The Etemmu Within - Episode 2: Shadows over Bad-Tibira

This post continues my examination of how the classic WFRP campaign, The Enemy Within, can be re-skinned to be played in the Mythic Babylon setting. This study was adapted from the first edition of Shadows Over Bogenahafen, published by Games Workshop and written by Graeme Davis, Jim Bambra, and Phil Gallagher. This edition can be found for sale at DriveThru RPG. Mythic Babylon is published by The Design Mechanism.


EPISODE 2: SHADOWS OVER BAD-TIBIRA

The PCs arrive in Bad-Tibira at the beginning of the Taklimtu festival and they enjoy the various sights of the festival (buskers and wrestlers, gaming and pageantry). If the PCs look for the shrine of Manzat, they will find no sign of one and conclude the whole 'rite of divestment' letter was a hoax to lure their look-alike to Bad-Tibira.

However, there much talk among the attendees of one travelling merchant who has a collection of curious exotic animals, including a pure white monkey which is much the talk of the festival. So that draws their attention.

Just as the PCs are arriving to see the pure white monkey (which they may assume to be a good omen) it bites the hand of it's keeper, Nanna-mene, (actually a bad omen) and it runs off and ducks into an open drain in the ground. The keeper raises a commotion and the watch arrives with a judge in short order. The judge, who goes by the name Atkalšum (literally “I trusted him”) asks the PCs to speak as witnesses. The owner of the monkey claims it actually belongs to Sin-Iddinam, governor of Sumer, and he was only transporting it from the lands of the Elamtu to the governor's palace in Larsa. He has been capitalizing on it to earn some cash (and defray his costs) over the course of his journey, and Bad-Tibira is his last stop. Seeing an opportunity to please his king, and with local districts being responsible for covering merchant losses, the judge offers the PCs 30 shekels in silver if they can retrieve it. The drain it crawled into is connected to a larger network of catacombs and drainage tunnels beneath the city.

The PCs enter the catacombs, where they are subject to random spirit encounters like lavatory haunters, bad news demons, or ghosts. In the tunnels they stumble across the body of a dead copper-smith (as determined by his obvious dwarfism) – his heart has been removed. They also find a hidden shrine, guarded by an Ugallu underworld demon which they must fight off.

 

Ugallu (Wikimedia Commons)

They don't find the monkey, though, and so they return to the surface world where the Taklimtu festivities are growing in attendance. Crowds are starting to throng the streets.

When they go to find Judge Atkalšum, who is holding public trials at the festival, he informs them that the monkey has since been found, killed, in a granary by the river. The judge denies them any reward, and tells the case is closed. Furthermore the judge doesn't seem interested in their hidden shrine story.

When they return to Nanna-mene, the monkey's owner, he understands that it has been killed and accepts his loss. However, he explains; he asked for the body so it's pelt could be recouped and presented to the governor, and his request was refused. He doesn't understand why, unless the judge wants to remove evidence of a crime. He agrees to keep an ear to the ground for reports of a missing copper-smith.

Later, the PCs overhear talk of a prophet in the square who claims that the Anunaki gods are displeased with the city and it's fate will be revealed in the face of Sin, the moon. Sure enough, that evening, the PCs are surprised to see the moon is almost full, rather than a crescent as might be expected. They suffer the effects of a bad omen.

The next day they encounter the prophet himself, who proclaims “I see the Seven, and I see the Nine; all they had will be mine! Mine! Mine! A star within the crucible is the sign of death; beware the man who is not a man.”

The Babylonian student will of course recognize the threat, for The Seven are a group of dangerous demons bent on mischief. The Nine, presumably, are the cultists.

"They are seven!
They are seven!
They are seven in the depth of primeval water,
They are seven adorned in heaven,
They are not male, they are not female,
They are drifting phantoms,
They have no spouse and never bore a child,
They do not know the result of their actions,
They do not pay attention to prayers and offerings.
They roam about the streets to cause trouble,
They cruise the canals to cause mischief.
They are seven,
They are seven."

Source: Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia by Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat.

Events and investigations eventually lead them to several businesses and warehouses, then to the Crossed Boat-hooks tavern, and finally back into the catacombs. They get the sense they are being watched, and may even be victims of sorcery (yet another bad omen). On the second night, a group of thugs approaches them to deliver a threatening message to keep out of other people's business.

That evening, a leering face appears in the full moon.

Eventually the PCs catch wind of a meeting to be held at the house of the wealthy Amorite merchant named Samuh-Tammuz. They stake the place out and uncover a plot restore the god Dumuzi the throne of Bad-Tibira, supplanting the current city god Lulal (Ištar's son). Samuh-Tammuz claims that their plans will entrap Ištar herself in a crucible of copper to be offered to her sister, Ereškigal, queen of the underworld, as a betrothal gift by the god, Nergal. Returning Ištar to the underworld will free the god Dumuzi from the underworld permanently, and allow him to overthrow Lulal, who will be weak without his mother's protection. The crux of the plan hinges on an important sorcerous ritual to be performed the next night in an undisclosed location.

Little do the PCs or these conspirators know, though, that this is all part of a larger plan by the god Nergal to scourge the earth in an effort to help his matrimonial suit with the queen of the underworld. The ritual will also open the gates of the underworld and release the dead for one night, and when they return they will take as many of the still-living as possible back with them as gifts to his queen. Nergal has sent an underworld demon, Neti, to see his plan through. He is currently disguised as Samuh-Tammuz's slave servant, 'Gabiri' ('Mountain'). Tammuz thinks that he controls the demon, but if anything the opposite is true.

