149 - When Ninurta hunted Anzu...

BABYLONIAN / Translated from french / The final table of 2010 has the same theme as the B100, that the God Ninurta (named N. in the text) malefic Anzu bird hunting. Remember the story of God, drawn from Mesopotamian mythology N. God is a warrior presented as the son of Enlil and the husband of the goddess Gula healer, N. was worshiped in the Nippur temple of his father, Ekur and in his own sanctuary, the Ešumena. We can even specify if Enlil resided in the city, N. was the real boss and perhaps the original deity. At least that is suggests that the existence, the Old Babylonian period, priestesses-nadîtu N. and the fact that his name be formed with the NIN element, which expresses the sovereignty originally indiscriminately, before becoming the brand of feminine deities thereafter (NIN = bêltu, the Lady).
Very early, a phenomenon of syncretism occurred between N. and Ningirsu, "the lord of Girsu”, revered in the kingdom of Lagash. Accordingly, the wife of Ningursu, Ba'u, and its emblem, the plow, were also sometimes associated with N. The merger of two archaic deities originally said that separate N. was both a god of agriculture and is thus one who gives instructions to Sumerian farmers in the Farmer's Almanac, a hero and warrior, the latter being however more pronounced as we shall see, the on. In mythology, N. is the foremost champion of the divine assembly, charged with fighting the enemies that threaten the country of Sumer from the mountains to the east. In the poem "LUGAL.E”, he must defeat the demon Asakku and stones from the mountains, which are allied, before organizing and curb the country to make it suitable for irrigated agriculture. In Myth of Anzu, and more specifically the table, it faces a kind of gigantic eagle who, having stolen the Tablet of Destinies * to Enlil, threatens to upset the cosmic order. In these compositions, as in other works that make up the cycle N, the victory of the young god allows him to claim to royal power. However, this is not a royalty on all of the divine world, but a royalty company, exercised on behalf of earth gods. This perhaps explains the support that gripped N. Assyria, where the theocratic concept of power was that the human sovereign is the earthly representative of the true king indeed. In this region, N. was regarded as the son of Ashur and had a chapel in the complex of Essara, the great temple of his father in the city of Ashur. When he moved the political capital to Kajhu, Assurnasirpal II erected a temple, flanked by a ziggurat for N. And at Dur-Šarrukîn, a chapel of N. was built in the temple of the great palace of Sargon II. Other indices that god in Assyria, it may be noted that until Tiglath-Phalazar III, quite a few kings bore the names of N. theophorous or its epithets Apil-Esarra or Apil-Ekur. It seems, moreover, that the king was able to identify N. during certain rituals. A tablet found at Ashur said comments such as "the king who wears the golden tiara on her head, leaving the temple and sits on a sedan chair, the door when going to the palace, is N, who avenged his father. The gods of his fathers have decorated the inside Ekur, gave him a scepter, throne and kingdom and affixed the supernatural radiance (melammu) of his kingdom, and he came towards of the mountain."
Returning to our table, especially for those who know little or no, the series of 22 paintings Babylonian commented on my site online. N. is on his dragon-attribute radiances escape from his left arm, a sword in his right hand, arrows in his quiver. The giant turtle is in areas identified by the Sumerians, Anzu on the right has changed appearance (many versions exist throughout the millennia; it is hardly consistent with that of an eagle). At the extreme right, a sacred tree of life which has just landed a crab, already an advertiser of cancer? At the bottom, a big fish to recall the origin of mankind according to the legend of the time, then an unidentified mollusk, and finally two signatures, first the seal of a scribe, discovered in an unknown location Judah, a small lump of clay that had served to seal the strings of an official document, we still see very well the feeling of them on one side of the clay. On the second side, a seal has been applied, bearing an inscription of three lines that can be read with certainty: "In Berekyahn son of Nereyahu the scribe (sofer)”. If we use shorter or longer forms of these two familiar names, we can say: "At Baruch son of Neriah, the scribe." From the form of letters, we must date the seal of the late seventh or early sixth century BC, so the period of the prophet Jeremiah. The last signature you are more familiar as it is the monogram of your artist!
* The Tablet of Destinies = A Babylonian myth, adapted from a Sumerian myth reviewed by the Akkadians, Anzu tells the flight of the tablet of destinies. This tablet, which is owned by Enlil, is of major importance: it allows him to govern the universe. Originally Anzu was a servant of the powerful god Enlil. The Thunderbird (it could unleash the lightning), however, dreamed of power. But his master had the "tables of destiny" which, as their name implies, allows those who possessed them to control the destiny of all being. Enjoying a bath taken by his master, Anzu stole it and fled the table. Enlil to Anu reported theft. Anu request of the deities, but they, frightened by the powers of the eagle Anzu, refuse the mission. The beautiful and heroic warrior Ninurta (Ningirsu) the challenge: it is transformed into a demon, is cloaked in thick fog and goes on the attack Anzu. He shoots his arrows, but Anzu bends like a frail reed. N. recedes. On the advice of Enlil he goes on the attack and launched the seven evil winds. When the wings of Anzu fall under the influence of winds, N. the cutting and finishing him in cutting his throat. But the tablets of destiny fall into the depths of the liquid Apsu. . The god Enki refused to return the tablets and N, infuriated by this decision, it is his messenger. In retaliation, Enki creates a giant turtle that attacks N. and bites his toes. N. defends himself but Enki opens a hole in the bottom of which N. is precipitated. Only Ninlil entreaties, a mother of N, Enki persuaded to release him. In the most common versions of this myth, it seems that N. eventually triumphant return by these sacred tablets!