ekimmu
In ancient Assyria, the evil ghost of one who was denied entrance to the
underworld and was doomed to wander the earth. "Ekimmu" means "that which
is snatched away." One became an Ekimmu by dying a violent or unsavory
death, such as by murder, in battle, drowing, or succumbing to exposure
in the desert, which left the corpse unburied. The spirits of buried
corpses also could become an ekimmu under other conditions: if the proper
funeral rites were not observed at graveside; if the person died without
surviving family; or if the spirit had no one to care for it.
The ekimmu was greatly feared, for it would attach itself quite easily to
virtually any living person regardless of whether that person had been
acquainted with the dead one. So much as looking at an impure corpse could
result in being haunted by the ekimmu. At the least, the ekimmu was a
nuisance, and at the worst, it could cause the deaths of an entire
household. Once attached to the living, it is extremelt hard to exorcise.