As they explore the house of Samuh-Tammuz, it's important they they find this piece of correspondence, as it will lead them into the next section of the adventure:

To the Captain of the Crucible of Life, thus says Aruru-Harug:

I have received your gift of strong copper crucibles and will put them to good use. But I am unable to supply you with the product that you have requested. For one, it seems our lords have parted paths; who once were twins are now adversaries for the heart of Arali, and the Red Crown has it's own concerns in The Land. It would be unseemly for me to assist you.

Even were I willing, the Well of Damu has been overrun by Suteans and I am unable to approach. I must seek Mutebal allies in Dilbat before I can return. I have also had to turn down your divine sister in The House of the Seven.

In gratitude for the gift, I send a fine wool garment from Dibat, and a box of candied locusts. May we speak again after the nuptials.

The next morning, the face in the moon is now visible during the day and leers down on the city. Early in the day, one of the of the cultists named Mannu-ki-Erra approaches the PCs and expresses his doubts about Samuh-Tammuz's plan. He tells them he will send a note to let then know the new location of the ritual. When that note later arrives, though, it is delivered by the demon Neti in disguise as a runner. It urgently invites the PCs to the house of Mannu-ki-Erra. When they arrive, they find Mannu-ki-Erra dead and themselves framed for his murder!

Neti also sets a building on fire while disguised as one of the PCs, and the party sees this exact copy of the player-character in question fleeing from an angry posse of citizens. So, both the watch and the townsfolk are after them as they race through the night to disrupt the ritual.

Eventually they find the warehouse that belongs to Samuh-Tammuz (it bears the symbol of a star inside a crucible) over the door. The ritual is underway – can they stop it in time? The adventure ends either with the ritual being completed and the dead being unleashed, or with the ritual being foiled and the PCs hunted by every able-bodied citizen in town. Either way, they must leave Bad-Tibira in a hurry.

What happens next will be covered in EPISODE 3: DEATH ON THE PURATTU

This Year, Don't Forget About Lamashtu!

It's Halloween again. Here in North America, the date is marked with costumes and candy. The yards of our city are littered with the symbolism of fear. On my walk earlier today, I spotted Styrofoam tombstones, inflatable undead, plastic dismembered arms, spray-on spider webs (a spider's deathtrap), carrion crows and rats, dancing skeletons, and pumpkins carved with the faces of evil so as to ward it off.

But nowhere did I see an image of Lamaštu, that most feared of Babylonian evils.

Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamashtu

 

Lamaštu was one of the most dreadful beings of the Ancient Near East. She was sometimes called a demon, but like all Babylonian demons she defies easy classification in modern terms. She was the daughter of Anu, the father of the gods, but she was an outcast and a hybrid. She was often ranked among the Utukku (evil spirits) - not because she was born before the ordering of the universe like they were, but because her evil and rebellious plan to eat mankind for dinner put the gods in mind of evil spirits. For this, she was demoted from the rank of goddess to the rank of utukku, given a canine's head by Enlil, and thrown out of heaven.

There is no catalogue of her activities on earth, though she is quite famous for sucking the breath of newborns from their young bodies, thereby causing crib death. She could be turned away by showing her her own image, or that of the demon Pazuzu.

Those who could afford such things could hire an exorcist to ward her off with an incantation. Several such have been immortalized on clay tablets. If you haven't place a likeness of Lamaštu on your front yard this year, you might consider lighting a few candles, offering up a pure white lamb, and reciting one of these incantations for protection. These first two incantations against Lamaštu are quite old and come from early Aššur:

“She is singular, she is uncanny,
She is a child born late in life, she is a phantasm,
She is haunt, she is malicious,
Offspring of a god, daughter of Anu.
For her malevolent will, for her base counsel,
Anu her father dashed her down from heaven to earth,
for her malevolent will, her inflamatory council.
Her hair is askew, her loincloth is torn away.
She makes her was straight to the person without a god.
She can benumb the sinews of a lion, she can still the sinews of a youngster or infant.”

“She is furious, she is terrifying,
She is uncanny, she has an awful glamour,
She is a she-wolf, the daughter of Anu,
Her dwelling in is the grass,
Her lair is in the weeds.
She holds back the full-grown youth in rapid progress,
She yanks out by the breech the premature child,
She brains little babies,
She makes the witnesses swallow the birth fluids.
This spell is not mine; it is a spell of Ninkilim, master of spells.
Ninkarak cast it so I took it up.*"

[Source: Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature

Benjamin R. Foster, Third Edition 2005 CDL Press. 1044 pp.]

*Here I think this refers to Ningirin, goddess of incantations, as the composer of the spell, rather than Ninkilim, goddess of mice and rodents. Ninkarak was a name for the healing goddess, Gula. These lines mean that Ningirin composed the incantation, Ninkarak cast it, and the scribe recorded it.

This third incantation is a little younger and comes from Akkad.

“Anu begot her, Ea reared her,
Enlil doomed her the face of a lioness.
She is furious. She is long of the hand, longer still of the nail.
Her forearms are smeared with blood.
She came right in the front door, slithering over the door frame
She has caught sight of the baby!
Seven seizures has she done him in his belly!
Pluck out your nails! Let loose your arms!
Before he gets to you, valiant Ea, sage of the magical art,
The door frame is big enough for you; the doors are open.
Come, then, begone into the open country!
I will surely fill your mouth with sand, your face with dust,
Your mouth with finely ground mustard seeds!
I exorcise you by Ea's curse: you must be gone!”

[Source: Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature
Benjamin R. Foster, Third Edition 2005 CDL Press. 1044 pp.]

Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamashtu

 

Another juicy spell can be found in Karen Nemet-Nejat's wonderful introductory book: Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia.

“She comes up from the swamp,
is fierce, terrible, forceful, destructive, powerful:
(and still) she is a goddess, awe inspiring.
Her feet are those of an eagle, her hands mean decay.
Her fingernails are long, her armpits unshaven...
The daughter of Anu counts the pregnant women daily,
follows on the heels of those about to give birth.
She counts their months, marks their days on the wall.
Against those just giving birth she casts a spell:
“Bring me your sons, let me nurse them. 

