Popular references to Sumerian Magic/Culture

[us4-he2-gal2]

During my extended google/altavista/yahoo mega-tours for potential enenuru members, Ive come across a few amusing if not surreal examples of public interest in Sumerian incantations - perhaps one of the most rare of ANE subjects. Well at least rare in a sober assessment. Here are some frequent red herrings:

(excluding Necronomicon references as this is a well known red herring)

-The use of reported 'Sumerian incantations' in the first 'Evil Dead' movie. The wiki gives the plot as "Five college students venture into the Tennessee woods to spend a weekend in an isolated cabin. Instead, they find grief in the form of the Book of the Dead (a separate Babylonian text in the film, unrelated to the Egyptian text) otherwise known as the Morturom Demonto (or Necronomicon in the sequels). They find and play a tape recording of demonic incantations from the book, unwittingly resurrecting the slumbering demons that thirst for revenge. The characters are then possessed one by one by the evil force in sequences of intense, bloody violence and horrifying voice overs." Some sources report supposedly Sumerian incantatons were what was on the tape, I would say probably neither - likely it was some
Necromincon stuff.

- Someone has mixed Sumerian incantations with opera. Im not able to critically assess this or really put it into perspective. But it happened, and thats saying enough to me heh.
www.soundssublime.com/@1compositions.htm

On a related note, an 2003 entire opera was composed based on Inana myths/hymns, looks very professional and detailed, Im initially impressed with the whole effort though Ive just glanced at the page up to this point - they apparently have dancers portraying Anzu, the Serpent and 'Lilith':
www.craton.net/inanna/main.php?action=characters

- www.metacafe.com/user/4573321/palier/
This guy is circulating video clips of 'Sumerian magic' on some type of u-tube type distribution net, it drives me nuts because something like 250 of 400 altavista hits are links to these videos. Ultimately maybe its a good thing to have visibility on such obscure interest, but Im not sure where he's geting this from.

For example on his 'Sumerian magic 1' video, he appears to be drawing pictographs, 3 of those pictographs can be seen on pg.304 of Kramers "The Sumerians". They are probably 'head', 'food', and 'water'. Of course Im doubting any of the pictograms he's using are found on any extent Sumerian incantation tablet, as even the earliest dated of these would display later stages of development (not that I myself can distinguish anything much on cdli P272783 for example). Beyond that I also doubt the ritual and the use of the spells.

Feel free to list on this thread further examples of 'popular' interest in Sumerian/Mesopotamian incantations. Just for kicks. (though pls email me directly should you find examples of 'unpopular' interest.)

[us4-he2-gal2]

-Below is a non-critical review of one popular recognition of Sumerian incantations. My aim is to detail the interesting parts not to critique, but to avoid confusion I should say I do find this content baseless in regards to what it actually references. Cheers

Ive had a chance to review "the Evil Dead" a 1982 horror movie written and directed by Sam Raimi and starring Bruce Campbell. What makes the film somewhat interesting here is that it contains a rare popular reference to Sumerian incantations. The basic setup is that a group of young adults go on a vacation to a rather worn down and remote cabin. What makes the cabin special is that it was formerly owned by what would have to be an archaeologist of sorts, as the youths soon find in the basement a tape recorder, a strange and grotesque book, and a type of ritual dagger. The book is the key plot item throughout the movie, the tape would appear to add an air of quasi-scholarly legitimation to what amounts to somewhat familiar horror movie events. They play the tape recorder, a ma's voice speaks:

(16 mins 40 sec.
" It has been a number of years since i began excavating the ruins of Kandar, with a group of my colleagues. Now my wife and I have retreated to a small cabin in the solitude of these mountains. Here I continued my research undisturbed by the myriad distractions of modern civilization, and far from the groves of academ. I believe I have made a significant find in the Kandarian ruins, a volume of ancient Sumerian burial practices and funerary incantations, it is entitled nochuran demanto', roughly translated 'book of the dead. The book is bound in human flesh and inked in human blood. It deals with demons and demon resurrection and those forces that roam the forest and dark bowers of man's domain. The first few pages warn that these enduring creatures may lie dormant but their never truly dead. They may be recalled to active life through the incantations presented in this book. It is through the recitation of these passages that the demons are given license to possess the living."

The tape is stopped there, but not long after it is fast forwarded and the 'archaeologist' is reciting what would ostensibly be a Sumerian incantation (but what in practice sounds like maybe latin/necronomicon-speak.)
The reciting of the "incantation" causes evil forces to be released. These evil forces behavior is somewhat reminiscent to that of the creatures from 'the night of the living dead', except these forces in Evil Dead are incorporeal until they more less manifest themselves as the forest and rape one of the vacationers with their tree limbs, causing the first demonic possession. Demonic possession afterwards in the movie seems to spread after a victim is wounded.. like an infection. A final playing of the tape recorder has the Archaeologist relating:

"I know now that my wife has become host to a Kandarian demon, I fear now that the only way to stop those possessed by the spirits of the book is through the act of bodily dismemberment. Id leave now to avoid this horror but I have seen the dark shadows moving in the woods and I have no doubt that whatever I have resurrected through this book is sure to come calling for me."

