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Mesopotamian Apotropaic Gods and Monsters

“It remains, however, that art expresses theological development less clearly than the written sources. The types of art and their contexts were fixed in the third millennium, and only minor changes are allowed through time. Most of the supernatural beings treated in this book become defeated adversaries of gods at some point in their history, but […]

Published: June 29, 2015
Filed Under: 1985, 1986, 1992, 1st Millennium BCE, 3d Millennium BCE, AAA, Accession Number 1984.348, Amulet, Assyrisch-babylonische Kleinplastik magischer Bedeutung vom 13.-6. Jh. v Chr, bīt mēseri, D. Kolbe, D. Rittig, Demons, Die Reliefprogramme religiös-mythologischen Characters in neu-assyrischen Palästen, F.A.M. Wiggermann, Groningen, Hanpa, Iran, Jaarbericht Ex Oriente Lux, James N. Spear, JEOL, K 2987B+, KAR, KAR 298, Lamashtu, Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, O. R. Gurney, Pazuzu, Plague, Ritual for the Substitute King, Studies in Babylonian Demonology, The Hairy One, The Staff of Ninšubura: Studies in Babylonian Demonology II, Underworld, West Wind
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Gane: Neo-Babylonian Monsters, Demons & Dragons From a Narrow Slice of Time & Space

A number of scholars have already correlated Mesopotamian iconography with cuneiform texts to identify and illuminate composite beings over a wide range of periods in terms of their historical development, association with deities, and impact on humans within ancient systems of religion and mythology. The present research draws heavily on their work, but uniquely focuses […]

Published: October 20, 2015
Filed Under: 1986, 1992, 1997, 2004, 2012, Amsterdam, and Fabulous Beasts, Animal Symbolism in Mesopotamia: A Contextual Approach, Babylonian Prophylactic Figures: The Ritual Texts, Bible Lands Museum, Chikako E. Watanabe, Composite Beings, Deities, Demons, Dragons, Evil Spirits, Frans A. M. Wiggermann, Free University Press, Gane, Gods, Groningen, Horned Crown of Divinity, Hybrid Beings, Iconography, Institut für Orientalistik der Universität Wien, Jerusalem, Joan G. Westenholz, K 2987B+, K2987B+, K9968+, KAR 298, Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts, Mischwesen. A. Philologisch. Mesopotamien, Monsters, Neo-Assyrian Period, Reallexikon der Assyriologie, Rituals, RLA, Styx & PP, Subdivine Creatures, Superhuman Creatures, Supernatural Creatures, utukkū lemnūti, Vienna, Wiggermann
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Selz: Connects the Apkallu with the Fallen Angels

“The correspondance between Enmeduranki, for a long time considered to be the Mesopotamian Enoch, with an apkallū named Utu-abzu, proved highly informative. (See W.G. Lambert, “Enmeduranki and Related Matters,” JCS 21 (1967): pp. 126-38; idem, “New Fragment.”) In 1974 Borger observed in an important article, that in tablet III of the omen series Bīt Mēseri (“House of […]

Published: October 9, 2015
Filed Under: 1 Enoch, 1832, 1866, 1874, 1883, 1967, 1992, 2011, apkallū, Armin Lange, Assyria, Babylonia, Berossos, Berossus, Beschwörungsserie, bird-apkallū, Book of Giants, Borger, Brill, Cuneiform Monographs, Ea, Enki, Enmebu-lugga, Enmedugga, Enmeduranki, Enmeduranki and Related Matters, Enmegalamma, Enoch, Eridu, F.A.M. Wiggermann, Fallen Angels, Gebhard J. Selz, genii, genius, Groningen, JCS, John Milton, Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts, Michael, Milton, Nephilim, New Fragment, Nisroch, Oannes, Of Heroes and Sages–Considerations of the Early Mesopotamian Background of Some Enochic Traditions, Paradise Lost, Paul Gustave Doré, purādu, purādu-fish, Selz, Seven Sages of Sumeria, Shemihazah, Styx, The Dead Sea Scrolls in Context, U -anna, U-anne-dugga, Uruk List of Kings and Sages, Utu-abzu, Utuabzu, W.G. Lambert, Wiggerman
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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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Kvanvig: The Bīt Mēseri Ritual