In the mouth of your daughters I want to place my breast!”
She loved to drink bubbling human blood,
(eats) flesh not to be eaten, (picks) bones not to
be picked. (From Lamaštu series, Tablet 1)"

[Source: Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia

Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat, 1998 Hendrickson Publishers. 346pp.]

OK, let's face it: it's probably too late for you to protect yourself for Halloween this year. But if you're still around next Halloween, why not throw up a likeness of Lamaštu on the front lawn? You'll be well protected, and who knows? Maybe even, like the local woman who last year strung headless Barbie dolls like garlands from tree to tree over her front walkway, become the talk of the town!

A Mythic Babylon Bibliography

Many people have commented on the quality of research in Mythic Babylon, but lamented the fact that we didn't include a bibliography in the book. The reason we didn't was purely for space, and a bibliography is the kind of thing that can easily be published on a forum or a blog just like this one! So, for those who were asking - here's the Mythic Babylon Bibliography. I've broken this down by subject matter, and the books are listed title-first rather than author-first. The list is annotated with my commentary. If a book is listed without comment, it's because it didn't move me enough to remember what I like about it!

ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN VOICES

When writing Mythic Babylon, we distilled the historical and societal information into what we think is a neat package. We didn't have room to include very much in the way of the Babylonians own voices, though, and so the very first I think of when people say they like to further their reading - to the  writings of the ancients themselves. The corpus of literature is rich. Really rich! Rabbit-hole Warning Rich!

But that's where I think you should go first. Here are some fine books that will take you back to the very distant past.

The Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation
Edited by Mark W. Chavalas, 2006 Blackwell. 445pp.

This very fine volume introduces you to the voices of many eras. There are letters, decrees, hymns, and much more. This is real slice of life type stuff, and each piece is richly annotated and introduced.

The Literature of Ancient Sumer
Black, Cunningham, Robson, and Zolyomi, 2004 Oxford University Press. 372pp.

This book includes translations of key texts – a scribal curriculum, really – written in Sumerian. It probably the gold standard for Sumerian texts in English. The book deals with 'literature', which is spends some efforts to define. Letters and other more worldly correspondence are not included here.

Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature
Benjamin R. Foster, Third Edition 2005 CDL Press. 1044 pp.

This cinder block of a volume does for the Akkadian language what the above does for Sumerian, but it's divided up by period so you can see changes over time. Again, a gold standard.

From an Antique Land: An introduction to Ancient Near Eastern Literature
Edited by Carl S. Ehrlich, 2009 Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 506 pp.

An entertaining volume with some fun commentary from the author. This book covers a spectrum of writings by different people in different languages, with sections on Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, Ugaritic, Canaanite, Aramaean, Hebrew, and Egyptian. It's not quite complete (no Hurrian or Elamite, for example) but a rewarding read all the same.


Mesopotamian Chronicles
Jean-Jacques Glassner, 2004, SBL, 365pp

Prophets and Prophecy in the Ancient Near East
Martti Nissinen, 2003 SBL, 296pp

These two books from the Society of Biblical Literature explore particular writings in some depth. The first explores the chronicles of Mesopotamian kings and reveals something about how they viewed their own history. The second explores records of actual incidents of ecstatic prophecy in various time periods and tells us a little about prophets in general. Both recommended if you'd like a deep dive into something specific, but maybe not for the casual reader. Both are reviewed in more depth elsewhere on this blog.


MYTHS

Also in the category of primary voices, we weren't able to include Mesopotamian myths in all their glory – there just wasn't room. And we figured that curious readers could easily look these up online or in books. Here's a collection of publications that feature translations of myths. Some are general, others specific to a particular cycle.

Myths from Mesopotamia
Stephanie Dalley, revised edition 2000, Oxford University Press. 342pp.

Sumerian Mythology
Samuel Noah Kramer, 1972, University of Pennsylvania Press, 130pp

Jealous Gods & Chosen People: The Mythology of the Middle East
David Leeming, 2004, Oxford University Press, 150pp

The above are general studies. The first is a good overall collection for the general reader. The second is an older work by a very important and influential author, now somewhat out of date. The third didn't make a huge impression on me.


A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology
Gwendolyn Leick, 1991 Routledge. 226pp.

Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia
Jeremy Black and Anthony Green, 1992 The British Museum Press. 192Pp

Both of the above are dictionary type books with various entries in alphabetical order. They don't always agree with one another. Each has entries that the other lacks, so I suppose you'll want them both.


Epics of the Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta
Herman Vanstiphout, 2003 Society of Biblical Literature. 176pp.

The City of Rainbows: A Tale from Ancient Sumer
Karen Foster, 1999, University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, 28pp

The first of the above is a brilliant deep dive into the collection of myths that feature the distant, and perhaps imaginary, city of Aratta. The author provides translations and discussion. The second is a small picture book that tells one of these myths in story-time fashion. It's cute and a labour of love, but there isn't much there to excite the researcher.


The Epic of Gilgamesh

Andrew George, 1999, Penguin Books, 228pp

Gilgamesh: A New English Version

Stephen Mitchell, 2004, Free Press, 290pp

There are many translations of Gilgamesh on the market. The translation by Andrew George is very highly regarded. The retelling by Mitchell is well written and accessible, but not as scholarly.


Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth
Diana Wolkstein and Samuel Noah Kramer, 1983, Harper & Row Publishers, 227pp

This collection by the esteemed Sumerologist Samuel Noah Kramer and foklorist Diana Wolkstein deals with the cycle of Inanna myths. It's somewhat dated, but still very enjoyable and worth a read.