In the movie commentaries Bruce Campbell remarks the idea of the flesh bound book, is based "on the Sumerian book of the dead, I believe otherwise known as the Necronomicon." Various shots in the movie show pages of this book to be covered with an artists version of Cuneiform (or maybe glyphs of some sort) but more pictures seem to be filled with large Skull inspired art done tattoo style. Based on the commentaries I believe that they employed their makeup artist for these illustrations.

[saharda]

Evil dead / Army of Darkness
In case you haven't seen the movies, Evil dead was one of the best acted horror movies of all time. (Not saying much as the genre shows much room for improvement.) and the "book of the dead" was supposed to be the necronomicon. The art style and effects are all reminiscent of the art of Giger mixed in with Cthulhu mythos related art. And it was all done on a shoe string budget.

Ghostbusters 1
Check out the section of the movie where they tell who Gozer the Gozarian was and where he came from.

Conan the Barbarian
The original Conan was supposed to be a celt, but in the movie they simply couldn't help themselves and had to call him a Sumerian.

The scorpion king
The main character was supposed to be the last of the Akkadians. The movie starts in the snow capped mountains of Dynasty 0 Egypt. The movie ends with the dynamiting of Memnon's Ziggurat.

The Necronomicon
I do believe that this book deserves it's own thread, but here are a few notes. . . Lovecraft had no real interest in Sumer. His necronomicon was more likely inspired by the Egyptian book of Set. (Set created a book where in he recorded all of the true names of the gods. Anyone who reads it would be driven insane or killed to prevent them from obtaining ultimate power.)

The Exorcist
The evil demon there was supposed to be the protective demon Pazuzu.

I also think that Sumer may have been mentioned in Kull the conquerer.

You get Sumer mentioned often in media because it is arcane. Not many people know much about Sumer. When the Burial pits of Ur were discovered it was the biggest breakthrough in archeology of the time, (But was promptly overshadowed by Tut's Tomb) and made people crack open half an eye to Sumer as being mystical and dark.

[david]

saharda said:

Evil dead / Army of Darkness
In case you haven't seen the movies, Evil dead was one of the best acted horror movies of all time. (Not saying much as the genre shows much room for improvement.) and the "book of the dead" was supposed to be the necronomicon. The art style and effects are all reminiscent of the art of Giger mixed in with Cthulhu mythos related art. And it was all done on a shoe string budget.

Ghostbusters 1
Check out the section of the movie where they tell who Gozer the Gozarian was and where he came from.

Conan the Barbarian
The original Conan was supposed to be a celt, but in the movie they simply couldn't help themselves and had to call him a Sumerian.

The scorpion king
The main character was supposed to be the last of the Akkadians. The movie starts in the snow capped mountains of Dynasty 0 Egypt. The movie ends with the dynamiting of Memnon's Ziggurat.

The Necronomicon
I do believe that this book deserves it's own thread, but here are a few notes. . . Lovecraft had no real interest in Sumer. His necronomicon was more likely inspired by the Egyptian book of Set. (Set created a book where in he recorded all of the true names of the gods. Anyone who reads it would be driven insane or killed to prevent them from obtaining ultimate power.)

The Exorcist
The evil demon there was supposed to be the protective demon Pazuzu.

I also think that Sumer may have been mentioned in Kull the conquerer.

You get Sumer mentioned often in media because it is arcane. Not many people know much about Sumer. When the Burial pits of Ur were discovered it was the biggest breakthrough in archeology of the time, (But was promptly overshadowed by Tut's Tomb) and made people crack open half an eye to Sumer as being mystical and dark.

I'm can't think of many Sumerian references except in some Buffy episodes, like in last 2 episodes of season 4, where Buffy and her gang do a spell in Sumerian to join with the slayer essence and all the slayers (past, present and future), and again in season 7 (the last one), where a book is found in a dead slayer's possesion that's written in Sumerian and opens a portal back in time to when the slayer was created by the Shadow Men (3 African sorcerors/shamans/whatever).

Not sure if this counts too, but there's a book I really want to get soon called 'Destiny' by Maggie Shayne (www.amazon.com/Destiny-Maggie-Shayne/dp/0515130133/ref=pd_sim_b_1_img/103-5291300-0337464?ie=UTF8&qid=1181341283&sr=1-1)

I can't think of anymore, although I've heard a lot of RPGers who play Dungeon's and Dragons use Tiamet and Babylonian deities a lot (I can't say for sure, though, as I've never played an RPG before).

