|
|
Post by us4-he2-gal2 on Apr 8, 2011 3:46:13 GMT -5
Thread Orientation: On this thread we can ponder (but probably never fully explain) the "esoteric" aspects of Sumerian literature.
Hey all: Today I'm writing about an aspect of reading Sumerian texts which is encountered sometimes line after line - enigmatic expressions or references to religious or cosmological phenomena. While I'm terming it "esoteric" however this label may not fit perfectly - while it is "hidden" from our view today, this is likely for the simple reason that we do not understand the religious notions that the text tap into while the ancient story tellers would without effort. Perhaps. In any case it's interesting to explore these notions in so far as it is possible. Before getting to text specimen in question, I should mention that Madness is our resident expert on Mesopotamian textual obscurity and also the Mesopotamian explanatory texts which are considered to deal with genuine esoteric material (that which the was reserved for certain elites.) Madness' focus on esoteric stuff can be found for example at: The Stylized Tree section: enenuru.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=exploreĝiš-ḫur: enenuru.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=research&thread=28&page=1Ziggurats: enenuru.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=research&thread=343&page=1Pentagram/4 winds: enenuru.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=research&thread=201&page=1 So I have been interested in the text "Inanna and Shukaletuda" lately. The text contains many obscurities currently unexplainable to Assyriology such as the incident involving the Raven mixing the kohl for the incantation priest or Eridu. For the text see: etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.3.3# I am interested in the sequence which occurs shortly there after, which involves the stormwind and the dirt of the mountain, which enter Shukaletuda's eyes , which seems to empower him with vision of the divine realms. (Lines 91-111 - but see also below). I have been studying certain phenomena involving the god Utu for a paper this semester - Of particular interest to me is the way in which this god and those in his entourage are involved in the transport of spirits and in information from the netherworld - elsewhere on enenuru we have talked about about his involvement in necromancy and so forth. However, it is clear that the sun god worked in conjunction with the storm god Adad to deliver messages of future during the rites of extispicy - these gods are the two primary gods invoked in the rite. Adad's role may have been because of his "cosmic winds" which acted as transporter of the message from below to above (Steinkeller 2005). In addition Utu was the fabricator of dreams, his offspring were the dream gods, and as we know these dream gods had a windy aspect: Sisig/Zaqiqu (as we know). Henceforth, the way that the storm wind blows into Shukaletuda's eyes giving him special sight interested me. So I wrote to Professor Frayne by email regarding this - I will copy it below for the sake of convenience. " I am also fascinated about Shukaletuda's initial sighting of Inanna, following the dust storm and the blowing of the dust of the mountain into his eye. Since I have been dwelling somewhat on Utu and the esoteric aspects of his entourage lately, the language of this passage seems highly suggestive: "Then what did the stormwind bring? It blew the dust of the mountains into my eyes. When I tried to wipe the corner of my eyes with my hand, I got some of it out, but was not able to get all of it out. I raised my eyes to the lower land, and saw the high gods of the land where the sun rises. I raised my eyes to the highlands, and saw the exalted gods of the land where the sun sets. I saw a solitary ghost. I recognized a solitary god by her appearance. I saw someone who possesses fully the divine powers. I was looking at someone whose destiny was decided by the gods." Steinkeller's attempt to explain the pairing of Shamash and Adad as chief patrons of extispicy lead him to posit that Adad's relevance here is in his aspect as cosmic wind - that he assisted in the transfers from the netherworld with this windy aspect. The necessity of an assisting wind in transferring sentient aspects of the netherworld is apparent in names of some of the dream gods and in the class of lil2 demons who also transfer from the netherworld. I have been most curious about the significance of the 'dust of the mountains' blown into the eyes of Shukaletuda , as it seems to have a magical effect on his vision - after it's entered his eye he is able to see the gods of the mountains of sunset and sunrise, possibly the gods who decree fate and the gods guarding the entrance to the netherworld (?). He sees a ghost. I thought perhaps the dust caused him to have a dream, but this may be incorrect. The Sumerian behind the term "dust of the mountain" is sahar kur-ra and occurs in two additional ETCSL texts: Inanna's descent - the plea to rescue Inanna from her death: " Father Nanna, don't let anyone kill your daughter in the underworld. Don't let your precious metal be alloyed there with the dirt of the underworld [sahar kur-ra]. " The Lament for Sumer and Ur - description of the world turned upside down: " Heaven was darkened, it was covered by a shadow; the mountains roared. Utu lay down at the horizon, dust passed over the mountains [sahar kur-ra]. Nanna lay at the zenith, the people were afraid. " Although the second passage seems on the surface to accord well with my suspicions of Inanna and Shukaletuda, that is, the dust seems to pass over the mountains at Utu's action (possibly meaning it arouse from the netherworld at the setting of the sun), the context does not fit: In the one situation the world is being turned upside down, or more or less ending, during the destruction of Sumer and Ur, in the other, a man is receiving a mystical vision. However I may have found one text which justifies the suspicion of Shamash and his netherworld powers here - a necromantic text treated by Finkel and Scurlock reads as follows: "1 ... 2 ... dust of the earth/netherworld [SAHAR qi2-qi2-ri(?)].... 3 let it (the dust) br[ing] up a ghost to me from the 4 darkness. L[et] the tendons [bring] the dead to life.." Finkel translates line 2 as "May he bring up a ghost from the darkness for me!" and so it's to unclear if line 2 refers to the action of the dust or of Shamash. However the ritual accompaniment for this necromantic incantation involves mixing "dust from the crossroads, (and) dust of a jumping cricket (?) of the steppe" with a few other objects and smearing this on the skull - which would then contain the summoned ghost. Presumably the dust of the crossroads and the cricket of the steppe would be the ritual equivalent of the dust of the netherworld - hence it seems to be this substance which empowers the necromantic rite to see the ghost more or less. The incantation ends "O Sama?, who brings light in (lit. who opens) the darkne[ss!". This may suggest some backdrop for the enigmatic lines in Inanna and Shukaletuda in which the man is enpowered to see the ghost (of Inanna) by the dust of the mountains (or netherworld?). " |
|
|
|
Post by muska on Apr 8, 2011 5:04:47 GMT -5
Thank you, Ushegal, for this inspiring post!
