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Nungal
May 17, 2011 3:13:32 GMT -5
Post by muska on May 17, 2011 3:13:32 GMT -5
The goddess Nungal (or Manungal) was the daughter of An and Ereshkigal and a deity of the Underworld. An maybe her biological father or ancestor. The minor god Birtum, son of Enlil, was considered to be her husband. She was especially associated with the temple Ekur in Nippur, although she was worshippped during the late third and early second millenia BC at a number of cities (Sippar and other), and was a member of the local pantheon of Lagash. Later she was identified with Nintinugga. On Nungal as an aspect of Inanna or/and Ninegal (with reference to Geeta de Clercq, Gernot Wilhelm: Die Göttin Ninegal/Belet-ekallim nach den altorientalischen Quellen des 3. und 2. Jt. v. Chr., Julius-Maximilians-Universität, Würzburg 2004) and other details see here (in German) de.wikipedia.org/wiki/NungalThe bibliography on Nungal see here in foothnotes www.jstor.org/pss/1359825The functions of Nungal are obscure in some sense. Some scholars interpreted her as a goddess of prisons (especially a prison of Ekur), some - as a judge in the Underworld. She is even a healing goddess and her judjement is equated to healing process. Hymn to Nungal (Nungal A) etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.4.28.1#I m interested in any interpretations of this text: was Nungal the patron-goddess of mundane prisons or jugde of dead people in Underworld? Was the unique concept of Last Judgement a post-Sumerian Amorite invention or product of Sumerian thought? And so on... Nungal is also mentioned in other texts. In Gilgamesh and Huwawa Enlil gave her a seventh aura of the killed Huwawa. In proverbs: The palace is a forest. The king is a lion. Nungal overwhelms men with a huge battle-net. Oh Utu, accept my prayer. The palace is a forest. The king, the lion, subdues men with a huge net like Nungal. The palace is a forest, and the king is a lion; like Ninegala (an epithet of Nungal) he covers men with a huge battle-net.
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Nungal
May 17, 2011 19:20:47 GMT -5
Post by enkur on May 17, 2011 19:20:47 GMT -5
For me Nungal is an unique deity of whom I haven't met yet any parallel in the traditions known to me. Except that this hymn is the only text dedicated to her which I know, its contents is unique as well. It gives some dim insights about the Sumerian psycho-cosmos.
The ancient origin of the Great Princess of the Underworld confirms my thesis that her mother Ereshkigal is the most ancient Ki herself, the lawful spouse of An, who was separated from him and who became his widow after Gilgamesh killed his totemic prototype of the Bull of Heaven.
The goddess Nungal (or Manungal) was the daughter of An and Ereshkigal and a deity of the Underworld
Where Manungal comes from?
Later she was identified with Nintinugga.
I.e. with Bau and Gula as well. But she is a healing goddess herself. As she herself says she assists also Nintur at the place of child-delivery.
On Nungal as an aspect of Inanna or/and Ninegal
Seems that Ninegal except being the name of a separate goddess, is also an epithet of both Inanna and Nungal, however having different meaning for either of the goddesses in the context of their MEs.
The functions of Nungal are obscure in some sense. Some scholars interpreted her as a goddess of prisons (especially a prison of Ekur), some - as a judge in the Underworld. She is even a healing goddess and her judjement is equated to healing process.
As I have always seen from a magical point of view, the Sumerian Anunna deities (as well as their parallels in other traditions) are of antinomian nature uniting opposing qualities simultaneously, something which is paradoxical for the rational mind and awe-inspiring for the religious mind.
I m interested in any interpretations of this text: was Nungal the patron-goddess of mundane prisons or jugde of dead people in Underworld?
I think she is both things. Both the divine pedagogue who returns the non-recidivists pure to their personal gods, and the judge in the Underworld, with her temple-prison which appears to be something like a purgatory. This temple-prison reminds me somehow of Ningishzidda's temple of Gishbanda.
