Muhussu bas relief. Pergamon Musuem. Was originally rediscovered as part of the Ishtar's Gate relief.
The mushussu ("Furious Snake" or "Aweful Snake" in Sumerian,[1] formerly known as sirrush) is a dragon from ancient Mesopotamian mythology. It has been both a symbol of various gods and a “magical protective hybrid” not associated with any deity throughout the course of Mesopotamian history.[2]
The creature's most famous depiction is the one found on the reconstructed Ishtar’s Gate of the city of Babylon.
Description[]
Mushussu is a hybrid creature with varying features, having horns, the head and neck of a serpent, the forelegs of a lion, and the hindlegs of a bird.[2] On the relief on Ishtar's Gate, it has a singular horn and crest. One depiction has wings and headgear (see gallery).
Mushussu has also been depicted as a dragon with a lion's head and without hind talons, this version predating the more serpentine version.[1]
History[]
Mushussu was originally the servant of the underworld deity Ninazu, who was the city god of Eshnunna as well as the god of snakes. It has been thought that muhussu would have possibly acted as an “angel of death”, killing with its venom.[1]
Later on, the god Tishpak would inherit the dragon as his symbol after he replaced Ninazu as the city god, the myth detailing Tishpak's symbolic victory over the monster seeming to have been preserved in CT13.33.[3] Meanwhile in the city of Lagash, mushussu would become associated with Ninazu’s son Ningiszilda.[1] At some point, possibly after Hammurabi's conquest of Ensunna, muhussu then became associated with the Bablynionian god Marduk, and later to the god Nabu.[2] In the Babylon Creation Epic, the mushussu is one of the many monsters created by Tiamat.[4]
Muhussu would then be transferred to Assyrian religion after the Assyrians conquered the Babylonians. They would be typically seen as the beast of the state god Assur, but on the king Sennacherib’s rock-reliefs in Maltai, the dragon was accompanied by three different gods: Assur, Enlil, and another god thought to be Nabu.[2]
Related Creatures[]
The mushussu is speculated to have been the dragon of Babylon encountered by the Hebrew prophet Daniel in the Apocrypha's Book of Bel and the Dragon. According to the text, the dragon was worshipped by the Babylonians, the Babylonian king forcing Daniel to fight the dragon as a challenge in response to the prophet denouncing the Babylonian gods. To escape the dangerous situation, Daniel poisoned the dragon.[5]
Cryptozoology[]
The mushussu depiction on Ishtar's Gate had been discovered in the late 19th century, the expedition being led by German archeologist Robert Koldewey. Koldewey was astounded by the depictions of the dragon, however the assertion that muhussu only being a creature of myth, in comparison to the other depictions of mythical creatures at the site, did not satisfy him. The archeologist thought the depicted musuhussu seemed saurian in nature and would in 1913 announce that he speculated the mushussu to have been a living dinosaur, later specifying that it to have been an Iguanodon in 1918. He admitted his theory had holes however, with there being no remains of large fossils in the Mesopotamian region. He ultimately concluded the dragon could've been "some reptile" kept in a temple that people mistook for a living dragon.[5][6]
A half century later, cryptozoologist Willy Ley expressed support for the theory and in his book Exotic Zoology added that whatever had inspired the mushussu could've come from Central Africa, Ley having heard of stories of "swamp-dwelling dinosaurian beasts" from the region. More support for Ley's theory emerged when explorer Hans Schomburgk came back from Central Africa with tales of dinosaurian beasts and a glazed brick that was identical to those found at the site of Ishtar's Gate. Speculation about the mushussu's possible saurian inspiration has since increased, later evolving into the dragon having been inspired by a sauropod, given its long neck and overall similar body structure.[6]
In Popular Culture[]
- In the RPG series Shin Megami Tensi, Mushussu is featured as a demon. This depiction of Mushussu bears close resemblance to its original depiction.
- It is speculated by fans that the dragon Mushu from Disney's animated film Mulan is named after the Mushussu.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 F.A.M. Wiggerman (1992) Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts BRILL pp.168-169
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Jermey Black, Anthony Green (1992) Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary The British Musuem Press pp.166
- ↑ Although Wiggerman writes in the reference listed that mushussu seems to appear in CT13.33, mushussu is not mentioned in a later source in the sections that mentions Wiggerman's view of the text and the text itself.
- ↑ Annoymonus, trans. Stephanie Dalley (1989) The Epic of Creation Oxford University Press pp.237
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Jermone Clark (1993) Unexplained!: 347 strange sightings, incredible occurrences, and puzzling physical phenomena Invisible Ink pp.98-99
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Karl Shuker (1995) In Search of Prehistoric Survivors Blandord pp.31-32