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Nergal
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Nergal (Sumerian: dKIŠ.UNU or ; ; Aramaic: ܢܸܪܓܲܠ; ) was a Mesopotamian god worshiped through all periods of Mesopotamian history, from Early Dynastic to Neo-Babylonian times, with a few attestations indicating that his cult survived into the period of Achaemenid domination. He was primarily associated with war, death, and disease, and has been described as the "god of inflicted death". He reigned over Kur, the Mesopotamian underworld, depending on the myth either on behalf of his parents Enlil and Ninlil, or in later periods as a result of his marriage with the goddess Ereshkigal. Originally
Key facts
- Deity.type
- Mesopotamian
- Deity.name
- Nergal
- Deity.image
- File:Nergal.png
- Deity.caption
- Nergal holding his attributes—a lion-headed mace and a sword—on a cylinder seal from Larsa
- Deity.god_of
- God of war, disease, and death
- Deity.abode
- Kur (the Mesopotamian underworld)
- Deity.cult_center
- Kutha
- Deity.symbol
- lion-headed mace, sword, lion, bull, possibly chameleon
- Deity.number
- 14
- Deity.planet
- Mars
- Deity.children
- Tadmushtum
- Deity.parents
- Enlil and Ninlil
- Deity.siblings
- Nanna, Ninazu, Enbilulu (in the myth Enlil and Ninlil)
- Deity.equivalent1_type
- Southern Mesopotamian
- Deity.equivalent1
- Ninazu
- Deity.equivalent2_type
- Akkadian
- Deity.equivalent2
- Erra
- Deity.equivalent3_type
- Eblaite and Ugaritic
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Nergal.png
Show 2 more facts
- native label
- 𒀭𒄊𒀕𒃲
- Commons category
- Nergal
via Wikidata · CC0
~42 min read
Article
24 sectionsContents
- Names and epithets
- Meslamtaea and related logograms
- Erra
- U.GUR
- IGI.DU
- Other names and epithets
- Character
- Astral role
- Iconography
- Associations with other deities
- Parents and siblings
- Wives and children
- Servants
- Foreign deities
- Worship
- Hurrian reception
- Mythology
- ''Nergal and Ereshkigal''
- ''Epic of Erra''
- Other myths
- Later relevance
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
Nergal (Sumerian: dKIŠ.UNU or ; ; Aramaic: ܢܸܪܓܲܠ; ) was a Mesopotamian god worshiped through all periods of Mesopotamian history, from Early Dynastic to Neo-Babylonian times, with a few attestations indicating that his cult survived into the period of Achaemenid domination. He was primarily associated with war, death, and disease, and has been described as the "god of inflicted death". He reigned over Kur, the Mesopotamian underworld, depending on the myth either on behalf of his parents Enlil and Ninlil, or in later periods as a result of his marriage with the goddess Ereshkigal. Originally either Mammitum, a goddess possibly connected to frost, or Laṣ, sometimes assumed to be a minor medicine goddess, were regarded as his wife, though other traditions existed, too.
His primary cult center was Kutha, located in the north of historical Babylonia. His main temple bore the ceremonial name E-Meslam and he was also known by the name Meslamtaea, "he who comes out of Meslam". Initially he was only worshiped in the north, with a notable exception being Girsu during the reign of Gudea of Lagash, but starting with the Ur III period he became a major deity in the south too. He remained prominent in both Babylonia and Assyria in later periods, and in the Neo-Babylonian state pantheon he was regarded as the third most important god, after Marduk and Nabu.