The Standard Babylonian Myth of Nergal and Ereškigal
Mikko Luukko and Simonetta Ponchia
The Standard Babylonian Myth of Nergal and Ereškigal
Mikko Luukko and Simonetta Ponchia
The Myth of Nergal and Ereškigal, preserved in two versions, a Middle-Babylonian one from Tell el-Amarna and a much longer Standard Babylonian one probably composed in Assyria in the early first millennium BCE, tells the story of why and how Nergal, son of Ea, the god of wisdom, descended into the Netherworld by the “ladders of heaven,” fell in love with Ereškigal, queen of the Netherworld, and eventually deposed her and usurped her throne. Like all Mesopotamian myths, the story is replete with enigmatic details, puns and intertextual allusions making it a heavily encoded text with hidden levels of interpretation. In allegorical reading, the myth was a complement to the Descent of Ištar (SAACT 6), and the mission of Nergal could be associated with that of the king as a heavenly savior sent to the rescue of the sinners.
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