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The Poem of Erra and the Disruption of Cosmic Stability

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The Poem of Erra and the Disruption of Cosmic Stability CHAPTER FOUR THE POEM OF ERRA AND THE DISRUPTION OF COSMIC STABILITY The main edition of the Poem of Erra comes from L. Cagni— transliteration and commentary in 1969, and translation with commen- taries in 1974.1 The fragmentary tablet II was edited anew, adding a new tablet from Tell Haddad by F. N. H. Al-Rawi and J. A. Black, in 1989.2 There are two important translations that include this new tablet, by B. Foster and S. Dalley.3 There are still, however, large lacunas in tablets II and III. In tablet II these come at such crucial places that an intelligi- ble reading of the text must be based on quite heavy assumptions. What characterizes the poem as a literary composition is that it is made up of speeches with only a few narrative transitions. The speeches unfold the storyline, so that we have to read the succession of events out of the dialogues. There are three main interlocutors, the gods Erra, Ishum, and Marduk; in several scenes these are supplemented with a series of gods and other divine beings. The plot of the story moves between two poles: at the beginning of the story Erra is at rest and is urged to activity and war (I, 1–91); at the end of the story Erra is in rage for war, and is urged to peace (V, 15–42). As we have seen in our treatment of Atrahasis, P. Machinist regarded this as the deep structure of the poem.4 The poem was about how to uphold the cosmic order in the right balance between rest and activity.5 This is a theme the Poem of Erra has in common with Atrahasis. Between these two poles we follow Erra as he unfolds his uncontrolled anger and violence. Erra is here followed by his companion Ishum and is given the Sebitti, the seven rageing demons, as combatants. These seven demons were born when Anu impregnated mother earth: 1 Cagni, L’epopea di Erra; L. Cagni, The Poem of Erra, vol. 1/3, SANE. Malibu, California 1974. 2 Al-Rawi and Black, “The Second Tablet,” 111–22. 3 Foster, Before the Muses, 880–911; Dalley, “Erra and Ishum,” 404–16. 4 Cf. ch. I 1.5.2. 5 Machinist, “Rest and Violence,” 223–25. 160 i. mesopotamian primeval traditions When Anu, king of the gods, impregnated Earth, She bore the Seven Gods for him and he named them Sebitti. (Poem of Erra I, 28–29)6 They were given to Erra to act as his fierce weapons in his destruction of humans. By the speeches of Ishum and the Sebitti, Erra is convinced to wage war against the humans; then he figures out his plan. He has to remove Marduk, the god in charge of the cosmic order, from his throne (I, 92–125). Here we have come to a part of the story where the nar- rative displays an intriguing complexity. A new story from the past is recollected and woven into the Erra story: the story is about the flood that once struck the earth with clear references to the flood story in Atrahasis (cf. below). In this story Marduk has the role of Enlil, the god who destroyed humankind, in the flood story. Moreover, in this reinterpretation of the flood story, the poem also includes the tradi- tion of the primeval seven apkallus. As we previously have seen, they are in charge of maintaining Marduk’s cult statue, and by doing so securing the cosmic order. As W. G. Lambert already called attention to in 1958, we are here at a crucial point in the narration, the inclu- sion of the mīs pî, “mouth washing” and the pīt pî, “mouth opening” ritual connected to the divine statue.7 Thus the new story woven into the Erra story both refers to the primeval flood and to the apkallu’s securing of the cosmic order by maintaining the divine statue. This interconnection of the two stories, the one from the past and the other belonging to the present time of Erra, reaches from I, 126 when Erra approaches Marduk to II, 36’ (in Dalley’s line counting), when Erra returns to his sanctuary Emeslam in Cutha. To pursue his plan, Erra enters Marduk’ temple Esagila in Babylon. His ruse is to induce Marduk to leave his cultic statue and thereby abdicate, so that Erra can take charge: Why has your precious image, symbol of your lordship, Which was full of splendor as the stars of heaven, lost its brilliance? Your lordly diadem, which made the inner sanctum shine 6 Translation according to Dalley, “Erra and Ishum,” 405. 7 W. G. Lambert, “Rezension: F. Gössmann, Das Era-Epos,” AfO 18 (1958): 395– 401, 398–99. .
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