BTW, can I ask what's the Egyptian Book of Set, is it a real one or something?, as I tried Googling it but couldn't find anything.

[saharda]

I also saw a reference to akkadian incantations in a recent SG1 episode. They didn't say them, Jackson simply asked for a book on them in a library.

As for the Egyptian book of Set, ask Shepen about it on TOD.

[turushum]

This is an article I found on Namco's Soul Caliber forums, the person that wrote it (Spike16) did some pretty good research. I have the entirety of the original post here unedited. If you would like to read the responses you can find the thread here:
www.soulcalibur.com/forums/showthread.php?s=95342168894b5dacba7bcc87e7541329&threadid=27178&goto=nextoldest

If it looks familiar to those of you on ToD I posted it there too. Just thought it belongs here as well.


Based on his profile, we can only conclude that Zasalamel is quite old. He has survived countless ages and continues living through the gift of reincarnation, which he views as a curse. After so long living, it has become meaningless and he desires peace in death.

So, how long has Zasalamel been alive?

And what are all those weird names that his moves have?

Allow me to introduce the command lists of ZASALAMEL and ABYSS

Zasalamel:

AA Twin Blades of Shamash
A~G Twin Blades of Shamash (Cancel)
1AA Sin’s Blue Crescent
2A Sagacious Sin
3AB Hook of Namtar
4AB Namtar’s Claw
6A Bashum’s Whisper
44_11_77A Sickle of Sin
66_33_99A Great Scythe of Shamash
FC A Sagacious Sin
WS A Adad’s Reaper
BT A Shamash’s Glance
BT 2A Sin’s Glare
7_8_9A Anshar the Heavenly Spirit
WL A Shamash the Just
BB Ea’s Twin Hammers
B~G Ea’s Twin Hammers (Cancel)
1BB Lilitu’s Thorn of Hatred
2B_FC B Ea the Grand Ruler
3B Paean to Ishtar
4B Ea’s Judgment
6B Nergal’s Poison Sting
44_11_77B Enlil’s Punishment
66BB Nergal’s Talon
66BK Nergal’s Mockery
bK Adoration of Gilgamesh
WS B Belit-Sheri’s Spear
BT B Ea’s Glance
BT 2B Ea’s Glare
7_8_9B Anu the Radiant
WL B Damkina the Goddess
K Glory of Gilgamesh
K~G Glory of Gilgamesh (Cancel)
1K Wisdom of Utnapishtim
2K Shamhat’s Allure
3K Lugalbanda’s Protection
4_44K Enkidu’s Karma
6K Enkidu’s Valor
66K Triumph of Gilgamesh
FC K Shamhat’s Allure
WS K Devotion to Ninsun
BT K Gilgamesh’s Glance
BT 2K Shamhat’s Glare
7_8_9K Enkidu the Valiant
WL K Lugalbanda the Solemn
A+B_8WR(-4_6) A+B Tiamat’s Frenzy
4A+B Offering to Kishar
6A+BB_[ B ] Marduk’s Thunder
66A+B Tiamat’s Rage
B+K_8WR(-4_6) B+K Anu’s Justice
2B+KA Ereshkigal’s Frozen Touch
4B+K Enlil’s Admonition
6B+KB Sacred Rite of Ishtar
44B+K Tiamat’s Rampage
44B+KG Tiamat’s Rampage (Cancel)
66B+K Blessing for Lahamu
BT B+KB_[ B ] Spark of Marduk
A+K_8WR A+K Anshar’s Halberd
4_44A+K Nergal’s Anguish
6A+K Crimson Corona of Shamash
K+G Taunt
K+G~G Taunt (Cancel)
[ 6 ]K Urshanabi’s Crossing (AKA Sliding)
33_99B Prayer to Ishtar
33_99K Siduri’s Warning
22_88AAB Ereshkigal’s Silver Claw
22_88BB Confession to Lahamu
22_88KK The Ark of Utnapishtim
11_77K Enkidu’s Plot
A+G (Front) Ereshkigal the Ruthless
B+G (Front) Kingu the Sly Lord
A+G_B+G (Left) Apsu the Origin
A+G_B+G (Right) Ea of the Abyss
A+G_B+G (Back) Marduk the Tempest
46B+G (-Back) Nergal’s Bloodthirst
46B+G~[G]225 Nergal’s Bloodthirst (Variable Cancel)
BT A+G~[G]225 (Front)
Ereshkigal the Ruthless (Variable Cancel)
BT B+G~[G]225 (Front)
Kingu the Sly Lord (Variable Cancel)
BT A+G_B+G~[G]225 (Left)
Apsu the Origin (Variable Cancel)
BT A+G_B+G~[G]225 (Right)
Ea of the Abyss (Variable Cancel)
BT A+G_B+G (Back)
Marduk the Tempest (Variable Cancel)

