“Arise ye great gods, hear my complaint, Grant me justice, take cognizance of my condition. I have made an image of my sorcerer and sorceress; I have humbled myself before you and bring to you my cause, Because of the evil they have done, Of the impure things which they have handled. May she die! Let me live! May her charm, her witchcraft, her sorcery be broken. May the plucked sprig of the _binu_ tree purify me; May it release me; may the evil odor of my mouth be scattered to the winds. May the _mashtakal_ herb which fills the earth cleanse me. Before you let me shine like the _kankal_ herb, Let me be brilliant and pure as the _lardu_ herb. The charm of the sorceress is evil; May her words return to her mouth, her tongue be cut off. Because of her witchcraft may the gods of night smite her, The three watches of the night break her evil charm. May her mouth be wax; her tongue, honey. May the word causing my misfortune that she has spoken dissolve like wax. May the charm she had wound up melt like honey, So that her magic knot be cut in twain, her work destroyed.”[73] [Sidenote: Materials and devices employed in the magic.] It is evident from this incantation that use was made of magic images and knots, and of the properties of trees and herbs. Magic images were made of clay, wax, tallow, and other substances and were employed in various ways. Thus directions are given for making a tallow image of an enemy of the king and binding its face with a cord in order to deprive the person whom it represents of speech and willpower.[74] Images were also constructed in order that disease demons might be magically transferred into them,[75] and sometimes the images are slain and buried.[76] In the above incantation the magic knot was employed only by the sorceress, but Fossey states that knots were also used as counter-charms against the demons.[77] In the above incantation the names of herbs were left untranslated and it is not possible to say much concerning the pharmacy of the Assyrians and Babylonians because of our lack of a lexicon for their botanical and mineralogical terminology.[78] However, from what scholars have been able to translate it appears that common rather than rare and outlandish substances were the ones most employed. Wine and oil, salt and dates, and onions and saliva are the sort of things used. There is also evidence of the employment of a magic wand.[79] Gems and animal substances were used as well as herbs; all sorts of philters were concocted; and varied rites and ceremonies were employed such as ablutions and fumigations. In the account of the ark of the Babylonian Noah we are told of the magic significance of its various parts; thus the mast and cabin ceiling were made of cedar, a wood that counteracts sorceries.[80] [Sidenote: Greek culture not free from magic.]