最古の文書資料によるシャーマニズム研究のために：メソポタミアのアーシプが行う病気治療と死霊供養

This article aims to contribute some material to the discussion on the Shamanism of Ancient Mesopotamia. A specialist, known as the āšipu, who belonged to some of the main temples, was responsible for treating most diseases in conjunction with other specialists who were organized under him. I believe that this āšipu should be regarded as a shaman in Mesopotamian society. This discussion will include a sample text (No.115) from a book by JoAnn Scurlock (2006) which outlines how the āšipu, in the first stage of his treatment, makes his diagnosis of a client based on their symptoms. When the āšipu ascertains that the disease has been inflicted on the living by a roving ghost (eṭemmu) that is assumed to dwell in the underworld, he organizes a treatment consisting of a series of ritual procedures which includes a set of recitations. In the second stage, he makes a clay figure of the ghost, sets up an offering table to the ‘three great gods’ (Ea, the god of wisdom and freshwater; Shamash or Šamaš, the sun god and Asarluhi or Marduk the son of Ea), and has the client recite a prayer that he (the āšipu) has prepared three times to the gods. In the third stage, the āšipu buries the figure of the ghost and pours water on it, presumably enabling the ghost to return to the underworld as the figure melts. In the final stage, he purifies the client with a censer and the flame of a torch and then sends the client home by a different path than the one he came by with instructions not to look back. In a case like this, where the disease was caused by a ghost, the healing ritual places great importance on the fact that the ghost is never attacked or made to perish, but is given proper care so that it can remain in the underworld and not venture out among the living again. Japanese people are quite familiar with this kind of understanding. Therefore, an insight into Japanese folk religion and its practices from the viewpoint of comparative studies of religion would shed much light on our understanding of Mesopotamian religion which, like Japanese folk religion, arose naturally over time (during ca. 3000-300 BC).