Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From Myths & Legends of Babylonia & Assyria by Lewis Spence, 1916.
A Toothache Myth
The Assyrian physician had perforce to be something of a demonologist, as possession by devils was held to be the cause of divers diseases, and we find incantations sprinkled among prescriptions. Occasionally, too, we come upon the fag-end of a folk-tale or dip momentarily into myth, as in a prescription for the toothache, compounded of fermented drink, the plant sakilbir and oil—probably as efficacious in the case of that malady as most modern ones are. The story attached to the cure is as follows:
Cuneiform tablet: Late Babylonian grammatical text ca. late 1st millennium B.C.
Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public Domain.
When Anu had created the heavens, the earth created the rivers, the rivers the canals, and the canals the marshes, which in turn created the worm. And the worm came weeping before Ea, saying;
"What wilt thou give me for my food, what wilt thou give me for my devouring?"
"I will give thee ripe figs," replied the god, "ripe figs and scented wood."
"Bah," replied the worm, "what are ripe figs to me, or what is scented wood? Let me drink among the teeth and batten on the gums that I may devour the blood of the teeth and the strength thereof."
This tale alludes to a Babylonian superstition that worms consume the teeth.
Spence, Lewis. Myths & Legends of Babylonia & Assyria. George G. Harrap & Co., 1916.
About TOTA
TOTA.world provides cultural information and sharing across the world to help you explore your Family’s Cultural History and create deep connections with the lives and cultures of your ancestors.
Related Articles
