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Green Defines Numerous Figures

“After the lahmu, the text goes on to prescribe a type whose name is lost in the break but which is to be inscribed “Go out death, come in life!” Rittig has already pointed out, on the basis of figurines from Aššur, that this is the creature called in modern literature the “bull-man.” (F.A.M. Wiggermann […]

Published: July 18, 2015
Filed Under: 1930, 1961, 1978, 1979, 1983, Achaemenid, Akkad, Anthony Green, Aššur, Babylon, Barnett, British School of Archeology in Iraq, Bull-Man, Burnt Palace, D. Oates, D. Stronach, David A. Loggie, F.A.M. Wiggermann, fish-apkallū, Fort Shalmaneser, girtablīlu, Goat-fish, H.F. Lutz, ILN, IM 65138, Iraq, J.E. Curtis, kilīlu, kulīlu, kusarikku, lion-centaur, Lion-man, Loftus, Lutz, Mallowan, MMA 59.107.27, Mr.R. Edwards, mušhuššu, ND 3209, ND 4114, ND 7901, ND 8194, ND 9523, Neo-Assyrian Apotropaic Figures, Nimrud, Nineveh, North Palace, North-West Palace, Oxford, Pasargadae, Rassam, Rawlinson, Reade, Rittig, SNPAN, Sowie Museum 9-1795, Sowie Museum 9-1796, spearman, suhurmaššu, University of California Publications in Semitic Philology, urmahlīlu
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Green Identifies the Lahmu and the Ugallu

“Returning to the apotropaic ritual, after the fish-apkallē the text prescribes various kinds of wooden figures which cannot be identified among actual figurines, although some types may, as Dr. Reade suggested, be represented in Assyrian sculpture. These wooden figures end, however, with those of the ugallu, “Great-lion,” of which clay examples do exist. The human-leonine […]

Published: July 18, 2015
Filed Under: 1904, 1908, 1924, 1957, 1983, 7th Century BCE, Akkad, Anthony Green, apkallū, apkallē, Ashmolean Museum, Assyria, Aššur, Babylonische Beschwörungsreliefs, BM 118918, BM 136773, British Museum, British School of Archeology in Iraq, Brussels, Burnt Palace, David A. Loggie, Dessa Rittig, Great lion, Great-lion, gypsum, House god, IM 59290, IM 61854, Iraq, Janus, Karl Frank, Leipzig, Lion-man, London, MAOG, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, ND 4111, ND 5296, ND 7847, ND 8181, ND 8190, ND 9342, Neo-Assyrian Apotropaic Figures, Nimrud, Nimrud Series, Nineveh, North Palace, Ocford 1924.701, Oxford, R.C. Thompson, R.S. Ellis, Reade, Ritual, Rogers Fund, Royal Ontario Museum, The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia and Assyria, ugallu, Ur, urmahlīlu, Ursula Calmeyer, utukku-demon, Utukkū Lemnūtu, Woolley
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From Anthony Green, Neo-Assyrian Apotropaic Figures, 1983

“From Assyria and Babylonia in the first half of the first millennium BCE comes a series of small figurines in the round and relief plaques, which are usually found beneath the floors of buildings within receptacles of baked or unbaked brick or (at Nineveh) stone slabs or (so far restricted to Aššur) pottery jars; the […]

Published: July 17, 2015
Filed Under: 1931, 1961, 1983, 1st Millennium BCE, 613 BCE, 9th Century BCE, Acropolis Palace, Adad-nirari III, Anthony Green, apkallū, apkallē, Assyria, Assyrian Empire, Assyrisch-babylonische Kleinplastik magischer Bedeutung vom. 13.-6. Fh v. Chr., Aššur, Babylonia, Berlin, British School, Burnt Palace, Dessa Rittig, Domestic Spirits: Apotropaic Figurines in Mesopotamian Buildings, E. Douglas Van Buren, FFO, Fort Shalmaneser, Foundation Figurines and Offerings, Graz, Griffin-demon, Iraq, J.B. Stearns, Julian Reade, Mallowan, Middle Assyrian Art, Neo-Assyrian Apotropaic Figures, Neo-Assyrian Art, Nineveh, Nisroch, Philadelphia, Reliefs from the Palace of Ashurnasirpal II, Shalmaneser III
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Cicada Files: Marcus Wanners & “Halfassed Journalism”

My conversation with Marcus Wanner, owner of the Cicada 3301 Trademark, sole proprieter of Primus Holdings, LLC.

Published: October 24, 2019
Filed Under: Uncategorized
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Cicada Files: Z 3301 et al

Thomas Schoenberger in his own words.

Published: September 12, 2019
Filed Under: Uncategorized
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Cicada Files: gHOST3301 Interviewed

This interview with gHOST3301 is the first with an inner circle member from Cicada’s Early Period, 2011-4.

Published: August 30, 2019
Filed Under: 1330 BCE, Cicada 3301
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Q Files: Paul Furber Interviewed

An interview with the original Q evangelist, Mr. Paul Furber of South Africa.

Published: May 18, 2019
Filed Under: Q Files, Uncategorized
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Revelation Revisited

A review of Matt Cardin, “In Search of Higher Intelligence: The Daemonic Muses(s) of Crowley, Leary & RAW.”

Published: January 5, 2019
Filed Under: Uncategorized

Eco: Some Ghosts of the Perfect Language

“We have often paused to draw attention to side-effects. Without forced comparisons and without exaggerated claims, it seems permissible at this point to ask informed readers to reconsider various chapters of the history of philosophy, especially those concerning the advent of contemporary logic and linguistic analysis. Would these developments have been possible without the secular […]

Published: August 4, 2016
Filed Under: Uncategorized
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Eco: Hypotheses

“By the term “Rosicrucian linguistics” Ormsby-Lennon (1988) indicates a current of thought prevalent in Germany and England in the seventeenth century, whose influences could still be traced in the proposals for the invention of scientific languages by Dalgarno and Wilkins. According to Ormsby-Lennon the Rosicrucians derived their notion of magic language from Jacob Böhme‘s theory […]

Published: June 20, 2016
Filed Under: Uncategorized
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Eco: Bruno: Ars Combinatoria & Infinite Worlds, 2

  “Thus this language claimed to be so perfect as to furnish the keys to express relations between things, not only of this world, but of any of the other infinite worlds in their mutual concordance and opposition. Nevertheless, in its semiotic structure, it was little more than an immense lexicon, conveying vague meanings, with […]

Published: May 24, 2016
Filed Under: Uncategorized
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Eco: Lullian Kabbalism

“We have now reached a point where we must collect what seem the various membra disiecta of the traditions we have been examining and see how they combined to produce a Lullian revival. We can begin with Pico della Mirandola: he cited Lull in his Apologia of 1487. Pico, of course, would have been aware […]

Published: May 23, 2016
Filed Under: Uncategorized
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Eco: New Prospects for the Monogenetic Hypothesis

“Doubting the possibility of obtaining scientific agreement upon an argument whose evidence had been lost in the mists of time, about which nothing but conjectures might be offered, the Société de Linguistique of Paris 1866 decided that it would no longer accept scientific communications on the subject of either universal languages or origins of language. […]

Published: May 21, 2016
Filed Under: Uncategorized
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Gane: Applying Black’s Theory of Metaphor