“The study of F.A.M. Wiggermann on protective spirits has contributed considerably to the understanding of the apkallus in Bīt Mēseri. (Wiggermann, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits; Wiggermann deals with Bīt Mēseri especially on p. 105f. The connection between the apkallus and prophylactic rituals was already noticed by Oliver Robert Gurney, “Babylonian Prophylactic Figures and their Rituals,” Annals of […]

Published: August 23, 2015
Filed Under: 1935, 2011, AAA, apkallus, Babylonian Prophylactic Figures and their Rituals, bird-apkallus, Brill, bīnūt apsê, day-apkallus, exorcist, F.A.M. Wiggermann, fish-apkallus, Helge Kvanvig, Incantations, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits, O.R. Gurney, Oliver Robert Gurney, umu-apkallu, Wiggermann, āšipu
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Kvanvig: Discrepancies Between the Lists

“The Sumerian concept of me, “cosmic ordinances,” has a wide range of meanings connected to culture and human conditions. The myth Inanna and Enki has a list which gives good illustration of what is regarded as me: human relations, cultural relations, political relations, occupations, sciences, crafts, arts, deeds, etc. —in short, all the human characteristics […]

Published: August 13, 2015
Filed Under: 1992, 1999, 2011, 9th Century BCE, AMD, Antediluvian King List, Asshur, Assyria, Berossos, Boston, Brill, en-me-bulùg-gá, en-me-du-ga, en-me-galamma, Enmerkar, F. Wiggermann, F.A.M. Wiggermann, Gilgamesh, Groningen, Helge Kvanvig, Inanna and Enki, K. van der Toorn, Kish, Marduk, Marshall Jones Company, me, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts, Mushhushshu, Nungalpiriggal, Stephen Herbert Langdon, Sumeria, Sumerian King List, T. Busch, The Mythology of All Races, Tiamat, Uruk, W. van Binsbergen
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Lenzi: A Fault Line Where Legend and History Collides

“If this were the only instance of apkallū in a ritual context, this difference in genre would be of little consequence. But, in fact, it is not. The seven apkallū are mentioned, for example, in anti-witchcraft incantations in Maqlû II 124,36 V 110,37 VII 49,38 VIII 38 (though without names). (Note that the next line…has “the […]

Published: July 29, 2015
Filed Under: 1000 BCE, 1953, 1961, 1996, 2008, 700 BCE, Adapa, Advice to a Prince, Akkad, Alan Lenzi, Anatolian Studies, apkallū, Assurbanipal, Assyria, Babylon, Babylonian Wisdom Literature, Brill, bīt mēseri, Bīt rimki, Chicago, Commentationes Orientales, Das Dritte ‘Haus’ der Serie Bīt Rimki, dayyānū, DI.KUD.ME, DT 1, Ea, Eisenbrauns, Erica Reiner, Erra, Geneology, Gilgamesh, Incantations, J. J. A. van Dijk, JANER, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, La Sagesse Sumero-Accadienne, Lambert, Leiden, LKA, Maqlû, Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits, muntalkū, Myth, Nineveh, Nippur, Nippur IV. The Early Neo-Babylonian Governor’s Archive from Nippur, NUN.ME-šú, Oriental Institute Publications, Orientalia, Oxford, Oxford University Press, Reiner, Ritual, rubû, Rykle Borger, Sanders, Schollmeyer, Seleucid, Steven Cole, The Etiological Myth of the ‘Seven Sages, The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, The Twenty-one ‘Poultices, The Uruk List of Kings and Sages and Late Mesopotamian Scholarship, ummânu, Uruk, W. G. Lambert, Wiggermann, Winona Lake
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Lenzi: Human apkallū are a Later Inclusion

Lenzi states that human apkallū in lists deriving from rituals were artificially grafted onto ancient texts.

