The work known by its incipit, Angim, "The Return of
Ninurta
, image= Cropped Image of Carving Showing the Mesopotamian God Ninurta.png
, caption= Assyrian stone relief from the temple of Ninurta at Kalhu, showing the god with his thunderbolts pursuing Anzû, who has stolen the Tablet of Destinies from En ...
to
Nippur
Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory': Vol. 1, Part 1. Accessed 15 Dec 2010. Akkadian language, Akkadian: '' ...
", is a rather obsequious 210-line mythological praise poem for the ancient
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
n warrior-god Ninurta, describing his return to Nippur from an expedition to the mountains (
KUR), where he boasts of his triumphs against "rebel lands" (
KI.BAL), boasting to
Enlil
Enlil, , "Lord f theWind" later known as Elil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Bab ...
in the
Ekur
Ekur ( ), also known as Duranki, is a Sumerian term meaning "mountain house". It is the assembly of the gods in the Garden of the gods, parallel in Greek mythology to Mount Olympus and was the most revered and sacred building of ancient Sumer. ...
, before returning to the Ešumeša temple—to “manifest his authority and kingship.”
The ancient
Sumerian epic had been provided with an intralinear
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to:
* Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire
* Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language
* Akkadian literature, literature in this language
* Akkadian cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...
translation during the course of the second millennium.
The myth
Three copies from Nippur provide a subscript labeling it a šìr-gíd-da, or "long song", of Ninurta, where the term ''long'' perhaps refers to the tuning of the musical instrument intended to accompany the song.
It is extant in unilingual Sumerian from Nippur during the Old Babylonian period, and thereafter in bilingual editions from the
Kassite
The Kassites () were people of the ancient Near East, who controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire c. 1531 BC and until c. 1155 BC (short chronology).
They gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon ...
, middle
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
n and neo-Assyrian and neo-Babylonian versions, where the later ones are closer textually to the old version than the Middle Babylonian. Along with its companion composition,
Lugal-e
The ancient Mesopotamian myth beginning Lugal-e ud me-lám-bi nir-ğál, also known as ''Ninurta's Exploits'' is a great epic telling of the warrior-god and god of spring thundershowers and floods, his deeds, waging war against his mountain rival ...
, it is the only Sumerian composition other than incantations and proverbs to have survived in the canon from the Old Babylonian period into the first Millennium.
[ The title comes from the opening line: "an- imdím-ma, den-líl-gim dím-ma", "created like An, created like Enlil".
The narrative relates that he mounts the monsters, “slain heroes,” he has defeated as trophies on his gišgigir z">sup>gišgigir z-gìn-na, “shining chariot.” Echoing the number of Tiāmat’s eleven monstrous offspring, (from the Enûma Eliš, whom ]Marduk
Marduk (Cuneiform: dAMAR.UTU; Sumerian: ''amar utu.k'' "calf of the sun; solar calf"; ) was a god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon. When Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of ...
had vanquished), Ninurta’s conquests included:
* Wild bulls he hung on the axle
* Captured cows on the cross-piece of the yoke
* a six-headed Wild Ram
The Six-headed Wild Ram (from Sumerian šeg-saĝ-6: ram with six heads) in Sumerian religion was one of the Heroes slain by Ninurta, patron god of Lagash, in ancient Iraq. Its body was hung on the dust-guard of Ninurta's chariot (lines 55-6.
See ...
(šeg.SAG-ÀŠ) on the dustguard
* Bašmu
Bašmu or Bashmu ( akk, 𒈲𒊮𒉣𒇬, bašmu; cuneiform: MUŠ.ŠÀ.TÙR or MUŠ.ŠÀ.TUR, "Venomous Snake") was an ancient Mesopotamian mythological creature, a horned snake with two forelegs and wings. It was also the Akkadian name ...
(Sumerian: Usum) on the seat
* Magilum, or "ship-locust," on the frame
* The bison Kusarikku
Kusarikku ("Bull-Man"), sometimes inscribed GUD.DUMU.dUTU, GUD. DUMU.AN.NA and sometimes phonetically ''ku-sa-rik-ku''(''m''), synonymous with the Sumerian GU4/gud-alim and perhaps also alim (see below for caveat), was an ancient Mesopotamian myt ...
(Sumerian: gud.alim) on the beam
* The mermaid Kulianna on the footboard
* “White substance” (''gaṣṣa'', gypsum), on the forward part of the yoke
* Strong copper (''urudû'' níg kal-ga) on the inside pole pin
* The Anzu Anzu may refer to:
*Anzû, a divine storm-bird in several Ancient Mesopotamian religion, Mesopotamian religions
*Anzu (dinosaur), ''Anzu'' (dinosaur), a genus of theropod dinosaur containing the species ''Anzu wyliei''
As a given name
is a Japan ...
-bird on the front guard
* The seven-headed serpent
The Seven-headed Serpent (from Sumerian muš-saĝ-7: snake with seven heads) in Sumerian religion was one of the Heroes slain by Ninurta, patron god of Lagash, in ancient Iraq. Its body was hung on the "shining cross-beam" of Ninurta's chariot (l ...
(Sumerian: muš sag-imin) possibly Mušmaḫḫū on another illegible part[
He then journeys with his attendants, Udanna, the all-seeing god, Lugalanbadra, the bearded lord, and Lugalkudub, with full battle regalia in a terrifying procession to Nippur. ]Nusku
Nuska or Nusku, possibly also known as Našuḫ, was a Mesopotamian god best attested as the sukkal (divine vizier) of Enlil. He was also associated with fire and light, and could be invoked as a protective deity against various demons, such as La ...
warns him that he is frightening the gods, the Anunnaki, and, if he can tone it down a little, Enlil will reward him. In the Ekur
Ekur ( ), also known as Duranki, is a Sumerian term meaning "mountain house". It is the assembly of the gods in the Garden of the gods, parallel in Greek mythology to Mount Olympus and was the most revered and sacred building of ancient Sumer. ...
, he displays his trophies and booty to the general astonishment of the gods—including his brother, the moon god Sin
In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...
, father Enlil, and mother Ninlil
Ninlil ( D NIN.LÍL; meaning uncertain) was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the wife of Enlil. She shared many of his functions, especially the responsibility for declaring destinies, and like him was regarded as a senior deity and head of the ...
. Ninurta then extols his virtues in a long hymn of self-praise in an effort to solicit the establishment of his own cult. On his departure from the Ekur, he is petitioned by the god Ninkarnunna
Ninkarnunna ('' dNin-kar-nun-na'', Sumerian: "lord of the exalted quay") was a Mesopotamian god who belonged to the circle of deities associated with Ninurta. He was the ''bar-šu-gal'' (possibly "masseur") of this god. A litany refers to him as t ...
to extend his blessings to the king, perhaps the underlying purpose of the whole poem. The work ends with: d"Ninurta dumu mah é-kur-ra" ("Ninurta, the magnificent scion of Ekur").
The ancient use of the text is uncertain. It may have been recited during some kind of cultic activity, such as the annual transport of the Ninurta idol between the temples, Ešumeša and Ekur.[
]
References
External links
Ninurta's return to Nibru: a ''šir-gida'' to Ninurta
at The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Angim
Mesopotamian myths
Poems
Sumerian literature
3rd-millennium BC literature