Call in the professionals

While we may assume that all people engaged in cursing, we cannot assume that the ancient Near Easterners perceived every curse they uttered to be equally efficacious. Certainly, some maledictions were believed to be more potent than others. What contributed to the intensity of an imprecation probably rested in the distinction between the lay and the professional curser. Thus, even though all people could and did curse, we can imagine that there were occasions when the malediction of an amateur was just not enough to solve the problem. Presumably, something more was needed, something stronger and perhaps more lasting.— Cursed Are You!, page 349