The incantation series inscribed in cuneiform Sumerograms as ÉN SAG.GIG.GA.MEŠ, Akkadian: muruṣ qaqqadi, “headache” (literally “sick-head”), is an ancient Mesopotamian nine-tablet collection of magical prescriptions[1] against the demon that caused grave disease characterized by a headache.
[2] It is listed on the ninth line of the KAR44,[3]: 244 the work known as the Exorcists Manual, a compendium of the works of the āšipūtu, craft of exorcism, prefixed by the gloss sa.kik.ke4, a phonetic rendition of the series’ opening incipit, én sag-gig é-kur-ta nam-ta-è.
[3]: 253 Prescriptions against headache have a long tradition within Mesopotamian folk remedy.
Like many of the other canonical collections of incantations and rituals, Sag-gig-ga-meš probably achieved its final form in the first millennium BC where it was copied down until the Hellenistic period.
"[5] In the ritual part of the text, a lamb is offered up for immolation as a substitute for the sick man.