Was the unique concept of Last Judgement a post-Sumerian Amorite invention or product of Sumerian thought? And so on...[/i]
"The Last Judgement"? I see here some recycling only:
"... at the divine river ordeal, to separate the just from the evildoers; a just man is given rebirth."
So the Christian concept of "the Last Judgement" seems to be a Semitic inheritance, doesn't it?
Nungal is also mentioned in other texts. In Gilgamesh and Huwawa Enlil gave her a seventh aura of the killed Huwawa.
That's a very mysterious mentioning indeed. According to a certain magical tradition the strata of the human energy form are stripped like onion peelings at one's death. That's not a belief but a clairvoyance. I have no doubt that such a clairvoyance was in the competency of certain representatives of the Sumerian priesthood. So the inmost 7th aura of Huwawa is given to Nungal. There is a sevenfold stripping in Inanna's descent as well.
In proverbs:
The palace is a forest. The king is a lion. Nungal overwhelms men with a huge battle-net. Oh Utu, accept my prayer. The palace is a forest. The king, the lion, subdues men with a huge net like Nungal. The palace is a forest, and the king is a lion; like Ninegala (an epithet of Nungal) he covers men with a huge battle-net.
Seems that Nungal is a protector of the kings as well: "She listens to the king in the assembly and clamps down on his enemies; her vigilance never ends."
Again, the epithet of d nin-ninna2 mu$en in line 50 of the hymn to Nungal makes me somehow visualize the goddess of the Burney relief as Nungal. Just a subjective association. For my magical experience with the goddess I will abstain to speak, but will say only that it was really scaring.
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Nungal
May 18, 2011 17:34:06 GMT -5
Post by lilitudemon on May 18, 2011 17:34:06 GMT -5
Yes, I am so glad this is a topic now.
OK, so what I am gathering about prisons of ancient Mesopotamia with Nungal is that they are real correctional institutes rather than just places of punishment? Did priests run the prisons? How was someone "corrected"? Did it work? These are the questions I am curious about.
A lot of it seems to indicate that Nungal has much to do with Judgement and a "new life". As prison would be that new life, although I would hope some people were re-released back into society.
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Nungal
May 23, 2011 0:51:23 GMT -5
Post by us4-he2-gal2 on May 23, 2011 0:51:23 GMT -5
More on Nungal
Since this goddess is generating something of a sustained interest lately, I thought I'd add a few things. In the 2009 edition of Zeitschrift fur Assyrologie, J. Petersen contributed an article "Two New Sumerian Texts Involving The Netherworld and Funerary Offerings." One of these texts, a brief Old Babylonian literary text, mentions Nungal, Nintinuga and Ereshkigal in conjunction. Although the text is obscure due in part to its fragmentary nature, it would seem to indicate that these goddesses were distinct in some texts even in the OB period. 1) The furious(?) me, the … me …, which … does not desire(?) 2) My lady (who has) a great name, Nungal … 3) Calmer of anger, pacifier(?) of fury … 4) The lady of life and death (Nintinuga), the true steward of the black headed(?) … 5) The lady who furnishes the ration for both(?) heaven and earth, I see! 6) Like(?) a wise one of heaven, moving within heaven according to a star of the highland/Elam. 7) The quay of Eresˇkigal, which is not full, I see! 8) … the surveyed plots, and boundary stakes of the land(?) … 9) …About Ningal and Nintinuga, the author comments: "Both Nungal and Nintinuga, the first of whom is primarily associated with imprisonment or the death penalty, the second with healing, both of which could have mortal implications, do possess a significant connection either to Ereskigal herself or the netherworld in other contexts." Specifically referring to the lines dealing with Nungal above, lines 2+3.... Peterson on line 2:"The goddess Nungal, who is known primarily for her role in punishment and detention, is associated with Eresˇkigal in Nungal Hymn 67, where Eresˇkigal, who is named as the birth mother (a ma - u g u ) of