RELIGION

Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide
Sarah Iles Johnson, general editor, 2004, The Bellknap Press, 697pp

This is a huge tome of comparative religion, dealing with a wide variety of specific topics and comparing the Sumerians, Akkadians, Hittites, Canaanites, and many more.


Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia
by Jean Bottero, 2001 The University of Chicago Press. 246pp.

A very good overview of the subject.


Ancient Goddesses
Lucy Goodison and Christine Morris eds., 1998, The University of Wisconsin Press, 224pp

More specific to goddesses, with some nice juicy bits for the historical detective.


The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion

Thorkild Jacobsen, 1976, Yale University Press, 273pp

A very interesting and influential work, though perhaps a bid dated now. This offers a more theoretical framework for the religion, rather than a look at the practice. The author has some interesting and compelling ideas.


Gods in the Desert: Religion of the Ancient Near East
Glenn S. Holland, 2009, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., 309pp

Religions of the Ancient Near East
Daniel C. Snell, 2011, University of Cambridge Press, 179pp

Penguin Handbook of Ancient Religions
Edited by John R. Hinnells, 2007, Penguin Books, 610pp

Three more generalist books to round out the list, all of which have something to offer.




DAILY LIFE

Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia
Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat, 1998 Hendrickson Publishers. 346pp.

This is my favourite 'daily life' book for the Old Babylonian period, and the one I usually recommend.


Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia

Stephen Bertman, 2003 Oxford University Press. 396pp


Everyday Life in Ancient Mesopotamia

Jean Bottero, 2001 Johns Hopkins University Press. 276Pp

Both of the above are good. The first is broken out by topic, which makes browsing it easier. Unfortunately, it doesn't separate the time periods, so one gets the idea that life never changed over the 4000 year history of the culture. This makes it less useful for research. The second book is a more conventional read and is fine, but not as good as the Nemet-Nejat book.


Ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian & Persian Costume
by Mary G. Houston, 2002 Dover Books, 190pp.
(essentially a reprint of the original second edition from 1954)

Somewhat dated now, but still has some use for this very specific topic.


Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor
Martha T. Roth, 1997, SBL, 283pp

Probably the gold standard book on Ancient Near Eastern laws in English. It covers the known Mesopotamian collections, as well as that of the Hittites. The excerpts of Hammurabi's code in Mythic Babylon do not come from this book, though. For those we turned to The Oldest Code of Laws in the World by C.H.W. Johns, 1903, available on Project Gutenberg.


The Marsh Arabs

Wilfred Thesiger, 1967 Penguin. 233pp.

This is a wonderful travelogue about Thesiger's time living in the southern marshes of the Sealand. It's all to easy to imagine that not much changed between the times of Lugalzagesi and Thesiger.



HISTORIES

King Hammurabi of Babylon
Marc van de Mieroop, 2005 Blackwell Publishing. 171pp.

One of two biographies of Hammurabi that I'm aware of, and the only one I've so far been able to lay my hands on. The other is by Domenic Charpin, and affordable copies have finally come to the market – I anxiously await mine.

 

A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000-323 BC, Third Edition
Marc Van de Mieroop, 2015 Wiley Blackwell Publishing. 432 pp.

An excellent survey of Mesopotamian History from 3000 to 323 BC, now in it's third edition..


Mari and Karana: Two Old Babylonian Cities
Stephanie Dalley, 1984 Longman Group Ltd. 218pp.

This book looks at the relationship between the kings of these two cities who were joined by marriage. It's a bit old and possibly hard to find, but I thought it was an excellent little book for revealing some of the politics and events of Subartu.


Letters From the King of Mari
Wolfgane Heimpel, 2003, Esenbrauns, 657pp

This huge book provides a detailed look at the last 12 or so years of King Zimri-Lim's life. It tries to piece together a very complex sequence of events from (usually undated) letters from the Mari archive. It covers some of the same ground as Mari and Karana, but unlike that book, this one is not for casual readers.


The Age of Agade: Inventing Empire in Ancient Mesopotamia
Benjamin R. Foster, 2016 Routledge. 428pp.

This book deals specifically with the Akkadian period of history and with the legacy of that city. If you'd like to use Mythic Babylon but shift the action to the Akkadian period, then I definitely recommend this book.



WEAPONS AND WARFARE

Of the books below, the only two I really recommend are the ones by Hamblin and Howard. The Hamblin book is really comprehensive and covers our period, but stops at the end of the middle bronze age. The book by Howard looks a weapons in detail, from the eye of a re-enactor and re-creator. It's rather dry and has some odd bugaboos, but has information you won't find elsewhere. Both of the Osprey books tend to skirt our period, and the Wise book is now somewhat out of date.

Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC
William J. Hamblin, 2006 Routledge 517pp.

Bronze Age Military Equipment
Dan Howard, 2011 Pen & Sword Books. 169pp.

Bronze Age Warfare
Richard Osgood, Sarah Monks, and Judith Toms, 2000 Sutton Publishing Ltd., 165pp

Bronze Age War Chariots
Nic Fields, 2006 Osprey Publishing, 48pp

Ancient Armies of the Middle East
Terence Wise, 1981, Osprey Publishing, 40pp



BOOKS ABOUT CITIES

Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City
Gwendolyn Leick, 2001, Penguin Books, 384pp

The Ancient Mesopotamian City
Marc Van de Mieroop, 2004, Oxford University Press, 269pp

The two books above are generally about Mesopotamian cities and look at them very differently. The book by Leick is one of my favourite history books ever – it gives a detailed look at 7 cities that were prominent at different times in the history of the culture and explains what as unique about them. This gives the effect of one of those 'history of the world in 100 objects' books, where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Quite a remarkable piece of writing, really. I'd love to see a sequel with 7 more cities!

The Van de Mieroop book is more a tradition survey of city life, organized by topic.

