Excerpt from Babylonian Oil Magic in the Talmud and in the Later Jewish Literature
Oil was regarded in antiquity as a mystic element. It was used for consecration and dedication. When Jacob wanted to hallow the stone at Bethel he poured oil on it (Gen. xxviii. 18). When Moses dedicated Aaron to the service of God he poured oil on his head and anointed him (Lev. viii. 12, cf. also Exod. xxix). The Tabernacle and all that was in it was consecrated by being anointed with oil (Lev. viii. 10, 11). Lev. x. 7, Moses says to Aaron and his sons: 'And ye shall not go out from the door of the tent of meeting, lest ye die: for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.' At the cleansing of the leper, too, oil was used. Four verses deal with the use of the oil for that purpose (Lev. xiv. 15-18; cf. also vv. 26-9). Every action mentioned in those verses no doubt had its significance. Samuel, when selecting Saul for the kingship, pours oil on his head (1 Sam. x. 1). When David was chosen by Samuel to succeed Saul he was anointed with oil by Samuel (1 Sam. xvi. 13). And so were the later kings anointed with oil, see especially 1 Kings i; cf. also Ps. xlv. 8.
In Assyria, too, memorial stones and tablets were anointed with oil. So Tiglath-Pileser I (end of twelfth century B.C.E.) says: naru pl. sa Samsi- a Ramman a-bi-ia samne ap-su-us, 'the memorial stones of my ancestor Samsi-Ramman I have anointed with oil' (col. viii, 47-48). See, for more references, Delitzsch, Assyrisches Handuorterbuch, p. 550. In Egypt and Greece also oil was used for dedication; see Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. I, p. 101.
Oil also played a role in magic. We know this from Assyro-Babylonian magical texts.
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