Published: July 28, 2015
Filed Under: 1937, 1966, 1974, 1992, 2002, 2008, Alan Lenzi, Ancient Magic and Divination, apkallū, apkallē sūt Eridu likpidūšunūti ana lemuttim, apkallē sūt Eridu lipaššihū zumuršu, Archiv für Orientforschung, Archiv für Orientforschung Beiheft, Benjamin Foster, Berlin, Brill, bīt mēseri, Die assyrische Beschwörungssammlung Maqlû, Ea, Eisenbrauns, Emanuel Tov, Enmerkar, Gerhard Meier, Incantations, JANER, Leiden, Maqlû, May the seven sages of Eridu give his body relief, May the seven sages of Eridu plan evil for them, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits, Mesopotamian Witchcraft: Toward a History and Understanding of Babylonian Witchcraft Beliefs and Literature, Michael Fishbane, Nungalpirigal, nēmeqi nikilti Ea iqbû, Orientalia, Ritual and Incantation: Interpretation and Textual History of Maqlû, Sanders, Shaharei Talmon, Studien zur Beschwörungssammlung Maqlu, Styx, The Uruk List of Kings and Sages and Late Mesopotamian Scholarship, Tzvi Abusch, ULKS, Weston W. Fields, Wiggerman, Winona Lake, Wisdom and the Gods in Ancient Mesopotamia, ši-ma apkallē ša Apsî
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Lenzi: On the apkallū–ummânū Association

“There are of course quite early precedents for king lists, antediluvian or otherwise; there are also several earlier examples of kings being listed with their chief scholarly advisor (see the overview in A. Kirk Greyson, “Königslisten und Chroniken,” Reallexikon der Assyriologie 6 (1980) 86-135). But there is nothing that traces the royal scholars back through […]

Published: July 27, 2015
Filed Under: 1963, 1980, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2008, A. Kirk Greyson, Advice to a Prince, Alan Lenzi, and Apocalypse, and Apocalypse: Studies in the Theme of Ascent to Heaven in Ancient Mesopotamia and Second Temple Judaism, apkallū, Beaulieu, Berossus, Brill, bīt mēseri, Cuneiform, Cuneiform Monographs, Ea, Enmeduranki, Festschrift für Rykle Borger zu seinem, Groningen, Heavenly Writing, JANER, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Königslisten und Chroniken, Leiden, Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars, LKA, Lu-Nana, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits, Nungalpirigal, On the Antiquity of Sumerian Literature, Parpola, Pirigalabzu, Pirigalnungal, purādu-fish, Reallexikon der Assyriologie, Rochberg, Sanders, Secrecy and the Gods, Seleucid, Seth Sanders, Seven Sages, Stefan M. Maul, Styx, The Johns Hopkins University, The Qualifications of Babylonian Diviners, The Social and Intellectual Setting of Babylonian Wisdom Literature, The Uruk List of Kings and Sages and Late Mesopotamian Scholarship, Tikip santakki mala bašmu, ULKS, Ummânū, W. G. Lambert, W. W. Hallo, Wiggermann, Writing
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Wiggermann Defines the Lamassu

“The limited number of candidates available for identification with e’ru, libbi gišimmari and urigallu enables us to choose a denotation, even when the results of philology are not unequivocal in each case. The sages and the lesser gods of NAss art share attributes and therefore functions: goat, sprig, greeting gesture, cone, bucket and mace. Both […]

Published: July 16, 2015
Filed Under: 1992, apkallū, ara gišimmari, banduddû, BiOr, bucket, bīt mēseri, e'ru, e'ru-stick/mace, F.A.M. Wiggermann, feather, Foxvog, gamlu, gamlu-curved staff, god of the house, greeting gesture, Groningen, Heimpel, horned tiara, il bīti, it bīti, kamsūtu, Kilmer, Kneeling Ones, Kolbe, libbi gišimmari, mace, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts, mullilu, One Cubit, Reade, Reliefprogramme, Rituals, sprig, Spycket, Syria, tamarisk, The Winged Ones, urigallu, Weapon Men, Winged Ones, ša ištēt ammatu lān-šu, šūt kakkī, šūt kappī
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On the Fish-Apkallu

“Lamaštu amulets: The fish-apkallū on Lamaštu amulet 2 (and 4?), exactly like the ūmu-apkallū on Lamaštu amulets 3 and 61, has his left hand on the bed of the sick man. The right hand is slightly damaged, but probably greeting. Wrong hand: Occasionally apkallū are attested holding the bucket in their right hand: AfO 28 57f. 30 (above IIiI/6), Lamaštu […]