“Composite creatures are found on various cosmic levels. For that reason, Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography, by Wayne Horowitz (1998; rev. 2011), has informed the present study, especially with regard to the “Babylonian Map of the World” and Enuma Elish texts, which mention a significant number of mixed beings found in the Neo-Babylonian iconographic repertoire. (Wayne Horowitz, Mesopotamian […]

Published: November 20, 2015
Filed Under: 1975, 1976, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2011, and Religion of the Ancient Near East, Animal Symbolism in Mesopotamia: A Contextual Approach, Anzu, Babylonia, Babylonian Map of the World, Baltimore, Chikako E. Watanabe, Composite Creatures, Constellations, Continuum, Eisenbrauns, Enuma Elish, Gane, Hans Goedicke, Hope B. Werness, Imdugud, Institut für Orientalistik d. Univ, J. J. M. Roberts, Johns Hopkins University Press, Max Black, Mehmet-Ali Ataç, Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian Civilizations, Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography, New Haven, New York, The Continuum Encyclopedia of Animal Symbolism in Art, The Historical Development of the Mesopotamian Pantheon: A Study in Sophisticated Polytheism, The Treasures of Darkness, theory of metaphor, Thorkild Jacobsen, Unity in Diversity: Essays in the History, University of Cambridge, Watanabe, Wayne Horowitz, Wilfred Lambert, Winona Lake, Yale University Press
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Gane: Review of the Literature on Monsters, Demons and gods

“When a monster is associated with an anthropomorphic deity, it operates in the same field of action or part of nature as that of the deity. Whereas the deity functions in the entire domain of his or her rule, the monster’s activity is limited to only part of the god’s realm. Thus, a monster that […]

Published: October 22, 2015
Filed Under: 1939, 1984, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2007 CE, 2012, 2500 BCE, 800 BC, A History of the Animal World in the Ancient Near East, A. Green, Akkad, Amulets, Anatolia, Animals in the Art of Ancient Iran, Anthony Green, Anzu, AO 22205, Apkallu, Assyria, Attribute Creatures, Austin, Babylonia, Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, Beneficent Spirits and Malevolent Demons: The Iconography of Good and Evil in Ancient Assyria and Babylonia, Berlin, Billie Jean Collins, Brigitte Groneberg, Brill, Brill Academic Publishers, Clermont-Ganneau, Collins, Composite Beings in Neo-Babylonian Art, Constance Ellen Gane, Deities, Die Welt der Götterbilder, E. Douglas Van Buren, Ea, Early Dynastic Period, Egypt, Enlil, Faucher-Gudin, Frans A. M. Wiggermann, Gane, Green, H.W.F. Saggs, Handbook of Oriental Studies, Hermann Spieckermann, History of Religions Chair, Hybrid Creatures, Iconography of Deities and Demons in the Ancient Near East, IDD, Imdugud, Institutum Biblicum, Iran, Iraq, J. Black, Jürg Eggler, Jeremy A. Black, Joan Goodnick Westenholz, Lamashtu, Lamp of Nusku, Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as Illustrated by the Religion of the Ancient Babylonians, Leiden, Louvre, Lulal, M. de Clercq, M. Peretie, Margaret Cool Root, me, Mesopotamia, Mischwesen. B. Archäologie, Monsters, Myth of Anzu, Ningursu, Ninutra, Nusku, Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, Oxford, Oxford University Press, Paul-Alain Beaulieu, Pazuzu, Puradu, Reallexikon der Assyeriologie, Rome, Smiting Posture, Some Demons of Time and Their Functions in Mesopotamian Iconography, Stephanie Dalley, Sumer, Sumeria, Switzerland, Syro-Palestine, Tablet of Destinies, Tell-Al-Ubaid, Temple of Goddess Ninhursag, Tessa Richards, The British Museum, The Fauna of Ancient Mesopotamia as Represented in Art, The Pantheon of Uruk during the Neo-Babylonian Period, University of California at Berkeley, University of Texas Press, University of Zurich, Uruk, Visible Religion, Walter de Gruyter, Wiggermann
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Gane: A Study of Mischwesen in the Neo-Babylonian Period

“This study investigates the contribution of iconographic depictions of composite beings, commonly referred to by the German term Mischwesen, toward an understanding of the worldview of the Neo-Babylonians. This important aspect of their art provides access, albeit limited, to Babylonian ideology. Unlike previous scholarly treatments of Mesopotamian supernatural hybrids, this study focuses on all extant, […]

Published: October 20, 2015
Filed Under: 1000 BCE, 1964 CE, 1977 CE, 1994, 2001 CE, 2012 CE, 539 BCE, 626 BCE, 6th Century BCE, A. Leo Oppenheim, Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization, Anthony Green, Babylon, Babylonia, Babylonian Empire, Boston Museum Bulletin, Chicago, Composite Beings in Neo-Babylonian Art, Constance Ellen Gane, Edith Porada, Jean Bottéro, Mesopotamia, Mischwesen, Mischwesen.B, Neo-Babylonian Period, Orientalia, Reallexikon der Assyriologie, Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia, Suggestions for the Classification of Neo-Babylonian Cylinder Seals, T. Kendall, Teresa Lavander Fagan, University of California at Berkeley, University of Chicago Press, Ur, Urartian Art in Boston--Two Bronze Belts and a Mirror
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Gane: Composite Beings in Neo-Babylonian Art

“An examination of all the extant, provenanced depictions of composite beings, Mischwesen, in Neo-Babylonian (NB) iconography sheds important new light on the worldview of the last great Mesopotamian civilization. The types of hybrids that are portrayed include such disparate forms as the apkallu and the genius in human form, as well as creatures based on […]

Published: October 18, 2015
Filed Under: 1992, 1st Millennium BCE, 2012, 700 BCE, 800 BCE, 850 BCE, 865 BCE, Amazon, Anthony Green, Apkallu, Apotropaic Creatures, Babylonian and Assyrian Sculptures in the British Museum, banduddu, BM 118918, British Museum, Calah, Composite Beings, Composite Beings in Neo-Babylonian Art, Constance Ellen Gane, Constance Ellen Ganes, Demons, Demons & Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia, Ea, Gadd, Gane, genius, Hairy, Hanpa, HR Hall, Iraq, Ishtar, Jeremy Black, Kalhu, Lahmu, Lamashtu, Lion-man, London, Louvre Museum, Mesopotamia, Mischwesen, Monsters, Mulillu, Neo-Assyrian Period, Neo-Babylonian Iconography, Nimrud, Ninawa Governorate, Nineveh, North Palace, North-West Palace of Ashurbanipal II, Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, Pazuzu, Protective Deities, Sacred Tree, The British Museum, The Stones of Assyria, ugallu, University of California at Berkeley
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Selz: Enoch Derives from 3d Millennium BCE Mesopotamia

” … [He who saw the deep, the] foundation of the country, who knew [the secrets], was wise in everything! … he saw the secret and uncovered the hidden, he brought back a message from the antediluvian age.” From the introduction to the Gilgamesh Epic, A.R. George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition and […]