ABYSS:

AA Grim Ripper of Shamash
1A Lunatic Sin
2AB Kreel’s Grasp
3AKB Humbaba’s Black Fume
4AB Ea’s Grave Penalty
6A Bashum’s Whisper
44_11_77A Sin’s Slayer
66_33_99A Great Scythe of Shamash
aK Gilgamesh’s Pride
FC A Raging Adad
WS A Adad’s Reaper
BT A Shamash’s Glance
BT 2A Sin’s Glare
7_8_9A Anshar the Heavenly Spirit
WL A Shamash the Just
BB Ea’s Deadly Hammers
1B Lilitu’s Needle
2B Ea the Grand Ruler
3BB Sacrifice to Ishtar
3BB:B Sacrifice to Ishtar (Additional Attack)
4B Namtar’s Lancet
6B Nergal’s Poison Sting
44B Zu’s Breath
66BB Nergal’s Grapple
66b:B Nergal’s Talon
FC B Ea the Grand Ruler
WS B Ode to Mamnenaum
BT B Ea’s Glance
BT 2B Ea’s Glare
7_8_9B Anu the Radiant
WL B Damkina the Goddess
K Enkidu’s Grief
1K Secret of Utnapishtim
2K Shamhat’s Allure
3KB Enlil’s Enmity
4K Enkidu’s Regret
6KK Tyranny of Gilgamesh
6kA Harvest of Shamash
44K Enkidu’s Curse
66K Karma of Enkidu
FC K Shamhat’s Allure
WS K Devotion to Ninsun
BT K Gilgamesh’s Glance
BT 2K Shamhat’s Glare
7_8_9K Enkidu the Valiant
WL K Lugalbanda the Solemn
A+B_BT A+B_8WR(-4_6) A+B
Void Nova
[A+B]_BT [A+B]_8WR(-4_6) [A+B]
Void Nova (Hold)
4_44A+B Adad’s Shear
4_44[A+B] Adad’s Shear (Hold)
6A+B Halo of Shamash
66A+B Tiamat’s Roar
B+KB_8WR(-4_6) B+KB
Cosmic Embryo (LV 1)
B+KB_8WR(-4_6) B+KB (Short Delay)
Cosmic Embryo (LV 2)
B+KB_8WR(-4_6) B+KB (Long Delay)
Cosmic Embryo (LV 3)
B+KB_8WR(-4_6) B+KB (Longer Delay)
Cosmic Embryo (LV 4)
B+K:B_8WR(-4_6) B+K:B (Longest Delay, Just Input)
Cosmic Embryo (LV 5)
2B+K Apsu’s Fury
4B+K Adoration of Gilgamesh
6B+KB Sacred Rite of Ishtar
44B+K Gate of Kutoo
44B+KG Gate of Kutoo (Cancel)
66B+KA+B Nova’s Combo
BT B+KB Spark of Marduk
BT B+K Spark of Marduk (Hold)
A+K_8WR A+K Anshar the Headhunter
K+G Taunt
[ 6 ]K Urshanabi’s Crossing (AKA Sliding)
33_99B Ea’s Judgment
33_99K Siduri’s Warning
22_88A Adad’s Clipper
22_88BB Anu’s Rancor
22_88K Daring Gilgamesh
11_77B Growl of Uldinm
11_77K Animalism of Gilgamesh
A+G (Front) Ereshkigal the Ruthless
B+G (Front) Kingu the Sly Lord
A+G_B+G (Left) Apsu the Origin
A+G_B+G (Right) Ea of the Abyss
A+G_B+G (Back) Marduk the Tempest
236B+G (Front) Fatal Gravity
BT A+G~[G]225 (Front)
Ereshkigal the Ruthless (Variable Cancel)
BT B+G~[G]225 (Front)
Kingu the Sly Lord (Variable Cancel)
BT A+G_B+G~[G]225 (Left)
Apsu the Origin (Variable Cancel)
BT A+G_B+G~[G]225 (Right)
Ea of the Abyss (Variable Cancel)
BT A+G_B+G~[G]225 (Back)
Marduk the Tempest (Variable Cancel)

Okay. In these command lists there are only 11 moves that deviate from their established naming convention, and these are:

Cosmic Embryo LV1
Cosmic Embryo LV2
Cosmic Embryo LV3
Cosmic Embryo LV4
Cosmic Embryo LV5
Void Nova
Void Nova (Hold)
Gate of Kutoo
Fatal Gravity
Taunt
Nova's Combo

(NOTE: I have been unable to ascertain what, if anything "Kutoo" is. Please post if you know or can find some info.)

