Popular references to Sumerian Magic/Culture

[ummia-inim-gina]

In the miniatures war game called "Warhammer" (put out by games workshop of the U.K.) They named their chaos demon of pestilence and disease "Nergal".

[sheshki]

in the book ( which is a reprint, and its about some special kind of art, there is a complete architecturized alphabet in it...)



there is a picture inspired by e-temen-an-ki

[sheshki]

enenurians,

below is a link to a piece of video i made for our gig in moscow 2006. this video is made for our background projection and i added the song it was made for. it would be nice if you would keep that video in our small circle because its not meant for public view. Video format is .mpg and it has 54 mb.

Herbst9-Etemenanki Foundation of Heaven and Earth

Here is a screenshot

[sheshki]

ush, please move this one to "spread the word..."danke

e n e n u r i a n s

many new kings/ensis in the notes on kings section-->EdIII

www.enenuru.net/html/ediii.htm

also added 3rd dynastie of uruk

www.enenuru.net/html/3rddynuruk.htm

and some more informations on the first dynastie of lagash

www.enenuru.net/html/Idynlag.htm

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Lara, what are you waiting for?

[xuchilpaba]

I am just surprised we have no Final Fantasy fans here. FF has numerous Mesopotamian puns through out the series. Gilgamesh is a summon in like VIII:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9fbPoipmlw

Odin dies and Gilgamesh beats Seifer:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpXbtiozF4o&feature=related


There's a FF Gilgamesh tribute with his various appearances through out the games.

Wiki has: "Gilgamesh (ギルガメッシュ, Girugamesshu?)[2][3] is a character first introduced in Final Fantasy I. He is characterized by having grey complexion, flamboyantly colorful battle armor, and many arms wielding many weapons at once. He has a fierce façade, but this masks his own childlike personality. The name "Gilgamesh" comes from the Sumerian king Gilgamesh, the main character in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Unlike other recurring character names, the Gilgamesh who reappears in other installments seems to be the same person, though this may just be fan speculation. If so, then he is the only character ever to span Final Fantasy games. Gilgamesh's first appearance is in Final Fantasy V as a major villain, who the party encounters several times. He is one of the first engaging villains in the series."

Takin much from myth, a reoccuring monster list, likewise mentions Lamastu. And i remember seeing that monster in X!

Also, Apsu, Astroreth (A demon who gets his name from the goddess Astarte), Behemeth, Daeva etc

For summons I see: Bahamut,Kujata/Kjata, ok mostly stuff from Hebrew myths!


and there's a town named Ur in III.

I'm sure there's more. but I'd have to dig.

[sheshki]

i only played FFVII ( uh i miss it a bit) but that was years before an interest for mesopotamia arose.
dont know if anyone mentioned yet, but i think pazuzu returned in the futurama movie.

[xuchilpaba]

FFVII was a classic. All it's flaws and translations mistakes, with it's bad graphics make it even more entertaining.

I totally forgot about Pazuzu in Futurama. I didn't know he returned either...

[laramar]

This photo is from a Red Bull Flugtag (flight day) event where competitors attempt to fly homemade human-powered flying machines.



Doesn't that bird look familiar?

[us4-he2-gal2]

LOL - I love this post! This is ANE quirkiness at its best It's not that theres a man falling into the water from a height, or that RED BULL is a public health risk that seems to be gaining quite the endorsement, or that people are retrospectively taking the idea of human powered flight seriously -

It's 'wow, that bird form looks alot like MUSHEN' Surely you have that rare inclincation Lara hehe.

[laramar]

Iranian artist Ahmad Nadalian created sand prints using big hand-carved cylinder seals with images of fish and ocean life in the Coast of Persian Gulf during an environmental art festival in 2007.







The artist rolls these seals along the sandy beaches of the world’s oceans, often leaving the seal on the coast for the ocean to take away, in honor of the unknown fisherman who might find it someday.

More images: www.wwwebart.com/riverart/sandprints/index.htm (see also Nadalian's beautiful stone carvings!)