Published: September 24, 2015
Filed Under: 1 Enoch, 1 Enoch: A New Translation, 1556 CE, 175 CE, 1805, 1807, 1958 CE, 1959 CE, 1968, 1976, 1979, 1988, 1992, 2 Enoch, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011, 235 CE, 3 Enoch, 3d Millennium BCE, A.A. Orlov, A.F. Schofield, A.R. George, Achaemenes, Acrisius, Adam, Aelianus, An Introduction to Early Judaism, AOT, Arabic, Aramaic, Armin Lange, Astronomical Enoch, Astronomy, Austin, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Babylonia, Balkans, Berossos, Book of the Watchers, Brill, British Museum, Bulgaria, C. Böttrich, Cambridge, Center for Studies in Asian Cultures and Social Anthropology, Chaldeans, Clarendon, Claudius Aelianus, Crossroad, Cultural Transfer and Text Transmission: The Case of the Enoch Apocryphic Tradition, De Natura Animalium, Dead Sea Scrolls, Divine Manifestations, Eerdmans, Enoch, Epic of Enoch, Ethiopic Enoch, F. Badalanova Geller, Fortress, G.W.E. Nickelsburg, Gebhard J. Selz, Genesis, Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh Epic, Gilgamos, Grand Rapids, Great Scribe, H.S. Kvanvig, HarperSanFrancisco, Harvard University Press, Idris, Islam, J.C. Greenfield, J.C. VanderKam, J.J. Collins, J.T. Milik, Jacob's Dream, Jubilees, Judaism, L. DiTommaso, L. Scott, London, M. Swoboda, M.E. Stone, Mesopotamia, Metatron, Methuselah, Minneapolis, Mohr Siebeck, Morphology of the Folk Tale, Neukirchen-Vluyn, Neukirchner, New York, Noah, Numen, Of Heroes and Sages–Considerations of the Early Mesopotamian Background of Some Enochic Traditions, On Providence, On the Characteristics of Animals, OTP, Oxford, Oxford University Press, P. Flint, Persia, Praeneste, Pseudo-Eupolemus, Qur'an, Roots of Apocalyptic--The Mesopotamian Background of the Enoch Figure and the Son of Man, safra rabba, San Francisco, Second Temple, Selz, Seuechoros, Tübingen, The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature, The Books of Enoch and the Traditions of Enoch, The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumrân Cave 4, The Dead Sea Scrolls in Context, The Enoch-Metatron Tradition, The Old Testament Apocrypha in the Slavonic Tradition: Continuity and Diversity, The Suda, Thomas Butts, TSAJ, University of Texas Press, V. Propp, Varia Historia, Vienna, William Blake, William Blake Archive, WMANT
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Kvanvig: Dates the apkallu to the Beginning of the 1st Millennium BCE

“Most of the sources we have to these imaginations developed around the apkallus are Assyrian. This does not, however, mean that the imaginations only belonged to Assyrian mythology. Of the three lists of the apkallus known, two are Babylonian, and Bīt Mēseri was known in Babylonia. The most extensive description of their role we find […]

Published: September 11, 2015
Filed Under: 1969, 1994, 1st Millennium BCE, 2011, 539 BCE, 629 BCE, A.W. Sjöberg, Adapa Myth, Anthony Green, Apkallu, Asarluhi, Assyria, Assyrisch-babylonische Kleinplastik, Babylonia, Berossos, Brill, E. Bergmann, Enki's, Eridu, fish-apkallus, Green, Helge Kvanvig, Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars, me, Mischwesen, New York, Parpola, Poem of Erra, purādu-fish, Reallexikon der Assyriologie, Rittig, Roots of Apocalyptic, Sumeria, The Collection of the Sumerian Temple Hymns, ummanus, Ur, Uruk
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Kvanvig: On the Correspondences Between Antediluvian Myths

Is Anu never portrayed in Mesopotamian art?

Published: September 11, 2015
Filed Under: 2004, 2011, Adapa, Adapa Myth, An, Anu, Apkallu, apkallus, asûtu, Assyria, Babylonia, banduddu, Berossos, Black, Brill, bucket, bārûtu, Cambridge, Catalogue, Ea, F. Rochberg, Green, Helge Kvanvig, IDD, kalûtu, Lenzi, Moon God, mullilu, Nisroc, Oannes, Sin, Stephanie Dalley, tupšarrūtu, U-an, Uanadapa, ummanus, umu-apkallu, Uruk, van der Toorn, āšipūtu
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Kvanvig: Divine Origin of Antediluvian Texts

“Enuma Elish was written to promote Marduk as the head of the pantheon, reflecting the position of Babylon at the end of the second millennium. This was a new invention in Mesopotamian theology. To promote this new theology the author added a postscript in which he claims a divine origin for his work: “This is […]

Published: September 10, 2015
Filed Under: 1911, 1992, 2011, 681 BCE, 704 BCE, Adad, Anthony Green, apkallus, Arbela, Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria, Assyria, Ausgrabungen in Sendschirli, Aššur, Babylon, Babylonia, Black, Brill, chaplet, Dehok, Ea, Enlil, Enuma Elish, George, Gilgamesh, Green, Helge Kvanvig, Ištar, Jeremy Black, Kabti-ilāni-Marduk, Layard, Lenzi, Luschan, Malatia, Maltai, Marduk, Mesopotamia, Monuments of Nineveh, Moon-god, Morris Jastrow, Mullisu, Muššuššu, Nabu, Nimroud, Nineveh, Ninive et VAssyrie, Place, Poem of Erra, Scribal Culture, Sennacherib, Shamash, Sin, taklimtu, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic, Uta-napišti, van der Toorn, Zab, Šamaš
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Kvanvig: Assurbanipal Studied Inscriptions on Stone from Before the Flood

“The first thing to notice is the strange expression salmīšunu, “their images.” The pronoun refers back to the primeval ummanus / apkallus. They had “images,” created by Ea on earth. A line from Bīt Mēseri sheds light on the issue. šiptu šipat Marduk āšipu salam Marduk “The incantation is the incantation of Marduk, the āšipu […]

Published: September 6, 2015
Filed Under: 1924, 1931, 1941, 1944, 1990, 2011, 859 BCE, 883 BCE, 9th Century BCE, Adapa, AfO, Anthony Green, apkal šamni, apkallus, Assurbanipal, Assurbanipal und die letzen assyrischen König bis zum Untergange Nineveh's, Assurnasirpal II, Assyria, Babylon, Before the Muses, Boston, Brill, Bull Inscription, Chicago, Cylinder Inscription, D.G. Lyon, Daniel David Luckenbill, David Gordon Lyon, Die zweite Tafel der Serie bīt mēseri, Ea, Foster, Gerhard Meier, Helge Kvanvig, J.G. Gammie, Jeremy Black, Kalhu, Keilschriftentexte Sargon's Königs von Assyrien, Kvanvig, L.G. Perdue, Leipzig, M. Streck, Marduk, Marshall Jones Company, me, Mushhushu, Muššušu, Ninšiku, Numrud, Oriental Institute, Poem of Erra, R.F.G. Sweet, salmīšunu, Sargon, Sennacherib, Seven Sages, Stephen Herbert Langdon, Sweet, The Annals of Sennacherib, The Deluge, The Flood, The Mythology of All Races-Semitic, The Sage in Akkadian Literature, The Sage in Akkadian Literature: A Philological Study, The Sage in Israel and the Ancient Near East, Tiamat, ummanus, University of Chicago, University of Chicago Press, Winona Lake, šiptu šipat Marduk āšipu salam Marduk, āšipu
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Kvanvig: The mīs pî and pīt pî Rituals of Mouth Washing and Mouth Opening