Published: July 15, 2015
Filed Under: 1926, 1992, 3d Millennium, ActAntHung, Adapa, AfO, Amulets, Anenlilda, Angular Object, AnSt, apkallū, ASKT, Assyriology, AWL, Babyloniaka, BaMB, Barton, Bauer, Benito, Berossos, bird-apkallū, Borger, bīnūt apsî, bīt mēseri, Cagni, Calmeyer, CANES, carp of the sea, Cone, creatures of apsû, Dish, Enki, Enki and Ninmah, Enki and the World Order, Enkum, Erra, F.A.M. Wiggermann, FGrH, Finkelstein, Fish-Man, Foster, Frond, FuB, Groningen, Hallo, hemidaimones, HSAO, IIISET, Iran, Jacoby, JAOS, JCS, JNES, JRAS, Kassite, KAT, Kawami, Kleinplastik, Kolbe, Komoróczy, Kulullû, Lamaštu, Lamaštu Amulets, Lambert, Lugalbanda, Maqlû, MBI, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts, MSL, Ninkum, NUN.ME.KA X ME/GANA2f, Oannes, OrNS, PBS, Picchioni, purād tāmti, Reade, Reliefbronzen, Reliefprogramme, Rittig, S. Mayer Burstein, SANE, Seven Antediluvian Sages, Seven Apkallū of Eridu, Seven Children of Apsû, Smith, Staff, Stick, Sumerian, TCL, TCS, UET, Ukg., Ur, UVB, van Dijk, van Dijk-Mayer, VAS, who were grown in the river, Wiggermann, Wilcke, ZA, Zimmern, ša ina nāri ibbanú, ūmu-apkallū
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Bird Apkallu, Characterized as Griffin Demons

Excerpt: “…the griffin-demon does not stem from Babylonia; there he is attested first on the assyrianizing robe of Nabû-mukîn-apli holding cone and bucket…”

Published: July 15, 2015
Filed Under: 1992, 1st Millennium, Assyria, Babylonia, Babylonian Magical Texts, bit mēseri, Brinkman, Collon, Cone, Essays Wilkinson, F.A.M. Wiggermann, Frond, Griffin Demon, Groningen, King, Kleinplastik, Klengel Brandt, Kolbe, Madhloom, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts, Nabû-mukîn-apli, Parker, Reade, Rittig, Staff, Sumer, Syria
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On the Names of the Umu-Apkallu

“History. The name-like designations of the ūmu-apkallū are artificial and systematic; they do not even pretend to be historical realities. The names all start with ūmu / UD and may have been grafted on the u4- and p i r i g – names of other apkallū (Güterbook ZA 42103, Hallo JAOS 83 175, Reiner […]

Published: July 6, 2015
Filed Under: 1992, Antediluvian Sages, apkallū, Assyria, Babylon, Bad-tibira, balātu, Berossos, bird-apkallū, Eridu, Euphrates, Exorcism, F.A.M. Wiggermann, Finkelstein Memorial Volume, Güterbook, Groningen, Hallo, Iraq, J. Bottéro, JAOS, JSC, Keš, Kleinplastik, Kullab, Lagaš, Larak, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts, nadānu, Nippur, nūru, nūru rabû ša apsî, Oannes, OrNS, pirig, Pirig-gal-abzu, Postdiluvian Sages, r a, Reiner, Rittig, s a g - g i š - r a, S. Mayer Burstein, SANE, Sippar, sum, Sumeria, umu-apkallu, Ur, UVB, z i, z i - u d - s ù - r a, ZA, Šuruppak, š e ES, šagšu, še, ūmu, ūmu ša ana šagši balāta inamdinu, ūmu-apkallū
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Things that Apkallu Hold

” … we present a survey of the objects in the hands of apkallū on reliefs, seals, and in the Kleinplastik. The survey is not meant to be complete. It is based on the recent treatments of Rittig (Kleinplastik), Kolbe (Reliefprogramme), and Reade (BaM 10 17ff.). Lamaštu amulets: Occasionally on Lamaštu amulets (2, 3, 5, 20 […]

Published: July 6, 2015
Filed Under: 1992, agê ramāni-šunu, agû, Amulets, Anthropomorphic, Apkallu, banduddū, bird-apkallū, bucket, CAD, CANES, deer, e'ru, F.A.M. Wiggermann, fish-apkallū, front, greets, greets/sprig, Groningen, Horns of Divinity, Hrouda, il bīti, Incantations, Iraq, Kleinplastik, Kolbe, Kulturg., Lamaštu, mace, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts, Ra, Reade, Reliefprogramme, Reliefs, Rittig, Rituals, Seals, sprig, VAR, Ward, Winged, Zwangerschap en Geboorte, ūmu-apkallū
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On the Mullilu, the “cleaner,” the Purification Instrument of the Apkallu Exorcist

