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Nergal

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For other uses, seeNergal (disambiguation).
Nergal
God of war, disease, and death
Nergal holding his attributes—a lion-headed mace and a sword—on a cylinder seal fromLarsa
Major cult centerKutha
AbodeKur(the Mesopotamian underworld)
PlanetMars
Symbollion-headed mace, sword, lion, bull, possibly chameleon
Number14
Genealogy
ParentsEnlilandNinlil
SiblingsNanna,Ninazu,Enbilulu(in the mythEnlil and Ninlil)
Consort
ChildrenTadmushtum
Equivalents
Southern Mesopotamian equivalentNinazu
Akkadian equivalentErra
Eblaite and Ugaritic equivalentResheph
Elamite equivalentSimut
Mandaean equivalentNirig

Nergal(Sumerian:𒀭𒄊𒀕𒃲[1]dKIŠ.UNUordGÌR.UNU.GAL;[2]Hebrew:נֵרְגַל,Modern:Nergal,Tiberian:Nērgal;Aramaic:ܢܸܪܓܲܠ;[3]Latin:Nirgal) was aMesopotamian godworshiped through all periods of Mesopotamian history, fromEarly DynastictoNeo-Babyloniantimes, with a few attestations indicating that his cult survived into the period ofAchaemeniddomination. He was primarily associated with war, death, and disease, and has been described as the "god of inflicted death".[4]He reigned overKur, the Mesopotamian underworld,depending on the myth either on behalf of his parentsEnlilandNinlil,or in later periods as a result of his marriage with the goddessEreshkigal.Originally eitherMammitum,a goddess possibly connected to frost, orLaṣ,sometimes assumed to be a minor medicine goddess, were regarded as his wife, though other traditions existed, too.

His primary cult center wasKutha,located in the north of historicalBabylonia.His maintemplebore the ceremonial name E-Meslam and he was also known by the name Meslamtaea, "he who comes out of Meslam". Initially he was only worshiped in the north, with a notable exception beingGirsuduring the reign ofGudeaofLagash,but starting with theUr III periodhe became a major deity in the south too. He remained prominent in both Babylonia andAssyriain later periods, and in theNeo-Babylonianstate pantheon he was regarded as the third most important god, afterMardukandNabu.

Nergal was associated with a large number of local or foreign deities. The Akkadian godErrawas syncretised with him at an early date, and especially in literary texts they functioned as synonyms of each other. Other major deities frequently compared to or syncretised with him include the western godResheph,best attested inEblaandUgarit,who was also a god of war, plague and death, andElamiteSimut,who was likely a warrior god and shared Nergal's association with the planetMars.It has also been proposed that his name was used to represent a Hurrian god, possiblyKumarbiorAštabi,in early inscriptions fromUrkesh,but there is also evidence that he was worshiped by theHurriansunder his own name as one of the Mesopotamian deities they incorporated into their ownpantheon.

Two well known myths focus on Nergal,Nergal and EreshkigalandEpic of Erra.The former describes the circumstances of his marriage ofEreshkigal,the Mesopotamian goddess of the dead, while the latter describes his rampages and efforts of hissukkal(attendant deity)Ishumto stop them. He also appears in a number of other, less well preserved compositions.

Names and epithets

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Nergal's name can be translated from Sumerian as "lord of the big city",[2]a euphemistic way to refer to him as a ruler of theunderworld.[5]The earliest attested spelling isdKIŠ.UNU, with its standard derivativedKIŠ.UNU.GAL first attested in theOld Akkadian period.[2]Since in theOld Babylonian periodthecuneiformsigns KIŠ and GÌR coalesced, transliterations using the latter in place of the former can also be found in literature.[3]The variantdNIN.KIŠ.UNU, attested in an inscription ofNaram-Sin of Akkad,[5]resulted from the use of a derivative of Nergal's name, KIŠ.UNU, as an early logographic writing of the name ofKutha,his cult center.[2]

Phonetic spellings of Nergal's name are attested in cuneiform (dné-ri-ig-láinOld AssyrianTell Leilan,dné-ri-ig-lainNuzi), as well as inAramaic(nrgl,nyrgl) andHebrew(nēregalin theMasoretic Text).[3]

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Main article:Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea

Meslamtaea, "he who has come out of Meslam", was originally used as an alternative name of Nergal in the southern part ofLower Mesopotamiaup to theUr III period.[3]It has been proposed that it was euphemistic and reflected the fact that Nergal initially could not be recognized as a ruler of the underworld in the south due to the existence ofNinazu(sometimes assumed to be the earliest Mesopotamian god of death[6]) andEreshkigal,and perhaps only served as a war deity.[5]Meslamtaea with time also came to be used as the name of a separate deity.[3]As attested for the first time in a hymn from the reign ofIbbi-Sin,he formed a pair with Lugalirra.[7]Due to the connection between Nergal and these two gods, who could be regarded as a pair of twins, his own name could be represented by the logogramdMAŠ.TAB.BA and its variantdMAŠ.MAŠ,[8]both of them originally meaning "(divine) twins".[9]dMAŠ.MAŠ is attested inNeo-Assyriantheophoric namesas a spelling of Nergal's name, though only uncommonly.[3]However, the god designated by this logogram in one of theAmarna letters,written by the king ofAlashiya,is most likelyReshephinstead.[10]