“The āšipū did not only expel demons; they had one more important duty that they performed together with other specialists, the bārû, “haruspex / diviner” and the kalû, “lamentation chanter.” They had the primary responsibility for consecration of the divine statue. In this duty they performed ina šipir apkalli, according to the “task” or “office” […]

Published: September 5, 2015
Filed Under: 1956, 1989, 2001, 2011, Adapa, Apkallu, apkallus, Before the Muses, Brill, bārû, C. Walker, consecration, Demons, Die Inschriften Asarhaddons. Königs von Assyrien, diviner, Ea, F.N.H. Al-Rawi, Foster, Gerra, haruspex, Helge Kvanvig, Helsinki, ina šipir apkalli, Iraq, J.A. Black, kalû, Kvanvig, lamentation chanter, M. Dick, Marduk, Mouth Opening, Mouth Washing, Poem of Erra, pīt pî, R. Borger, Rituals, SAALT, sebet apkal apsî, The Induction of the Cult Image in Ancient Mesopotamia, The Second Tablet of Ishum and Erra, ummanus, āšipū
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Kvanvig: The Maqlû Ritual Against Witchcraft

Wrestling with the WordPress Visual Editor–tags and categories are coming, as soon as I make this all look right. I appreciate your patience.

Published: September 4, 2015
Filed Under: 2008, 2011, A. Green, A. Krüger, apkallus, Assyria, Astral Magic in Babylonia, Babylonia, Brill, D. Schwemer, Das Abwehrzauber-Ritual Maqlû (Verbrennung), Erica Reiner, Gods, Helge Kvanvig, ilū mušīti, J. Black, Kvanvig, maccarātu ša mūši, Maqlû, Nusku, Primeval History: Babylonian, Spätbabylonische Texte, T. Abusch, Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments, Watchers, Weiher, šēdu
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Kvanvig: The ilū mušīti Are the Stars of the Night

“How the actual connection between the earthly exorcist and his heavenly counterpart was imagined is vividly portrayed on an Assyrian bronze tablet from the first millennium. The image depicts the universe of an ill man. In the basement lurks the demon Lamaštu, ready to attack; in the upper room are divine figures supporting the heavens, […]

Published: September 4, 2015
Filed Under: 1959, 1984, 1992, 1995, 1st Millennium BCE, 2007, 2011, A. Green, Abwehrzauber und Behexung, Allat, Anu, AO 22205, Apkallu, Apotropaic Ritual, Assur, Assyria, Astral Magic in Babylonia, êru, Babyonia, Brill, Clermont-Ganneau, D. Schwemer, Darmstadt, Delebat, Demons, Die Welt der altorientalischen Bildsymbolik und das Alte Testament, Enlil, Ereshkigal, Erica Reiner, Faucher-Gudin, fish-apkallu, G. Lambert, Girra, god of fire, god of lamp and fire, Helge Kvanvig, ilū mušīti, Ishtar, J. Black, KAR, Kvanvig, Lamaštu, Lamp, London, Lulal, M. de Clercq, M. Peretie, massartu, massarātu ša mūši, Mesopotamia, Moon God, Mīs pî, nasāru, Nergal, Nusku, O. Keel, Pazuzu, Philadelphia, Prayer to the Stars, Psalm of Penitence, Ra, Sin, stars of the night, TAPhs, ugallu, Venus, Wiesbaden, Wiggermann, āšipū
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Kvanvig: On Šēp lemutti, Averting Evil

“The apkallus were also an essential part of the composition Šēp lemutti. The composition starts by defining the purpose of the ritual as to avert evil from the house. Then the text prescribes the types of figures to be fashioned and buried at set locations in the house. This section contains a long passage describing […]

Published: September 4, 2015
Filed Under: 1977, 1999, 2011, 612 BCE, 911 BCE, A. Tuskimoto, Adad-apla-iddina, An-enlilda, AO 19849, AO 22198, Apkallu, Assur, Assyrisch-babylonische Kleinplastik magischer Bedeutung vom 13.-6. Jh. v. Chr, Babylonia, banduddu, Bird Apkallu, BM 098061, Brill, British Museum, Dalley, Dessa Rittig, Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, DIA, DIA 47.181, Die Reliefprogramme, Finkel, Fish Apkallu, France, Green, Heidelberg, Helge Kvanvig, K. Watanabe, ka.pirig, Kalhu, Kolbe, Kvanvig, Lambert, London, Louvre, Louvre Museum, massaru, München, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits, Michigan, mullilu, Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Assyrian Apotropaic Figures, Nimrud, Nimrud fragment no. 42, Nimrud fragment no. 43 and 45, Nimrud NW Palace, Nineveh, P. Hibbert, Paris, pirig, Priests and Officials in the Ancient Near East, puradu-fish, Sumeria, The Twenty-One "Poultices", Uruk, USA, Wiggermann, šiptu attunu salmānu apkallu massarī, āšipu, āšipū
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Dalley: Apkallu-7, IDD 2011

Iconography of Deities and Demons (IDD).  Apkallu (continued). Sources. Chronological Range. “All three types begin to appear in the late 2nd millennium. Some possible antecedents are noted by GREEN (1993-97: 252; see also nos. 66-70 belonging to the early Atlantid series, which MATTHEWS 1990: 109 dates to the 14th century). They could, however, have had […]

Published: September 3, 2015
Filed Under: 14th Century BCE, 1976, 1982, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2007, 2011, 2d Millennium BCE, 681 BCE, 704 BCE, 704-681 BCE, 859 BCE, 860 BCE, 865 BCE, 883 BCE, 883- 859 BCE, 884 BCE, 890 BCE, 890-884 BCE, Achaemenid, Amulets, Anthony Green, Apkallu, Aramaea, Assurbanipal, Assurnasirpal II, Assyria, Babylonia, Calah, Carchemish, Dalley, Emar, Gods Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia, Green, Hittite, Iconography of Deities and Demons in the Ancient Near East (IDD), IDD, Iran, Iraq, Jeremy Black, Kalhu, Kassite, London, Malatya, Matthews, MCEWAN, Mesopotamia, Nimrûd, Nimrud, Nineveh, Ninurta, Ninurta Temple, Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, PALEY, Pasargadae, puradu-fish, Ronald Wallenfels, Sacred Tree, Sakce-gözü, Seleucid, Sennacherib, Seven Sages, Southwest Palace, Stephanie Dalley, Swiss National Science Foundation, Tell Ashara, Temple of Ninurta, Terqa, The British Museum, Tukulti-Ninurta II, University of Zurich, Urartu, Uruk, winged disc
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Dalley: Apkallu-6, IDD 2011

Iconography of Deities and Demons (IDD). Apkallu (continued).  Type 3 Bird-of-Prey-Headed Apkallu, Problematic Identifications.  “The three types are identified from ritual texts and labels on figurines, but because the evidence is uncommon and sometimes ambiguous there are uncertainties. Change over time may also account for some difficulties. Some overlap in the iconography with Tiamat’s composite […]