“–mullilu, “purification instrument” (literally: “cleaner”). When it is agreed upon that a word denoting the cone, the most common object in the hands of the bird-apkallū and the fish-apkallū, must appear among the terms denoting objects held by the apkallū in ritual I/II, this word can only be mullilu. The identification of mullilu as denoting the […]

Published: July 5, 2015
Filed Under: 1992, AASOR, AcOR, AfOB, Akkad, Apkallu, Bam, banduddu, bird-apkallu, Bleibtreu, CAD, cleaner, Cone, cornel, Date Palm, Date-Palm, e'ru, Essays Wilkinson, F.A.M. Wiggermann, fish-apkallu, Flora, FuB, Genge, Groningen, Hrouda, Kleinplastik, Klengel-Brandt, Kolbe, Landsberger, libbi gisimmari, libbi gišimmari, Lugal, Madhloon, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts, mullilu, Parker, Porada, Purification Instrument, Purification Ritual, Purifier, Reliefprogramme, Reliefs, rikbu, Rittig, Sacred Tree, Seals, Stearns, Sumer, Syncretism, terinnu, umu-apkallu, urigallu, van Dijk
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On the Banduddu, or Bucket

“–banduddû, “bucket”. Banduddû unquestionably denotes the bucket held by many figures of the reliefs, cf. Frank LSS III/3 671, Zimmern ZA 35 151, Smith JRAS 1926 70913, Hrouda Kulturgeschichte 77, Madhloom Chronology 109ff., Kolbe Reliefprogramme Type IIA, VI, IIB, IIC. The object is attested also in the hands of clay figures: Rittig Kleinplastik 70ff. (bird-apkallu), […]

Published: July 5, 2015
Filed Under: 1992, a ù - m u - e - s ù, Accad, AfOB, Akkad, b a - a n, b a - a n- dug - dug, Babylon, banduddu, BBR, bird-apkallu, breast, bucket, CAD, Chronology, Civil, clay, cornel, d ug, dug - patāru, e'ru, Ea, Eames, Ensimah, exorcist, F.A.M. Wiggermann, Falkenstein, fish-apkallu, flowing vase, Frank, gi b a - a n - dug - dug, gi ba-an-dug-dug gi a-1á gliš-GAMI -m a šu u m-ti-en / í d ka - min - na a, Gottertypentext, Groningen, hegallu, Hrouda, Incantations, irigallu, JRAS, KAR, Kleinplastik, Kolbe, Kulturgeschichte, kusarikku, libbi gisimmari, LSS, Madhloom, Marduk, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts, MIO, mouth of the twin rivers, mullilu, NSGU, Oppenheim, OrNS, ptr, Reliefprogramme, Rittig, Smith, Spells, Stearns, Steinkeller, Studies Oppenheim, to caulk, umu-apkallu, urmahlullu, VAS, wax, ZA, Zimmern
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Statues in Private Rooms, the apkallū, “Sages.”

“In the bedroom (kummu, cf. III.B.6), the “place of life” (AAA 22 88:146f.), at the head of the bed of the threatened man, the seven anthropomorphic ūmu-apkallū, the “leading sages” (cf. II.A.3.1), are stationed. The seven bird-apkallū are buried against the wall at the head of the bed, but in an adjoining room (uncertain, cf. […]

