tokori: lindseyfajkldjfa:disturbingimages:hardcorejudas:scarygirl:honeyedIvory carvings: “
tokori: lindseyfajkldjfa: disturbingimages: hardcorejudas: scarygirl: honeyed Ivory carvings: “The tooth worm as Hell’s demon”, southern France, 18th Century; This artistically designed carving is contained in a molar, 10.5 cm in height, which can be separated into two halves of equal size. It opens out into two scenes depicting the infernal torments of toothache as a battle with the “tooth worm”. The legend of the “tooth worm” as the cause of toothache originated in Mesopotamia around 1800 B.C. A legend, in much the same sense as that of the Creation, concerning the origin of the tooth worm is to be found in the inscriptions on ancient tablets from 1800 B.C., and from the New Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods of 650 and 550 B.C. in the following form: “When Anu created the Sky, the Sky created the Rivers, The Rivers created the Valleys, the Valleys created the Swamps, the Swamps created the Worm, the Worm went to Samas and wept. His tears flow before Ea. “What will you give me to eat, what will you give me to such?” “I’ll give you a ripe fig, apricots and apple juice.” “What use are a ripe fig, an apricot and apple juice to me? Lift me up! Let me dwell ‘twixt teeth and gum! I’ll suck the blood from the teeth and gnaw the roots in their gums.” “Because you have said this, 0 Worm, may Ea sinke you with his mighty hand!” Fauchard and Pfaff (1712 - 1766) were the first to question this myth. Both completely rejected the tooth worm. Pfaff, however, writes cautiously that he has never come across the tooth worm “despite all my efforts”, but that he would not like “to dispute the observations of learned doctors.” -- source link