Juniper Incense and Fumigation [Divine Mediator]

When considering the ritual significance of the juniper, as incense or otherwise, it should be noted that in the incantation literature, juniper fulfilled a role which, in modern discourse, is termed a "divine mediator". This simply means that the presence or use of the item, in this case juniper, was believed to connect the realm of the divine with the realm of the mundane - to mediate between the gods and the exorcist who beseeches them.

I refer again to Cunningham's examinations of these concepts. He says about divine purifiers:


P. 27
"Four points should be noted about these purifiers: that they are pure; that consequently they purify; that in most cases there is evidence for their existence in temples; that they mediate between the divine domains above and below it, with this mediation being expressed by references either to those domains or their deities, or to the plants' roots and branches which can be regarded as extending towards those domains. Thus temples perceived as mediating between the temporal world and the divine domains contain purifiers capable of performing the same role."


The use of Juniper as a divine purifier is first attested in the incantation literature of the Ur III period. Cunningham gives the below sketch of its attestation in two Ur III incantations, and a myth:

[Ur III] On the Juniper: Pg. 81


"Text 69 begins: Juniper, of heaven its standard, of the underworld, the oak' ('li an-na ùru-bi ki giš-ha-l[u-úb]'); Text 65 begins instead: 'The fragrance of the juniper fills heaven and the underworld' ('ir-lia-a an-ki-a mu-za')...Passages confirming the existence of the juniper in temples also describe it as linking the temporal world to the divine. Thus, for example, the Myth of Enki and the World Order describes the incantation-priests in Eridu performing various rituals for Enki:
146 - They cleanse the dwelling of the agrun,
they call his (Enki's) name at the stations,
they purify the majestic shrine of the abzu,
they cause the juniper of heaven, the pure plant,
to come forth in its midst."


We see therefore, especially in incantation text 65, that the juniper seems to created its bond between heaven and earth (or the underworld), and fulfilled its role as divine mediator by virtue of its fragrance - this seems very suggestive of incense burning.
I have added below some lines from ETCSL, first on incense and secondly juniper used as incense.


Incense:
na-izi read ne-de₃

1. t.1.8.2.1

"He let their smoke rise there, like incense [na-izi] put on the fire. As if Dumuzid had brought in the good savours of the cattle pen, so An, Enlil, Enki and Ninḫursaĝa consumed the best part of the food prepared by Lugalbanda"


2. t.2.1.7

"Nindub, the chief purification priest of Eridug, filled it with the smoke of incense"



3. t.2.5.3.1

"142-149. Everybody hastens to holy Inana. For my lady in the midst of heaven the best of everything is prepared (?). In the pure places of the plain, at its good places, on the roofs, on the rooftops, the rooftops of the dwellings (?), in the sanctuaries (?) of mankind, incense offerings like a forest of aromatic cedars are transmitted to her."



Juniper [li]

4. t.2.5.3.1

"195-202. To pour libations, to carry out purification rites, to heap up incense offerings, to burn juniper, to set out food offerings, to set out offering-bowls, he goes into her Egal-maḫ"


5. t.1.1.3
-mentioned above by Cunningham-
"They …… the chambers ……, they …… the emplacements, they purify the great shrine of the Abzu ……. They bring there the tall juniper, the pure plant. They organize the holy …… in the great watercourse …… of Enki.


6. t.2.1.7

He put juniper, the mountains' pure plant, onto the fire, and raised smoke with cedar resin, the scent of gods.





Reviewing some of Scurlocks dissertation on The Magical means of Dealing with Ghosts in Ancient Mesopotamia, we see that the exorcist when setting up the rite to dispel a ghost, first makes a sacrifice to the gods in some cases. To draw the gods favor, juniper is burned as Scurlock relates:

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During the Proffered meal, aromatic substances were burned on censers. Typically, juniper was used. Once, cypress as well as juniper was used, and once only aromatics are specified. Sometimes, the nature of the charcoal used is also specified.

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In addition, Cunningham mentions a line from the Ur III ritual tablet PBS 13 35, which contains the incipit


"(The incantation) "Purified with great junipers" is receited over the heaped incense")


To which Cunningham comments: "the reference here to incense indicates that a process of purification through fumigation is envolved."

From this reading it I believe juniper served both as incense, and that the fragrance from this burning was the purifying factor which mediated divine and mundane realms; which made the plant a divine mediator.