Aside from these deviations, we see several names pop up (in no discernible order whatsoever):

Shamash - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamash
Sin - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin_%28god%29
Namtar - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namtar
Bashum
Adad - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adad
Anshar - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anshar
Ea - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enki
Lilitu - www.answers.com/topic/lilith
Ishtar - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishtar
Nergal - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nergal
Gilgamesh - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilgamesh
Belit-Sheri - www.pantheon.org/articles/b/belit-sheri.html
Anu - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anu
Damkina - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damkina
Utnapishtim - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utnapishtim
Lugalbanda - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugalbanda
Enkidu - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enkidu
Ninsun - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninsun
Tiamat - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiamat
Kishar - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishar
Marduk - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marduk
Ereshkigal - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ereshkigal
Enlil - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlil
Urshanabi - www.mythome.org/urshanabi.html
Lahamu - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahamu
Apsu - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apsu
Kingu - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingu
Siduri - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siduri
Humbaba - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humbaba
Zu - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zu_%28mythology%29
Mamnenaum

As you can see, ALL but two of these are undoubtedly drawn from Mesopotamian mythology. These two exceptions are Bashum (Zas and Abyss' 6A: Bashum's Whisper) and Mamnenaum (Abyss' WS B: Ode to Mamnenaum). Based on their usage in the names in the command lists, I can only conclude that they are meant to be taken as deities. Therefore they are either: A. Created by NAMCO. B. Very obscure. C. Misspelt. D. Existent under a different name with the command list given name out of use.

If anyone has any information on Bashum or Mamnenaum, please let me know.

Anyway, since all of Zas' moves (except perhaps "Bashum's Whisper") and almost all of Abyss' moves are named after deities from Mesopotamian mythology, we can only assume that Zasalamel's tribe, which protected the secret of SOUL CALIBUR, hailed from the Mesopotamia area during the time Mesopotamian mythology was commonly practiced.

This theory is corroborated by evidence, here:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumerian

that the Sumerians called themselves "black-headed people". We see that Zasalamel is black.

I have found that the Sumerians' were set apart from their neighbours, and were originally considered to be invaders, however, newer evidence suggests that they were indigenous. This suggests to me that the Sumerians were the only black people in the Mesopotamia region, and that therefore Zasalamel was probably born before the fall of Sumer to the Amorites around 1800 B.C.. This theory is corroborated by the fact that Zasalamel returns later to his place of birth only to find it destroyed, probably by the overthrow of Sumer by the Amorites.

Since the SOUL CALIBUR saga contains such inventions as guns, but a common use of swords, we can assume that it is set in the late medieval period, perhaps 1500s (thanks Olivier Hague: 1591). We can therefore deduce that Zasalamel is about 2300 years old (EDIT: Said 1000...really bad/unacceptable mathematical error there on my part...) at least.

As for Abyss. WHAT IS HE?

Perhaps he is Nammu incarnate. In this article:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamian_mythology

Nammu is described as the original god--a formless ABYSS--which created the universe by folding into itself, and, in an act of self-procreation, giving birth to An and Ki.

Any and all feedback on these conclusions and this research is appreciated.

Thank-you,

Spike16

[turushum]

saharda said:

Ghostbusters 1
Check out the section of the movie where they tell who Gozer the Gozarian was and where he came from.

I heard that Gozer was supposed to be Tiamat, but that was when D&D came out with the Deities and Demigods handbook, so there would have been a possible copyright battle had they kept it that way.

[saharda]

The companies that owned D&D tended to be copyright happy. Attempting to copyright various words that predate the games. The most notable being their attempt to copyright the word paladin.

[amarsin]

turushum said:

saharda said:

Ghostbusters 1
Check out the section of the movie where they tell who Gozer the Gozarian was and where he came from.

I heard that Gozer was supposed to be Tiamat, but that was when D&D came out with the Deities and Demigods handbook, so there would have been a possible copyright battle had they kept it that way.

Really? Not like I know anything about copyrights and all, but how does one copyright an established mythological creature? I mean, could TSR have stopped a movie that used "Zeus" in it? Sad if a) this is true, and b) the Ghostbusters people caved. Especially since Sumerian doesn't have an /o/ phoneme (or at least, it's in some dispute), a Sumerian god Gozer isn't really even plausible!!

[madness]

I sat down and watched Ghostbusters a couple of weeks ago when it was on tv here, I love that movie, it's a classic. I had not realised that it contained reference to Sumerian gods before watching it again.

Here's a copy of the script.
www.scifiscripts.com/scripts/Ghostbusters.txt

VENKMAN
Well, the name Zuul refers to a demi-god worshipped around 6000 B.C. by the ... What's that say?

DANA
Hittites, the Mesopotamians and the Sumerians. "Zuul was the Minion of Gozer."

VENKMAN
"Gozer" -- he was very big in the Sumerian religion. One of their gods.

DANA
What's he doing in my refrigerator.