The story of raven and Enki seems separated from the main narrative (like cosmological prologues in Gilgamesh, Enkidu and Netherworld). It is possible to point the Shukaletuda story into the range of myths about unsuccessful quest for magic power (Gilgamesh, Adapa), as Russian Sumerologist Veronika Afanasieva suggest in her book Eagle and Snake. She also points the reason why Eagle has eaten Snake s kids in Etana poem - he desired to possess Snake s knowledge by that way but failed.
In general, she gives some interesting thoughts on shamanist-like tradition, connected with Inanna cult and gives two types of images in Mesopotamian literature - magician type - the successful or unsuccesful seeker for magical power and knowledge (Lugalbanda, Etana, Gilgamesh) and prophetic type - the chosen by gods (Atrahasis) who not seek for that and didnt want that, later continued in byblical tradition. Her opposition between "selfish" magician and "altruistic, defending their people" prophet probably comes from her religious views. But her claim for intercommunication between Sumerologists and modern magical practitioners is very brave challenge for the conservative miliew of Russian ANE studies and for herself with her long Soviet scholarly background.
Another Russian Sumerologist, Vladimir Emelianov remains more traditional, but in his Ritual in Ancient Mesopotamia he briefly mentions the initiation rituals probably reflected in Lugalbanda story, Gilgamesh and Huwawa and Inanna s Descent. He also writed something about prophetic dreams (Gudea in comparison with later Islamic tradition).
The topic of this thread is very intriguing indeed and I hope to learn more from them for comparison of my previous knowledge of above-mentioned works.
|
|
|
|
Post by ninurta2008 on Apr 8, 2011 6:47:43 GMT -5
Living in the mountains, sometimes I see mists come up from the ground, and if those mists come up from the ground, and tend to be more visible in dusk and morning hours, as the light hits them at just the right angle (and there is more mist at those times anyway). On top of that, sometimes mists are caused by geological activity. Perhaps there was some chemicals that had psychotropic affects, that came up from the mountains through mists? Psychotropic drugs were common in many different cultures, as a means of accessing the divine realm.
|
|
|
|
Post by enkur on Apr 12, 2011 9:24:36 GMT -5
Hmm, I tend to think the story of raven and Enki isn't separated from the main narrative.
Lines 59-71 read:
59-71. The raven paid exact attention to the instructions of his master. It chopped up (?) and chewed (?) the kohl for the incantation priests of Eridug with the oil and water which were to be found in a lapis-lazuli bowl and were placed in the back-room of the shrine. It planted them in a trench for leeks in a vegetable plot; then it pulled out (?) ……. A plant growing in a plot like leeks, an oddity {standing up} {(1 ms. has instead:) sticking up} like a leek stalk -- who had ever seen such a thing before?
Wasn't the gardener-profane Šu-kale-tuda who pulled out these plants growing there by their roots and destroyed them, so not a single plant remained there, not even one? He had to build the installation for a well in order to water the garden plots, but why he had to pull out all the plants there? He just weeded them out as poisonous weeds in the garden. Thus Šu-kale-tuda wronged Enki prior to wrong Inanna.