All of the books below are about specific cities. They vary in scope and some are pretty cursory (Erbil) while others more detailed (Ebla), but they all have something to contribute. Three have been reviewed elsewhere on this blog

Ur: The City of the Moon God
Harriet Crawford, 2015, Bloomsbury, 146pp

A City from the Dawn of History: Erbil in the Cuneiform Sources
John MacGinnis, 2014, Oxbow Books, 128pp

Ebla: An Empire Rediscovered
Paolo Matthiae, 1981, Doubleday & Company Inc., 237pp

Ugarit: Ras Shamra
Adrian Curtis, 1985, Lutterworth Press, 125pp




SPECIAL TOPICS

Philosophy Before the Greeks: The Pursuit of Truth in Ancient Babylonia
Marc Van de Mieroop, 2016, Princeton University Press, 312pp

A book about Babylonian systems of learning which I've reviewed elsewhere on this blog.


The Heavenly Writing: Divination, Horoscopy, and Astronomy in Mesopotamian Culture
Francesca Rochberg, 2004 Cambridge University Press, 331pp

This is mainly about astrology, and mainly about times after the OB period. I don't thin it's for the general reader.


Women in the Ancient Near East
Edited by Mark W. Chavalas, 2014, Routledge, 319pp

This one was a bit disappointing for a rather pedestrian treatment of a subject matter that deserved more.


The Horse, The Wheel, and Language
David W. Anthony, 2007, Princeton University Press, 553pp

A lengthy and detailed look at the cultures of the Pontic steppe and the origins of chariotry.



ATLASES AND GAZETEERS

The Routledge Handbook of The Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia
Trevor Bryce, 2009, Routledge, 887pp

This massive tome lists hundreds of Ancient Near Eastern cities with encyclopedic entries, telling where they were, when they were inhabited, and often offering some anecdotes and other information. The book is alphabetical, and there is no chronological index, so if you just want Kassite cities, you have to scan all the entries to find them. It was a hugely useful book for me, and yet despite it's scope, still missed a few rather obvious cities.

Several atlases are listed below. The two best are Roaf and Hunt, probably in that order. Both are large, picture-book type affairs that will have broad appeal. The atlas by Bryce is meant to be a companion to the Handbook mentioned above, but it makes some errors and I found the treatment to be too cursory. The Haywood atlas is a broad survey and lighter than the Roaf and Hunt books.

Atlas of the Ancient Near East from Prehistorical Times to the Roman Imperial Period
Trevor Bryce and Jessie Birkett-Rees, 2016 Routledge. 318pp.

The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations
John Haywood, 2005, Penguin Books, 144pp

Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East
Michael Roaf, 1990, Andromeda Books, 238pp

Historical Atlas of Ancient Mesopotamia
Norman Bancroft Hunt, 2004, Thalamus Publishing, 190pp


SURVEYS AND COMPENDIA

The Babylonian World

Edited by Gwendolyn Leick, 2007, Routledge, 590pp

A Companion to the Ancient Near East

Edited by Daniel C. Snell, 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 538pp

The Sumerian World

Harriet Crawford, 2013, Routledge, 659pp

This category is for broad spectrum histories where the author covers the whole shebang in a single book. The three listed above are compendia, collecting a variety of articles on specific subjects and by different authors, then organizing them in a cohesive fashion. These types of books are better for filling in the corners than as a starting point because the big picture often isn't complete, but each article can give a deep dive into something specific. The effect is rather like what you get when you try to use a pellet gun to cut out the shape of a red star at a carnival midway.

The books below generally make better introductions. I think the first three are the best. The Kriwaczek book surprised me for its quality as it's written by a journalist instead of a historian. These books are listed more or less in order of their utility to a general reader. The ones closer to the bottom cover more specific topics. The Ascalone book is largely a picture book, which some people might find useful.

 

Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization
Paul Kriwaczek, 2010, Thomas Dunne Books. 310 pp.

The Rise and Fall of Babylon: Gateway of the Gods
Anton Gill, 2008 Metro Books. 192pp.

Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History
J.N. Postgate 1992, Routledge, 367pp

Civilizations of Ancient Iraq
Benjamin R. And Karen Polinger Foster, 2009, Princeton University Press, 297pp

Babylon, John Oates, 1979
Thames & Hudson Ltd., 215pp

The Babylonians: an introduction
Gwendolyn Leick, 2003, Routledge, 182pp

Mesopotamia: Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians
Enrico Ascalone, University of California Press, 2007, 368pp

Ancient Mesopotamia
Susan Pollock, 1999, Cambridge University Press, 259pp

Sumer and the Sumerians, Second Ed.
Harriet Crawford, 2004, Cambridge University Press, 252pp

Civliization Before Greece and Rome

H.W.F. Saggs, 1989, Yale University Press, 322pp

This was the first book I read on the subject - the one that started it all. A chance find pulled from my father's large shelf of much more modern history.  

The Ancient Orient: An Introduction to the Study of the Ancient Near East

Wolfram von Soden, 1994, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 263pp

Early Urbanism on the Syrian Euphrates

Lisa Cooper, 2006, Routledge, 313

Ancient Mesopotamia at the Dawn of Civilization: The Evolution of an Urban Landscape

Guillermo Algaze, 2008, The University of Chicago Press, 230pp

Dictionary of the Ancient Near East

Edited by Piotr Bienkowski and Allan Millard, 2000, British Museum Press, 342pp



FURTHER AFIELD

These books cover places outside of our core area and really just scratch the surface.

