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In the Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon, oath-breakers are cursed with a famine in which they eat their sons and a mother locks out her daughter. Deuteronomy 28 describes a similar covenant curse of famine in which a mother secretly eats her newborn.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Deuteronomy 28:53
Hebrew Bible
52 They will besiege all of your villages until all of your high and fortified walls collapse—those in which you put your confidence throughout the land. They will besiege all your villages throughout the land the Lord your God has given you. 53 You will then eat your own offspring, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you, because of the severity of the siege by which your enemies will constrict you. 54 The man among you who is by nature tender and sensitive will look with an evil eye* against his brother, his beloved wife, and his remaining children. 55 He will withhold from all of them his children’s flesh that he is eating (since there is nothing else left), because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict you in your villages. 56 Likewise, the most tender and delicate of your women, who would never think of putting even the sole of her foot on the ground because of her daintiness, will turn against her beloved husband, her sons and daughters, 57 and will secretly eat her afterbirth and her newborn children (since she has nothing else), because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict you in your villages.
The Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon §§46–47
Esarhaddon's Succession Treaty (SAA 2 6)
Ancient Near East, Assyrian
437 May Belet-ili, the lady of creation, cut off birth from your land; may she deprive your nurses of the cries of little children in the streets and squares. 440 May Adad, the canal inspector of heaven and earth, cut off sea[sonal flooding] from your land and deprive your fields of [grain], may he [submerge] your land with a great flood; may the locust who diminishes the land devour your harvest; may the sound of mill or oven be lacking from your houses, may the grain for grinding disappear from you; instead of grain may your sons and your daughters grind your bones; may not (even) your (first) finger-joint dip in the dough, may the [...] of your bowls eat up the dough. May a mother [bar the door] to her daughter. In your hunger eat the flesh of your sons! In want and famine may one man eat the flesh of another; may one man clothe himself in another's skin; may dogs and swine eat your flesh; may your ghost have nobody to take care of the pouring of libations to him.
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Notes and References
“... This fact implies that maledictions of this type do not necessarily reflect a real situation but belong rather to the typology of the political documents current in the eighth and seventh centuries B.C. We cite below several parallel maledictions as illustrations of this point: VTE 448-50: A mother [will lock her door] against her daughter. In your hunger eat the flesh of your sons! In the famine and want may one man eat the flesh of another. (Cf. ll. 547-50 and 570-2). [...] Deut. 28: 53-7: And you shall eat the offspring of your body, the flesh of your sons and daughters ... in the straits and in the distress. ... The most tender ... woman will grudge to her son and to her daughter ... she will eat them secretly for want of all things ... in the straits and distress. ... (cf. Jer. 19: 9). ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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