Well I suppose there are certain magical plants which when uprooted may cause a storm. There is some mysterious connection between certain plants and the local weather. I'm still learning that connection. I've known from the witchcraft folkore that if a witch dig a hole amongst certain plants of the genus Solanum, and piss therein, pronouncing a certain spell, she will bring forth a rain-storm. The ritual for uprooting a Mandragora plant (also of the family Solanaceae) by a dog tied to the lower part of the plant is also indicative in some idirect way of certain magical properties - the uprooted mandragora's scream would kill the one who is pulling it out, so a dog is used to bear the curse instead. I haven't tried neither of the above-mentioned rituals but I have observed that once after a tornado swept off a good deal of the forest in a mountain, then on the cleared spots there grew colonies of Atropa Belladonna, the biggest one of Solanaceae family. The deep purple sap of Belladonna's berries was used as a make-up instead of kohl by the Roman women. The atropine therein also dilated their eye pupils making them seem more beautiful, while the scopolamine therein should have an unambiguous psychedelic effect. Once, immediately after a very carefully uprooting a Hyosciamus Niger plant (another noble of the Solanaceae family) a thunderstorm suddenly surprised me. These plants aren't often found that one may experiment to see what happens when uprooted. Moreover, the sorcerer should have a special motivation to do it.
"Then what did the stormwind bring?"
The wind has always been a significant indicator during my field sorceries - provided it isn't a windy weather. If during a silent weather a blow of wind immediately follow an act of sorcery/ritual act, it means some spirit has been attracted. But even during a windy weather one may feel a wind-blow personally designated to oneself. One of the most famous fortune-teller in my native country got her clairvoyance power by being taken into a whirlwind - the dust blinded her eyes forever but since then she started to see things the common people aren't able to see. It isn't the only case when somebody blinded (temporarily, or forever) by some whirlwind's dust has been able to see divine things henceforth. According to my native folklore the whirlwinds are the physical manifestations of certain female daemons, or forgotten pagan female deities called samodives most of whom bearing the characteristics of Inanna - they are beautiful, charming, and loving, but also capricious, militant, and revengeful. They often punish the common people for their negligence by diseases, accidents, and disasters. They flirt only with sorcerers, heroes, and shepherds who are talented in singing and playing music. The samodives are seen as dancing in the moonlight, as riding deers using vipers as reins, as singing songs which enchant everybody who listen to them. There are legends about some resourceful shepherds who managed to possess sexually some of these samodives while sleeping, and what is most important, to steal their girdles - the samodiva's girdle being taken away, she is doomed to become a common woman and marry the shepherd - even to bear children to him, but woe to that shepherd if the samodiva manage to get her girdle back - then he is doomed to suffer the most awful fate. Yet an edifying song about him remains.
The feast of samodives in my native country is celebrated on the Summer Solstice when it's believed they charge the plants and the herbs with their magical powers, and that's why the most healing herbs are to be picked up during that time.
So I tend to think there is a connection between the raven who performed Enki's instruction by growing these mysterious plants in the trench for leeks by planting with its beak the mixture of the special kohl, the holy oil and water from the shrine, the pulling out the plants by Šu-kale-tuda, the stormwind which immediately blows dust into his eyes, and his seeing of Inanna who is going to become his doom. My hypothesis is that the special kohl for the incantation priests of Eridug was Atropa Belladonna (which is native to Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia) which sappy berries contain its seeds. It's connected in some mysterious way with the local weather and grows naturally in the forest clearings made by the strongest storm-winds. The spirit of Atropa Belladonna appears as a fatal female bearing the characteristics of both my native samodives and the Sumerian Inanna. When ingested it's deadly poisonous but when applied externally as a make-up, or as a flying ointment it has an unambiguous psychedelic effect.
us4-he2-gal2, I applaud your connection of the winds with the sun-god. From his breezy breath seen as his son Sisig to his stormy brother Ishkur this connection makes a great sense to me. Believe me or not, I'm a field sorcerer and whenever I've intentionally addressed the sun-god and there were some clouds hiding him, some wind has blown to even temporarily clear the clouds and display the sun over me. Moreover on an purely meteorologic view it's the sun which forms the spots of high and low pressure in the earth atmosphere which on their part form the cyclones and the anti-cyclones.
|
|
|
|
Post by muska on Apr 13, 2011 3:50:50 GMT -5
Very interesting parallels indeed. The identification of Sumerian names of plants seems quite difficult. I saw an identification of some plants eaten by Enki (in Enki and Ninhirsag) with hallucinogens (the draft of article posted in Emelianov s LJ). According to Emelianov, the main thought of the story is rejection of magical path involving using the special plants. It leads into realm Afanasieva s theory about pro-magical and anti-magical tendencies in Mesopotamian literature.