Nungal, furnishes her with the me 4 Note also the epithet n i n k u r - r a , “lady . of the netherworld” that is attributed to Nungal in the incantation against the demon Namtar that is contained within the Meturan incantation collective H 97, column vi 23 (Cavigneaux/al Rawi 1995, 197)." Peterson on line 3:His explanation of line 3, Nungal as pacifier, read: "3) For the verb z i g i 4 , “to calm down, pacify,” see Karahashi (2000, 177). If this line is continuing a description of Nungal, one could compare the role of Nungal as a pacifier in order to reduce a death sentence to a prison sentence, as she is portrayed in the Nungal Hymn. For this role, see the remarks of Civil (1993, 78)." Peterson and bibliographyAs indicated by this comment, the best and most current descriptions of the goddess can be found in a) Civil, M. (1993): On Mesopotamian Jails and their Lady Warden, in: M. E. Cohen [et al.] (ed.), The Tablet and the Scroll. Near Eastern Studies in Honor of William W. Hallo, Bethesda, 72–78 and b) Cavigneaux, A./M. Krebernik (2001): Nungal, RlA 9, 615–618 Peterson and primary sourcesThe author helpfully adds: "Aside from the context of the Nungal Hymn, the goddess Nungal occurs rarely in the Sumerian literary corpus. She occurs in the unprovenienced source LB 2110 (TLB 2 4) for Gilgamesˇ and Huwawa A 199,5 Proverb Collection (2+)6.3, which is duplicated by UET 6/2 336 rev. 12–13,6 Ninisina F iv 2 (Sjöberg 1982, 68), Counsels of Wisdom 28–29 (Alster 2005, 243), and the unplaced bilingual Old Babylonian literary fragment AO 4332 (NFT 212; for this fragment, see Civil 1993, 77, and Cavigneaux/Krebernik 2001, 616)." - Nungal Hymn. Everyone probably has it already, if not the substantual text dealing with Nungal is: etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=c.4.28.1- for Gilgamesˇ and Huwawa A 199,5 , mentioned by Muska above, can be read at ETCSL, line 199: etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.8.1.5- Proverb Collection (2+)6.3, which is duplicated by UET 6/2 336 rev. 12–13,6 Again these are mentioned above by Muska and can be found at: etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=c.6.1.02etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=c.6.1.28etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=c.6.2.3-The mention in Ninisina F can be found at the below link and reads "In ……, a dragon lying in wait for men, a …… sticking out its tongue at everybody, my lady is indeed Nungal." In situations like this I would think caution should be used in interpretation. While the text literally says that Ninisina (Inanna) "is indeed Nungal" this is not necessarily meant as a literal equation. The language is highly metaphoric, Inanna is (like) a dragon lying in wait.. and also (like) a something sticking out it tongue. Tongue sticking out may be mistaken for a light hearted act while I've been told that to open the mouth and wag the tongue at someone in the ancient world was an act of high menace - hence all three comparisons indicate Ninisina's menacing or foreboding prowess. etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=c.4.22.6- Counsels of Wisdom 28–29 To be found in the book Alster, B. (1997): Proverbs of Ancient Sumer. Bethesda. Probably similar if not the same as the proverbs mentioned above. - Old Babylonian literary fragment AO 4332 : As for this piece I don't have access to it at the moment. A realistic expectation is that piece would have a brief one line mention of Nungal such as in Ninisina F.
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Nungal
May 23, 2011 10:31:06 GMT -5
Post by enkur on May 23, 2011 10:31:06 GMT -5
Thank you for this additional information. I took the pains to read the entire article at: related.springerprotocols.com/lp/de-gruyter/two-new-sumerian-texts-involving-the-netherworld-and-funerary-uFMCnj785bMagically, Nungal could give a life-saving ME: relaxing at the very distress, something difficult to get if one hasn't experienced it. The religious could explain it as humbleness before fate, but magic deals with energy, not with moral, so relaxing when seized by some overwhelming force could give one a chance to survive one's doom by going with instead of resisting that force.
