Allusions in Anzû

chapter 1 Allusions in Anzû 1 Introduction The earliest of the three poems that form the core of this study, Anzû tells the story of how Ninurta earned his position as an esteemed warrior god of Meso- potamia. Anzû, a demon with the features of an eagle and a lion,1 grows jealous of the chief god Enlil, and flies off with the tablet of destinies, a magical object that gives Enlil his power. The whole divine order is thrown into chaos and the gods, now helpless, desperately seek a champion to fight Anzû and retrieve the tablet and their authority. Ninurta rises to the challenge, and is rewarded with a high position in the pantheon. Anzû was one of the foundational texts of Meso- potamian mythology, and Ninurta’s battle against Anzû was referred to in texts as diverse as Neo-Assyrian royal inscriptions (Annus, 2002: 94–101; Pongratz- Leisten, 2015: 258–262), rituals and their commentaries (Annus, 2001: xvi), and medical treatises (Annus, 2002: 138–144). The Sumerian poem Lugal-e also concerns one of Ninurta’s heroic battles, this time against a demon called Asag who commands an army of stones. This text also continued to hold a special status for a thousand years after it was written in the Old Babylonian period, and is alluded to by many of the same texts as Anzû. Anzû did not replace Lugal-e, but presents an alternative event as Ninurta’s ‘greatest’ exploit. Although Anzû’s relationship to Enūma eliš and Erra and Išum is by now well known, Anzû itself has not yet been investigated for any allusions it may contain, other than the parallel with balaĝs mentioned by Annus (2001: xii).2 Manuscripts of the poem are distributed widely across Mesopotamia. Two tablets containing an Old Babylonian version of the story have been found in Susa, in Iran.3 Two Middle Assyrian manuscripts come from Assur and Nineveh.4 Most of the manuscripts are Neo-Assyrian, found in Nineveh, Tar- 1 See Watanabe (2018: 33–34) for an explanation of how these features combine to represent the thundering clouds as the roaring of a lion. 2 See further pp. 59–62. 3 Sb 9470 (Scheil, 1938: 20–21; Vogelzang, 1988: 92–93) and Sb 14683 (Scheil, 1938: 22–23; Vogel- zang, 1988: 93–94). They are however written in Middle- or Neo-Babylonian script. Vogelzang suggests they are the work of a later scribe copying an earlier version (1988: 111, 114–115). Foster later checked the tablets and came to the same conclusion (Machinist, 2005: 33). 4 Assur 21506w = LKA 1–4, and BM 121087 = CT 46, 37. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004412972_003 34 chapter 1 biṣu, Sultantepe,5 and perhaps in Tell Tayinat.6 The predominance of Neo- Assyrian sources (half at nine out of 18) should probably be regarded as an accident of survival. One Neo-Babylonian colophon identifies its tablet as com- ing from Borsippa,7 and two manuscripts in the Kuyunjik collection are written in Neo-Babylonian script.8 References to Anzû in Enūma eliš strongly indicate that Anzû was widely known in Babylonia, and are integral to understanding of Enūma eliš as a poem that elevates Marduk above Ninurta. We should therefore expect that these references were intended to be recognised, as they are central to the ideology of Enūma eliš, a quintessentially Babylonian poem. It is well known that Enūma eliš has an intertextual relationship with Anzû. Both poems narrate the rise of warrior gods, and Enūma eliš borrows elements from its predecessor to add to the glory of Marduk.9 The way Enūma eliš trans- forms these elements is remarkably competitive: every allusion to Anzû casts Marduk as superior to Ninurta, showing how he outperforms the protagonist of Anzû on every count. However, these tactics are not unique to Enūma eliš, indeed the very same strategies can be found in Anzû itself. We will begin, then, by investigating competitive allusions in Anzû. Anzû alludes to a surprising variety of earlier poems. Naturally, it borrows specific features from Lugal-e, the most important Sumerian composition about the deeds of Ninurta. The relationship with An-gin₇, often dubbed ‘The Return of Ninurta to Nippur’,is not as direct, but this poem is still part of Anzû’s intertextual context, the traditions about Ninurta that circulated at the time of its composition. Examining the background from which Anzû emerged reveals how much is new to the Akkadian poem. Anzû pulls together aspects of Nin- urta’s rise to power from Lugal-e and An-gin₇ to create a new version of the story, where his victory over Anzû is now the definitive event that secures his shrine and reputation.10 In doing so, Anzû competes with earlier poems to 5 The tablets from Sultantepe STT 23 and 25 have been treated by editors of Anzû as belong- ing to a different poem, although they appear to tell a version of the Anzû story. This is not a matter of manuscript variants, rather they have entirely different text from the manuscripts of tablet III from Nineveh and Tarbiṣu, and no colophons survive attributing them to bīn šar dadmē (as for example ms. p, YBC 9842, Hallo & Moran, 1979: 90). Saggs suggests these tablets might represent a hymn to Ninurta appended to the end of the nar- rative, ‘glorifying the god by re-telling his deeds in another form’ (1986: 29). 6 A 11000 = Lauinger, 2008,is of unknown provenance. 7 YBC 9842 = Hallo & Moran, 1979. 8 Sm 1807 + Sm 2195 = CT 46, 40 and Lambert, 1980: 81; K 3008 + K 18740 + K 19368 = CT 46, 38 and Lambert, 1980: 82. 9 See e.g. Lambert (1986, 2013), Machinist (2005), Seri (2014). 10 In Lugal-e Ninurta is not the typical young god but already has a high position, with wife, throne, and processional barque (Vogelzang: 1988: 160)..

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