Erra

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Main article:Erra (god)

From theOld Babylonian periodonward the nameErra,derived from theSemiticrootḥrr,and thus etymologically related to theAkkadianverberēru,"to scorch", could be applied to Nergal, though it originally referred to a distinct god.[5]The two of them started to be associated in the Old Babylonian period, were equated in theWeidnerandAn = Anumgod lists, and appear to be synonyms of each other in literary texts (including theEpic of ErraandNergal andEreshkigal), where both names can occur side by side as designations of the same figure.[5]However, while in other similar cases (Inannaand Ishtar,Enkiand Ea) the Akkadian name eventually started to predominate over Sumerian, Erra was the less commonly used one, and there are also examples of late bilingual texts using Nergal's name in the Akkadian version and Erra's in the Sumerian translation, indicating it was viewed as antiquated and was not in common use.[5]Theophoric names invoking Erra are only attested from Old Akkadian to Old Babylonian period, with most of the examples being Akkadian, though uncommonly Sumerian ones occur too.[5]Despite his origin, he is absent from the inscriptions of rulers of theAkkadian Empire.[5]

The similarity between the names of Erra and Lugal-irra is presumed to be accidental, and the element-irrain the latter is Sumerian and is conventionally translated as "mighty".[11]

U.GUR

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Main article:Ugur (god)

The logogramdU.GUR is the most commonly attested writing of Nergal's name from theMiddle Babylonian periodonward.[2]This name initially belonged to Nergal's attendant deity (sukkal,and might be derived from the imperative form of Akkadiannāqaru,"destroy!".[12]It has been noted that Ugur was replaced in his role byIshumcontemporarily with the spread of the use ofdU.GUR as a writing of Nergal's name.[3]

IGI.DU

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dIGI.DU is attested as a logographic representation of Nergal's name inNeo-Babyloniansources, with the reading confirmed by the alternation between it anddU.GUR intheophoric names.[13]However, in a number of Assyrian textsdU.GUR anddIGI.DU appear as designations of two different deities, with the former being Nergal and the latter remaining unidentified.[13]Authors such as Frans Wiggermann and Julia Krul argue it had the Akkadian reading Pālil.[3][14]However,Manfred Krebernik[de]states this remains unconfirmed.[13]A deity designated by the logogramdIGI.DU was also worshiped in Uruk, with the earliest references coming from the reign of Sennacherib and the most recent from the Seleucid period,[15]and according to Krul should be interpreted as "a form of Nergal".[14]Paul-Alain Beaulieuinstead argues that it is impossible to identify him as Nergal, as both of them appear alongsideNinurtaas a trio of distinct deities in Neo-Babylonian sources.[15]According to the god listAn = AnumdIGI.DU could also be used as a logographic writing of the names of Ninurta (tablet VI. line 192; however, a variant lists the sumerogramdGÉSTU instead ofdIGI.DU) and theElamitedeity Igišta (tablet VI, line 182; also attested in Elamite theophoric names).[13]It could also be used to represent the names ofLugal-irra and Meslamta-ea.[2]Beaulieu points out that in the Neo-Babylonian period two different deities whose names were rendered asdIGI.DU were worshiped in Udannu, and proposed a relation with Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea.[16]The single attestation ofdIGI.DU as a representation of the name ofAlammušis an astronomical text is presumed to be the result of confusion between him andNingublaga,the "Little Twins", with Lugal-Irra and Meslamtaea, the "Great Twins".[13]

Other names and epithets

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Nergal also had a large number of other names and epithets, according to Frans Wiggermann comparable only to a handful of other very popular deities (especiallyInanna), with around 50 known from the Old Babylonian period, and about twice as many from the later god listAn = Anum,including many compounds with the wordlugal,"lord".[3]For instance, he could be referred to as "Lugal-silimma", lord of peace.[17]A few of Nergal's titles point at occasional association with vegetation and agriculture, namelyLugal-asal,"lord (of the)poplar";Lugal-gišimmar,"Lord (of the)date palm"(also a title ofNinurta);Lugal-šinig,"Lord (of the)tamarisk";Lugal-zulumma,"Lord (of the) dates".[18]However, Dina Katz stresses that these names were only applied to Nergal in late sources, and it cannot be assumed that this necessarily reflected an aspect of his character already extant earlier on.[19]A frequently attested earlier epithet is Guanungia, "bull whose great strength cannot be repulsed", already in use theEarly Dynastic period.[20]An alternate name of Nergal listed in the Babylonian recension of the god listAnšar = Anum,de-eb-ri,reflects theHurrianwordewri,"lord".[21]


Character

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Nergal's role as a god of theunderworldis the already attested in an Early DynasticZame Hymns,specifically in the hymn dedicated toKutha,where he is additionally associated with the so-called "Enki-Ninki deities",a group regarded as ancestors ofEnlilbelieved to reside in the underworld.[22]According to a hymn from the reign ofIshme-Dagan,dominion over the land of the dead was bestowed upon Nergal by his parents, Enlil andNinlil.[23]He was believed to decide fates of the dead the same way as Enlil did for the living.[24]In one Old Babylonianadabsong Nergal is described as "Enlil of the homeland (kalam) and the underworld (kur) ".[25]He was also occasionally referred to as Enlil-banda, "junior Enlil",[22]though this title also functioned as an epithet of the godEnki.[26]