Dilmun and its Neighbours

Harriet Crawford, 1998, Cambridge University Press, 170pp

The Hittites and their contemporaries in Asia Minor

J.G. Macqueen, 1986, Thames and Hudson Ltd., 176pp

Arabia and the Arabs From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam

Robert G. Hoyland, 2001, Routledge, 324pp

Ancient Canaan & Israel: An Introducton

Jonathan M. Golden, 2004, Oxford University Press, 413pp

The Hyksos Period in Ancient Egypt

Charlotte Booth, 2005, Shire Publications Ltd., 56pp

The Lost World of Elam: Re-creation of a Vanished Civilization
Walther Hinz, 1972, Sidgwick & Jackson, 192pp

Ancient Cyprus

Veronica Tatton-Brown, 1997, British Museum Press, 96pp


PAPERS

Rounding out our research, we consulted a number of papers, most of which can be found at Academia.Net or JSTOR. Others were brought to my attention by the Ancient World On Line blog (AWOL) or Ancient Near East Today (ANET). These are presented in no particular order.

Old Babylonian Personal Names, Marten Stol, 1991

Hurrians and Hurrian Names in the Mari Texts, Jack M. Sasson, 1974

Thy name is slave?: The slave onomasticon of Old Babylonian Sippar, Lieselot Vandorpe 2010

Urbanisn and Society in the Third Millenium Upper Khabur Basin, Jason Alik Ur, 2004 Dissertation

The Architectural Defense: Fortified Settlements of the Levant During the Middle Bronze Age, Aaron Alexander Burke, 2004 Dissertation

The Other and the Enemy in the Mesopotamian Conception of the World, Beate Pongratz-Leisten, 2001

Growing in a Foreign World: For a History of the “Meluhha Villages” in Mesopotamia in the 3rd Millenium BC, Massimo Vidale, 2004

Back to the Cedar Forest: The Beginning and End of Tablet V of the Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, F.N.H. Al-Rawi and A. R. George, 2014 ASOR

Lists of Personal Names From The Temple School of Nippur, Edward Chiera 1916

Trade, Merchants, and the Lost Cities of the Bronze Age, Barjamovic, Chaney, Cosar, & Hotascsu 2017

Rebuilding Eden in the Land of Eridu, Marco Ramazzotti, 2017 ANEToday Vol 5 No9

Masculinities and Third Gender: Gendered Otherness in the Ancient Near East, Ilan Peled, 2017, ANEToday Vol 5 No2

The Mesopotamian Pandemonium: A Provisional Census, Frans A.M. Wiggerman, 2011

Lists of Personal Names from the Temple School of Nippur, Edward Chiera, 1916

The Ilkum Institution in the Provincial Administration of Larsa During the Reign of Hammurapi (1792-1750 B.C.), Miki Yokoyama Ishikida, 1999

Nuzi Personal Names, Ignace J. Gelb, Pierre M. Purves, and Allan A. MacRae, 1943, University of Chicago Press

Hurrians and Subarians, Ignace J. Gelb, 1944 University of Chicago Press

Storm Gods of the Ancient Near East, Parts I and II, Daniel Schwemer 2008

Transtigridian Snake Gods, F.A.M. Wiggerman, 1997



WEBSITES

In addition to the websites listed in the book, these also proved useful:

Iconography of Deities and Demons in the Ancient Near East, various electronic pre-publication entries.

http://www.religionswissenschaft.uzh.ch/idd/prepublication.php

The Ancient Near East Today offers a website and journal, quite good.

https://www.asor.org/anetoday

If you don't already know about Mythic Babylon and would like to learn more, check out the Design Mechanism Forums. It can be found for purchase at these locations:

Design Mechanism Store / Lulu / DriveThru RPG / Aeon Games (UK)

 Book Review: The Marsh Arabs by Wilfred Thesiger, 1959, 233pp

Wilfred Thesiger was an English traveller and explorer. He was born and spent the early part of his life in Ethiopia where his father was the Consul General. He would later go to Oxford and join the Explorer's Club. He served during WW2, after which he spent much of his free time in remote places in North Africa and western Asia. He seems to have craved quiet and lonely stretches, where he would integrate himself and get to know the locals. He was the quintessential traveller, and he wrote many books about these places.

His most famous book is Arabian Sands, which is quite a brilliant book about his time crossing the empty quarter of southern Arabia. The Marsh Arabs is his second most famous book, and covers his time in the marshes of Southern Iraq in the 1950's. At that time, the way of life in the region seems to have changed very little since the earliest recorded times - models and plaques have been found depicting Sumerian boats and reed houses that look very much like what Thesiger photographed, so I think we can rely on the idea that at  least some of what he reports of the culture has a long pedigree in the area. Others have pointed to the Bedouin as another possible place of cultural origin.

Ancient and Modern Marsh Houses

Thesiger spent seven or eight seasons with the Marsh Arabs, returning year after year. He loved the region and the way of life. Here's how he describes it early in the book:

"Memories of that first visit to the Marshes have never left me: firelight on a half-turned face, the crying of geese, duck flighting in to feed, a boy's voice singing somewhere in the dark, canoes moving in procession down a waterway, the setting sun seen crimson through the smoke of burning reedbeds, narrow waterways that wound still deeper into the marshes. A naked man in a canoe with a trident in his hand, reed houses built upon water, black, dripping buffaloes that looked as if they had calved from the swamp with the first dry land. Stars reflected in dark water, the croaking of frogs, canoes coming home at evening, peace and continuity, the stillness of a world that never knew an engine. Once again I experienced the longing to share this life, and to be more than a mere spectator.

This book, though short, is a loving portrait of the people and their way of life. It is well illustrated with photographs depicting people, boats, reed construction, wild pigs, and water buffaloes. Most interesting for me, as a student of ancient Iraqi history, was to see Thesiger record a way of life that has materially still the same as it was in the year 3000 BC, and likely even older than that.

More surprising was Thesiger's thoughtful observation of sexual mores and genders in this region, because in this I think there's something here for everyone to learn. The Marsh Arabs recognized transgenderism within their communities, and had no trouble acknowledging that some women were born with male bodies, and that some men were born with female bodies - and that seems to have been all there was to it.