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Nungal
May 27, 2011 1:49:02 GMT -5
Post by lilitudemon on May 27, 2011 1:49:02 GMT -5
-The mention in Ninisina F can be found at the below link and reads "In ……, a dragon lying in wait for men, a …… sticking out its tongue at everybody, my lady is indeed Nungal." In situations like this I would think caution should be used in interpretation. While the text literally says that Ninisina (Inanna) "is indeed Nungal" this is not necessarily meant as a literal equation. The language is highly metaphoric, Inanna is (like) a dragon lying in wait.. and also (like) a something sticking out it tongue. Tongue sticking out may be mistaken for a light hearted act while I've been told that to open the mouth and wag the tongue at someone in the ancient world was an act of high menace - hence all three comparisons indicate Ninisina's menacing or foreboding prowess. Sticking out the tongue has multiple means depending on the culture. In Hinduism with Kali its interpretated as a sign of shame for example. Other times there could be more to the symbolism. Depending how its done here it can be a impolite gesture or it can be sexual with the fingers. Given the context of the text I'd bet in Mesopotamia its a sexual gesture in this case as its referenced to lure men. If this is a trait of Nungal why doesn't it appear in other texts?
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Nungal
May 27, 2011 3:04:39 GMT -5
Post by muska on May 27, 2011 3:04:39 GMT -5
The sticking out the tongue is mostly part of snake s behaviour. It maybe the initial point of this semantic range (snake-earth-goddess-female sexuality).
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Nungal
May 27, 2011 17:30:03 GMT -5
Post by enkur on May 27, 2011 17:30:03 GMT -5
You got right there, Muska! The snake tastes its prey, or enemy, or sexual partner from a distance via sticking out its tongue. The snake's tongue is for the snake what the eyes are for the eagle. The snake senses mainly by its tongue, it lives in an universe of tastes, as the wolf lives in an universe of smells. Otherwise the snake can see mainly moving objects and may not distinguish a static presence in its environment. Also, unlike the lizard, it lacks ear outlets and it hears only by sensing the vibrations on the ground by its whole body.
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Nungal
May 29, 2011 19:55:53 GMT -5
Post by lilitudemon on May 29, 2011 19:55:53 GMT -5
But did Mesopotamians know that?
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Nungal
May 31, 2011 3:00:08 GMT -5
Post by enkur on May 31, 2011 3:00:08 GMT -5
The correlation between the knowing and the unknowing has always been the same anywhere and anytime according to the criterions of knowledge, but this obvious fact about the snake sticking out its tongue was known by any people who lived in areas where there were snakes. In my country the ignorant people still believe that the snake tongue is the snake's sting whereby it causes venomous damages -it's a very old and persisting belief, so were it was a sensing organ, or a sting, the snake was an animal respective enough to be compared with Nungal. The police office of Nungal who tastes/testes everybody or stings the wicked ones is worthy to be compared with a serpent/dragon sticking out its tongue at everybody.
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Nungal
Jul 6, 2011 9:52:26 GMT -5
Post by muska on Jul 6, 2011 9:52:26 GMT -5
The god Birtum (or Birdu), Nungal s spouse, sometimes identified with Nergal (taken from commentary to Russian edition of Ninurta and Anzu).
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Nungal
Jul 7, 2011 11:31:55 GMT -5
Post by enkur on Jul 7, 2011 11:31:55 GMT -5
Hmm, that's very interesting indeed! I "heard" about almost the same thing but I'm not able to quote my netherworld source
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Nungal
Jul 7, 2011 11:34:53 GMT -5
Post by enkur on Jul 7, 2011 11:34:53 GMT -5
Though I found it more and more difficult to speak about my occult experiences, I can't abstain from sharing that despite of calling them separately, they appear in my inner sight together - Nergal and Nungal. Upon calling Enlil and Ninlil's progeny Nanna appears with Ningal but Nergal appears with Nungal. I don't claim any objectivity - I just dare to call being anyway stepped with the one foot of mine in the netherworld. Below is my simple altar for Nungal Attachments:
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