In addition to being a god of the underworld, Nergal was also a war god, believed to accompany rulers on campaigns, but also to guarantee peace due to his fearsome nature serving as a deterrent.[27]In that capacity he was known as Lugal-silimma, "lord of peace".[17]He was also associated with disease.[27]As summed up by Frans Wiggermann, his various domains make him the god of "inflicted death".[4]He also played an important role inapotropaicrituals, in which he was commonly invoked to protect houses from evil.[17]Fragments of tablets containing theEpic of Erra,a text detailing his exploits, were used as amulets.[28]

Astral role

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Nergal was associated withMars.[17]Like him, this planet was linked with disease (especiallykidney disease) in Mesopotamian beliefs.[29]However, Mars was also associated with other deities:Ninazu(under the name "theElamstar "),[30]Nintinugga,[31]and especiallySimut,in origin an Elamite god.[32]The name of the last of these figures in Mesopotamian sources could outright refer to the planet (mulSi-mu-ut,"the star Simut" ).[33]

A number of scholars in the early 20th century, for exampleEmil Kraeling,assumed that Nergal was in part a solar deity, and as such was sometimes identified withShamash.[34]Kraeling argued that Nergal was representative of a certain phase of the sun, specifically the sun of noontime and of the summer solstice that brings destruction, high summer being the dead season in the Mesopotamian annual cycle.[34]This view is no longer present in modern scholarship. While some authors, for example Nikita Artemov, refer to Nergal as a deity of "quasi-solar" character, primary sources show a connection between him and sunset rather than noon.[35]For instance, an Old Babylonianadabsong contains a description of Nergal serving as a judge at sunset,[25]while another composition calls him the "king of sunset".[23]This association is also present in rituals meant to compelghoststo return to the underworld through the gates to sunset.[36]

Iconography

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A symbol of Nergal on Old-Babylonian fired clay plaque from Nippur, Southern Mesopotamian, Iraq
A bull-eared deity, possibly a courtier of Nergal[37]

Nergal's role as a war god was exemplified by some of his attributes: mace, dagger and bow.[17]A mace with three lion-shaped heads and a scimitar adorned with leonine decorations often appear as Nergal's weapons oncylinder seals.[38]He was also often depicted in a type of flat cap commonly, but not exclusively, worn by underworld deities in Mesopotamian glyptic art.[38]

Bulls and lions were associated with Nergal.[37]On the basis of this connection it has been proposed that minor deities with bull-like ears on Old Babylonian terracotta plaques and cylinder seals might have been depictions of unspecified members of Nergal's entourage.[37]An entry in the explanatory god listAn = Anu ša amēliseemingly associates Nergal withchameleons,as his titleBar-MUŠEN-na,explained as "Nergal of rage" (ša uzzi) is like a scribal mistake forbar-gun3-(gun3)-na( "the one with a colorful exterior" ), presumed to be the Akkadian term for chameleon; Ryan D. Winters suggests that the animal's color changing might have been associated with mood swings or choleric temperament, and additionally that it was perceived as a "chthonic"being.[39]

War standards could serve as a symbolic representation of Nergal too, and the Assyrians armies in particular were often accompanied by such devotional objects during campaigns.[40]A similar symbol also represented Nergal onkudurru,inscribed boundary stones.[41]

Associations with other deities

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The god most closely associated with Nergal wasErra,whose name was Akkadian rather than Sumerian and can be understood as "scorching".[5]Two gods with names similar to Erra who were also associated with Nergal wereErrakalandErragal.[42]It is assumed that they had a distinct origin from Erra.[20]

Ninazuwas seemingly already associated with Nergal in the Early Dynastic period, as a document fromShuruppakrefers to him as "Nergal ofEnegi",his main cult center.[30]The city itself was sometimes called "Kutha of Sumer".[43]In later times, especially inEshnunna,he started to be viewed as a son of Enlil and Ninlil and a warrior god, similar to Nergal.[44]

Many minor gods were associated or equated with Nergal. The godShulmanu,known exclusively from Assyria, was associated with Nergal and even equated with him in god lists.[20]Lagamar(Akkadian: "no mercy"[45]), son ofUrash(the male tutelary god ofDilbat) known both fromlower Mesopotamiansources and fromMariandSusa[46]is glossed as "Nergal" in the god listAn = Anum.[47]Lagamar,Shubulaand a number of other deities are also equated with Nergal in the Weidner god list.[48]Luhusha (Sumerian: "angry man" ), worshiped inKish,was referred to as "Nergal of Kish".[49]Emu, a god fromSuhumlocated on theEuphratesnear Mari, was also regarded as Nergal-like.[20]He is directly identified as "Nergal of Sūḫi" in the god listAnšar = Anum,and might be either the same deity as the poorly attested Âmûm (a-mu,a-mu-umora-mi-im) known from Mari, or alternatively a local derivative of the sea godYam,possibly introduced to this area by people migrating from further west; Ryan D. Winters notes in the latter case the association would presumably reflect Nergal's epithetlugala'abba,[50]"king of the sea".[51]

