Mesopotamia demons are a fact of life. They can cause disease, fires, accidents, madness, crime and pestilence. Plants wither and crops die in their presence. The hideous Asag makes fish boil alive in rivers.
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Namtar sends plague throughout the lands. The demon Shulpae is associated with epilepsy (benu, bennu) an affliction greatly feared in the ancient world.
Goddess Queen Ereshkigal rules over Kur, the Mesopotamian Underworld. She declares the deceased officially dead and her scribe notes down the details. There's no judgment. Evil humans have the same fate as the righteous.
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Grave goods in the burial site, continued libations, prayers and offerings by family are important to the comfort of the deceased. Without someone to care for them in the Overworld, the dead have miserable lives, with only dust to eat and dirty water to drink.
Family members pour libations through a tube into the grave of the deceased. Offerings of food, incense, small gifts, incantations and praises are given by relatives to ensure a comfortable afterlife.
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The Edimmu are composed of spirits who were not buried properly, including those whose descendants don't pay respects. They're vengeful demons who go abroad to haunt their families.
Also included are those who die in an accident, by starvation, shipwreck or murder and are not given a burial. Nergal, the Lord of the Underworld, is a god of inflicted death.
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These spirits are angry and resentful. If a soul is killed as a mortal, the ghost can torment the murderer. If his bones lie gnawed by sharks on the ocean floor, he might take out his agony on the living.
In Germanic tradition similar creatures are the Wiedergänger, the Undead or those who walk again. They're the pagan German equivalents to werewolves, vampires, life-sucking demons and angry ghosts.
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Forms of these creatures exist in the East, including the infamous hopping vampire of China. The preta, or hungry ghosts of Buddhism and Hinduism, are similar spirits.
The Mesopotamian Edimmu can possess people. They're a type of wind demon, hard to see, often felt. They cause illness, mood swings, hatred, pain, suffering and criminal behavior in the possessed one.
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Wind demons can suck the life essence from people who are weak. These could be the elderly, frail, infirm, ill, children and those who are sleeping.
It's possible to placate the demons with libations, offerings, praises and hymns. The purpose is to make the ghost less angry so it will leave in peace, and perhaps have some comfort in the afterlife. Thus is the haunted person free of its influence.
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The demon can also inflict a person as punishment for breaking taboos or disrespect to the gods. Even benevolent gods will call up disease demons if humans fail to observe proper attitudes or rites.
If the demon is especially hostile, an exorcism might be necessary. In ancient Mesopotamia, exorcists are specialist priests and healers known as asipu. They're physicians with expertise in demonology, who use magical means to heal or cure a person.
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There are two other main types of physician. The asu or objective doctor uses herbs, organic products and techniques known to be successful in the past. The baru, experts of divination, can identify the demon or entity possessing the person. Often more than one type of doctor participates in healing.
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