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Scorpion men ( akk, 𒄈𒋰𒇽𒍇𒇻, translit=girtablullû or aqrabuamelu) are featured in several Akkadian language myths, including the '' Enûma Elish'' and the Babylonian version of the '' Epic of Gilgamesh''. The Scorpion Men are described to have the head, torso, and arms of a man and the body of a scorpion.
Graphic of Scorpion man
(From boundary stone:
(Article with Detail-graphic)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scorpion Man Epic of Gilgamesh Characters in the Enūma Eliš Mythological arthropods Mesopotamian legendary creatures Mythological human hybrids Anthropomorphic animals Offspring of Tiamat Scorpions in culture
Scorpion men ( akk, 𒄈𒋰𒇽𒍇𒇻, translit=girtablullû or aqrabuamelu) are featured in several Akkadian language myths, including the '' Enûma Elish'' and the Babylonian version of the '' Epic of Gilgamesh''. The Scorpion Men are described to have the head, torso, and arms of a man and the body of a scorpion.
Mythology
They were first created by Tiamat in order to wage war against the younger gods for the murder of her mate Apsu. In the '' Epic of Gilgamesh'', they stand guard outside the gates of the sun godShamash
Utu (dUD "Sun"), also known under the Akkadian name Shamash, ''šmš'', syc, ܫܡܫܐ ''šemša'', he, שֶׁמֶשׁ ''šemeš'', ar, شمس ''šams'', Ashurian Aramaic: 𐣴𐣬𐣴 ''š'meš(ā)'' was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. ...
at the mountains of Mashu. These give entrance to Kurnugi
The ancient Mesopotamian underworld, most often known in Sumerian as Kur, Irkalla, Kukku, Arali, or Kigal and in Akkadian as Erṣetu, although it had many names in both languages, was a dark, dreary cavern located deep below the ground, where ...
, the land of darkness. The scorpion men open the doors for Shamash as he travels out each day, and close the doors after him when he returns to the underworld at night. They also warn travellers of the danger that lies beyond their post. Their heads touch the sky, their "terror is awesome" and their "glance is death". This meeting of Gilgamesh, on his way to Utnapishtim, with the Scorpion-folk guarding the entrance to the tunnel is described in ''Iškār Gilgāmeš'', tablet IX, lines 47–81.A. R. George : ''The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic''. Oxford University Press, 2003. p. 493
See also
* Scorpion goddessNotes
External links
*Graphic of Scorpion man
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Kudurru
A kudurru was a type of stone document used as a boundary stone and as a record of land grants to vassals by the Kassites and later dynasties in ancient Babylonia between the 16th and 7th centuries BC. The original kudurru would typically be stor ...
). Pictured in register IV-(row IV)(Article with Detail-graphic)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scorpion Man Epic of Gilgamesh Characters in the Enūma Eliš Mythological arthropods Mesopotamian legendary creatures Mythological human hybrids Anthropomorphic animals Offspring of Tiamat Scorpions in culture