Additional Preliminary questions:
The Asag is certainly an interesting Mythopoetical character or demon, a figure that represented chaos or disease for a large span of Mesopotamian civilization. I think there is considerable variance in what is attributable to the Asag from genre to genre, and from period to period. To really untangle things, discussion of the myth, the incantations, and the appearance (art and artifacts) relevant to the Asag would be key. Some preliminary questions:
- Can some distinction be made between the Asag as a demon, and as a mythopoetical character? (in particular as it appears in Lugal-e). To what degree might one derive from the other? (most likely the former to the latter , as the earliest attestation of the Asag as a demon in incantation literature is in the Old Babylonian period.)
- As vanquished opponents of Ninurta, both the Anzu and the Asag have been interpreted in the same late iconographic image, which may lead to confusion of character - or conversely may be based on ancient confusion of character. The Imdugud/Anzu is typically characterized as a Bird which is the "personification of atmospheric force" (Black/Green) or as a "Thunder-bird". After the textual evidence for Asag is considered, and perhaps some early iconography examined , the question becomes by what understanding is the late iconography ambiguous to either the Anzu OR the Asag? Or by what reasoning is an identification with the Asag considered plausible? (The question pertains to the 'Image three' below).
Appearance of Demons:
Demons, with the exclusion of a few notables such as Lamaštu, are in my understanding decidely under represented in extent Mesopotamian art and artifact. This could be archaeological accident, but its possibly also that many a demonic figurine, created for ritual use, would have been destroyed in ancient times as symbolic enforcement for an incantation. [see ANET pg. 6.] Then there are less perishable items believed to contain demonic imagary, but which lack appreciable detail for the most part.
(for example see
oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/dbfiles/objects/1216.htm) Another factor that contributes to the obscurity of Mesopotamian demonic imagery, is the sparse treatment given their physical makeup in textual sources; this has caused Bottero to comment "It seems people did not dwell very much on their persons, their nature, or their existence, as these have never been presented clearly." (2001, pg. 63) And M.J. Geller comments similarly in regard to demons: "It would be helpful to know what these demons were thought to look like, since pictures of ancient demons might provide some insights into the inner workings of the Mesopotamian mind. In reality, scholars are often surprised at how abstract the demons are in magical texts, and how often they are devoid of any real personality." (for Gellers relevant article, see
note 1)
Concerning the physical appearance of the Asag I wont yet draw any distinction between the mythological and the demonic, there are three possible images I have in mind at present. The first one is textual:
Appearance Of the Asag [
a2-sag3(PA)] / Akk.
Asakku (Ašakku)
Image 1.
In Lugal-e (aka Ninurta's Exploits, Etcsl t.1.6.2): A tree?
The Asag in this myth is described in thick poetical terms, making heavy use of simile for example in the segment from lines 168-186: the Asag moved "like a snake it slid its head along the ground", and "Like an accursed storm, it howled in a raucous voice" etc., none of these offer a one to one ratio with actual physical form I dont believe. There are some indicators of anthropomorphic form as in line 228: "let him take the Asag by the shoulder, let him pierce its liver, let my son enter with it into the E-kur." Though Its probably true a being doesnt need to be human in form to be 'taken by the shoulder.'
The Harps That Once... P.237, note 8 (T. Jacobsen): Jacobsen offers an attempt to visualize the Enemy so abstractly described in this poem, which is no easy task. While I think alot can be taken from it, yet differences in translation with more recent sources would suggest a need for caution here. (especially Jacobsen's line 62 "no weapon can stab into the wood", versus the Etcsl "no weapon has been able to overturn it".) The relevant note reads then:
"8. The precise nature of the opponent Ninurta fights in the mountain, Azag, is not, as mentioned in the introduction to the tale, immediately clear. It is referred to grammatically as a non-personal, a thing, and is said to have been engendered on Earth by the Sky. This suggests a plant or a tree springing up from the soil after the rains in spring. With this agrees that it was chosen King by the plants, and the description of Azag in ll. 62-63 point specifically to a tree: "and the hardness of it is impenetrable, no weapon can stab into the wood, Ninurta, neither axe, mace, nor great spear cleaves its body," where its body apparently consists of wood. With its being a tree fits further that it has been spread far and wide its seed (l.34) and that its seed will drop from it when it is shaken (l.294). It also explains its entirely passive role when Ninurta "tore it out like rushes, plucked it out like sedge" (l.292). Its only weapon seems to be is "dreadful aura" (l.289), which probably reflects the desert dwelling Sumerians' awe of forests and tall trees. Very curious and surprising are, however, lines 326-29 in which Ninurta does away altogether with the name Azag. renames it "stone," more precisely "zalag stone," in order to deprive it of any posthumous fame and thus make its defeat and death doubly bitter for its shade in the netherworld.
"
Summary: The Asag's earliest attestation, his appearance in Lugal-e, is marked by abstract description. Jacobsen has offered a viable interpretation, but this is largely sustained by his translations, which for key lines of this poem may conceivable be dated.
Image 2: The "Blind Asag" [
note 2]
-
www.gatewaystobabylon.com/gods/lords/lordninurta.html I had remembered dimly reading of the above image at the corresponding Gateways to Bablyon URL, at this page the caption under the picture reads "This plate probably shows Ninurta's victory over the blind demon Azag." I have not often referred to this site, yet any leads concerning the image of the Asag cant be overlooked.
This image fascinates me, and despite the maddening lack of reference of identifying information at Gateways, five hours of digging did produce some further information. Based on the following sources, I believe this item is stored in the Ashmolean Museum, and is (reportedly) an unusual example of a mouldmade Clay Plaque likely dating to the reign of Hammurapi's son. I have not been able to obtain a better image for this item, or precise identifying information. First there is:
Richard S. Ellis "
Some Observations On Mesopotamian Art and Archeology (a review article)
JAOS 1975.