[sheshki]

here are some pictures and informations about

this nice restaurant named gilgamesh in london

just scroll down a bit on first link

these are some images from the second link.
didnt we talk about this bar on this board before??

[us4-he2-gal2]

This resturant is absolutely amazing Frank! I love it. I think I'd like to live there maybe hm. A url was sent around in a periodical but we have never featured it on the board - if I ever win lotto we can all meet there though

[ummia-inim-gina]

wow! I had read about the restaurant but I had no idea it was such a beautiful place.

[xuchilpaba]

Hey now i have a plan when I visit London!

[xuchilpaba]

besides the British museum which houses a large collection of Mesopotamian and Mesoamerican artifacts like the Burney relief.

Anyway, not exactly popular culture and sorry for my double post. My friend makes Mesopotamian art.

This is his newest piece from Gilgamesh. The other shots pose a closer look at his art and details.

He also did a action figure of the Burney relief, a picture here, here, & here of said relief. The reason he is so obsessed is because he IS British and has actually seen the relief in person. He's obviously becoming more interested in even more Mesopotamian things, so I'll keep you all posted.

[us4-he2-gal2]

Excellent posts on this thread everyone! I love those cylinder seal roller things Lara, especially that he makes the impression along the Persian gulf which indicates a witting parallel with the seals tradition of old (though of course decorating waterfront is a new application hehe).

Very nice exposure of the Gilgamesh Resturant Sheshki ;] I love this place! As I say, it is an extremely rare tribute to the ANE and modern appreciation and scholarship - I have to think its one of a kind. Should be the site for the first international enenuru convention

Xuch - nice post with some originaly artwork Is great your friend has some inkling of this culture - do you suppose he might be willing to spend a month or two on a canvas and hit on something more ambitious still? We have of course a gallery to fill hm.

[sheshki]

Pictured here are two elaborate labels which feature on the packages of some 1920s era gloss paper. I found them at my friend who is a collector of old stuff. This specialized paper was used in the photo-development process then in use though is since obsolete. The labels are quite elaborate German labels and feature an interesting picture of an Assyrian king in the center.

Now if this guy doesnt look mean...buy my stuff or get skinned alive

[xuchilpaba]

I thought I commented on your above post Shesh, but i must have only thought about it! That's a sweet find!

i was watching Batman & Robin movie today, the one with Uma Thurman. Anyway, before she turns into Poison Ivy she mentions that the one doctor she works with takes venom from her & does stuff with it in his "Gilgamesh room". No sure why it's called that though.

[us4-he2-gal2]

Hmm - well the epic does feature a snake with steals the plant of youth from Gilgamesh - I guess you could try and read some symbolism into that.

Or maybe the evil doctor was in fact a Mesopotamian enthusiast! Had some measure of impressive geekiness. We enthusiasts feature all the time in comic books - are just that cool

[xuchilpaba]

Didn't they have a Gilgamesh comic?

[sheshki]

Last weekend i was in wroclaw/poland for a concert. we (land:fire) have been part of a festival there.

One of the other bands that played was Inade, and they used mesopotamian material for parts of their backgroundvideo



Inanna

Here is a link to youtube, some nine minits of our gig

[xuchilpaba]

It's Inanna. Awesome.

[laramar]

While searching google for another book, I came across this:

Hammer Spade and the Ring of Fire by E. B. Alston



Hammer Spade is a private investigator from North Carolina, an all-American southern gentleman, scholar and a man of action to have on your side when the going gets tough.

In the fourth book of the series, Spade is hired to recover an ancient wedding ring that has been stolen from The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. It was the ring given by Persian King Xerxes to his new Jewish Queen, Esther on their wedding night 2,490 years ago.

The ancient Babylonian cuneiform inscription in the outside of the ring reads: kum nam ki aga ke ma ab mul (the warmth of thy love makes me glow) and the inside has he em la ki ag za ba zu (wear me and thy lover will know).



Ooh, how romantic! ;D

(PS! Check out also The Hermitage Oriental Art and Cuneiform Collections)

[laramar]

Yesterday my World of Warcraft Blood Elf, Ninurta, suddenly run into this:



Howling Ziggurat, guarded by some batlike creatures.

