Unsolved:Mušḫuššu
Mušḫuššu holding a gate post on a vase of Gudea c. 2100 BCE. Louvre Museum[1] | |
Grouping | Mythological hybrid |
---|---|
Folklore | Babylonian mythology |
Other name(s) | Sirrush |
Region | Mesopotamia |
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]
See also
- Ningishzida
- Set animal
References
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ Costello, Peter (1974). In Search of Lake Monsters. Coward, McCann & Geoghegan. ISBN 9780698106130. https://archive.org/details/insearchoflakemo00cost.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Ceram, C. W. (1967). Gods, Graves, and Scholars: The Story of Archaeology (2nd ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 294.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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