Distinctions among religion, magic and nature, and rational thought, when referring to an ancient society that did not use those descriptive categories, are ultimately regarded as inadequate by the majority of scholars who study ancient Near East societies. Therefore, the terms "empirical" and "exorcistic" will be used throughout this entry to define the various aspects of the art of healing in the ancient Near East.

Cuneiform Script Area: Mesopotamia

Two different kinds of healers are mentioned in the earliest records: the azu (usually translated as "doctor"), found during the first half of the third millennium BCE, and the ashipu (usually translated as "exorcist"), also in evidence during the same period, and more commonly after the second millennium BCE. The latter term was derived from the active participle of the root wshp: "to conjure." Scholars...