Bull man (mythical creature)

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The bull man ( Akkadian Kusarikku ) is a hybrid creature from Mesopotamian mythology. He is depicted as an upright being with a long beard, the head and upper body of a human being, but the ears, horns and the lower body of a bull. Representations of the bull man are documented from the early dynastic period and remained a popular motif in the ancient oriental world up to the Achaemenid period .

presentation

Akkadian cylinder seal with modern unwinding, on the left a bull man is fighting a lion, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Sun tablet from Sippar , lower right two bullmen support the throne of Šamaš, British Museum

Taurus people appear singly, in pairs, and rarely in triplicate. Most often they can be seen together with the naked, curly hero in animal fighting scenes, where they are mostly depicted fighting lions. Such battle scenes occur particularly frequently during the Akkadian period and are characteristic of this period. From the Old Babylonian period , bull people appeared in connection with the sun god Šamaš . For example, a Babylonian stone tablet from Sippar depicts Šamaš enthroned on a seat, the posts of which are supported by bull people. In addition, these beings appear as carriers of the winged sun , the symbol of the sun god.

From a certain point in time, the Taurus man apparently had the function of a benign, protective demon. As such, he often holds a standard or a spear in his hand. In the form of statues, terracottas and reliefs, bull people were placed at entrances and inside buildings, presumably to protect the residents from evil.

mythology

In mythological texts, bull people often appear as enemies of the gods. In the Babylonian creation myth Enūma eliš , the primordial goddess Tiamat creates eleven monsters, including the bull man, to wage war against the younger gods who are responsible for the death of her husband Abzu . However, Tiamat's army is defeated by Marduk . In the Babylonian Anzu myth , the god Ninurta performs a heroic deed by killing a bull man in the middle of the sea.

literature

  • Frans AM Wiggermann: Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts. STYX & PP Publications, Groningen 1992, pp. 174-179.
  • Jeremy Black, Anthony Green: Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia. University of Texas Press Printing, Texas 2003.
  • Manfred Krebernik: Gods and Myths of the Ancient Orient. CHBeck, Munich 2012.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Black & Green, Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia , p. 49.