Anzû, also known as ^dZû and Imdugud (

Sumerian Sumerian or Sumerians may refer to: *Sumer, an ancient civilization **Sumerian language **Sumerian art **Sumerian architecture **Sumerian literature **Cuneiform script, used in Sumerian writing *Sumerian Records, an American record label based in ...

: ''AN.IM.DUGUD ^MUŠEN''), is a lesser divinity or monster in several Mesopotamian religions. He was conceived by the pure waters of the Apsu and the wide Earth, or as son of Siris. Anzû was depicted as a massive bird who can breathe fire and water, although Anzû is alternately depicted as a lion-headed eagle. Stephanie Dalley, in ''Myths from Mesopotamia'', writes that "the ''Epic of Anzu'' is principally known in two versions: an Old Babylonian version of the early second millennium C giving the hero as Ningirsu; and 'The Standard Babylonian' version, dating to the first millennium BC, which appears to be the most quoted version, with the hero as Ninurta". However, the Anzu character does not appear as often in some other writings, as noted below.

Name

The name of the mythological being usually called Anzû was actually written in the oldest Sumerian

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedg ...

texts as (''AN.IM.MI^MUŠEN''; the cuneiform sign 𒄷, or ''MUŠEN'', in context is an ideogram for "bird"). In texts of the Old Babylonian period, the name is more often found as ''AN.IM.DUGUD^MUŠEN''. In 1961, Landsberger argued that this name should be read as "Anzu", and most researchers have followed suit. In 1989, Thorkild Jacobsen noted that the original reading of the cuneiform signs as written (giving the name "^dIM.dugud") is also valid, and was probably the original pronunciation of the name, with Anzu derived from an early phonetic variant. Similar phonetic changes happened to parallel terms, such as ''imdugud'' (meaning "heavy wind") becoming ''ansuk''. Changes like these occurred by evolution of the ''im'' to ''an'' (a common phonetic change) and the blending of the new ''n'' with the following ''d'', which was aspirated as ''dh'', a sound which was borrowed into

Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform, early writing system * Akkadian myt ...

as ''z'' or ''s''.Jacobsen, T. (1989). God or Worshipper. pp. 125-130 in Holland, T.H. (ed.), ''Studies In Ancient Oriental Civilization no. 47''. The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. It has also been argued based on contextual evidence and transliterations on cuneiform learning tablets, that the earliest, Sumerian form of the name was at least sometimes also pronounced Zu, and that Anzu is primarily the Akkadian form of the name. However, there is evidence for both readings of the name in both languages, and the issue is confused further by the fact that the prefix 𒀭 (''AN'') was often used to distinguish deities or even simply high places. AN.ZU could therefore mean simply "heavenly eagle".Alster, B. (1991)
Contributions to the Sumerian lexicon
''Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale'', 85(1): 1-11.

Origin and cultural evolution

Thorkild Jacobsen proposed that Anzu was an early form of the god Abu, who was also

syncretized Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...

by the ancients with

Ninurta , image= Cropped Image of Carving Showing the Mesopotamian God Ninurta.png , caption= Assyrian stone relief from the temple of Ninurta at Kalhu, showing the god with his thunderbolts pursuing Anzû, who has stolen the Tablet of Destinies from ...

/Ningirsu, a god associated with thunderstorms. Abu was referred to as "Father Pasture", illustrating the connection between rainstorms and the fields growing in Spring. According to Jacobsen, this god was originally envisioned as a huge black thundercloud in the shape of an eagle, and was later depicted with a lion's head to connect it to the roar of thunder. Some depictions of Anzu therefore depict the god alongside goats (which, like thunderclouds, were associated with mountains in the ancient Near East) and leafy boughs. The connection between Anzu and Abu is further reinforced by a statue found in the Tell Asmar Hoard depicting a human figure with large eyes, with an Anzu bird carved on the base. It is likely that this depicts Anzu in his symbolic or earthly form as the Anzu-bird, and in his higher, human-like divine form as Abu. Though some scholars have proposed that the statue actually represents a human worshiper of Anzu, others have pointed out that it does not fit the usual depiction of Sumerian worshipers, but instead matches similar statues of gods in human form with their more abstract form or their symbols carved onto the base.

Sumerian and Akkadian myth

and

mythology, Anzû is a divine storm-bird and the personification of the southern wind and the thunder clouds. This demon—half man and half bird—stole the " Tablet of Destinies" from Enlil and hid them on a mountaintop. Anu ordered the other gods to retrieve the tablet, even though they all feared the demon. According to one text, Marduk killed the bird; in another, it died through the arrows of the god

. Anzu also appears in the story of "

Inanna Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in Su ...

and the Huluppu Tree", which is recorded in the preamble to the Sumerian epic poem '' Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld''. Anzu appears in the Sumerian Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird (also called: The Return of Lugalbanda).

Babylonian and Assyrian myth

The shorter Old Babylonian version was found at Susa. Full version in ''Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, The Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others'' by Stephanie Dalley, page 222 and at ''The Epic of Anzû'', Old Babylonian version from Susa, Tablet II, lines 1-83, read by Claus Wilcke. The longer Late Assyrian version from Nineveh is most commonly called ''The Myth of Anzu''. (Full version in Dalley, page 205). An edited version is at ''Myth of Anzu''. Also in Babylonian myth, Anzû is a deity associated with cosmogeny. Anzû is represented as stripping the father of the gods of ''umsimi'' (which is usually translated "crown" but in this case, as it was on the seat of Bel, it refers to the "ideal creative organ"). "The Sin of the God Zu" at "Sacred Texts" website. Regarding this, Charles Penglase writes that "Ham is the Chaldean Anzû, and both are cursed for the same allegorically described crime," which parallels the mutilation of

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus (Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter) and father of Cronu ...

by Cronus and of

Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He ...

by Set.

References

External links

Zu
on ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The ( Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various ...