Published: August 29, 2015
Filed Under: 1932, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2007, 2011, 800 BCE, A. Green, Abzu Temple of Enki, Amulets, Anshar, Anzu, Apkallu, Apsu, Assyria, Babylonia, banduddu, Dalley, Eisenbrauns, Enuma Elish, Epic of Creation, Eridu, Gods Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia, Green, H.W.F. Saggs, Iconography of Deities and Demons, Iconography of Deities and Demons in the Ancient Near East (IDD), IDD, J. Black, John D. Rockefeller, John Malcolm Russell, Kalhu, Kishar, Lahamu, Lahmu, Lamashtu, London, Mesopotamia, Metropolitan Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, MM 32.143.3, mullilu, Nabu, Northwest Palace of Assurnasirpal II, Ornan, Pazuzu, Russell, Stephanie Dalley, Sumeria, Swiss National Science Foundation, Tablet of Destinies, The British Museum Press, The Writing on the Wall. Studies in the Architectural Context of Late Assyrian Palace Inscriptions, Tiamat, umu-apkallu, University of Zurich, Wiggermann
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Dalley: Apkallu-4, IDD 2011

Iconography of Deities and Demons (IDD).  Apkallu (continued). Type 2 Fish-cloaked Apkallu, Phenotypes. “The fish-cloak Apkallu (12*, 33*–35, 40–66), a human figure wearing a fish-cloak suspended from the top of his head and with the head of a fish on top of his human head, corresponds to Berossos’ description of the first sage, Oannes. He […]

Published: August 27, 2015
Filed Under: 1989, 1994, 1998, 1st Millennium BCE, 2001, 2007, 2011, 681 BCE, 704 BCE, A.H. Layard, Adapa and the South Wind. Language Has the Power of Life and Death, Allat, Anthony Green, AO 22205, Apkallu, Apsu, Assur, Assyria, Aššur, Babylonia, banduddu, Barnett, Berlin, Berossos, British Museum, Bronze Age, Clermont-Ganneau, Dagon, Dalley, Ea, Eisenbrauns, Epic of Creation, Ereshkigal, Eridu, F.A.M. Wiggermann, Faucher-Gudin, Green, Iconography of Deities and Demons, Iconography of Deities and Demons in the Ancient Near East (IDD), IDD, Ishtar, Ištar, Kalhu, kullulu, Lamashtu, Lamaštu, Lamp of Nusku, Louvre, Lulal, M. de Clercq, M. Péretié, Marduk, mermen, Mesopotamia, Mischwesen. B, Moon God, muš-huš, mušhuššu, Nabu, Nergal, Nineveh, Ninurta, Nusku, Oannes, Pazuzu, Pergamon, Pergamon Museum, Reallexikon der Assyriologie, RLA, Sacred Tree, Schlomo Izre'el, scorpion man, Scorpion-tailed bird-man, Sennacherib, Shamash, Sin, SMSR, Stephanie Dalley, Sumeria, Swiss National Science Foundation, Temple of Ishtar, Temple of Ninurta, The Mesopotamian Pandemonium, Tiamat, ugallu, University of Zurich, Wiggermann, winged disc, winged scorpion men
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Dalley: Apkallu, IDD 2011

Iconography of Deities and Demons (IDD). Apkallu. “Mesopotamian semi-divine figure. A Babylonian tradition related by Berossos in the 3rd cent. (BURSTEIN 1978: 13f) describes a creature called Oannes that rose up out of the Red Sea in the first year of man’s history. His entire body was that of a fish, but he had another […]

Published: August 25, 2015
Filed Under: 1646 BCE, 1961, 1974, 1978, 1983, 1994, 19th Century CE, 2007, 2010, 2011, 3d Century BCE, 650 BCE, Adapa, Akkad, Anthony Green, Apkallu, Apsu, Assyria, Astrology, Atrahasis, Babylonia, Babylonian Theodicy, Baghdad, banduddu, Berlin, Berossos, Borger, Burstein, bīt mēseri, Dalley, Ea, Enki, Enlil-bani, Enmerkar, Enuma Anu Enlil, Epic of Creation, Epic of Erra and Ishum, Erica Reiner, Eridu, Esarhaddon, Green, Hammurabi, Hunger, Iconography of Deities and Demons, IDD, Isin, kullilu, Marduk, merman, mermen, Mesopotamia, Mischwesen. B, Myth of Etana, Nabu, Nebuchadnezzar I, Nineveh, Oannes, Omens, Pergamon Museum, poppy bulbs, puradu-fish, Rasmussen, Reallexikon der Assyriologie, Red Sea, Reiner, RLA, Scorpion-tailed bird-man, Sennacherib, Seven Sages of Sumeria, Shulgi, Stephanie Dalley, Sumeria, Sumerian King List, Swiss National Science Foundation, Tablet of Destinies, Tale of Three Ox-drivers, Temple of Ishtar, The Deluge, The Flood, UD.SAR Anum Enlila, ummânu, ummânum, ummiānum, umu-apkallu, University of Zurich, Utnapishtim, Wiggermann, Ziusudra
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Kvanvig: The Apkallus as Protective Spirits

“The apkallus are especially known from two incantation rituals: the one is Bīt Mēseri, as already stated; the other is called: šēp lemutti ina bit amēli parāsu, “to block the foot of evil into a man’s house” (KAR 298). The two incantation series have a different scope. Bīt Mēseri prescribes the procedures to be performed […]

Published: August 23, 2015
Filed Under: 1903, 1972, 1977, 1981, 1983, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2011, 612 BCE, 860 BCE, 865 BCE, 911 BCE, Anthony Green, Anu, AO 19845, AO 19849, AO 22198, Apkallu, Ashurnarzipal, Assyria, Assyrisch-babylonische Kleinplastik magischer Bedeutung vom 13.-6. Jh. v. Chr, Aššur, Babylonia, banduddu, Berlin, Berossos, bird-apkallus, BM 098061, Brill, British Museum, Calah, Curtis, Dessa Rittig, Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, DIA 47.181, Die Reliefprogramme religiös-mythologischen Characters in neu-assyrischen Palästen, Dieter Kolbe, F.A.M. Wiggermann, fish-apkallus, fleur de lis, Fort Shalmaneser, France, Frankfurt am Main, Helge Kvanvig, human apkallus, Iran, Iraq, Kalhu, KAR, London, Louvre, Louvre Museum, München, Mesopotamia, Michigan, Mischwesen A, Mischwesen B, mullilu, MVS, Nakamura, Neo-Assyrian Apotropaic Figures, Nimrud, Nimrud fragment no. 42, Nimrud fragment no. 43 and 45, Nineveh, Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, Paris, Persagadae, Persia, puradu-fish, purādu-fish, Read, Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie (RLA), Reihe, Rosettes, S57, Sacred Tree, Seven Sages of Sumeria, Sumeria, Temple of Ninurta, Trudy S. Kawami, Ummânū, Ur, Uruk, USA, Šēp Lemutti, šēp lemutti ina bit amēli parāsu, āšipū
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Kvanvig: Berossos and Primeval History