|
|
|
|
Post by enkur on Apr 13, 2011 6:27:32 GMT -5
With which known plants of power Emelianov has identified those eaten by Enki? Interesting enough. Apart from possible Emelyanov's projection unto the matter, there should have really been some rejection of the magical path involving plants of power in the antiquity, which made the official religions sterile and magically incompetent till the monotheist plague took the upper hand. This criminalization of the plants of power continues till nowadays. Unfortunately most of the magical plants's lore is lost forever. What is known is kept secretive. But identifying the plants of power used in antiquity is not enough. There are also another kind of magical plants which have no psychedelic properties but served as purificators - when mixed with the visionary plants, they annul their toxicity which usually leads to the most of undesired effects in this matter. Some of these purificators are well-known today because of their other properties but their magical use in combination with the visionary plants is forgotten. There were many other ways to further refine the plants of power known to the ancient sorcerers. Well I know certain sorcery schools who do not use any plants of power, but the "pure" means they use lead to the same biochemical reactions in the glands and in the brain, moreover the negative side effects of their practices are as risky as these with the plants of power. I know it by experience having tested both approaches. Seems there are no safe ways to overcome the prison of human form. Yet the true art is in the combination  For me the story about Enki and Ninhursag shows just that Ninhursag was more competent in this particular matter. Yet the real initiation takes place in the Land of No Return, and it was Enki who took his initiation there. It would never took place, if Enki was more prudent. The initiatory crisis is not to be interpreted as an edifying example of what is not politically correct to be done. |
|
|
|
Post by muska on Apr 13, 2011 7:14:36 GMT -5
For Emelianov s work: it is only a brief LJ entry. About the nature of plants he wrote only: "All eight plants were used in medicine (mainly at anesthesia), and three of them - amhara, atutu, ardadillu - drugs, strong hallucinogens". The whole entry (in Russian): banshur69.livejournal.com/170414.html |
|
|
|
Post by enkur on Apr 13, 2011 19:35:35 GMT -5
This seems to me as a typical example of an academic projection. Such an interpretation shows me also that the interpreter himself works for the eternal status quo, which has always persecuted sorcery throughout the human history. Such an interpretation is worthy for an educated governmental agent but he says nothing to those who don't feel little. The annoying thing is that he has at his disposal far bigger database than me being such as he is.
Sorcery is magic which practice has never fitted the beliefs/convictions of the status quo. The modern scholars and academics are almost always with the status quo, with the norms of the right-handed path society. They keep all the database and censor it according to their unconscious personal biases which form their conscious prejudices and political agenda. The academic council of any university, or institute, is a modern form of the "Holy Inquisition".
As far as the Sumerology is concerned in particular, it's a matter very pliable to authoritative speculations and manipulations. It's really desperating to me reading Sumerologists whose first care is searching for parallels with the Bible. Sumer was the first human civilization of the known history, so the adherents of the Bible, were they believers or atheists, seek to monopolize all the knowledge about Sumer in order to prove their thesis that the Bible is the quintessence of all the Ancient Orient's lore.
That's why I'm sceptical about the intercommunication between Sumerologists and modern magical practitioners. The word "modern" isn't necessary since there have always been secret magical traditions all over the world.
Me myself have reserves to atheistic schollars with a monotheist background. They refuse to understand their very approach effects unconsciously the matter they explore. Magical understanding works beyond the paradoxes, which neither the monotheists, nor the atheists are able to get. Historically, the atheism was a natural reaction against the spiritual plague of monotheism (implying emotional plague as well), but it led to nowhere except to high technologies in the hands of imbeciles just to fulfil the apocalyptic scenario of monotheism. Its representatives are as unable to think beyond the paradoxes as their forerunners the monotheists.
The monotheism and atheism are the two sides of the same false coin which pretends to buy knowledge. As a sorcerer I would advise the scholars who are willing to investigate any ancient magical culture first to purify themselves by banishing the two evil demons of monotheism and atheism.
Deities are of paradoxical nature, and one should learn to think beyond the paradoxes in order to truly understand them. Isn't, for example, Inanna of paradoxical nature, wielding simultaneously many incompatible MEs? Aren't most of the academic opinions said about her mere profanations? They are, because the scholars are dependent on a mediocre status quo which recognizes the "wisdom" of the Bible as the only spiritual reality, and the economics as the only material reality. This is the status quo which feeds them, and they do not dare to deviate therefrom.
By the way, according to Robert Graves, who was both scholar and sorcerer, when the Mycenaean Greeks took the upper hand in the Aegean world they established a puritan Olympian moral which frowned on any trance states induced by insobriety. So, in the best case I would assume that Emelianov has made some channeling to the orthodoxal Nippurian worldview which would frown on any magical practices outside of those recognized officially by its temples' priesthood, yet even then his interpretation of Enki & Ninhursag story still sounds cheapy. There is no magical culture which hasn't used plants of power, as well as there is no magical culture which has left any written evidence about their usage - except in some veiled way, because it was an esoteric knowledge, which the sorcerers-priests have always hidden from the vulgar populace. How Emelianov expect to find any such evidences when the esoteric traditions have always been oral? The rest is speculation only.
As for Afanasieva, I would say that a sorcerer could be quite selfish and regarded as evil within his or her own cultural conditions, yet after his or her truly deification, she, or he may introduce a new cult, to assume a priest/priestess office, or, to become a king/queen and be of a real use for hir people/tribe - those of the culture s/he has originated, or the new tribe/tradition/culture s/he hirself is created by gaining individuals from all the ends of the world.