  Silver boat from archaic Ur

Overall, as a travelogue, The Marsh Arabs is not quite as good as Arabian Sands, and it ends rather abruptly, wanting, I think, a little more reflection from Thesiger after his journeys end. But just like Arabian Sands, it's wonderfully written and evokes a place that few people knew, and will never be able to know again. Thesiger was lucky, in a sense, to travel to these places before the modern age caught up with them. Between the two Gulf Wars (1991-2003) the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were diverted from the marshes by Saddam Hussein, and the Marsh Arabs were displaced. Since 2003 this has been reversed somewhat, and the ecology of the region seems to be recovering, but it will be a long and uncertain road.

Link: National Geographic: Marsh Arab Update

Photograph by Thesiger

The Great Serpents of Old

The Great Serpents of Old

We think of wyrms and dragons as iconic medieval monsters, and so they are. For sea monsters we turn to ancient instead Greece, the Bible, or the dark ages But the great serpents of legend have very old roots - going back at least to Babylonian times, and probably earlier. They are creatures of such import that they are given individual names, and no two are really alike. But perhaps, like in the story of the blind men and the elephant, they are really all the same creature and we can only appreciate one part at a time. Whatever the case, here are a few Great Serpents whose names you may not have heard before. They come from deepest antiquity.

Sumer and Babylon

Three great horned serpents are known to us from Akkadian literature, their names in some cases coming from Sumerian roots. Though there are several written descriptions, it can be hard to tell them apart as the texts don't always make it obvious which serpent they're referring to.

One of these was Ušumgallu (from Sumerian UŠUMGAL - “The Great Dragon”) who was considered a monster or a demon. Where humans and hybrid creatures were thought to have been made by the gods, monsters and demons had older and more obscure roots. The great serpents were usually thought to have been of offspring of the primordial goddess, Temtu, who in later myth was herself described as a sea monster and given the name Tiamat. Temtu was the encircling salt sea, a mother goddess who gave birth (in some myths) to the lesser gods after mating with the Abzu (subterranean fresh waters). She was later depicted as a sea monster in her own right.

Ušumgallu was counted among the 'warriors' said to have been slain by the god Ninurta, the champion Enlil, king of the gods, and defender of the city of Nippur. The myth recounting this slaying is lost (if it ever existed), but the deed is listed among the god's past exploits in a myth known today as 'The Exploits of Ninurta'. In that myth, Ninurta was also credited with slaying the six-headed wild ram, Anzud the thunderbird, and more. Of his various enemies, only the enigmatic Palm Tree King seems to have escaped.

Ušumgallu can be equated with the lion-dragon - a great horned snake with forelegs and fierceness of a lion. The word 'UŠUMGAL' was sometimes used as a metaphor for a king or a god in order to speak of their greatness. 

The following verse comes from a myth of the god Tišpak, the warrior god and protector of the city of Ešnunna, and translated by Benjamin Foster in Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature.

“The sea produced the serpent.
Enlil has drawn the image of the serpent in heaven.
Its length was twenty leagues, its height was one league.
Its mouth was six cubits, its tongue twelve cubits,
Its horns were twelve cubits.
At sixty cubits it snatches birds.
It draws nine cubits of water when it swims.
If it raises its tail, it darkens the sky
All the gods in heaven fear it.
Go, Tišpak! Kill the lion-serpent!”

A seal depicting the slaying of Ušumgallu or perhaps Tiamat: Source: Wikimedia

Bašmu (Venemous Serpent) was another of the three great horned serpents of Babylonia. Bašmu was said to have two forelegs and wings, and to be sixty double-miles long. Bašmu lived in the sea, and devoured fish, birds, onagers, or humans with equal zeal. It had six mouths, seven tongues, and seven eyes on its belly. The following two texts describe Bašmu - or perhaps the third great serpent called Mušmahhu (Exalted Serpent), about whom little is known but who may have been the seven-headed serpent who was also slain by Ninurta.

“I seize the mouth of all snakes, even the viper,

Serpent that cannot be conjured:

The alabaster burrower,

The fish-snake with rainbow eyes,

The eel, the hissing snake,

The hisser, the snake at the window.

It came in by a crevice, it went out by a drain.

It struck the gazelle while it slept.

It secreted itself in the withered oak.

The snake lurks in a roof beam, the serpent lurks in wool.

The serpent has six mouths, seven tongues,

Seven are the poisonous vapours of its heart.

It is bushy of hair, horrible of feature, its eyes are frightful.

Bubbles ooze from it's maw, it's spittle cleaves stone.”

“The Idiqlat* bore it,

The Ulaya raised it,

It lies under the rushes like a serpent.

Its head is like a pestle,

Its tail is like a pounding tool.

Adad gave it its roar,

Nergal, the descendant of Anu, gave it its slither.

I conjure you by Ištar and Dumuzi,

Not to come near me a league and sixty cubits!”

(Both texts from Before the Muses by Benjamin Foster)

*For context, the Idiqlat is the Tigris River; the Ulaya is the ancient river upon which the important Elamite city of Susa rested. Adad is the Babylonian storm god, Nergal the destructive warrior and king of the Underworld, and Anu is the father of the gods. The goddess Ištar and the shepherd god Dumuzi were famously married until they had a falling out so spectacular it sundered the seasons from one another. 

