Nocturnal Transgressions
A Study on the Sexual Implications of the Idiom maldī ( erši )… etēqu
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20323799 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jacob Jan De Ridder (0000-0003-2151-6682, Universität Leipzig Altorientalisches Institut, Leipzig Leipzig Germany), Elyze Zomer (0000-0002-9506-7595, Universität Tübingen Institut für die Kulturen des Alten Orients (IANES) Tübingen Germany) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 115 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 208-215 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-26 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0084-5299 • E-ISSN: 1613-1150 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/za-2025-0014 |
| OpenAlex | W4416747443 |
| Language | EN |
This paper discusses the idiom maldī erši ... etēqu “to cross the edge of the bed of ...”, primarily known from the incantation ša maldī eršīya ītiqu , which is attested on numerous amulets and in the series Ḫulbazizi from the first millennium BCE. It examines textual evidence found in legal documents and letters from the Middle Babylonian period, where an abbreviated form of the idiom is used, implying an act of illegal sexual transgression ( maldī ... etēqu ). It will be argued that the idiom carries the same meaning in the incantation ša maldī eršīya ītiqu , where it denotes the demon as a possible succubus or incubus
Demon · Incantation · Marine transgression · Meaning (existential) · Reading (process) · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Ancient Near East History · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
| Highly cited | No |
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