“Berossos does not only list the sages in succession. He is especially interesting because of the information he gives about the first sage, Oannes, who parallels Uan in the two other lists. Berossos’ account is here so noteworthy that we quote it as a whole: “In Babylonia there was a large number of people of […]

Published: August 14, 2015
Filed Under: 1930, 2011, AO 3337, Apkallu, Apollodoros, Assur, Atrahasis, Babylonia, Berossos, Brill, bīt mēseri, Chaldea, Chronicles, Enuma Elish, Eridu Genesis, Eusebius, H.F. Lutz, Helge Kvanvig, Kililu, Kulullu, Louvre, me, Oannes, Persian Gulf, Primeval History: Babylonian, Red Sea, Rittig, Royal Chronicle of Lagash, SM 9-1795, SM 9-1796, Sowie Museum, Suhurmassu, Sumeria, Syncellus, The Deluge, The Flood, Uan, University of California Publications in Semitic Philology
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Nakamura: the āšipu was Master of the Figurines

“There is a sense here of Derrida’s (1994) autonomous automaton, the animate puppet with a will of its own that yet obeys some predetermined program. By containing, concealing, and hiding these magical figures, the priest has made his mastery of their power complete.”

Published: July 25, 2015
Filed Under: 1978, 1992, 1994, 1997, 2003, 2005, Akkad, Allat, Apsû, Archaeologies of materiality, Assyria, Babyloniaca, Babyloniaka, Berossos, Black, Bottéro, Carolyn Nakamura, Clermont-Ganneau, Derrida, Ea, Eight-Pointed Star of Ishtar, Enki, Ereshkigal, ersętu, Faucher-Gudin, figurines, fish-apkallū, Frankfort, Green, Harrison, Inverted Half-Moon Crescent of the Moon God Sin, Ishtar, M. de Clercq, M. Péretié, Mastering matters: magical sense and apotropaic figurine worlds of Neo-Assyria, Maul, Mesopotamia, Moon God Sin, Nakamura, Nergal, Oannes, Priest, Sin, Underworld, Waters of Life, šamû, āšipu
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Nakamura: The Figurines as Magical Objects

“While such apotropaic figures appear in grand scale and idealized form on wall reliefs flanking entrances of kingly palaces purifying all who passed through the gates, the figures standing guard in floor deposits performed an additional task.”

Published: July 25, 2015
Filed Under: 1974, 1984, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 2003, 2005, Apkallu, apkallū, Archaeologies of materiality, Bašmu, Bird ApkallūFish Apkallū, Black, Bottéro, bull-human, Carolyn Nakamura, copper axe, Deleuze, Demons, Derrida, dogs, Ellis, Enki, Exorcists, god in lion pelt, Green, Hybrids, Incantations, Kulullû, Lahmu, Latarak, lion-demon, Magic, Mastering matters: magical sense and apotropaic figurine worlds of Neo-Assyria, Mesopotamia, Michael Taussig, Monsters, Ninšubar, Richards, Russell, sage, Sages, Six-Curled Lahmu, Smiting-god, snake-dragon, spade, Staff, Susan Stewart, Tiamat, Underworld, Wiggermann, āšipu
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Nakamura: Humans Make Up the gods Who Make Them

“The creation of powerful supernatural beings in diminutive clay form mimes the divine creation of being from primordial clay. But this figurine work enacts an idealized relation between the human and divine such that the mimetic act establishes a double appropriation. Through mimesis, the āšipu appropriates the divine power of creation by making copies of […]

Published: July 24, 2015
Filed Under: 1974, 2001, 2005, Archeologies of materiality, Carolyn Nakamura, Derrida, figurines, Mastering matters: magical sense and apotropaic figurine worlds of Neo-Assyria, Roger Caillois, āšipu
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Nakamura: The Common Terrain Shared by Myth and Iconography

“After this “enlivening,” the āšipu then molds this clay into various figures of power and protection, in effect reenacting the divine creation of humans from the clay of the apsû, the primordial underground freshwater ocean. (Similar narratives of the creation of humankind reiterate a trope of the divine formation of being from clay. In the […]

Published: July 23, 2015
Filed Under: 1903, 1904, 1983, 1992, 1993, 2005, Archaeologies of materiality, Assyria, Black and Green, Carolyn Nakamura, Ea, Enki, Enki and Ninmah, Green, Incantation, Magic, Magician, Mastering matters: magical sense and apotropaic figurine worlds of Neo-Assyria, Mesopotamia, Myth, Taussig, Thompson, Utukki Limnuti, Wiggermann, āšipu
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Nakamura–Rimbaud’s Derangement of All the Senses, Magic, and Archeology

“Curiously, archaeological research has not fully exploited the evocative cooperation between text, iconography, material, and deposition in this apotropaic practice. Rather, it has been the art historical and Assyriological traditions that have provided the most thorough deliberations on the ritual. Iconographic analyses present detailed visual descriptions of the figurines (Klengel-Brandt 1968; Rittig 1977; Van Buren […]

Published: July 19, 2015
Filed Under: 1931, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1977, 1992, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005, A General Theory of Magic, Archaeologies of materiality, Assyria, Brandt, Carolyn Nakamura, Deleuze, Ellis, figurines, Gosden, Green, Klengel, Klengel-Brandt, Magic, Mastering matters: magical sense and apotropaic figurine worlds of Neo-Assyria, Mauss, Meskell, Mesopotamia, Neo-Assyrian, Pels, Rimbaud, Rittig, Ritual, Van Buren, Wiggermann
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Figurines Excavated from the Burnt Palace and Fort Shalmaneser

The most expansive text prescribing the types of figurines is the Aššur ritual KAR, no. 298. After defining the purpose of the ritual as to avert evil from the house, the text begins to prescribe the types of figures to be fashioned and buried at set locations. It begins with a long passage prescribing wooden […]

Published: July 18, 2015
Filed Under: 1983, 7th Century BCE, 9th Century BCE, Anthony Green, apkallū, apkallē, Aššur, Babylon, banduddu, Bird Apkallū, BM 124573, British School of Archeology in Iraq, bucket, Burnt Palace, David A. Loggie, Fish Apkallū, Fort Shalmaneser, George Smith, Iraq, Islam, Jinn, KAR, Kassite, Mesopotamia, millilu, ND 4118, ND 4123, ND 7903B, ND 9518, Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Assyrian Apotropaic Figures, Nisroc, Palace AB, Ritual, S.E. Palace, Sages, Temples
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Lahmu, “The Hairy One,” is Not Apkallu

“The Babylonian scientific and religious texts reveal the names of over three thousand gods and demons, members of local and national pantheons. Most, if not all, play a part in cult or magic, and must have been represented in some form. Gods and demons, cult and magic, are the main subjects of Babylonian art, but generally […]