The sorcerers/sorceresses are those who seek to get rid of their human form. Some succeed in this, some fail, some prove to be bad eggs. Some are anonymous, while other become deified - while still alive, or post-mortem. They are those who are most feared by the human institutions, yet they are those who make the human history while trying to get rid of their human form.
My own sorcery tradition is outside of any cultural context and will always be underground yet respecting the sorcery tradition of any culture. Though I've tried to contact deities from other traditions, it's the Sumerian mythos which presently most appeals to my emotionality/spirituality. Mostly because of its paradoxicality.
My tragedy is not knowing Sumerian. Generally I'm not lucky with learning languages . The Russian was imposed forcefully on me still in my childhood, while the English is something I've been in pains to learn since 24 years. Now I've come to know that knowing Sumerian is a very special privilege.
I prefer to see the Sumerian Anunna deities as a team of sorcerers who once became deified because of their individual return from the Land of No Return, but getting rid of their human form they disappeared leaving humanity orphaned at the mercy of a certain desert goblin who claimed transcendence, and who distorted their original testament. Those who see themselves as slaves working for the gods hoping for some merciful messiah to redeem them , and those who see themselves as doing the divine work on the world in the name of the gods are different breeds of beings.
|
|
|
|
Post by us4-he2-gal2 on Apr 16, 2011 10:13:11 GMT -5
Hello Enkur and Muska and enenuru: Thanks both for your enthusiasm. Well, I don't yet know how or where Inanna and Shukaletuda may fit in with other stories like Gilgamesh, Lugalbanda etc. as I haven't yet thought about the stories overall direction. As for your suggestions Enkur I will agree that Academics should admit the possibility that insight may be gained from consulting modern magical thinkers - Although as will be shown below, similar points can be arrived at through different means. IGI-SIG-SIG, The gardener of AN: With your suspicion that the Raven and Kohl section may actually fit into the narrative, and Shukaletuda perhaps somehow wronging Enki, this seems to be a case of intuition proving insightful - I have come across two incantation texts in the last few days which have lead me to believe that this is the case. While researching a brief paper on Mediation in the Mesopotamian Religo-Magico Worldview, I was considering a dissertation written by Judith Paul (Paul, Judith Roberts Mesopotamian Ritual Texts and the Concept of the Sacred in Mesopotamia UMI : Ann Arbour Michigan 1992). The author makes mention of incantation material originally published by M. Geller (M.J Geller, A Middle Assyrian Tablet of Utukku Lemnutu Tablet 12 in Iraq 12 42 (1980) pp 23)). In any case the relevant lines read: "Igisigsig, the great gardener of Anu,
plucked the date palm frond with his pure hands.
The incantation priest of Eridu, the messenger of Ea, took it
and recited the incantation of Eridu.
With the good incantation he place it at the head of the sick man,
he bound it on the limbs of the that man, the son of his god." The father of Shukaletuda, Igisigsig is therefore the divine gardener of Anu - he would also seem to be a god who is tightly linked to the theology of Eridu, being a member of the circle of gods concerned with incantations. Enki, Ningirima/Gula and Asalluhi/Marduk are members of this circle - Igisigsig would seem to be tasked with supplying the materia magica, or the magic plants in this case it is the date palm frond. Of course, this has some very interesting implications for our text. In lines 42-90 we see that the Raven is to do something for the incantation priests of Eridu - it plants the kohl in the garden plot for leeks. Just like in the Marduk-Ea incantation type, Enki gives instructions and the ritual is performed exactly according to his directions (by the raven.) We see in line 72 that the ultimate result of this sequence is the production of the oddity - the date palm. I would suggest that a) the garden in question is the garden of Igisigsig - Anu's gardener who produces the materia magica for the exorcist. This is also suggestible as following the end of the sequence, we are dealing with his son Shukaletuda,who is probably in the same garden. And b) the Raven sequence may function as a explanatory myth behind the curative powers of the date palm - it is because Enki uttered ritual instructions to the raven who infused it with kohl - or some such - that it is magically effective. A second incantation mentioning Igisigsig involves the Tamarisk and reads as follows (also from Paul pg. 234): "Incantation. Tamarisk, pure tree , growing from a pure place, coming out from a pure place,
drinking water in abundance from the irrigation channel!
From its trunk gods are made,
with its branches gods are purified.
Igisigsig, cheif gardener of heaven,
cut off its branches and took them.