Nergal was on occasion associated withIshtaran,and in this capacity he could be portrayed as a divine judge.[25]However, as noted by Jeremiah Peterson, this association is unusual as Nergal was believed to act as a judge in locations where the sun sets in mythological texts, while on the account ofDer's location Ishtaran was usually associated with the east, where the sun rises.[26]

Parents and siblings

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Enlil and Ninlil are attested as Nergal's parents in the overwhelming majority of sources, and while in the mythNergal and Ereshkigalhe addressesEaas "father", this might merely be a honorific, as no other evidence for such an association exists.[22]

In the mythEnlil and NinlilNergal's brothers are Ninazu (usually instead a brother ofNinmada),NannaandEnbilulu.[44]In a single text, a Neo-Babylonian letter fromMarad,his brothers are insteadNabuandLugal-Marada,the tutelary god of this city.[52]However, this reference is most likely an example ofcaptatio benevolentiae,arhetorical devicemeant to secure the goodwill of the reader, rather than a statement about genealogy of deities.[53]

Wives and children

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Multiple goddesses are attested as Nergal's wife in various time periods and locations, but most of them are poorly defined in known documents.[54]While Frans Wiggermann assumes that all of them were understood as goddesses connected to the earth,[55]this assumption is not shared by other assyriologists.[56][57]

Laṣ,first attested in an offering list from theUr III periodmentioning various deities from Kutha, was the goddess most commonly regarded as Nergal's spouse,[55]especially from theKassiteandmiddle Assyrianperiods onward.[58]She received offerings from neo-Babylonian kings alongside Nergal in Kutha.[59]Her name is assumed to have its origin in aSemitic language,but both its meaning and Laṣ' character are unknown.[58]Based on the Weidner god list,Wilfred G. Lambertproposes that she was a medicine goddess.[56]Couples consisting of a warrior god and a medicine goddess (such asPabilsagandNinisinaorZababaandBau) were common inMesopotamian mythology.[60]

Another goddess often viewed as the wife of Nergal wasMammitum.[56][55]Her name is homophonous withMami,a goddess of birth known for example from theNippurgod list,[61]leading some researchers to conflate them.[55]However, it is generally accepted that they were separate deities,[61]and they are kept apart in Mesopotamian god lists.[57]Multiple meanings have been proposed for her name, including "oath" and "frost" (based on a similarAkkadianword,mammû,meaning "ice" or "frost" ).[57]It is possible she was introduced in Kutha alongside Erra.[55]In at least one text, a description of a New Year ritual fromBabylonduring which the gods of Kish, Kutha andBorsippawere believed to visitMarduk(at the time not yet a major god), both she and Laṣ appear side by side as two separate goddesses.[62]In the Nippur god list Laṣ occurs separately from Nergal,[56]while Mammitum is present right behind him, which along with receiving offerings alongside him inEkurin the same city in the Old Babylonian lead researches to conclude a spousal relation existed between them.[63]She is also the wife of Erra/Nergal in theEpic of Erra.[64]The Middle Babylonian god listAn = Anummentions both Laṣ and Mamitum, equating them with each other, and additionally calls the goddessAdmu( "earth" ) Nergal's wife.[55]She is otherwise only known from personal names and a single offering list from Old Babylonian Mari.[65]

In third millennium BCE in Girsu, the spouse of Nergal (Meslamtaea) was Inanna's sukkalNinshubur,[66]otherwise seemingly viewed as unmarried.[67]Attestations of Ninshubur as Nergal's sukkal are also known, though they are infrequent.[55]

According to the mythNergal and Ereshkigalhe was married toEreshkigal,the goddess of the dead.[55]In god lists, however, they do not appear as husband and wife,[20]though there is evidence that their entourages started to be combined as early as in the Ur III period.[68]Ereshkigal's importance in Mesopotamia was largely limited to literary, rather than cultic, texts.[55]

Nergal's daughter wasTadmushtum,[55]a minor underworld goddess first attested inDrehemin the Ur III period.[69]In an offering list she appears alongside Laṣ.[69]Her name has Akkadian origin, possibly being derived from the wordsdāmasu( "to humble" ) ordāmašu(connected to the word "hidden" ), though more distant cognates were also proposed, includingGeʽezdamasu( "to abolish", "to destroy", or alternatively "to hide" ).[69]It has also been proposed that a linguistic connection existed between her and theUgariticgoddess Tadmish (orDadmish,ddmšin thealphabetic script), who in some of theUgaritic textsoccurs alongsideResheph,though a copy of theWeidner god listfrom Ugarit however equates Tadmish withShuziannarather than Tadmushtum.[69]In Neo-Babylonian lists of so-called "Divine Daughters", pairs of minor goddesses associated with specific temples likely viewed as daughters of their head gods, the "Daughters of E-Meslam" from Kutha are Dadamushda (Tadmushtum[69]) and Belet-Ili.[70]

