A 2,700-year old clay tablet was discovered in a cave in Iraq but has been kept in the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin for the past four years. On the tablet, a horned figure which appears to be part human-part goat is depicted – a demon known as Bennu. The image shows the monster standing tall, with hoofed feet, a tail and a snakes tongue poking out of its mouth.
Along with the drawing are symptoms of ‘Bennu-epilepsy’, which the ancient Assyrians thought was epilepsy caused by the demon.
The symptoms of the disease included: seizures, loss of consciousness or sanity, and, in some cases, the patients cried out like a goat, according to the research published in Journal des Médecines Cunéiformes.
The Assyrians believed diseased were inflicted by gods and demons, and the uncovered drawing shows how the ancients believed that diseases such as Bennu-eplipsy could be cured by rituals.
Furthermore, the researchers believe it is the first known recording of epilepsy and its symptoms.
Lead researcher Troels Pank Arbøll from the University of Copenhagen said: “We have known for a long time that the Assyrians and Babylonians regarded diseases as phenomena that were caused by gods, demons or witchcraft.
“And healers were responsible for expelling these supernatural forces and the medical symptoms they caused with drugs, rituals or incantations.
“But this is the first time that we have managed to connect one of the very rare illustrations of demons in the medical texts with the specific disease epilepsy, which the Assyrians and Babylonians called Bennu.
“Drawings of supernatural powers are very rare on cuneiform tablets with magical and medical treatments.
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“In the following millennia, this idea became widespread, also in our part of the world, and it can still be detected in the English word ‘lunacy’.
“In other words, the views on illness, diagnoses and treatments in the earliest civilisations have had a significant impact on later perceptions of illness, even in recent history.”
Assyria was an ancient kingdom and later empire on the river Tigris found in present-day northern Iraq.
Assyria is one of the earliest civilisations, and the history of ancient Assyria dates from approximately 2000 to 612 BCE.
