Mr Thompson also gives the translation of the following two tablets, which, it will be seen, contain references to this belief:— The gods which seize (upon man) Have come forth from the grave; The evil wind-gusts Have come forth from the grave. To demand the payment of rites and the pouring out of libations, They have come forth from the grave; All that is evil in their hosts, like a whirlwind, Hath come forth from the grave. The evil Spirit, the evil Demon, the evil Ghost, the evil Devil, From the earth have come forth; From the underworld unto the land they have come forth; In heaven they are unknown, On earth they are not understood. They neither stand nor sit Nor eat nor drink. INCANTATION Spirits that minish heaven and earth, That minish the land, Spirits that minish the land, Of giant strength, Of giant strength and giant tread, Demons (like) raging bulls, great ghosts, Ghosts that break through all houses, Demons that have no shame, Seven are they! Knowing no care, They grind the land like corn; Knowing no mercy, They rage against mankind: They spill their blood like rain, Devouring their flesh (and) sucking their veins. Where the images of the gods are, there they quake In the temple of Nabu, who fertiliseth the shoots of wheat. They are demons full of violence Ceaselessly devouring blood. Invoke the ban against them, That they no more return to this neighbourhood. By Heaven be ye exorcised! By Earth be ye exorcised! Greek Christianity, as already stated, has been credited by many with the origin of the vampire belief, but this contention is hardly borne out by facts. The belief was undoubtedly developed greatly under the influence of the Greek Church, and utilised by the Greek priests as an additional power which they possessed over the people. It did not become prominent in Greece until after the establishment of Christianity, and there are many remarkable stories told of vampire apparitions among the Slavonic races bordering on Greece, as well as among the Arabians. In later times, Father Richard, a French Jesuit of the seventeenth century, went as a missionary to the Archipelago, and has left an account of the islands of Santerini in which he discourses at length upon the _bucolacs_ or vampires of that district.