While Frans Wiggermann[55]and Piotr Michalowski[71]additionally regard the godShubulaas Nergal's son, it is actually difficult to determine if such a relation existed between these two deities due to the poor preservation of the tablet of the god listAn = Anumwhere Shubula's position in the pantheon was specified.[63]Shubula might have been a son ofIshumrather than Nergal.[63]He was an underworld god and is mostly known from personal names from the Ur III and Isin-Larsa periods.[71]His name is most likely derived from the Akkadian wordabālu( "dry" ).[63]There is also clear evidence that he was regarded as Tadmushtum's husband.[69][71]

Servants

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Nergal'ssukkal(attendant deity) was initially the godUgur,possibly the personification of his sword.[12]After the Old Babylonian period he was replaced in this role byIshum.[55]Sporadically Inanna's sukkal Ninshubur[55]or Ereshkigal's sukkalNamtarwere said to fulfill this role in the court of Nergal instead.[72]His other courtiers includedumum,so-called "day demons", who possibly represented points in time regarded as inauspicious; various minor deities associated with diseases; the minor warrior gods known asSebitti;and a number of figures at times associated with Ereshkigal and gods such as Ninazu and Ningishzida as well, for example Namtar's wifeHushbisha,their daughter Hedimmeku, and the deified heroesGilgameshandEtana(understood as judges of the dead in this context).[73]In some texts the connection between Gilgamesh in his underworld role and Nergal seems to be particularly close, with the hero being referred to as "Nergal's little brother".[74]

Foreign deities

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The "sword-god" fromYazılıkaya,identified with Nergal[75]
SyncreticParthianrelief carving of Nergal-Heracles from Hatra inIraq,dating to the first or second century AD[76]

Resheph,a western god of war and plague, was already associated with Nergal inEblain the third millennium BCE, though the connection was not exclusive, as he also occurs in contexts which seem to indicate a relation with Ea (known in Ebla asHayya) instead.[77]Furthermore, the Eblaite scribes never used Nergal's name as a logographic representation of Resheph's.[77]According to Alfonso Archi, it is difficult to further speculate about the nature of Resheph and his relation to other deities in Eblaite religion due to lack of information about his individual characteristics.[77]The equivalence between Nergal and the same western gods is also known fromUgarit,[20]where Resheph was additionally associated with the planet Mars, much like Nergal in Mesopotamia.[78]Documents fromEmaron the Euphrates mention a god called "Nergal of the KI.LAM" (seemingly a term designating amarket), commonly identified with Resheph by researchers.[79]Additionally, "Lugal-Rasap" functioned as a title of Nergal in Mesopotamia according to god lists.[20]

It has been proposed that inUrkesh,aHurriancity in northern Syria, Nergal's name was used to represent a local deity of Hurrian originlogographically.[80]Two possible explanations have been proposed:AštabiandKumarbi.[80]The former was a god of Eblaite origin,[81]later associated withNinurtarather than Nergal,[82]while the latter was the Hurrian "father of the gods", usually associated with Enlil[83]andDagan.[82]Gernot Wilhelm[de]concludes in a recent publication that the identification of Nergal in the early Urkesh inscriptions as Kumarbi is not implausible, but at the same remains impossible to conclusively prove.[84]He points out that it is also not impossible that Kumarbi only developed as a distinct deity at a later point in time.[84]Alfonso Archi notes that it also possible the god meant is Nergal himself, as he is attested in other Hurrian sources as an actively worshiped deity.[80]

In theYazılıkayasanctuary, Nergal's name was apparently applied to a so-called "sword god" depicted on one of the reliefs, most likely a presently unidentified local god of death.[75]

The Elamite godSimutwas frequently associated with Nergal, shared his association with the planet Mars and possibly his warlike character,[33]though unlike his Mesopotamian counterpart he was not an underworld deity.[85]In one case he appears alongside Laṣ.[56]Wouter Henkelman additionally proposes that "Nergal of Hubshal (or Hubshan)" known from Assyrian sources was Simut.[33]However, other identities of the deity identified by this moniker have been proposed as well, withVolkert Haasinstead identifying him as Ugur.[86]Yet another possibility is that Emu was the deity meant.[20]

Based onlexical lists,twoKassite godswere identified with Nergal, Shugab and Dur.[20]

In a Middle Assyrian god list, "Kammush" appears among the epithets of Nergal.[87]According to Wilfred G. Lambert it cannot be established whether this indicates an equation with either the third millennium BCE godKamishknown from the Ebla texts, or theIron AgegodChemoshfromMoab.[87]

In late,Hellenisticsources fromPalmyra,HatraandTarsusHeraclesserved as theinterpretatio graecaof Nergal.[20]Heracles and Nergal were also both (at different points in time) associated with the Anatolian godSandas.[88]

Worship

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Fragments of a vessel dedicated to the temple of Nergal inNineveh,showingShalmaneser IIIkneeling before Nergal, currently held in theBritish Museumin London

