Marco Moriggi

Abstract: Abstract The present paper offers an analysis of certain Northern Mesopotamian demons attested on an Aramaic incantation bowl in square script. This object displays at its centre a list of evil entities drawn from a Mandaic forerunner, some of which are paralleled in the epigraphic corpus of Hatra and nearby sites. The analysis explores whether this may provide new evidence regarding the fate of Hatra’s inhabitants and cults in the aftermath of the fall of the city in 240/1 AD; the suggested scenario is that some Hatrenes could have been deported to Babylonia, where they encountered the Mandaean culture in its early phases and acquainted it with a part of their pantheon.

Abstract: The massive Temenos of Assor and Serū (Assyrian Aššur and Šerūʾa) in Arsacid Ashur testifies to the cult of ancient Assyrian deities in this venerable, albeit peripheric, city in Northern Mesopotamia between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD. It is also well known that the temple of Assor and Serū proper, built exactly above the Neo-Assyrian temple of Aššur, has yielded several Aramaic inscriptions that provide substantial evidence for the continuity of some Assyrian cults, onomastic, and religious calendar. Thanks to the joint analysis of epigraphic and archaeological data from the temple, the present paper aims at highlighting some aspects of cultic practice, namely the regular presence of some individuals during solemn festivities.