Ellis here briefly reviews the career, views on Chronology and some publications of Anton Moortgart. Among the things Ellis takes exception with is Moortgart's assessment of the significance of our Clay Plaque as a Mesopotamian art development. This says nothing about whether it is Asag depicted, so I quote just the relevant description:
"87a, it is implied that the terra-cotta plaque showing a god killing a ray-headed cyclops (Pl. 211), which was found at Dur-Samsuiluna (Khafajah) and therefore probably dates from the reign of Hammurapi's son, represents a still further stage in the development of perspective, because the cyclops' torso and shoulders are shown in true profile.
"More importantly, there is
ANET pg.84: " (Ancient Near Eastern Terracottas, to download this catalogue see
note 3) - From this document it is clear that the item is a moulded clay plaque, a mass-produced type of terracotta that originated in the Akkadian period, the product was cheap and in "all probability multi-functional". With regards to the plaque in question, it is categorized under:
"(10) Mythological Scenes (concerned with divine or semi-divine beings). The best known is the unique plaque representing a “Cyclops” from Khafajah (Thomsen 1936–7, fig. 8). A warrior god, with a bow over his shoulder is killing a creature whose hands are tied behind his back. Instead of a head he has a sun-shaped disk with a single eye; possibly an illustration of an episode in Enuma Elish I:67–9, where the god Ea binds and kills the god Apsu, stealing his Melammu (“radiance” defined as “dazzling aureole or numbus which surrounds the divinity”: Oppenheim 1943, 31). It has also been interpreted as Ninurta’s victory over the monster Asakku, illustrating the hazards of interpreting pictures without captions.
"Summary: The tied figure has thus been interpreted as a "Cyclops", as "Apsu", and as "Asakku" (Asag.) As for who interpreted Asag, I dont yet know. From the above ANET write up it was a scholarly interpretation, from Gateways reliance on Jacobsen, and that the caption reads "Azag" (as Jacobsen spells it) perhaps it was one of his earlier ideas about this figure. In any case, the interpretation of this plaque would seem to be anything but solid, and may prove to be over-interpretation.
Image 3:
The Lion-Griffin of Nimrud The above is a drawing of a relief from the gates to the temple of Ninurta, in Nimrud (Kalhu). Pictured is a lion-dragon identified alternatively as the Asag, or the Anzu, and chased by Ninurta. The temple which it adorned was built by Assurnasirpal II in the 9th cen. BC.
Incidentally, according to the ANET catalogue, monsters, specifically lion-dragons, were also a motif on moulded clay-plaques. Due to this fact, a brief assessment of the Lion-dragon in iconography appears in
ANET pg 83:
"ii.Lion-dragon (“winged lion” or “winged griffin monster”) By the early second millennium B.C. these creatures served both as guardians in worship scenes and as contestants in contest scenes, as they had before in the Akkadian and Ur III period. As time went on, the malevolent character (as aggressor) of this monster tends to supersede the beneficent one (as protector). The upright monsters have prominent ears, curved necks, a winged leonine body, a fan-shaped feather tail and rapacious bird-like claws. The malevolent version has a big head with threatening jaws and tight-skinned sinewy neck. The large wings of a benevolent lion-griffin on a plaque from Kish (Moorey 1975, pl. 18c) are reminiscent of depictions on Ur III seals. On seals the motif of the upright lion-griffin, in his malevolent guise, is widely distributed from Susa in Iran to Kültepe in Anatolia, from southern Babylonia to Chagar Bazar and Tell al-Rimah in northern Mesopotamia. It re-appears, after the Mitannian supremacy, in the repertory of Middle Assyrian Art. In Old Babylonian contexts this may be the Asakku (Asag) demon, who was described as a winged lion (cf. Black and Green 1992, 64). As the lion-demon ugallu is not documented until later Assyrian sources, its relevance to this early second millennium B.C. image is an open question (cf. Wiggermann 1992, 169). This monster is shown eating a man on two Diyala plaques (Auerbach 1994, 57–8, pl. 38).
"Black and Green: Would seem to be a strong source for the identification of the above image with the Asag. Despite the ANET reference, they dont really say too much on page 64. On page 121 however under 'lion-dragon' they do say:
"The lion-dragon (or lion-griffin) with lion's foreparts and bird's hind-legs, tail and wings is represented
from the Akkadian period down to the Neo-Babylonian, including on an Assyrian wall relief from the Temple of Ninurta at Kalhu (moder Nimrud)....It is possible that the monster is the Asakku (Asag) or the Anzu (Imdugud).
"This same conviction is repeated, with essentially the same details, on pg. 142 under the entry for Ninurta (where the Temple relief is pictured), page 36 under the entry for Asag, and on page 107 under Imdugud. As there is never any reason or supporting textual or icongraphic precedent given as to why this 'may' be the Asag (as oppose to the Anzu who was also defeated by Ninurta), I'd like to find the 'missing links' so to speak, here. (This would be an answer to preliminary question two.)
Summary: There would need to be justifiable cause to call the lion-griffin seen at Nimrud, the Asag.
Note
1 - Here Geller talks about Freud and Magic
www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2386/is_v108/ai_20438229Note
2 - Thanks to Amarsin for demonstrating we can use graphics here. I had no idea ;].
Note
3 - With the ANET documents The Ashmolean Museum encourages exploration of ANE terracotta and provides considerably supporting material from their own collections. Download them for free at
www.ashmolean.org/ash/amocats/anet/ANET-Download.html, page numbers list on the right.