Published: June 29, 2015
Filed Under: 1936, 1941, 1953, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1st Millennium BCE, 2014, 2d Millennium BCE, 800 BCE, Abzu, Akkad, Alasdair Livingstone, Amulets, Anshar, Apkallu, Apsu, Assyria, B. Landsberger, Babylonia, Boundary Stones, British Museum, Bull Man, Bull-Son-of-the-Sun, bīt mēseri, Cult, Demons, Die Unterweltsvision eines assyrischen Kronprinzen, E. Eberling, E. Köcher, E. Rochberg-Halton, Eisenbrauns, Enki, Enuma Elish, Epic of Creation, Eridu, F.A.M. Wiggermann, Göttertypentext, Groningen, GUD.DUMU.dUTU, H.W.F. Saggs, Helsinki, hero with six curls, JEOL, K 2987B+, K. Frank, Kishar, kusarikku, Lahamu, Lahmu, Lakhmu, Lamashtu, Lamaštu, Lamaštu: An Edition of the Canonical Series of Lamaštu Incantations and Rituals and Related Texts from the Second and First Millennia BC, Language, London, Magic, MAOG, Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts, Mitteilungen des Instituts für Orientforschung (MIO), Naked Hero, Pazuzu, Reallexikon der Assyriologie (RlA), Ritual, State Archives of Assyria (SSA), The Hairy One, Tiamat, Unterweltsvision, W. von Soden, Walter Farber, ZA
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Editorial Note on the Apkallu and the Roadmap Ahead

I am breaking the narrative stream to speak directly to the process emerging from our reading on the apkallū, the antediluvian and postdiluvian sages of ancient Mesopotamia. If you are reading along over my shoulder, you noticed that we digressed from Martin Lang, “Mesopotamian Early History and the Flood Story,” in a post titled On the Date of the Flood. Martin […]

Published: June 22, 2015
Filed Under: 1939, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, About Samizdat, Adapa, Adapa and the South Wind: Language Has the Power of Life and Death, Adapa Myth, Ahiqar, Alan Lenzi, Anat, Anne Draffkorn Kilmer, Antediluvian Medical Tablet, Anthony Green, Anu, Anu Cult, Apkallu, Archaeologies of materiality, Armin Lange, Ashirah, Ashurbanipal, Astarte, Athirat, Babylonia, Bel, Berossos, Brill, Burnt Palace, Cain, Carolyn Nakamura, Children of El, Chouser, Christoph Auffarth, Clay Pit Ritual, Composite Beings in Neo-Babylonian Art, Constance Ellen Gane, D.T. Tsumura; Sources for Biblical and Theological Study, David P. Melvin, Dedicating Magic--Neo-Assyrian Apotropaic Figurines and the Protection of Assur, Dedicating Magic: Neo-Assyrian Apotropaic Figurines and the Protection of Assur, Derangement of All the Senses, Divine Mediation and the Rise of Civilization in Mesopotamian Literature and in Genesis 1-11, E. Noort, Edgar W. Conrad, Edward G. Newing, Eisenbrauns, Enoch, Erica Reiner, F. Garcia Martinez, F.A.M. Wiggermann, Fort Shalmaneser, Francis I. Andersen, G.P. Luttikhuizen, Gane, Gebhard J. Selz, Genesis, Great Year, Greek, H.S. Kvanvig, Helge Kvanvig, Iconography of Deities and Demons in the Ancient Near East (IDD), Interpretations of the Flood, Iraq, Izre'el, JANER, Johannes Haubold, K.4023, Kephalon, Lahmu, Lamassu, Library of Ashurbanipal, Loren T. Stuckenbruck, Martin Lang, Mastering matters: magical sense and apotropaic figurine worlds of Neo-Assyria, Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian Early History and the Flood Story, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits--The Ritual Texts, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts, Mischwesen, Mischwesen A, Mischwesen B, Nakamura, Neo-Assyrian Apotropaic Figures, Neo-Babylonian Period, Nephilim, Nikarchos, Nimrod, Odakon, Of Heroes and Sages--Considerations of the Early Mesopotamian Background of Some Enochic Traditions, On the Date of the Flood, Orientalia, Origins of the Adapa Myth, Pausanias, Perspectives on Language and Text: Essays and Poems in Honor of Francis I. Andersen’s Sixtieth Birthday, Pliny, Primeval History, R.S. Hess, Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie (RLA), Rimbaud, Ronald Hendel, Roots of Apocalyptic: The Mesopotamian Background of the Enoch Figure and the Son of Man, Rykele Borger, Samizdat, Schlomo Izre'el, Seleucid, Seleucids, Seven Sages of Sumeria, Stephanie Dalley, Strabo, Sumeria, Sumerian King List, Swiss National Science Foundation, The Conflagration, The Dead Sea Scrolls in Context, The Deluge, The Etiological Myth of the "Seven Sages", The Fall of the Angels, The Flood, The Hairy One, The Incantation Series Bīt Mēseri and Enoch’s Ascension to Heaven, The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, The Mesopotamian Counterparts of the Biblical Nephilim, The Nephilim Were on the Earth: Genesis 6:1-4 and its Ancient Near Eastern Context, The Stories of the Great Flood: Notes on Genesis 6:5-9:17 in its Context of the Ancient Near East, The Uruk List of Kings and Sages, The Uruk List of Kings and Sages and Late Mesopotamian Scholarship, The World of Berossos, Thorkild Jacobsen, Ugarit, University of California, University of Chicago Press, University of Zurich, Wiggermann, Winona Lake, WMANT, World Archeology, āšipu
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On the Apkallu

“During the course of the years studying and teaching the Primeval History as recorded in the literary texts of ancient Mesopotamia, this writer has been struck by certain similarities between the Akkadian apkallu (Sumerian algal / NUN.ME / EN.ME), creatures of the god Ea, the “sages of old,” and the biblical nēpīlîm of Genesis 6 […]

Published: June 19, 2015
Filed Under: 1953, 1983, 1985, A. Green, Abubu, Adad, Adam, Adapa, Akkad, algal, Anenlilda, Anne Draffkorn Kilmer, Assyria, Atrahasis, British Museum, Cain, Daughters of Men, Der babylonische Göttertypentext, Ea, Eden, Edgar W. Conrad, Edward G. Newing, EN.ME, Enki, Enmebulagga, Enmedugga, Enmegaluamma, Enmerkir, Epic of Erra, F. Köcher, Francis I. Andersen, Genesis, Gilgamesh, Iraq, Ishtar, Lu-Nanna, Marduk, mes-tree, Mesopotamia, Mischwesen, Mitteilungen des Instituts für Orientforschung, Neo-Assyrian Apotropaic Figures, Nephilim, Nimrud, Ninmah, Noah, NUN.ME, Nunpiriggaldim, nēpīlîm, Perspectives on Language and Text, Piriggalabsu, Piriggalabzu, Piriggalnungal, purādu, Seven Sages of Sumeria, Shuruppak, Sons of Elohim, Sumeria, Sumerian King List, The Deluge, The Flesh of the gods, The Flood, The Mesopotamian Counterparts of the Biblical Nephilim, Tree of Knowledge, Tree of Life, Uanna, Uannedugga, ummianu, ummiānu, Utnapishtim, Utuabba, Utuabzu, Yahweh, Ziusudra
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The World Tree of Eridu

“But the primitive home of Tammuz had been in that “garden” of Edin, or Eden, which Babylonian tradition placed in the immediate vicinity of Eridu. The fragment of an old bilingual hymn has been preserved, which begins in the following way : 1. “(In) Eridu a stalk grew over-shadowing; in a holy place did it […]