Asalluhi, son of Eridu, recited the incantation;
He purified and cleansed the mouth of the god ." In any case, the first half of Inanna and Shukaletuda seems heavily steeped in the lore of the exorcist, which seems to be ill suited to the greater story plot - at least why this character was concerned with Inana isn't clear to me. Perhaps the story was written by an exorcist priest or developed in light of those circles. Although Igisigsig is divine (having a divine determiner before his name) his son Shukaletuda does not have the divine determiner and may be mortal? However, if Shukaletuda was also located in the divine garden of Anu, perhaps some mythical location in the mountains, this may go some of the way toward explaining why he had access to Inanna in order to rape her. All of this may add nuance to the character of Shukaltuda - but the basic character of Shukaletuda remains the same and seems to be: a man who did not respect the order of the gods as a) he rejected his own responsibility in the garden, which may be a pretext for b) he raped Inanna. If there is an analogy with the Gilgamesh story, maybe it is a semi-divine man who does not respect his mortality/place in life and who runs afoul of Inanna. |
|
|
|
Post by muska on Apr 16, 2011 11:05:50 GMT -5
So, the genealogy of Shukaletuda is revealed: very interesting. Ishullanu (an Akkadian parallel to Shukaletuda) in Gilgamesh Epic also called Anu s gardener.
|
|
|
|
Post by enkur on Apr 16, 2011 19:46:37 GMT -5
It's great this revealing of Šu-kale-tuda's genealogy, yet despite of his divine father (personal god?) Šu-kale-tuda remains a mortal profane as most of the human mythic heroes and characters. It's not the human predilection for mytho-historic blunder but the human inability to learn thereby which makes me wish to be no more  Once I summoned Ereshkigal over a former mistress of mine who was from Iraq, and who was my medium for the ritual. I got an advice: "Seek the secret of ....... of the date palm." I will remain silent about this part of the date palm since I've not sought its secret yet  Anyway, since 27 years of delving into the occult I don't believe that human is able to achieve whatever insight of the netherworld just by some "pure" interest. That interest should overcome some crisis - were it the poison of some plant of power, or the resistance of one's own psycho-physical complex via ascetic methods like watch, fast, celibacy, sensory deprivation, death posture etc. There are any other methods quite opposite to the ascetic ones but after all they all could be reduced to getting rid of the human form. One cannot hope to learn by staying human. Seems that both religion and science seek only to hold one in the prison of human form. |
|
|
|
Post by muska on Apr 17, 2011 2:48:16 GMT -5
Yes, this is possibility to interprete Igisigsig as personal god, not a biological father of Shukaletuda. At least, an issue of divine parentage (literary or symbolic in each case?) in Sumerian texts seems more complicated then in Greek mythology.
|
|
|
|
Post by enkur on Apr 17, 2011 6:55:18 GMT -5
Would anybody tell me what does the shadouf mean in English? (Lines 72-90 and just prior to them.)
|
|
|
|
Post by muska on Apr 17, 2011 12:38:34 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by enkur on Apr 17, 2011 13:18:21 GMT -5
Thanks Muska - I thought of it but wasn't sure. I've even used it in my native country. It's called geran in my native language - I sought in the transliteration for the Sumerian word but seems the translation in this case is semantic rather than literal. So the raven has even irrigated the plants by using the shadoof - who had ever seen such a thing before?  |
|
|
|
Post by muska on Apr 17, 2011 14:16:09 GMT -5
The term geran obviously came from Greek geranos (crane). In Russian this water-well also called zhuravel (crane). The raven is one from the range of enigmatic animals in Sumerian myths, like the fox in Enki and Ninhursag.
|
|
|
|
Post by us4-he2-gal2 on Apr 22, 2011 17:37:43 GMT -5
Ishulllanu = Shukaletuda "So, the genealogy of Shukaletuda is revealed: very interesting. Ishullanu (an Akkadian parallel to Shukaletuda) in Gilgamesh Epic also called Anu s gardener." Muska: By pointing out the above you are very sharp / correct. I have just learned of a book "Inanna and Shukaletuda" by Konrad Volk, a German sumerologist from Tübingen Germany. Volk seems to give a thorough examination of Shukaletuda in this book, although it is in German of course and so far I have only been able to access it online through books.google.com . How ever from what I can make out with the assistance of google translator, you are quite right to see the relevance of Ishullanu. Here is a bad translation of some of what Volk is saying: P. 56: ......even the beginning of this episode (Z.64), the list of former Gilgamesh 'love affairs' of the Ishtar enters, establishes a direct link to Inanna and Shukaletuda. Although the name form Ishullanu (is for the) time being unexplained, but may to be largely secured, there is [to be] seen behind Ishullanu no one other than Shukaletuda. First and foremost, Sumerian su-kal-(l) e-tu-da [equals] shullanu Akkadian. The statement that Ishullanu was the gardener of Ishtar's father confirms this hypothesis, because line 92 out of Inanna and Shukaletuda. Shukaletuda, even at no point nu - gishkiri6 'gardener', [is] very likely a "son" of the Igisigsig. Igisigsig [in] turn, is a gardener of the sky god An. Although in Inana and Shukaletuda, unlike as in Gilg VI 65-66, the speech can be interpreted that Shukaletuda had served Inana with dates, then Shukaletuda was after all set in an environment in which to miraculous combination of Enki and his raven the date palm was created, the dates "in the temples of the great gods find their destiny."
