Namtaru

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Namtaru (sum. D nam.tar, d na-ám-tar, akkad. Namtaru, d nam-ta-ru, NAM.TAR, líl-lá-da-ra) is a Sumerian and Akkadian underworld god . The name means "fate" in Sumerian. In older literature he is sometimes considered the god of the plague .

function

Namtaru is, together with Nergal , Gilgameš , Nin […], Dumuzi , Ningišzida and his wife Ḫušbiša, one of the seven underworld gods ( lugal kurra ) from the original Nammu text, each of whom lives in their own palace. Namtaru is the vizier of the underworld ( sukallu irsiti ), sometimes he is also considered the vizier of Ereškigal (myth of Nergal and Ereškigal), of Nergal, or a plague god ( Atraḫasīs myth). He is nicknamed "He who decides all fates" ( lú nam-tar ta-ra ), "great demon of the grave" and "runner of the gods" ( lâsim ilī ). He rules the land of no return. His mouth is filled with poison. It brings illness, heartache and headache .

The myth of Inanna's journey into the underworld describes the underworld, the place where Namtar lives: there is food but it is not edible, there is water but it is not drinkable, arts and crafts are unknown, lips are covered with blood.

In the myth of Nergal and Ereškigal, Namtar is the messenger of the Ereškigal . When Nergal insults him by not getting up in front of him, he has to justify himself to the underworld goddess.

In exorcistic texts, Namtaru is considered a demon. In this guise he often appears together with Asag .

family

Namtaru is the son of Mardu'alanki and the husband of Ḫušbiša (Sumerian form of the Hittite Hupisna / Hubišna, region southwest of Lake Urmia). Her daughter is Ḫedimmeku (Hittite Ḫedammu , Hurrian Apše), but she is also listed as Enki's daughter (An-Anum myth). Occasionally Namtaru is also considered the son of Enki and Ereškigal ( Udug-ḫul ). A later text names [Na] mtartu as his wife. Sometimes Enki is also called as Namtar or great Namtar. All of this probably symbolizes the changing power relations in Upper Mesopotamia.

history

Namtaru has been in scriptures since the 3rd millennium BC. Chr. Attested. John Barclay Burns wants to see the Namtaru in the "firstborn son of death" in the book of Job (Job 18:13) who consumes the wicked. However, identification with Rešef or Mot was also considered. The Namtar plant ( NAM.TAR. (IRA) ) is perhaps the mandragora . However, it is unclear here whether the name refers to God or abstractly to fate .

Adaptation

Namtar is mentioned in Thomas Mann's novel Joseph and His Brothers , along with other demons like Labartu . He also plays a role in Markus Heitz ' AERA - The Return of the Gods .

literature

  • John Barclay Burns: Namtaru and Nergal: Down but Not out: A Reply to Nicolas Wyatt. Vetus Testamentum, No. 43, Vol. 1, 1993, pp. 1-9.
  • J. Klein in Erich Ebeling, Bruno Meissner, Dietz Otto Edzard (eds.): Real Lexicon of Assyriology and Near Eastern Archeology: Nab-Nuzi. de Gruyter, Berlin, pp. 142-145.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Sudhoff, Julius Pagel, Kurzes Handbuch der Geschichte der Medizin , Karger 1922
  2. ^ SN Kramer: The Death of Gilgamesh. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research No. 94, 1944, p. 6
  3. ^ John Barclay Burns: The Identity of Death's First-Born (Job XVIII 13). Vetus Testamentum No. 37, Vol. 3 1987, pp. 362-364
  4. ↑ Death of the Ur-Nammu
  5. ↑ J. Klein, Lemma Namtar, in Erich Ebeling, Bruno Meissner, Dietz Otto Edzard (ed.): Real Lexicon of Assyriology and Near Eastern Archeology: Nab-Nuzi. de Gruyter, Berlin, p. 144
  6. ↑ BM 100046, 51-59; Samuel Noah Kramer, The Death of Dumuzi: A New Sumerian Version. Anatolian Studies 30 (Special Number in Honor of the Seventieth Birthday of Professor OR Gurney) 1980, 6
  7. ↑ J. Klein, Lemma Namtar, Erich Ebeling, Bruno Meissner, Dietz Otto Edzard (eds.): Real Lexicon of Assyriology and Near Eastern Archeology: Nab-Nuzi. de Gruyter, Berlin, p. 144
  8. ↑ K. Tallqvist: Sumerian Akkadian names of the dead world. Helsinki, 1934, pp. 12 ff., 88
  9. ↑ J. Klein, Lemma Namtar, Erich Ebeling, Bruno Meissner, Dietz Otto Edzard (eds.): Real Lexicon of Assyriology and Near Eastern Archeology: Nab-Nuzi. de Gruyter, Berlin, p. 143
  10. ↑ J. Klein, Lemma Namtar, in Erich Ebeling, Bruno Meissner, Dietz Otto Edzard (ed.): Real Lexicon of Assyriology and Near Eastern Archeology: Nab-Nuzi. de Gruyter, Berlin, p. 145
  11. ^ John Barclay Burns: The Identity of Death's First-Born (Job XVIII 13). Vetus Testamentum No. 37, Vol. 3 1987, pp. 362-364
  12. ^ Nicolas Wyatt: The Expression bekôr māwet in Job XVIII 13 and its mythological Background. Vetus Testamentum No. 40, Vol. 2 1990, pp. 207-216
  13. ^ R. Campbell Thompson: On Mandrake and Tragacanth in Cuneiform. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland No. 1, 1926, p. 100