[madness]

Another insidious red herring is a book called The Phoenician Letters, by Wilfred Davies and G. Zur.

img50.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tree24fg.jpg

Looks enticing, doesn't it? The Phoenician Letters reads like a Qabbalistic manual, each chapter discussing each of the gods on this tree, with the chapter on Nebo discussing the letter pathways.

As I have a great interest in the Mesopotamian sacred tree, I was naturally excited when I received this book. My excitement turned to frustration when I realised that it is most likely a clever hoax.

Davies and Zur provide almost no introduction or commentary, the only hint for the supposed origin being: "A series of ten letters from one having responsibility in the Sar-Ma'an Brotherhood to the Prince of the Land of the Four Directions, at the Royal School of Ugarit, being an aspirant to the brotherhood." My own search of scholarly material for any kind of discussion of this book has turned up nothing.

What is most disappointing is that the creators of the Gateways to Babylon website have been suckered in by this hoax.

www.gatewaystobabylon.com/gods/lords/anu1.html
www.gatewaystobabylon.com/gods/lords/lordenlil.html
www.gatewaystobabylon.com/gods/lords/lordenki.html
www.gatewaystobabylon.com/gods/lords/lordnanna.html
www.gatewaystobabylon.com/gods/lords/lordutu.html
www.gatewaystobabylon.com/gods/lords/marduk1.html
www.gatewaystobabylon.com/gods/lords/lordnabu.html
www.gatewaystobabylon.com/gods/lords/undernergal.html
www.gatewaystobabylon.com/gods/lords/lordadad.html

In the discussions of each of these gods, the author has referenced the book as if it were a genuine text.

www.gatewaystobabylon.com/religion/eternal.htm
www.gatewaystobabylon.com/gods/partnerships/youngenlil.html
www.gatewaystobabylon.com/gods/partnerships/enkininhur2.html
www.gatewaystobabylon.com/religion/magic1.htm
www.gatewaystobabylon.com/essays/tributebottero.html

A few articles where the author has used the book to prove some point.

May I point out that this is not intended as a disrespect to the Gateways of Babylon or its authors, this is merely to point out the flaw in taking questionable material as truth without fact-checking.

[saharda]

amarsin said:

turushum said:

I heard that Gozer was supposed to be Tiamat, but that was when D&D came out with the Deities and Demigods handbook, so there would have been a possible copyright battle had they kept it that way.

Really? Not like I know anything about copyrights and all, but how does one copyright an established mythological creature? I mean, could TSR have stopped a movie that used "Zeus" in it? Sad if a) this is true, and b) the Ghostbusters people caved. Especially since Sumerian doesn't have an /o/ phoneme (or at least, it's in some dispute), a Sumerian god Gozer isn't really even plausible!!

That was about the time when TSR was attempting to sue for the use of the word Paladin (Perhaps after it had been used by one of their rivals.) This got struck down and practically got laughed out of court, but that would have been a bad time to start a law suit.

It was a particularly bad thing due to the shakey ground that the Ghost Busters theme song is rather similar to "I want a new drug" by Huey Lewis and the news.

[saharda]

Davies and Zur
Normally I liked Gateways even though I didn't participate much in the early days. They had the problem that a lot of groups had. One of their people bought into just about anything. Adapa might have been the source (Adapa is / was the Screen name of one of the older members of G2B)

[madness]

www.discoverbabylon.org/

Discover Babylon is a joint project of the Federation of American Scientists Learning Technologies Project, UCLA's Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative, Escape Hatch Entertainment, and the Walters Art Museum.

Check out the game trailer, uh apparently the aim of the game is to run around some museum collecting artifacts, and then travelling back through time to Babylon.

Well it should be entertaining for a while, if you have some time to waste give it a try. Don't expect too much as the game is targeted towards 8 - 14 year olds.

It's a free game, but beware if you're on dialup as it's about a 220mb download.

[cynsanity]

In 300, we miraculously see some "Akkadians" appear. Possibly on vacation, I don't know what else they'd be doing in Sparta...

[amarsin]

Right. Same with the Scorpion King, where the protagonist (played by The Rock) is the last of the Akkadians-- complete with the decidedly un-Akkadian name "Mathayus"-- even though the so-called Scorpion King was a Pre-Dynastic Egyptian figure! Oh well...

[us4-he2-gal2]

On noticing the movie "The Exorcist: The Beginning" listed above as featuring Pazazu I thought I'd rent the movie and see exactly in what sense this demon is portrayed. This is a prequel the movie "The Exoricist" (1973) , the prequel itself being released in 2004. A sketch of the plot from wiki reads:

"The plot revolves around the crisis of faith suffered by Father Merrin (Stellan Skarsgård) following the horrific events he witnessed during World War II. Now an archeologist in Cairo, Merrin is approached by a collector of antiquities who asks him to come to a British excavation in the Turkana region of Kenya. This dig is excavating a Christian Byzantine church from the 5th century — long before Christianity had reached that region. Further, the church is in perfect condition, as though it had been buried immediately after the construction was completed. Merrin is asked to participate in the dig and find an ancient relic hidden in the ruins before the British do. Merrin takes the job, but soon discovers that all is not well — something evil lies in the church and is infecting the region. The local tribesman hired to dig refuse to enter the building, and there are stories of an epidemic that wiped out an entire village. However, when Merrin, growing suspicious of these rumors, digs up one of the graves of the supposed victims of this plague, he discovers it is empty. Meanwhile, the evil grows, turning people against each other and resulting in violence, atrocities, and more bloodshed."