Nergal's main cult center wasKutha,where his temple E-Meslam was located.[56][89]Andrew R. George proposes the translation "house, warrior of the netherworld" for its name.[90]A secondary name of the E-Meslam was E-ḫuškia, "fearsome house of the underworld".[91]It is already attested in documents from the reign ofShulgi,don whose orders repair work was undertaken there.[92]Later monarchs who also rebuilt it includeApil-Sin,Hammurabi,AshurbanipalandNebuchadnezzar II.[90]It continued to function as late as in theSeleucidperiod.[90]In addition to Kutha, Apak (Apiak[93]) is well attested as a major cult center of Nergal,[94]already attested in documents from theSargonic period.[93]Its precise location is not known, but it has been established that it was to the west ofMarad.[93]In this city, he could be referred to as Lugal-Apiak.[93]While absent fromAssyriain theAkkadian period,later he rose to the status of one of the most major gods there.[17]Tarbishuwas a particularly important Assyrian cult center of both Nergal and his wifeLaṣ.[58]His temple in this city, originally built bySennacherib,also bore the name E-Meslam.[95]A third temple named E-Meslam was located inMashkan-shapiraccording to documents from the reign of Hammurabi, and it is possible it was dedicated to Nergal too.[95]The veneration of Nergal in this city is well documented.[17]

Naram-Sin of Akkadwas particularly devoted to Nergal, describing him as his "caretaker" (rābisu) and himself as a "comrade" (rū'um) of the god.[5]At the same time, worship of Nergal in the southernmost cities of Mesopotamia was uncommon in the third millennium BCE, one exception being the presence of "Meslamtaea" inLagashinGudea's times.[25]This changed during the reign of Shulgi, the second king from theThird Dynasty of Ur.[25]Theological texts from this period indicate that Nergal was viewed as one of the major gods and as king of the underworld.[96]Tonia Sharlach proposes that "Nergal of TIN.TIRki"known from this period should be understood as the original tutelary god ofBabylon.[97]This interpretation is not supported byAndrew R. George,who notes that Nergal of TIN.TIRkiis usually mentioned alongsideGeshtinannaof KI.ANki,Ninhursagof KA.AM.RIki,and other deities worshiped in settlements located in the proximity ofUmma,and on this basis he argues that this place name should be read phonetically as Tintir and refers to a small town administered directly from said city, and not to Babylon, whose name could be written logographically as TIN.TIRkiin later periods.[98]Other authors agree that the worship of Nergal is well attested in the area around Umma.[17]George additionally points out that there is no indication that Babylon was regarded as a major cult center of Nergal in any time period.[98]

In the Old Babylonian period Nergal continued to be worshiped as a god of the dead, as indicated for example by an elegy in which he appears alongsideNingishzida,EtanaandBidu,the gatekeeper of the underworld.[99]He appears for the first time in documents from Uruk in this period.[100]Anam of Uruk built a temple dedicated to him in nearby Uzurpara during the reign ofSîn-gāmil.[101]It is possible that it bore the name E-dimgalanna, "house, great bond of heaven".[101]Multiple temples of other deities (Sud,AyaandNanna) bearing the same name are attested from other locations as well.[101]Damiq-ilishuofIsinalso built a temple of Nergal in this location, the E-kitušbidu, "house whose abode is pleasant".[102]In Uruk itself, Nergal had a small sanctuary, possibly known as E-meteirra, "house worthy of the mighty one".[103]A temple bearing this name was rebuilt byKudur-Mabukat one point.[104]Nergal continued to be worshiped in Uruk as late as in earlyAchaemenidtimes, and he is mentioned in a source from the 29th year of the reign ofDarius I.[100]One late document mentions an oath taken in the presence of a priest (sanga) of Nergal during the sale of aprebendin which Nergal andEreshkigalwere invoked as divine witnesses.[103]

A temple of Nergal bearing the name E-šahulla, "house of the happy heart", is mentioned in ancient temple lists, and was located inMê-Turan.[105]It was identified during excavations based on brick inscriptions and votive offerings dedicated to Nergal.[106]It shared its name with a temple ofNanayalocated inKazallu.[107]According to Andrew R. George, its name was most likely a reference to the occasional association between Nergal and joy.[108]For example, a street named "the thoroughfare of Nergal of Joy" (Akkadian:mūtaq Nergal ša ḫadê) existed in Babylon, while the god listAn = Anum ša amēlimentions "Nergal of jubilation" (dU.GURša rišati).[109]

InLagaba,Nergal was worshiped under the name Išar-kidiššu.[110]He could also be referred to as the god ofMarad,though this city was chiefly associated withLugal-Marada.[53]Offerings or other forms of worship are also attested fromDilbat,Isin,Larsa,NippurandUr.[111]It is possible that a temple of Nergal bearing the name E-erimḫašḫaš, "house which smites the wicked", which was at one point rebuilt byRim-Sîn I,was located in the last of these cities.[112]Temples dedicated to him also existed in both Isin and Nippur, but their names are not known.[113]

In theNeo-Babylonian periodNergal was regarded as the third most important god afterMardukandNabu.[114]These three gods often appear together in royal inscriptions.[89]Based on a cylinder ofNeriglissarproviding for E-Meslam in Kutha was regarded as a royal duty, similar as in the case of Marduk's and Nabu's main temples (respectivelyE-Sagilin Babylon and E-Zida in Borsippa).[59]However, administrative documents indicate that Nergal and his wife Laṣ received fewer offerings than Marduk or Nabu.[59]In some families it was seemingly customary to give the third son a theophoric name invoking Nergal, in accordance with his position in the state pantheon.[115]

14th and 28th days of the month were regarded as sacred to Nergal,[17][116]as was the number 14 itself, though it was also associated withSakkan.[17]

Unlike other Mesopotamian deities with underworld associations, for example Ereshkigal, Nergal is well attested intheophoric names.[117]

Hurrian reception

[edit]
Foundation tablet of Atal-shen, king ofUrkeshand Nawar,HaburBassin, circa 2000 BCE. Louvre Museum AO 5678.

