While in Israel the nation began to understand that Yahweh was the one true God with all the qualities and powers to heal and protect his people, the world at large did not hold to this viewpoint. In Mesopotamia (the area of Iraq and Iran today) lived great nations that had a plethora of deities to beseech and call upon, each with their own special talent.

Gula’s Cult

Gula was one such deity that took on the form of a woman; her ability was to heal those afflicted physically or magically. In fact her main temple in Isin would be the equivalent of our hospitals today. Within the temple precincts were trained physicians that held expertise in one of two fields. The first field dealt with the medical aspects of healing (the asutu), while the latter dealt with the magical realm (ashiputu). Thus it was a place of consultation where petitioners could be guided to a diagnosis.

There were many forms of treatment depending on the affliction. Oftentimes a liver of an animal was dissected for a diagnosis, an herbal remedy ingested or even a figurine constructed that would become a vessel to contain the sickness (these were buried afterwards).

Gula’s Cult Symbol

A good Mesopotamian deity was always accompanied with a symbol. Nabu the scribal god for example, was represented by a stylus (a pen). Interestingly it was the dog that came to represent the Healing cult, probably due to the fact that a dog would lick clean its wounds and recover but also because it was a guard. The dog symbol thus guarded against certain sicknesses and took on the role of protective magic within her cult.

However despite the contact the Israelites had with the Mesopotamian cultures they still spoke of their god, Yahweh, as the one who “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3