March 26, 2025

Jonathan Beltz on Sumerian Death-Demons (and How to Deal with them)

Tablet K. 1284 containing a late Sumerian (Neo-Assyrian period) spell against Namtar

Thanks to the British Museum for use of the image above. You can inspect it in exquisite detail at The Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative.

Roots of Magic Interview 4

[Ask not where the crazy echo on Jonathan Beltz’s voice came from in this recording. It came from Namtar.]

We are delighted to speak with Jonathan Beltz, a postgraduate research fellow at the MagEIA project at the time of recording, and a man who knows a thing or two about Sumerian death-demons.

We start out by discussing who the Sumerians were, and getting a very brief introduction to their urban, temple-based religion. We then embark on a taxonomical investigation of the types of dangerous non-human intelligences with which ancient Sumerian culture was concerned: the Udug, a disease-bearing entity; the Gala, a kind of rogue entity, also prone to bringing disease; weird animal-shaped entities that threaten humans, like the Samana; and, of course, Namtar, the Sumerian ‘angel of death/grim reaper’ figure, who is a somewhat more ‘divine’ figure than these others, but still terrifying (or maybe all the more terrifying because of his high estate).

We then explore the very early dossier of incantations – if that is the right word – devoted to driving out such entities, often through invoking the power of the gods to impose order on the world, with some comparative work bringing in the later Akkadian dossier, for which we have more evidence and a better understanding. Were these incantations for use by trained scribes/priests? What would a more d.i.y. form of practice look like? What kinds of materia magica were in use aside from inscribed tablets? We then bring the figure of Namtar into this conversation and things get absolutely fascinating. Namtar is death personified, in a certain way, but he is more than this, and Beltz paints a compelling picture of this elusive death-god. But god or no god, Namtar is susceptible, potentially at least, to magical countermeasures. Why go softly into that good night, when you can send the angel of death to the wrong address, or trick him into thinking he’s got you when really he’s just got a statue?

Interview Bio:

Jonathan Beltz is an Assyriologist working on Mesopotamian religion and “magic,” as well as Sumerian and Akkadian literature. He is a junior fellow at the DFG Center for Advanced Studies MagEIA. His research has covered Mesopotamian demonology, the use of protective amulets, and Sumerian “oath incantations.”

Download SHWEP-RoM-4-Jonathan-Beltz-on-Sumerian-Death-Demons

N.B: Many entities in the realm of Black Metal have borne the dark name of Namtar: a quick internet-search will bring you much Namtar-metal. My favourite of the crop, and the one which I hereby choose as the official patron of this interview, is this. This French incarnation of Namtar has the æsthetic just right: sounds like it was recorded on the built-in mic on a tape recorder, photocopied front and back covers, cheesy names. Black metal at its finest.

Works Cited in this Episode:

Primary:

Evidence for a cult of Namtar, with dedicated priest: The best place to find these tablets is at Jonathan Beltz. Namtar: Deity, Demon, Agent of Fate. PhD Dissertation, Yale University, 2023, pages 305-307.

Akkadian (Old Babylonian) remedy for scorpion-stings using dough: George, A.R. Mesopotamian Incantations and Related Texts in the Schøyen Collection. (Cornell University Studies in Assyriology and Sumerology 32) CDL Press, 2016, pages 164-165.

For the Sumerian poem The Death of Gilgamesh: Cavigneaux, A. and Al-Rawi, F. Gilgameš et la Mort: Textes de Tell Haddad VI: avec un appendice sur les textes funéraires sumériens. (Cuneiform Monographs 19) Styx Publications, 2000. For an English translation: Foster, B. The Epic of Gilgamesh: A Norton Critical Edition. (2nd Edition) W.W. Norton, 2019.

Odysseus, Hermes, and Circe: Homer, Iliad Book 10. The Hermes passage starts around l. 302.