Its becomes clear that the evil buried in the Chrisitan church in manifested in an image of Pazazu, although I dont recall hearing the name itself mentioned -may have missed it. What isnt explained is why this "Sumerian" demon should have all the vestieges of Satan, should be associated with human sacrifice, why a 'pagan place' in Africa would feature Pazazu (or why any temple anywhere should be dedicated to a demon)... In any case I took the below notes:

- head of pazau 2:32 seconds
-6:43 - impression of pazazu presented "its Sumerian"
22:40 drawings of pazazu in madmans tent
51:00 - Lead charactor decends into church basement finds Statue of Pazazu
59:00 Lead Chacater: Below the Church - "There was an ancient temple, a pagan place where they used to conduct sacrifices..human sacrifices."
1:11 history of the church explained, after war in heaven, this is where devil fell (Soooo....would that be Pazazu......? )


Just a quick review of the movie "The Exorcist"

[us4-he2-gal2]

Adding a few Mesopotamian themed/inspired Music groups:


-Melechesh, originally from Jerusalem, they describes themselves as "Sumerian threashing death metal pioneers. "

www.melechesh.com/index2.htm


-Ive mentioned it somewhere, but Parpola has assisted in the production of an Elvis sung in Sumerian cd....!

www.helsinki.fi/science/saa/sumercd.html


-Ive been told of a band named "Pazazu" from Vienna, but know nothing about them.

-The German group Herbst9 draws on Mesopotamian themes samples and art available here:

www.herbst9.de

[ummia-inim-gina]

saharda said:

The Necronomicon
I do believe that this book deserves it's own thread, but here are a few notes. . . Lovecraft had no real interest in Sumer. His necronomicon was more likely inspired by the Egyptian book of Set. (Set created a book where in he recorded all of the true names of the gods. Anyone who reads it would be driven insane or killed to prevent them from obtaining ultimate power.)

There may be parallels to the book of set with Lovecraft's necronomicon but he definitely has an interest Sumer. In his book on writing super natural horror stories he said he tried to make his names sound alien like the names out of Sumerian mythology. In "The mountains of madness" he even makes a reference to the ruins they find in Antarctica "looking like the excavations at kish".

[ummia-inim-gina]

Two more European black metal bands would be "Absu" and "Marduk".
Also "Nile" deserves a mention, although most of their music is Egyptian themed, songs like "Incantations of Ur" stick out as Mesopotamian themed.

[sheshki]

last time i watched the movie clash of the titans.
www.herbst9.de/clash/clash.htm
there are also mesopotamian themes in one of the sinbad movies.like secret sea-cards of hyperborea...which looked like fantasy sumerian cuneiform.
in the movie troy is the firgure "Ram Caught in a Thicket" visible, at achilles mothers room.
and if i remember right in the end sequence of the game "freelancer" was an old alien race mentioned and as they looked at the artifacts there was a huge DINGIR sign on one of them.
there are more bands who are somehow linked with the mesopotamian theme...even if its only the band name like Marduk (black metal band) or Tiamat. i think their first? album was named sumerian cry.on one of the cradle of filth albums is an image of pazuzu.
and i have a cd by a band called Absu (The Third Storm Of Cythraul). their lyrics on that album are focused somehow on sumerian magical themes...
a short sample:
track 3: a magicians lapis-lazuli
chorus
a magicians lapis-lazuli gleams in uruk, descending to my undersphere.
a magicians lapis-lazuli reflects onto the temple of offal.
a magicians lapis-lazuli excels in ur, descending into their underworld.
a magicians lapis-lazuli is placed in shugurra, the crown of the steppe.

[saharda]

The band Dethklok on metalocolypse was said to be predicted on a Sumerian tablet in the first episode.

In the show beast master they introduced written language and had cuneiform writing.

Just a little question about all of these metal bands mentioned above. Are they any good? Septic Flesh is Sumerian themed, but they are terrible.

[ummia-inim-gina]

saharda said:

Just a little question about all of these metal bands mentioned above. Are they any good? Septic Flesh is Sumerian themed, but they are terrible.

