Of course the priests made it their business to compound their drinks of such drugs as they had discovered to possess therapeutic virtue. In ancient times magic and medicine were thus closely united. It could not have been always faith alone which cured the patient, but faith plus a little poppy juice would work wonders in many cases. It became therefore greatly to the interest of the priests and magicians to learn the properties of herbs, and the value of the juices and extracts of plants. Out of evil, therefore, mankind reaped this great and valuable knowledge. The two gravest and most fatal diseases with which the Chaldæans were acquainted, says M. Lenormant,[211] were the plague and fever, the Namtar and the Idpa. Naturally they were represented as two demons, the strongest and most formidable who afflict mankind. An old fragment says:—
- The execrable Idpa acts upon the head of man,
- The malevolent Namtar upon the life of man,
- The malevolent Utug upon the forehead of man,
- The malevolent Alal upon the chest of man,
- The malevolent Gigim upon the bowels of man,
- The malevolent Telal upon the hand of man.[212]
The use of magic knots as a cure for diseases was firmly believed in by the ancient Chaldees. M. Lenormant[213] gives a translation of one of the formulæ supposed to have been used against diseases of the head.
Knot on the right and arrange flat in regular bands, on the left a woman’s diadem;
divide it twice in seven little bands; ...
gird the head of the invalid with it;
gird the forehead of the invalid with it;
gird the seat of life with it;
gird his hands and his feet;
seat him on his bed;