 The Babylonian necromancers were called "manzazuu" or "sha'etemmu", and the spirits they raised were called "etemmu".The oldest literary account of necromancy is found in Homer's "Odyssey".Under the direction of Circe, a powerful sorceress, Odysseus travels to the underworld ("katabasis") in order to gain insight about his impending voyage home by raising the spirits of the dead through the use of spells which Circe has taught him.