Published: May 9, 2015
Filed Under: 1898, A.H. Sayce, Asgard, Ash Rowan, Babylon, Babylonia, Cedar, Chaldea, Dav-kina, Demons, Ea, Eden, Edin, Eridu, Europe, Filaha, Fire God, Garden of Eden, Great Mother, Incubus, Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as Illustrated by the Religion of the Ancient Babylonians, Magic, Mandaite, masal, Merodach, Nabathean Agriculture, Norse, Phylactery, Rowan Ash, sursum, Tammuz, Temple of the Sun, World Tree, Ygg-drasil, Zikum
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Trinities versus Male-Female Dualism

“The early importance and supremacy of Erech in Semitic Babylonia caused its god to assume a place by the side of Ea of Eridu and Mul-lil, the older Bel. It is possible that the extension of his cult had already begun in Accadian days. The Ana, or Sky-god, to whom Gudea at Tel-loh erected a […]

Published: April 17, 2015
Filed Under: 1898, A.H. Sayce, Accad, Ana, Anat, Anathoth, Anats, Anu, Anunit, Ashtaroth, Ashtoreths, Babylonia, Bel, Bilat ili, Bilat matati, Canaan, Chaldea, Dav-kina, Dualism, Ea, Erech, Eridu, Evening Star, Gudea, Istar, Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as Illustrated by the Religion of the Ancient Babylonians, Moon, Mul-lil, Nipur, Samas, Semites, Sin, Sky God, Sun God, Tel-loh
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On Dagon, Anu, Ishtar

In the Assyrian inscriptions Anu is coupled with Dagan, “the exalted one,” whose female consort seems to have been Dalas or Salas. Thus Assur-natsir-pal calls himself “the beloved of Anu and Dagon;” and Sargon asserts that he “had extended his protection over the city of Harran, and, according to the ordinance of Anu and Dagon, had written down their […]

Published: April 16, 2015
Filed Under: 1898, A.H. Sayce, Accad, Anu, Arabs, Ashdod, Asher, Ashtoreth, Assur-natsir-pal, Assyria, Baal, Babylonia, Beth-Dagon, Canaan, Chaldea, Dagan, Dagon, Dalas, Erech, Gaza, Greece, Istar, Joshua, Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as Illustrated by the Religion of the Ancient Babylonians, Philistines, Philon Byblios, Phoenicia, Salas, Samuel, Sankhuniathon, Sargon, Semites, Tyre, Zidon
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Lady Ishtar

“Ishtar was frequently placed by the side of Asshur as a war-goddess. Ere she left the plains of Babylonia for the uplands of Assyria she had evinced certain bellicose propensities. In the Gilgamesh epic she appears as a deity of destructive and spiteful character, if not actually of warlike nature. But if the Babylonians regarded […]

Published: April 15, 2015
Filed Under: 1917, Asshur, Assur-bani-pal, Assur-nazir-pal, Assyria, Babylonia, Bel, Belit, Gilgamesh, Ishtar, Lewis Spence, Myths and Legends of Babylonia and Assyria, Sennacherib, War Goddess
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Diorite Statues

“The land of Magána was already known to the inhabitants of Babylonia. The earliest Chaldaean monuments yet discovered are those which have been excavated at Tel-loh in southern Chaldaea by a Frenchman, M. de Sarzec, and are now deposited in the Louvre. Some of them go back almost to the very beginnings of Chaldaean art […]

Published: March 22, 2015
Filed Under: 1898, A.H. Sayce, Archbishop Usher, Babylonia, Chaldean, Chinese, Christianity, Cuneiform, Diorite, Egypt, Fourth Dynasty, France, Gizeh, Great Pyramids, Hieroglyphics, King Khefre, Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as Illustrated by the Religion of the Ancient Babylonians, London, Louvre, M. de Sarzec, Magan, Magána, Museum of Bulâq, Naram-Sin, Pharaoh Khefre, Pharaoh Khephrên, Pyramids, Sargon, Sargon of Accad, Semite, Sinai, Sixth Dynasty, Tel-loh, Third Dynasty
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Myths of Tammuz and Ishtar

“The myth of Tammuz is one of high antiquity, dating possibly from 4000 b.c. or even earlier. Both Tammuz and Ishtar were originally non-Semitic, the name of the former deity being derived from the Akkadian Dumu-zi, ‘son of life,’ or ‘the only son,’ perhaps a contraction of Dumu-zi-apsu, ‘offspring of the spirit of the deep,’ […]

Published: March 16, 2015
Filed Under: 4000 BCE, Adonis, Akkad, Akkadia, Anu, Aralu, Assur, Assyria, Babylonia, Beer, Berossus, Daonus, Daos, Dawkina, Dumu-si-apsu, Dumu-zi, Ea, Eabani, Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh, Great Mother, Greeks, Hades, Irkalla, Ishtar, Lewis Spence, Merodach, Myths, Myths and Legends of Babylonia and Assyria, Persian Gulf, Pillars of Hercules, Sayce, Sin, Sky God, Slavonia, Smyrna, St. Ilya, Tammuz, Ukhut, Water God
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Parallels Between the Enuma Elish and Genesis

“The close relation existing between the Babylonian account of the Creation and the narrative in Genesis i, 1-11, 4a has been recognized from the time of the first discovery of the former, 1 and the old and new points of resemblance between them may here be briefly discussed. According to each account the existence of a watery chaos […]

Published: February 11, 2015
Filed Under: Apsû, Babylonia, Bel, Berossus, Creation, Genesis, Hebrew, Leonard William King, London, Marduk, Omorka, S. 2, Seventh Tablet, tehôm, The Seven Tablets of Creation, Ti-amat e-Zi-ti, Ti-amat shap-li-ti, Tiamat
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Sumerian Sacred Stories, c. 3500 BCE

” … it is quite as obvious that for the history of the progress of our civilization as we see and know it today, it is the tone and temper, the word and spirit of the ancient mythologies, those of the Greeks and Hebrews, of the Hindus and Iranians, of the Babylonians and Egyptians, which […]

Published: January 22, 2015
Filed Under: 2000 BCE, 3500 BCE, Assyria, Babylonia, Baghdad, Canaanites, Cosmogonies, Creation Myths, Cuneiform, Egypt, Elamites, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Euphrates, From Ritual to Romance, Greece, Greek, Hastings, Hebrew, Hindu, Hittites, Hurrians, Iran, Latin, Middle Ages, Mythology of All Races, Persian Gulf, Rome, Samuel Noah Kramer, Semites, Semitic-Accadian, Sumer, Sumerian Mythology, Tigris
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On the Literature of Ancient Sumer

” … Now let us compare this date with that of the various ancient literatures known to us at present. In Egypt, for example, one might have expected an ancient written literature commensurate with its high cultural development. And, indeed, to judge from the pyramid inscriptions, the Egyptians in all probability did have a well […]

Published: January 21, 2015
Filed Under: 1400 BCE, 2000 BCE, 2500 BCE, 3000 BCE, Avesta, Babylonia, Bible, Canaan, Egypt, Enlil, Enuma Elish, Epic of Creation, Epic of Gilgamesh, France, George Barton, Greece, Hebrew, Hindu, Iliad, India, Ninhursag, Nippur Cyclinder, Odyssey, Pyramid Texts, Rash-esh-Shamra, Rig-Veda, Samuel Noah Kramer, Sumerian Mythology, Syria, University Museum
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