Babylonian Magic and Sorcery

This classic work is a treasury of esoteric writing concerning the prayers and rituals to ancient deities from the dawn of Western civilization.

In this work first published in 1896, King presents the cuneiform text of a group of sixty clay tablets inscribed with prayers and religious compositions of a devotional and magical character. These tablets were created by the scribes of Ashurbanipal, King of Assyria, between 669–625 B.C., and are currently part of the Kuyunjik collection in the British Museum. King’s illustrations feature a transliteration of each tablet with an English translation of well-preserved passages.

King includes a Babylonian-English glossary, a list of proper names and numerals with their corresponding cuneiform inscriptions, and a list of words and word portions of uncertain translation.

“The texts and translations are accurately presented and definitive. King’s notes are concise, to the point, and easy to follow. But this is a highly technical book, designed for the professional, whether that professional be Assyriologist, paleographer, or magician. What, then, is its value to the non-professional reader? The answer is clear. Babylonian Magic and Sorcery offers us the means to gain an insight into the magico-religious concepts of the Semitic nations. And it is these concepts, and the magic based upon them, that underlie the worldview of the Western esoteric tradition, for that tradition is essentially Judaeo-Christian—it does not, save indirectly, derive from ancient Egypt.” —from the Foreword by R. A. Gilbert