If Gilg. VI 68-69 which says that Ishtar raised her eyes, went to Ishullanu and asked him his manhood to enjoy with it, this course of action in Inanna and Shukaletuda (lines 117-125) is described in exactly the opposite:
"Shukaletuda looked at his Bestrand.
Inanna was [bound] the band for the seven ME about their shame.
The ribbon for the Seiber ME, [they] on their private parts [bound] had,
[] At the Shepherd Amausumgalanna [].
their pure shame [] the man. [].
Shukaletuda triggered (the band for the seven and Me) [lay] on [their] place of rest. "
Volk really seems to be on to something with his comparison of Ishullanu with Shukaletuda. In the Epic of Gilgamesh tablet VI, Gilgamesh is rejecting Inanna and listing all her past failures - one of these failed romances is with Ishullanu. Interesting, A. Georges translation of the line 75 reads like this, explaining what Inana did to her ex-lover Ishullanu: "When you heard what [he'd] said, you struck him down and turned him into a dwarf. You sat him down in the midst of his labours, he cannot go up..., he cannot go down ..." Now the corresponding lines in Inanna and Shukaletuda, when Inanna finally catches and punishes Shukaletuda, read as follows according to the oxford translation at ETCSL: "290-310. When he had spoken thus to her, …… hit ……. …… added (?) ……. …… changed (?) him ……. She (?) determined his destiny ……, holy Inana spoke to Šu-kale-tuda: "So! You shall die! What is that to me?" However a translation by D. Frayne of lines 290-293 reads as follows: "290. When he had spoken thus to her, 291. She hit him 292. She added ... 293. She changed him into a dwarf." While Oxford is not comfortable translating dwarf here, the translation may gain justification in the comparison with Gilgamesh VI. In any case there is more to go over from Volk's book. Luckily we do have a student of Volk's on the board sometimes and perhaps she will help to explain some of his comments. cheers. Original German from Volk pg. 56: "...schon der Beginn dieser Episode (Z.64), die Gilgamesh Aufzählung ehemaliger 'Liebschaften' der Ishtar abschließt, stellt einen direkten Bezug zu Inanna and Shukaletuda her. Zwar bliebt die Namensform Ishullanu einstweilen unerklärt, doch darf als weitgehend gesichert gelten, daß hinter Ishullanu niemand anders als Shukaletuda zu sehen ist. Zunächst entspricht sumerisches su-kal-(l)e-tu-da akkadischern shullanu. Die Aussage, daß Ishullanu der Gärtner von Ishtars Vater An sei, bekräftigt diese These, denn Z.92 von Inanna und Shukaletuda führt Shukaletuda, selbst an keiner Stelle nu - gishkiri6 "Gärtner" genannt, sehr wahrscheinlich als "Sohn" des Igisigsig ein. Igisigsig wiederum gilt als Gärtner des Himmelsgottes An. Wenn auch in Inanna and Shukaletuda, nicht wie in Gilg VI 65-66, die Rede davon sein kann, daß Shukaletuda Inana mit Datteln bedient hätte, so fand sich Shukaletuda immerhin in eine Umgebung gesetzt, in der nach wundersamem Zusammenwirken von Enki und seinem Raben die Dattelpalme geschaffen war, deren Datteln "in den Tempeln der großen Götter ihre Bestimmung finden." Wenn Gilg. VI 68-69 davon spricht, daß Ishtar ihre Augen erhob, zu Ishullanu ging und ihn aufforderte, seine Manneskraft mit ihr zu genieße, so wird dieser Handlungsablauf in Inanna und Shukaletuda (Z. 117-125) genau gegenteilig geschildert: "Shukaletuda schaute an seinem Bestrand. Inanna hatte das Band für die sieben ME über ihre Scham [gebunden]. Das Band für die seiben ME, [das sie] über ihre Scham [gebunden hatte], [ ] bei dem Hirten Amausumgalanna [ ]. über ihre reine Scham [ ] der Mann..[ ]. Shukaletuda löste (das Band für die sieben Me und) [legte sich] zu [ihrem] Ruheplatz."
|
|
|
|
Post by muska on Apr 23, 2011 2:48:10 GMT -5
Thanks for the references. As I know, there are different explanations of Ishullanu s panishment. In Russian translation of Gilgamesh epic (by I.M. Diakonov), Ishullanu was turned into spider, in one old translation - into rat.
And what sort of creature was Sumerian dwarf?
|
|
|
|
Post by us4-he2-gal2 on May 3, 2011 13:23:22 GMT -5
I don't think Mr. Halloran would mind my forwarding some remarks he has made on this subject, after I sent him an email version of this thread. Mr. Halloran has long assisted enenuru with his talent for Mesopotamian language and knowledge of philological resources.