Bašmu as he appears on the cover of the forthcoming Mythic Babylon setting for Mythras

Hatti and Mitania

In the lands north of Babylonia, another giant dragon-like monster lived. He is called Illuyanka and referred to in both Hattian and Hurrian myths. There are a few different versions of his story, but in one myth, Illuyanka took the eyes and heart of the weather god, Teššub, thus depriving him of his power, but as with so many of the great serpents he was ultimately slain by the god. Some scholars believe that Illuyanka was a metaphorical construct meant to evoke the Gašgaeans, who were a rival people to the Hittites. The name 'Illuyanka' comes from two proto-Indo-European roots - hillu and henge, both of which mean 'snake'. The latin word 'Anguilla' shares the same roots, but written in reverse order.

"The serpent defeated the Storm-god and took his heart and eyes." Source: Wikimedia

India

Yet another legendary great serpent is Poubi Lai, a lake serpent from Manipuri mythology. Poubi Lai is said to have been the embodiment of the spirit of Loktak Lake in northeastern India. In ages past, he was awakened as a manifest spirit of the lake when over-fishing threatened the balance of nature. Poubi Lai ravaged the local villages, so the local king took to appeasing him by offering one basket of rice and one living person for his daily meal. But the people found this situation untenable, and one of the villagers went into the hills to find the great shaman, Kabui Salang Baji, who fashioned a great javelin from an aquatic plant with which to tame the serpent.

Carving of Poubi Lai by Karam Dineshwar Singh. Source: Wikimedia

All these stories make it clear that Great Serpents can be slain by those with special powers, be they gods or heroes. But the task won't be easy, and who will suffer in the meantime? Your own giant serpent quest might require the help of dread shamans, greedy kings, or blind gods. Keep in mind, too, that snakes are said to be immortal - shedding their skins every so often to re-acquire the vigor of youth. What is the secret of that power, and is it shared by the Great Serpents of Old?

Four Thousand Year Old Wisdom

I've been compiling a list of Sumerian proverbs for a project I'm working on. Sumerian culture thrived in what is now Southern Iraq for 2000 years from about 4000 BCE to 2000 BCE, after which the principle language of the period changed to Akkadian, After this, the Sumerian language lived on as a literary language, much like Latin in the Middle Ages.

Knowledge of the Sumerians and their language was lost for over a thousand years, and only rediscovered again in the 1800s AD.

It's difficult to date these proverbs exactly - they were passed down through generations of scribes and recorded in collections on clay tablets. Some are likely very old and may even pre-date writing, others might be much younger (say, a mere 2500 years old). Many of them have obscure meanings, their idiom being lost to us. Others, though, are quite pithy and still resonate - though maybe not for the same reason they once did! I've put together twenty-five of the most interesting ones here for your pleasure. The more I read about the ancient world, the more I think that people haven't changed all that much across the millennia.

25 SUMERIAN PROVERBS

1. Into an open mouth, a fly enters.

A caution against the dangers of gossip?

2. There is commerce in a city, but a fisherman caught the food

The original 'Farmers Feed Cities' bumpersticker.

3. One does not return borrowed bread.

Literally true, I suppose.

4. A heart never created hatred. Speech created hatred.

We aren't born cruel, after all.

5. Like an ox with diarrhoea, he leaves a long trail behind him.

I love the imagery...

6. A goat says to another goat: "I, too, butt my head".

That's one woke goat.

7. When a burglar makes a hole, he makes it narrow.

They didn't have pianos, yet.

8. A shepherd's sex appeal is his penis, a gardener's sex appeal is his hair.

Not sure what to make of this, but will cultivate both to hedge my bets.

9. Your worthiness is the result of chance.

This one needs a modern equivalent, I feel, as modern worthies seem completely oblivious to the fact.

10. No matter how small they are, they are still blocks of lapis lazuli.

Lapis lazuli was one of the most precious materials.

11. There is no baked cake in the middle of the dough.

It's not over till it's over?

12. He is fearful, like a man unacquainted with beer.

Speaks for itself, really.

13. What is in one's mouth is not in one's hand.

Actions speak louder than words?

14. To be wealthy and demand more is an affront to a god.

This one doesn't seem to have made it to the modern western world.

15. In the reed beds, the lion does not eat his acquaintance.

I should hope not.

16. If the one in the lead is being consumed by fire, those behind him don't say:
"Where is the one in the lead?"

Unless the leader is Mark Zuckerberg.

17. Here I am in a house of brick and bitumen, and still a lump of clay falls on my head.

Planned obsolescence?

18. You should hold a kid goat in your left hand and a bribe in your right.

The goat is to make an offering to a god at the temple, the bribe to get somewhere with the government at the palace. The temple and the palace were the two prongs of government. So this is basically a guide for how to get ahead in life.

19. 'Give me' is for the king. 'Be so Kind' is for the cupbearer's son, 'Do me a favour' is for the administrator.

Diff'rent strokes... different ways to get things done.

20. The lives of the poor do not survive their deaths.

This one needs some explanation. Sumerians believed that after death, people went to the underworld where they had a miserable existence toiling, eating dust, and wearing garments made from old bird feathers. This could be improved by giving them burial gifts and by honouring the dead with offerings of food, water, and prayer. Those who didn't get a proper burial, or who weren't properly honoured after death, could come back as malicious ghosts. So, what what this may be saying is that the poor couldn't honour their dead properly, so they had no existence in the underworld. Or possibly they are referring to the lack of an inheritance for their children.

21. My tongue, like a runaway donkey, will not turn back.

I guess you like the taste of flies, then?

22. I looked into the water. My destiny was drifting past.

Timeless, really. The Queen Street bridge over the Don River here in Toronto bears the words "The River I Step In Is Not The River I Stand In" which is a paraphrasing of Heraclitus “No man ever steps in the same river twice”, all of which compare the flow of life to the flow of a river.

23. A sniffing dog enters all houses.

Kind of like the flu.

24. If the lion heats the soup, who would say "It is no good"?

Hopefully a whistleblower will step forward.

25. My donkey was not destined to run quickly; he was destined to bray!

The older I get, the more I want to embrace this sentiment.