Conclusions

The behavior of the udug and the lama are clearly deeply involved in the overall complexities of Mesopotamian incantations and the worldview that governed their creation and use.

1) Mesopotamian incantations themselves have a strong central narra­tive that requires benevolent figures at one place and malevolent figures in another.

2) The figures—in this study, the udug or lama, though other super­natural figures are possible—must conform to that requirement when placed in that particular section of the narrative, which in turns works with the principle seen in the following point.

3) The connection between the udug and lama, along with the desire for symmetry, is strong enough that we do not see a pairing of evil udug and good lama, even if such a pairing were permissible within the text.

4) The lama has a strong and grounded tradition of operating as a benevolent figure, thanks to its long history as a goddess and then protec­tive spirit in the Lagash region, while the udug has no such history and is, by its nature, an ill-defined and shifting demon.

5) Thanks to the above four points, a text is far more likely to pair the udug with the lama and shift them both into a benevolent role when a pair of figures is required. It is more peculiar for the lama to act against type, but the texts recognize that if the udug and lama are slotted into the role for a malevolent pair within the text, they must be cast as such, regardless of the lama's overwhelmingly benevolent nature, which may predispose but does not inhibit the lama from acting malevolently.

In other words, what we see within these texts is a strong predisposition for the lama and udug to act benevolently or malevolently, respectively. When they appear otherwise, it is against their respective predispositions but these actions are still permissible for each entity. In each case, that predisposition is overcome through the presentation of the oddly-natured demons as a pair. The symmetry of a good udug paired with a good lama—or an evil lama with an evil udug—seems to be the trigger for which role the entities will play, and this itself seems a function of context. The evil lama appears in a list of other evil demons, and the good udug in the proper place for a benevolent spirit within the incan­tation framework. In these few instances, the connection between the two fig­ures whereby they operate as a pair, and the demands of their place within the narrative of the text, are deliberate links that overcome the inherent tendency of the lama and udug to appear as positive and negative figures, respectively.