In responding to the issue of sahar-kur-ra, that is dust of the mountains (see post 1 above) Halloran explains this:
"The term sahar-kur-ra evidently means something in Sumerian culture. There is a line listed in the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary, volume E, on page 2 under ebbu, 3', where i.tu.da sahar.kur.ra is translated as "offspring of the ore of the mountains, i.e., mined in the mountains". Then there are white and black pastes made from sahar-kur-ra, which you will find in A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian under annuharu(m), gabu^, and qitmu(m). The CAD lists the first under alluharu, but with little mention of sahar.kur.ra.
kur has a double meaning in Sumerian, referring either to a mountain or to the Underworld, which double meaning probably led to sahar-kur-ra being used for magic or healing. If you read in the CAD under gabu^ on page 7 it means the chemical alum which has antibacterial properties and was a medicine against the disease called 'hand of the ghost'."
I have attempted to access the Concise Dictionary of Akkadian only to find the book missing at the Toronto library. Will try again.
|
|
|
|
Post by us4-he2-gal2 on Jun 29, 2011 13:08:13 GMT -5
Swallows/Small birds as lil2 simile (?) In a previous thread (the Inanna thread , reply #10), I expressed my suspicion and fascination with the possibility that swallows (sim mušen)ˇen, or perhaps small birds (buru 5mušen), may in symbolic terms signify lil2 spirits in Sumerian literature. While previously I alluded to one text in this capacity (to be recounted below) a second text now reinforces that impression to me. First, it should be recalled that the complex notion of lil2 spirits is not entirely understood in modern scholarship and efforts are frustrated by the likelihood of reinterpretations in ancient times. However, we have seen the interplay between lil2 and the entourage of Utu, particularly in his son the dream god (whose name is equated with lil2 in lexical lists). To put it briefly, lil2 seem to connect living man with his future (=netherworld), having a role in dream sending, in spirit visitation, or when manifested in demonic form, in bringing actual death to the victim (like Oppenheim's "symptomatic dream" type of Mesopotamian dream, demonic affliction may be taken as a sign of cultic impurity.. and treated through comparative exorcistic means). What's interesting about these religio-magical phenomena is their consistent visualization in terms of wind; my contention however is that in many cases, the word used which, may carry a connotation of wind, has in many cases the implication of an entity or intelligence. So anyway, the first text which may be relevant is a hymn to Nungal (Nungal A): t.4.28.1, which concerns the goddess in charge of prisons and treating prisoners, line 51/51 of which reads: "It's inmates, like small birds escaped from the claws of an owl, look to its opening as to the rising of the sun" 50. lu2-be2-e-ne buru5mušen dnin-ninna2mušen-ta šu-ta šub-ba-gin7 51. ĝal2 da13-da13-bi-še3 dutu e3-a-gin7 igi-bi im-ši-ĝal2 This line had seemed reminiscent to me of the way a spirit may travel on a sisig breeze, as Enkidu escaped the netherworld. The simile formed is thus prison/netherworld = owl demon, small bird = lil2 spirit (the inmates) : "Prisons in Mesopotamia of course were brutal and may consist of nothing more than a hole in the ground with a reed fence thrown over top - the analogy is often to the netherworld and here we see inmates looking to an opening, to the light of day, as an escape from the darkness of the netherworld - an opening is the rising of the sun, and transition from one realm to another. A small bird, almost as a lil2 perhaps, traveling from below to above, escaping the grasp of the (d)nin-ninna (the prison/netherword.)" A new piece of information reinforces this view, in my opinion. I had been aware of a line from the text called "Lugalbanda and the Mountain Cave" ETCSL t.4.28.1 , line 411/412. Bendt Alster has recently discussed the relevant section of the narrative in an article called "Demons in the Conclusion of Lugalbanda in Hurrumkurra" (Iraq 67, no.2 2005). The "conclusion" of the myth, or the relevant section near the end, discusses a group of demons in an incantation like dialogue; it is here that lines 411/412 occur. Interestingly, these demons have an obvious wind like nature, they are the "friends" of Ishkur, they batter the rebel lands "like tempests" , at night they enter houses etc. The ETCSL has provided only a fragmented and confused translation of lines 411/412: "in the breeze …… swallows of Utu; " 411. si-si-ig simmušen-simmušen dutu-ka ur2-ba cu mi-ni-in-te? 412. e2-e2-a i-im-ku4-ku4-ne However, Alster's recent translation gives a much better picture: 411. They are breezes, swarms of swallows whirling 412. about (?) from their holes at day. Given that we are talking about windy demons of some sort, I wonder if this may be a case of a lil2 = swallow simile/metsphor; the bird emerges from its dark hole (cave?) like Enkidu or the lil2 of Lugalbanda's mother is said to emerge from the ab-lal3 (the "hatch" or hole in the ground). In any case, I would be fascinated to find other cases of entities compared to birds in the wind - it seems to be one visual event that had an important impact on the way Mesopotamians envisioned their spirit world.
|
|
