Nergal
Methuselah
Overview
Nergal is the Mesopotamian god of death, war, and destruction. He began as a regional, probably agricultural, god of the Babylonian city of Kutha in the Early Dynastic Period (c. 2900-2700 BCE). As his temple was known as E-meslam, he was known as Meslamtaea ('he who comes forth from Meslam'). He was still associated with death even at this early period as he represented the high summer sun which scorched the earth, and the afternoon sun of most intense heat, which hindered crop production.
The destructive power of the sun was thought to be a manifestation of Meslamtaea's intense fury and he became associated with war, pestilence, and death, transforming into the universal god known as Nergal by the time of the Ur III Period (2047-1750 BCE). Nergal of Kutha shared many similarities with another god who seems to have developed independently, Erra (or Irra) of Babylon. Scholar Jeremy Black notes that "the gods Nergal and Erra were originally separate deities, but later became so closely identified as to lose their independent characters". Their names are eventually used interchangeably and today they are recognized as the same deity.
Negal is represented in iconography as a man striding, in long robes, with his advancing foot crushing a human figure. He holds a mace topped by a double lion's head and carries a scimitar. Iconography also associates him with the lion and the bull, two animals which represented enormous natural and supernatural power in Mesopotamia.
He was the son of Enlil and Ninlil though he is also referred to as the son of Belet-ili (another name for Nintud/Nintur/Ninhursag, the mother goddess who created human beings). Nergal is associated with a number of wives/consorts including the minor deity Las; another regional goddess Mammi (or Mami, but not associated with Mamma, another name for Ninhursag Ninshubur (goddess of the east, and friend, advisor, and confidante of Inanna and Ereshkigal, Queen of the Dead and ruler of the underworld.
Although a destructive entity, Nergal was frequently invoked for protection and is associated with similar gods in other cultures such as Ninurta, the Sumerian/Akkadian god of war and hunting, the Hurrian/Hittite Aplu, god of the plague, Ares, war god of the Greeks, and the Roman war god Mars. He features prominently in a number of Mesopotamian myths and is mentioned in the Bible in II Kings 17:30. His name is interpreted as "dunghill cock" and his various epithets all have to do with destruction and war such as "raging king," "furious king," "fighting cock," and "the burner."
His main cult center was Kutha, but from there, his worship spread and temples were built to honor him throughout southern Mesopotamia at Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Isin, Nippur, and Dilbat, he was also honored at Babylon, and adopted by the Assyrians. Once he was associated with the underworld he became a central deity in the Cult of the Dead in which priests would offer sacrifice to the god for the souls in the underworld.
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