Published: July 5, 2015
Filed Under: 1992, 612 BCE, 860 BCE, 865 BCE, 911 BCE, AO 19849, AO 22198, Apkallu, Assyria, banduddu, Biblical Calah, bird-apkallū, BM 098061, bone of divinity, buckets, bīnū šamê, bīnūt apsê, cornel, creatures of apsû, creatures of heaven, Datepalm, Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, DIA 47.181, dwarf ash, e'ru, Ea, Eames, F.A.M. Wiggermann, fish-apkallū, France, Genava, gis HUL.DÚB.BA GIŠ NAM.TI.LA, gis TUKUL MA.NU, Glasgow, Grayson, Groninegen, I. Finkel, Iraq, K. Dellar, Kalhu, kummu, kussiu, Landsberger, Ledgers and Prices, London, Lorbeer, Louvre, Lurel, mace the hits evil, Marduk, Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts, Michigan, mullilu, Nimrud, Oppenheim, Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, Paris, Sacred Tree, Sages, salmū sākip lemnūti ša Ea u Marduk, salmī annūtu, Salonen, Seven Leading Sages, Seven Sages, seven ūmu-demons, Snell, Sollberger, Sumeria, tamarisk, Temple of Ninurta, The British Museum, the creatures of apsû, the mace of e'ru, the mace of Marduk, Thompson, tree cone, UDUG HUL EDIN.NA DAGALLA, VII u4-mu gis TUKUL dAMAR.UTU, Wasserfahrzeuge, wood of life, ūmu-apkallū
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Apkallu Details (Excerpt from Wiggermann)

An excerpt on the three kinds of apkallu from Wiggermann. The apkallu are perplexing entities portrayed on Sumerian and Neo-Assyrian artworks, combining bird heads with human bodies, and human heads on fish bodies. They are attested throughout Sumerian and Assyrian literature, and the so-called Seven Sages of Sumeria were apkallu.

Published: July 5, 2015
Filed Under: 1992, a-šá-red-du-tú, Anthropomorphic, Apkallu, Ashurnazirpal, ÉN at-tú-nu NU NUN.ME ma-sa-ri, ÉN UDUG HUL EDIN.NA DAGAL.LA, ÉN VII NUN.ME.MEŠ, banduddu, bird-apkallū, bītu šanû, cleaner, cornel, cornel(-stick), e'ru, F.A.M. Wiggermann, fish-apkallū, Groningen, ina I DIB.É.NUN, ina MÚRU É ina IGI-[at]gis GU.ZA, ina SUHUŠ É II-i ina SAG gis NÁ, ina tar-si KÁ ina EGIR gil GU.ZA, Incantation, JRAS, MAss/NAss, Mesopotamian Protective Spririts: The Ritual Texts, mullilu, Seven Leading Sages, ummiamu, umū-apkallū, ša bīti šanî
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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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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: 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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Melvin: Divine or Semi-Divine Intermediaries

The Divine Source of Civilization in Mesopotamian Myths “The motif of the divine origin of civilization is common in the ancient Near East, especially in Mesopotamia, and it stands in stark contrast to the portrayal of the rise of civilization in Genesis 1– 11. (Although many of my observations with regard to the view of […]

Published: September 15, 2015
Filed Under: 165 BCE, 1960, 1977, 1992, 2008, 2010, 4th century BCE, 860 BCE, 865 BCE, Adapa, Akkad, Alan Lenzi, Apkallu, apkallus, Babylonia, Bernard Batto, Berossus, Bible, Calah, Canaan, CBQMS, Chicago, Creation in the Biblical Traditions, Creation Theology in Genesis, David P. Melvin, Divine Mediation and the Rise of Civilization in Mesopotamian Literature and in Genesis 1-11, Egypt, Enki, Enoch, Erica Reiner, Erra and Ishum, Etiological Myth of the Seven Sages, fish-apkallu, Genesis, Gilgamesh, Greece, Hebrew, Hebrew Bible, Helge S. Kvanvig, Helsinki, J. J. Collins, JBL, Jean Bottéro, Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, Judaism, Kalhu, Lenzi, London, Lugalbanda, Marc Van De Mieroop, Mesopotamia, Neukirchen-Vluyn, Neukirchener Verlag, Nimrud, Orientalia, Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, Paul D. Hanson, puradu-fish, R. J. Clifford, Roots of Apocalyptic: The Mesopotamian Background of the Enoch Figure and the Son of Man, SAAS, Secrecy and the Gods, Secrecy and the Gods: Secret Knowledge in Ancient Mesopotamia and Biblical Israel, Seven Sages of Sumeria, Sumer, Sumeria, Temple of Ninurta, The British Museum, The Catholic Biblical Association of America, The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, University of Chicago Press, Uruk Sage List, Utnapishtim, uzna rapašta, Washington, WMANT, Zainab Bahrani
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Izre’el: Origins of the Adapa Myth