Nergal was also incorporated into the pantheon of the Hurrians,[118]and it has been argued he was among the earliest foreign gods they have adopted.[119]He is one of the gods considered to be pan-Hurrian by modern researchers, a category also encompassing the likes ofTeshub,ShaushkaorNupatik.[120]He is already attested in the inscriptions of two early Hurrian kings ofUrkesh,[119]Tish-ataland Atal-shen.[80]An inscription of the former is the oldest known text inHurrian:

Tish-atal,endanof Urkesh, has built a temple of Nergal. May the god Lubagada protect this temple. Who destroys it, [him] mayLubadagadestroy. May the weather god not hear his prayer. May themistress of Nagar,the sun-god, and the weather-god [...] him who destroys it.[121]

The sun god and the weather god in this inscription are most likely HurrianShimigeand Teshub.[122]

Atal-shen referred to Nergal as the lord of a location known as Hawalum:[119]

Of Nergal the lord of Hawalum, Atal-shen, the caring shepherd, the king of Urkesh and Nawar, the son of Sadar-mat the king, is the builder of the temple of Nergal, the one who overcomes opposition. LetShamashandIshtardestroy the seeds of whoever removes this tablet. Shaum-shen is the craftsman.[123]

Giorgio Buccellati in his translation quoted above renders the names of the other deities invoked as Shamash and Ishtar, but according to Alfonso Archi the logogramsdUTU anddINANNA should be read as Shimige and Shaushka in this case.[80]

The worship of Nergal is also well attested in the eastern Hurrian settlements.[119]These includeArrapha,referred to as the "City of the Gods", which was located near modernKirkuk,as well as Ḫilamani, Tilla[124]and Ulamme, where anentupriestess dedicated to him resided.[125]In the last three of these cities, he was associated with a goddess referred to as "dIŠTAR Ḫumella ", the reading and meaning of whose name are unclear.[126][124]

Mythology

[edit]

Nergal and Ereshkigal

[edit]

Two versions of the mythNergal and Ereshkigalare known, one from a single Middle Babylonian copy found inAmarna,seemingly copied by a scribe whose native language was notAkkadian[127]and another known fromSultantepeand fromUruk,with copies dated to theNeo-AssyrianandNeo-Babylonianperiods, respectively.[128]The time of original composition is uncertain, with proposed dates varying fromOld Babylonianto Middle Babylonian times.[129]Whether a Sumerian original existed is unknown, and the surviving copies are all written in Akkadian.[129]

After Nergal fails to pay respect to Ereshkigal's sukkalNamtarduring a feast where he acts as a proxy of his mistress, who cannot leave the underworld to attend, she demands to have him sent to the underworld to answer for it. The El Amarna version states that she planned to kill Nergal, but this detail is absent from the other two copies.[129]

Nergal descends to the underworld, but he's able to avoid many of its dangers thanks to advice given to him byEa.[129]However, he ignores one of them, and has sex with Ereshkigal. After six days he decides to leave while Ereshkigal is asleep. After noticing this she dispatches Namtar, and demands the other gods to convince Nergal to return again, threatening to open the gates of the underworld if she does not get what she asks for. Nergal is handed over to her again.[130]

In the Amarna version, where Ereshkigal initially planned to kill Nergal, he defeats Namtar and prepares to kill Ereshkigal. To save herself, she suggests that they can get married and share the underworld.[130]The other two known copies give the myth a happy ending: as noted by assyriologist Alhena Gadotti, "the two deities seem to reunite and live happily ever after", and the myth concludes with the line "they impetuously entered the bedchamber".[130]

According to assyriologists such asStephanie Dalleythe purpose of this narrative was most likely to find a way to reconcile two different views of the underworld,[127]one from the north centered on Nergal, and another from the south centered on Ereshkigal.[131]Tikva Frymer-Kensky's attempt at interpreting it as evidence of "marginalization of goddesses"[132]is regarded as erroneous.[133]According to Alhena Gadotti the idea that Ereshkigal was supposed to share kingship over the underworld with her spouse is also known from the Old Babylonian compositionGilgamesh,Enkiduand the Underworld,in whichAnuandEnlilgive the underworld to her "as a dowry, her portion of the paternal estate's inheritance, which she controlled until she married".[134]It is however impossible to tell which of the three gods regarded as Ereshkigal's husbands in various sources was implicitly meant to be the recipient of the dowry in this composition—Gugalanna,Nergal, orNinazu.[135]

Epic of Erra

[edit]

The oldest surviving copies of theEpic of Erracome from the Assyrian city ofNinevehand have been dated to the seventh century BCE, but it has been argued that the composition is between 100 and 400 years older than that based on possible allusions to historical events which occurred during a period of calamity which Babylonia experienced roughly between eleventh and eighth centuries BCE.[136]Acolophonindicates that it was compiled by a certain Kabti-ilani-Marduk, which constitutes an uncommon of example of a direct statement of authorship of an ancient Mesopotamian text.[137]

