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# Would you kidnap a god?
- URL: https://www.assyriapost.com/would-you-kidnap-a-god/
- Published: 2026-01-26T21:27:58.000Z
- Updated: 2026-01-26T21:27:58.000Z
- Description: Historian Selena Wisnom reveals how the ancient Assyrians used ‘godnapping’ as a devastating form of psychological warfare.
- Author: The Assyria Post
- Tags: Curated stories

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This post is part of hand-picked stories from across the web, curated by the editors of the Assyria Post. 

“Anything that goes wrong in your life is because the gods are angry with you. If you become really ill, it’s because you are estranged from the gods in some way,” Wisnom explains.

Offending a god might come through obvious crimes, like theft and murder, but also through acts that seem distant from modern morality.

“Some of the things seem really odd to us, like vomiting in a river is apparently a great offence to the gods,” Wisnom says. Worse still, guilt could be contagious: “If you sit in the same chair as somebody who’s committed an offence, you can pick up that guilt yourself.”

*Read the full story:*

[Would you kidnap a god? This ancient Mesopotamian empire did – and for a genius reasonHistorian Selena Wisnom reveals how the ancient Assyrians of Mesopotamia used ‘godnapping’ as a devastating form of psychological warfare![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/f5/5df5a6c1-1f57-4975-951e-ddd33d31dec7/content/images/icon/favicon-22.ico)HistoryExtraJames Osborne![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/f5/5df5a6c1-1f57-4975-951e-ddd33d31dec7/content/images/thumbnail/Steal-a-godGettyImages-1521914701500x1000-8044137-e1755614597169.jpg)](https://www.historyextra.com/period/ancient-history/mesopotamia-assyrian-empire-godnapping-clever-reason/?ref=assyriapost.com)