“Adapa the Sage Adapa was known in Ancient Mesopotamia as The Sage. The original etymology of the name Adapa may not have reached us. A lexical text lists a term adapu as meaning “wise” (Igituh I: 107), an attribute that is further attested in another late text (Lambert 1962: 74). This adjectival noun is undoubtedly […]

Published: September 13, 2015
Filed Under: 1911, 1961, 1962, 1974, 1978, 1986, 1992, 2001, Accad, Adapa, Adapa and the South Wind: Language Has the Power of Life and Death, adapu, Akkad, An, apkallus, Apsu, Ayyalu, ù.tu.a.ab.ba, Berossus, Borger, British Museum, Burstein, bīt mēseri, Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum, Denning-Bolle, E.A. Wallis Budge, Eisenbrauns, Eridu, Greek, Igituh, Izre'el, K 5519, Lambert, London, Mesopotamia, Oannes, puradu-fish, Reiner, Schlomo Izre’el, South Wind, Sumeria, The Babyloniaca, The Sage, Uan, Uanna, Utua-abba, Utuabzu, van Dijk, Wiggermann
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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: At the Brink of Legendary Time and Historical Time

“In Bīt Mēseri and Berossos, where there are narratives connected to the names, it is clear that the apkallus were those who brought humankind the basic wisdom needed to establish civilization. This is written out in a full story in Berossos; the same is referred to in Bīt Mēseri in the phrase “plans of heaven and […]

Published: September 11, 2015
Filed Under: 1800 BCE, 2000 BCE, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2047 BCE, 2094 BCE, 2120 BCE, A Remarkable Collection of Babylonian Mathematical Texts, A Survey of the Old Testament, Adam, Adapa, Adapa Myth, Alulim, Andrew E. Hill, Andrew George, Anu, apkallus, Ashmolean Museum, Assyria, Babylonia, Berkeley, Berossos, Bethesda, Brill, Colecciones Burzaco, Cornell University, Cuneiform Royal Inscriptions and Related Texts in the Schøyen Collection, Dumuzi, Ea, Enoch, Eridu, Garden of Eden, Genesis 5, Girsu, Grand Rapids, Helge Kvanvig, Istanbul, John H. Walton, Joran Friberg, Jose Latova, Kabti-ilāni-Marduk, Larak, Larsa, List of Kings and Cities from before the Flood, Lu-Nanna, Manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection, MD, Methuselah, MS 2855, MS 3175, Museum of the University of California, Nabonidus, Noah, Oannes, Oxford, Semites, Shuruppak, Sippar, Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, Springer, Studies in Assyriology and Sumerology, Sumeria, Sumerian King List, Tello, The Deluge, The Flood, Uan, Uanadapa, Ubur-tut, Ur, Uruk, Ziusudra, Zondervan Publishing House, Šulgi
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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: Initiation is a Restriction of Marduk

“We think van der Toorn is right in taking this as a comment to the tendency present in the Catalogue. This is still no absolute chronology, since apkallus are listed as authors in III, 7; IV, 11; and VI, 11. Nevertheless, the commentary seems to underscore three stages in the transmission of highly recognized written […]

Published: September 9, 2015
Filed Under: 1875, 1937, 2011, 2nd Century BCE, 3rd Century BCE, A. Lenzi, AM 102, American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, AMT, AO 6451, apkallus, Assyrian Prescriptions for the Head, Austen Henry Layard, Babylonia, Bible, Brill, British Museum, bīt mēseri, Catalogue, Ea, Enlil-bani, Enlil-muballit, Enuma Elish, Epic of Gilgamesh, George Smith, Gilgamesh, Hebrew, Helge Kvanvig, Isin, Israel, K. van der Toorn, K4023, Lenzi, London, Louvre, Marduk, Medical Text, Mesopotamia, Nineveh, Nippur, nisirti šamê u erseti, R. Campbell Thompson, Scribal Culture and the Making of the Hebrew Bible, Secrecy and the Gods, Seleucid, Tablet of Uruk, Temple of Anu, The Deluge, The Flood, Uanadapa, Uruk, Uruk Tablet, van der Toorn, Šuruppak, āšipu
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Kvanvig: Antediluvian Scribes of the gods