Nergal (the names Nergal and Erra are both used to refer to the protagonist of the narrative[137]) desires to wage war to counter a state of inertia he found himself in.[28]His weapons (theSebitti[55]) urge him to take action, while his sukkalIshum,who according toAndrew R. Georgeappears to play the role of Nergal's conscience in this myth,[138]attempts to stop him.[139]Nergal dismisses the latter, noting that it is necessary to regain respect in the eyes of humans, and embarks on a campaign.[140]

His first goal is Babylon. Through trickery he manages to convinceMarduk(portrayed as a ruler past his prime, rather than as a dynamic hero, in contrast with other compositions[141]) to leave his temple. However, Marduk returns too soon for Nergal to successfully start his campaign, and as a result in a long speech he promises to give other gods a reason to remember him. As a result of his declaration (or perhaps because of Marduk's temporary absence), the world seemingly finds itself in a state of cosmic chaos.[142]

Ishum once again attempts to convince Nergal to stop, but his pleading does not accomplish its goal. Nergal's acts keep escalating and soon Marduk is forced to leave his dwelling again, fully leaving the world at Nergal's mercy. A number of graphic descriptions of the horrors of war focused on nameless humans suffering because of Nergal's reign of terror follow. This is still not enough, and he declares his next goal is to destroy the remaining voices of moderation, and the cosmic order as a whole.[143]

However, Ishum eventually manages to bring an end to the bloodshed. He does so by waging a war himself, targeting the inhabitants of Mount Sharshar, seemingly a site associated with the origin of the aforementioned period of chaos in the history of late second and early first millennium BCE Babylonia. Ishum's war is described in very different terms to Nergal's, and with its end the period of instability comes to a close.[144]Nergal is seemingly content with the actions of his sukkal and with hearing the other gods acknowledge the power of his rage. The narrative ends with Nergal instructing Ishum to spread the tale of his rampage, but also to make it clear that only thanks to his calming presence the world was spared.[145]

Other myths

[edit]

A poorly preserved Middle Assyrian composition, regarded as similar to theLabbu myth,seemingly describes a battle between Nergal (possibly acting on behalf of his father Enlil or the sky god Anu) and a monstrous serpent born in the sea.[146]

The mythEnmesharra's Defeat,only known from a single, heavily damaged copy from theSeleucidorParthianperiod, casts Nergal as the warden of the eponymous antagonist and his seven sons, theSebitti,[147]presumably imprisoned in the underworld.[148]In the surviving fragments Enmesharra unsuccessfully pleads with him to be released to avoid being put to death for his crimes at the orders of Marduk.[147]In the aftermath of the ordeal, the universe is reorganized and Marduk shares lordship over it, which seemingly originally belonged to Anu in this composition, with Nergal and Nabu.[149]Wilfred G. Lambert notes these gods were the 3 most prominent deities in the neo-Babylonian state pantheon.[62]Curiously, Erra makes a brief appearance as a god distinct from Nergal, with his former sphere of influence reassigned to the latter.[62]

Andrew R. George proposes that a myth presently unknown from textual records dealt with Nergal's combat with a one-eyed monster, theigitelû.[150]He notes that Akkadian omen texts fromSusaand from theSealandarchives appears to indicate that one-eyed creatures were known asigidalu,igidaruorigitelû,possibly a loanword from Sumerianigi.dili( "one eye" ),[151]and that the only god associated with them was Nergal, who in one such omen texts is identified as the slayer of an igitelû.[150]There is also evidence that birth of one-eyed animals was regarded as an omen connected to Nergal.[150]He proposes that a relief originally excavated inKhafajah(ancient Tubub) depicting a god stabbing a one-eyed monster with rays of light emenating from his head might be a pictorial representation of this hypothetical myth,[151]though other interpretations have been proposed too, including Marduk killingTiamatandNinurtakillingAsag.[152]However, neither of these found widespread support, and art historian Anthony Green in particular showed skepticism regarding them, noting art might preserve myths not known from textual record.[152]Wilfred G. Lambert suggested that the cyclops in mention might instead be a depiction of Enmesharra, based on his description as a luminous deity in Enmesharra's Defeat.[148]

Later relevance

[edit]

Nergal is mentioned in theBook of Kingsas the deity of the city of Cuth (Kutha): "And the men of Babylon madeSuccoth-benoth,and the men of Cuth made Nergal "(2 Kings, 17:30). According to therabbinictradition, he was associated with the image of a foot or a rooster.[153]

InMandaean cosmology,the name forMarsisNirig(ࡍࡉࡓࡉࡂ), a derivative of Nergal, which is a part of a recurrent pattern of Mandaean names of celestial bodies being derived from names of Mesopotamian deities.[154]

Victorian lexicographerE. Cobham Brewerasserted that the name of Nergal, who he identified as "the most common idol of ancient Phoenicians, Indians and Persians", meant "dunghill cock".[155]This translation is incorrect in the light of modern research, as Nergal's name most likely was understood as "Lord of the big city",[2]his emblematic animals were bulls and lions,[37]while chickens were unknown in Mesopotamia prior to the ninth century BCE based on archeological data, and left behind no trace in cuneiform sources.[156]

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Bibliography

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