There also seems to be an NPC called Ninsianna, but my lvl18 hunter will have a long journey before he has a chance to meet her...

[laramar]

My children got the Poirot "Murder in Mesopotamia" DVD for Christmas (guess who's idea ;D).



There's a scene where Monsieur Poirot inspects a cylinder seal with Miss Johnson, archaeologist:



"This one's got a short inscription, just by the picture. It's probably the name of the owner."



"Ah! It is of great beauty."



"And then we make a plaster cast".

Very educational! Any ideas about the inscription? Is it real, or just some random signs?

[madness]

Good find with the howling ziggurat there Lara.


A while ago I posted here about Discover Babylon, an educational video game developed by the Federation of American Scientists. If you've played through the levels in this game (and there are not many), the game will abruptly end with a message about more levels coming in 2007.

Well 2007 came and went, and no new levels surfaced. I have realised now that this is because FAS decided to can the idea of developing their own video game, and instead create a Mesopotamian themed region within Second Life.

Unfortunately the region is not yet open to the public.


With boredom setting in, I decided to check out other regions in Second Life. One place I came across promised a "Replica of the Hanging gardens of Babylon."

img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hgwn1.jpg


Another location that caught my eye was "Santuario de Ishtar." A nice little place to walk around, however having a curious amount of adult oriented scripts. At this point it hit me just how serious some people take Second Life, as the priestess that was guiding me around informed me that they are sacred prostitutes serving Ishtar. Hmm I wonder how much they charge.

[us4-he2-gal2]

Some very nice posts on this thread! ;]


Lara: Thanks very much for this great presentation of a scene from "Murder in Mesopotamia " - this is a book I have encountered many times while trying to search the library for ANE scholarship. Acutally its a bit annoying in that way but this is a interesting post, and your picture are great! That man has a horrible mustache, it certainly is neat to see a cylinder seal in a movie however. As for the inscription, I am just learning to read cuneiform (which writing it has been a regular practice for the last year) . I can't be certain but I don't think it is anything, those are definetly wedges, but they appear in most case to just be floating around not forming signs, with a few exceptions.

Madness: Thanks very much for keeping on top of this man - and I have never heard of Second life before! I am very interested on reading the wiki for this service and I wonder just how well it is done and what you can do with this service. Have you used it yet? I wonder if I should bother dling it - and if it may be a good outlet for enenuru... which is basically the same question to me..

[xuchilpaba]

I went to FYE recently and discovered they had a Gilgamesh anime series.

[moksha]

Dec 22, 2007 1:15:41 GMT -5 us4-he2-gal2 said:

Adding a few Mesopotamian themed/inspired Music groups:


Melechesh

Funny to see them mentioned here. Years ago Melechesh were nothing but another very shit black metal band but they've clearly put a lot of work into their new music and they've landed a deal with Nuclear Blast, unbelievably. A colleague of mine was chasing them for ages for another label and got blown out a few months back. Good for them, amazing how they've risen to be what they are now.

I would also recommend the excellent death/symphonic metal band Septic Flesh. If you like Melechesh you should certainly enjoy their albums "Sumerian Daemons" and "Communion".

While I think about it, Norway's Sirenia did a song called In Sumerian Haze off their album "At Sixes and Sevens". In spite of the song title though, there seems to be no relation that I can see between the lyrics and title.

Germany's Qntal also included a song called Sumer on their latest album Qntal VI. The lyrics are in German but they're here for anyone who wants to take a bash at their translation.

lyricwiki.org/Qntal:Sumer

There is also a very popular and 'trendy' bar in London called Gilgamesh [full of annoying people]. I've been there once and the carvings are far superior to the clientelle.

[us4-he2-gal2]

Wow - someone knows there stuff with music eh? We have some great recital`s of bands that mention Sumer in this thread but I think this post puts a few more very obscure ones on the pile nice.

Also, we have come across The Gilgamesh a few times, but you are the first person I think who has actually been there. Interesting well, the place looks just amazing but people are another story. We were thinking of making it the site for the first international enenuru gathering...