“We find an indication that Uanadapa was regarded as a recipient of revelations, we find it in the Verse Account of Nabonidus, where the king compares himself with Adapa. He boasts of his “wisdom;” he has “seen what is hidden” and “secret things:” “He would stand in the assembly (and) exalt him[self] (as follows): “I […]

Published: September 8, 2015
Filed Under: 1646 BCE, 2007, 2010, 2011, 650 BCE, A. Lenzi, Adapa, Adapa Myth, an.še.kur.ra, Anu, Anšekurra, Apkallu, Astrology, Babylonia, Baghdad, banduddu, Brill, Cambridge, Catalogue, Catalogue of Texts and Authors, Ea, Enlil, Enuma Anu Elil, Heavenly Wisdom, Helge Kvanvig, Ilteri, K. van der Toorn, Kabti-ilāni-Marduk, kasāru, kāsir kammīšu, Lambert, Machinist, Moon Crescent of Anu (and) Enlil, Nineveh, Pergamon Museum, Poem of Erra, puradu-fish, Rasmussen, Scribal Culture and the Making of the Hebrew Bible, Secrecy and the Gods, Seven Sages of antediluvian Sumeria, Sumeria, Tadmor, Temple of Ishtar, The Deluge, The Flood, U-an, Uan adapa, Uanadapa, Verse Account of Nabonidus, [Ada]pa ina pîšu išturu, ša lām abūbu
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Kvanvig: Transmission of Antediluvian Revelation

“The apkallus provided the human race with the fundamental wisdom necessary to develop human civilization. They did so through their teaching, and according to Mesopotamian tradition, developed in the first millennium, they did so also through their writing activity. The apkallus are listed several places as authors of literary works in the Catalogue of Texts […]

Published: September 8, 2015
Filed Under: 1646 BCE, 19th Century BCE, 1st Millennium BCE, 2010, 2011, 539 BCE, 555 BCE, 650 BCE, Adapa, AN 33047001, apkallus, Astrology, Babylon, Baghdad, barû, Berossos, Brill, British Museum, Budapest, Catalogue, Catalogue of Texts and Authors, Cylinder of Nabonidus, Dabibi, Enmedugga, Enuma Anu Enlil, Enuma Elish, Etana Myth, Heavenly Wisdom, Helge Kvanvig, J. Oelsner, JCS, K. 4023, K. 8080, Kabti-ilāni-Marduk, Lambert, Larsa, London, Lu-Nanna, Machinist, Materialien zur babylonischen Gesellschaft und Kultur in hellenistischer Zeit, ME K 19530, Mesopotamia, Nabonidus, Nineveh, Oannes, Poem of Erra, Rasmussen, Streck, Tadmor, Temple of Shamash, Temple of Shamash at Larsa, Temple of the Sun God Shamash at Larsa, The Deluge, The Flood, u sakar (SAR) d A-num d A-num d En.líl.lá ša ik-su-ru A-da-p[a], Uan, Uanadapa, Ur, Verse Account, Verse Account of Nabonidus, W.G. Lambert, [annû ša Kabti-ilāni Marduk mār Dabibi] ušabrišuma idbubû, šubrû
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Kvanvig: The apkallus as Watchers and Guardians

“As demonstrated in the rituals, the apkallus were not only figures of the past. Surely, they visited the earth in antediluvian time to bestow wisdom on mankind, but they were still alive and invisibly present in the human world. They were present as “guardian spirits,” as we have seen in the depiction of the sick […]

Published: September 8, 2015
Filed Under: 1932, 2011, Akkad, apkallus, banduddu, bird-apkallu, Brill, buckets, Clermont-Ganneau, cones, corvée, Eisenbrauns, Faucher-Gudin, fleur de lis, Helge Kvanvig, ilku-duty, John D. Rockefeller Jr, John Malcolm Russell, Kalhu, Kilizi, Kvanvig, Lamp of Nusku, Letter 143, Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars, Louvre, Lulal, M. de Clercq, M. Peretie, Marduk, massartu, massartu nasāru, massartu ša šarri nasāru, Metropolitan Museum 32.143.3, Metropolitan Museum of Art, mullilu, Nabu, nasāru, Northwest Palace of Assurnasirpal II, Nusku, Parpola, Poem of Erra, The Writing on the Wall. Studies in the Architectural Context of Late Assyrian Palace Inscriptions, Tree of Life, ugallu, ummanus, āšipū
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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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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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