Unsolved:Mušḫuššu

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Short description: Dragon-like creature from Mesopotamian mythology
Mušḫuššu
𒈲𒍽
Mušḫuššu on a vase of Gudea, circa 2100 BCE.jpg
Mušḫuššu holding a gate post on a vase of Gudea c. 2100 BCE. Louvre Museum[1]
GroupingMythological hybrid
FolkloreBabylonian mythology
Other name(s)Sirrush
RegionMesopotamia
Mušḫuššu bas-relief in the Pergamon Museum

The mušḫuššu (𒈲𒍽; formerly also read as sirrušu or sirrush) or mushkhushshu (pronounced [muʃxuʃʃu] or [musxussu]) is a creature from ancient Mesopotamian mythology. A mythological hybrid, it is a scaly animal with hind legs resembling the talons of an eagle, lion-like forelimbs, a long neck and tail, two horns on its head, a snake-like tongue, and a crest. The mušḫuššu most famously appears on the Ishtar Gate of the city of Babylon, dating to the sixth century BCE.

The form mušḫuššu is the Akkadian nominative of Sumerian: 𒈲𒍽 MUŠ.ḪUŠ, 'reddish snake', sometimes also translated as 'fierce snake'.[2] One author,[3] possibly following others, translates it as 'splendor serpent' (𒈲 MUŠ is the Sumerian term for 'serpent'). The older reading sir-ruššu is due to a mistransliteration of the cuneiform in early Assyriology[4] and was often used as a placeholder before the actual reading was discovered.[5]

History

Mušḫuššu already appears in Sumerian religion and art, as in the "Libation vase of Gudea", dedicated to Ningishzida by the Sumerian ruler Gudea (21st century BCE short chronology).[1][6]

The mušḫuššu was the sacred animal of Marduk and his son Nabu during the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The dragon Mušḫuššu, whom Marduk once vanquished, became his symbolic animal and servant.[7] It was taken over by Marduk from Tishpak, the local god of Eshnunna.[8]

The constellation Hydra was known in Babylonian astronomical texts as Bašmu, 'the Serpent' (𒀯𒈲, MUL.dMUŠ). It was depicted as having the torso of a fish, the tail of a snake, the forepaws of a lion, the hind legs of an eagle, wings, and a head comparable to the mušḫuššu.[9][10]

  • 9th century BCE depiction of the Statue of Marduk, with his servant dragon Mušḫuššu at his feet. This was Marduk's main cult image in Babylon.

  • Late Assyrian seal from the 8th century BCE showing a worshipper between Nabu and Marduk, standing on their servant dragon Mušḫuššu.

  • Head of dragon dating from the Neo-Babylonian Empire (626 BCE – 539 BCE) from the Louvre Museum's collection

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wiggermann, F. A. M. (1992) (in en). Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts. Brill Publishers. p. 156. ISBN 978-90-72371-52-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=xYX64ZkwkMIC&pg=PA156. 
  2. ↑ "The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature". The ETCSL project, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. 2006-12-19. http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?searchword=l=muc-huc%20p=N%20a=type@of@serpent&charenc=gcirc&sortorder=textno. 
  3. ↑ Costello, Peter (1974). In Search of Lake Monsters. Coward, McCann & Geoghegan. ISBN 9780698106130. https://archive.org/details/insearchoflakemo00cost. 
  4. ↑ The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. 10: M, Part II. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Oriental Institute. 1977. p. 270. ISBN 0-918986-16-8. https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/cad_m2.pdf. 
  5. ↑ Ceram, C. W. (1967). Gods, Graves, and Scholars: The Story of Archaeology (2nd ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 294. 
  6. ↑ Wiggermann, F. A. M. (1992) (in en). Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts. Brill Publishers. p. 168. ISBN 978-90-72371-52-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=xYX64ZkwkMIC&pg=PA168. 
  7. ↑ Wiggermann, F. A. M. (1992) (in en). Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts. Brill Publishers. p. 157. ISBN 978-90-72371-52-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=xYX64ZkwkMIC&pg=PA157. 
  8. ↑ Bienkowski, Piotr; Millard, Alan Ralph (2000). Dictionary of the Ancient Near East. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-8122-3557-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=KdlhaAfK1sYC&pg=PA189. 
  9. ↑ Wiggerman, F. A. M. (1 January 1997). "Transtigridian Snake Gods". Sumerian Gods and their Representations. Cuneiform Monographs. 7. Groningen, Netherlands: Styx Publications. pp. 34–35. ISBN 978-90-56-93005-9. https://www.academia.edu/540407. 
  10. ↑ E. Weidner, Gestirn-Darstellungen auf Babylonischen Tontafeln (1967) Plates IX–X.

Notes

1.^ Similar to the Set animal in Egyptian mythology and the Qilin in Chinese mythology.

External links




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