Abzu and marduk are both god awful so I like that about them, but I wouldn't recommend them unless you like god awful black metal bands.
Despite the name Marduk's lyrical content doesn't seem to have much to do with Mesopotamia, in fact it sounds a bit white power at times. Abzu's songs are all loosely about Mesopotamia with a strong emphasis on the occult. However if you watch the second video they have on you tube it has an interview with the guy and he sounds like he knows very little about Sumerology.
Nile on the other hand is really good if you like American style death metal. All of the band members are highly educated and are ancient history enthusiasts but like I said before, only some of the songs are Sumerian themed.

(I never thought I would be reviewing metal bands on this board, not even on a thread as informal as this one.)

[madness]

Continuing the theme of Mesopotamian style games, there is the Royal Game of Ur, based on an actual board game found in the royal tombs at Ur. You can buy a replica from Masters Games:

www.mastersgames.com/cat/board/ur.htm

It's a very nice handcrafted hardwood game board, designed by Northwest Corner, and manufactured and imported by Wood Expressions. The board has an inbuilt drawer that comes with 22 game pieces and 9 binary dice, which is far more than actually needed.

The only grievance is that the instructions seem to have been thrown in as an afterthought with no regard whatsoever to scholarly consensus about the rules of the game. Fortunately Masters Games have provided a page containing rules:

www.mastersgames.com/rules/royal-ur-rules.htm

There are other manufacturers of this game though, so it is best to shop around before you buy.


One of the greatest board games of modern times, created by the well known game designer Reiner Knizia, is Tigris & Euphrates.

www.boardgamegeek.com/game/42

Ranked at 4th (out of over 4000 games) with 6591 votes behind it on boardgamegeek.com, it is certainly a must have for board game enthusiasts.


If card games is your thing, then the Babylonian Tarot by Sandra Tabatha Cicero is worth a look. With 83 cards (5 more than a standard tarot deck), the deck is well designed, giving an authentic feel for Mesopotamian imagery, several of the cards showing memorable scenes such as the descent of Ishtar, Gilgamesh and the plant of youth, and Tammuz in the grip of the galla demons. The deck comes with a book discussing each card.

Sandra seems to have relied on out of date information for some parts of the deck, however. A famous picture showing Ninurta chasing Anzu may have incorrectly been identified as Marduk in the early days of Assyriology, and unfortunately Sandra here has used it for her Marduk card. But other than this blemish she demonstrates her genuine interest in Mesopotamia in the amount of effort that went into this fine deck.

Of course tarot decks are a medieval invention and are not connected to Mesopotamian religion in any way. But for those that love Mesopotamian themed artwork, this makes for a great addition.

[us4-he2-gal2]

Madness - This is a wonderful post! Really. Even in speaking about games you have that which makes a discussion board worth while.

cheers.

[xuchilpaba]

Gagh the Lamashtu card is awesome:



And shes the devil! How appropiate!

[madness]

Cicero's card is based on a Neo-Babylonian plaque. From Anthony Green's article "Ancient Mesopotamian Religious Iconography" in Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, vol. 3, p. 1844

In Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian art, there are two evil underworld gods who are commonly represented (fig. 2). Pazazu has a rather canine face with abnormally bulging eyes, a scaly body, snake-head penis, the talons of a bird, and, usually wings. Although specifically described as evil and as king of the evil wind demons, he seems also to have been a protector against pestilential winds - and a counter to the evil goddess Lamashtu, daughter of the great sky-god Anu, for in art he is shown forcing Lamashtu back to the underworld. Pendants of Pazazu, or more usually of his head only, were placed around the necks of women in labor, and amulets of the god were placed in houses, for to Lamashtu were attributed both miscarriage and infant death. Lamashtu is represented (and described in rituals against her) as lion-headed, with upright (donkey's?) ears, a hairy body, and the talons of a bird. A piglet and whelp suckle at her breasts. Her distinctive animal is the donkey, and she rides in her boat along the river of the underworld.

img166.imageshack.us/my.php?image=67209327xr9.jpg

Fig. 2. Detail from a cast copper or bronze Neo-Babylonian plaque depicting the evil goddess Lamashtu as she flees along the river of the underworld pursued by Pazazu and tempted by various offerings. The plaque was probably used as an amulet.

[xuchilpaba]

Oh yeah I am aware of all this info. The plaque in fact has Pazuzu's head at the top.

I'm just a fan of Lamashtu. ^_^

[saharda]

I adore board games, and I will have "Tigris and Euphrates" when I get a chance.

[anebo]

May 15, 2007 2:16:40 GMT -5 us4-he2-gal2 said:

- Someone has mixed Sumerian incantations with opera. Im not able to critically assess this or really put it into perspective. But it happened, and thats saying enough to me heh.
www.soundssublime.com/@1compositions.htm

I didn't immediately see anything about Sumerian Incantations at the link, but probably everyone here should be aware of Prokofiev's setting of a hymn to the Sebetti: "Seven, They are Seven."