Myths About the Netherworld in the Ancient Near East and their Counterparts in the Greek Religion

7/25/2019 Myths About the Netherworld in the Ancient Near East and their Counterparts in the Greek Religion

1/8

yths

about the Netherworld in the ncient Near East

nd

their Counterparts in the Greek Religion

WOL G NG

ROLLIG

l tor iental isches

S e m i n a r - U n i v e r s i t a t T u b i n g e n

T h e

t r a n s m i t t a l a n d r e c a s t i n g o f o r i e n t a l m o t i f s i n t o t h e G r e e k l i t e r a r y a n d p i c t o r i a l

arts

h a v e r e c e i v e d i n c r e a s e d a t t e n t i o n i n r e c e n t d e c a d e s . T o a g r e a t e x t e n t t h i s i n t e r e s t h a s

arisen

f r o m i m p r o v e d r e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f t h e m y t h s r e l i g i o u s t a le s a n d r i t u a l s o f t h e A n

c ien t N e a r E a s t , b e t h e y f r o m S u m e r i a n , A k k a d i a n , H i t t i t e o r U g a r i t i c s o u r c e s . D u r i n g

t he l a s t 3 0 y e a r s a g r e a t d e a l o f a n c i e n t o r i e n t a l m y t h o l o g i c a l m a t e r i a l h a s b e e n g l e a n e d

f r om

c u n e i f o r m s o u r c e s e x c a v a t e d in v a r i o u s p la c e s i n M e s o p o t a m i a , S y r ia a n d A n a t o l i a

a nd t o d a y in m u s e u m s o r p r i v a t e c o l l e c t i o n s . A s e ri es o f p u b l i c a t i o n s w i t h u p d a t e d o r

c omp l e t e l y

n e w t r a n s l a t i o n s o f t e x t s c o n s e q u e n t l y h a v e a p p e a r e d i n r e c e n t y e a r s

1

a n d

t hey g r e a t l y i l l u m i n a t e t h e r e l i g i o u s t h i n k i n g o f t h e i n h a b i t a n t s o f t h e s e c o u n t r i e s f r o m

t he

3

r d

m i l l . B . C . u n t i l t h e v e r y e n d o f t h e i r c u l t u r e s . H i s t o r i a n s o f r e l i g i o n i n t h e G r e e k

a n d R o m a n w o r l d a c c o r d i n g l y t o o k a l iv e l y i n t er e s t i n t h e n e w l y d i s c o v e r e d f o l k - t a l e s

a n d m y t h s

2

a n d th e c o m p a r i s o n o f t h e v a r i a n t t e x t s a n d m o t i f s a d v a n c e d t o a s p e c i a l r e

search a r e a w i t h i n G r e e k m y t h o l o g y . T h i s n e w a p p r o a c h t o r e s e a r c h o n e a r l y G r e e k c i v i

l i z a t i on h a s b e e n m a d e p o s s i b l e b y a b e t t e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f th e e m e r g e n c e o f t h i s c u l

ture. I n s t e a d o f b e l i e v i n g t h i s c u l t u r e t o b e a n i n d e p e n d e n t , o r i g i n a l c r e a t i o n o f t h e in

hab i t an t s o f t h e G r e e k poleis, i t is n o w a c c e p t e d t h a t f o r e i g n i n f l u e n c e s h a v e b e e n a c o n

s t i tuent p a r t o f G r e e k c i v i l i z a t i o n s i n c e M i n o a n a n d M y c e n a e a n t i m e

. A v e r y p r o m i n e n t

wi t ne s s o f t h i s w a t e r s h e d i n t h e s t u d y o f e a r l y G r e e k p o e t r y a n d m y t h i s " T h e E a s t F a c e

o f H e l i c o n " , t h e n e w l y p u b l i s h e d w o r k p f M . L . W e s t

4

.

1

T o m e n t i o n o n l y t h e m o s t m o d e r n : S t. D a l l e y , Myths from Mesopotamia, O x f o r d 1 9 8 9 ; J . B o t t c r o - S . N .

Kramer Lorsque les dieux faisaient I homme, P a r i s 1 9 8 9 ; B . F o s t e r , Before the Muses. An Anthology of Akkadian

iterature

2 v o l s . , B e t h e s da ( M d . ) 1 9 9 3 ; O . K a i s e r ( e d . ) , T U A T B d . 3 : Mytben and Epen, G u t e r s l o h 1 9 9 3 / 9 7 .

;

C f . W . B u r k e r t , " O r i e n t a l a n d G r e e k M y t h o l o g y : T h e M e e t i n g o f P a r a l l e l s " , i n J . B r e m m e r ( e d . ), Interpreta -

tions of Greek Mythology 1 9 8 7 , p p . 1 0 - 4 0 ; i d . , The Orientalizing Revolution. Near Eastern Influence on Greek

ulture in the Early Archaic Age C a m b r i d g e (M a s s ) 1 9 9 2 ; in G e r m a n : Die orientalisierende Epoche in der

griechischen Religion und Literatur ( S H A W ) 1 9 8 4 / 1 , H e i d e l b e r g 1 9 8 4 ; T . G a n t z , Early G reek M yth. A Guide to

Literary and Artistic Sources B a l t i m o r e 1 9 9 3 ; C . P e n g l as e , Greek Myths and Mesopotamia L o n d o n - N e w Y o r k

1994.

1

Bu t I w ou ld no t go so f ar as J . J . A . van D i j k w h o recen t ly dec la red: "F . s sei h ier be i lau f ig er wa hn t , da i s i ch

nicht e i n s e h e n k a n n , w a r u m W . B u r k e r t f u r d i e g r i e c h i s c h e M y t h o l o g i e e i n e E p o c h e de r E n t l e h n u n g o r i e n t a l i s c h e r

Mythen v e r l a n g t . H i e r li e g t v v o h l e in k la s s i s c h e s B e i s p i e l v o r v o n V o l k e r k o n t a k t e n i n v o r h i s t o r i s c h e r Z e i t . V o n

einer rez iproken En t le hnu ng kan n n ich t d ie Re de se in " , in S t. M au l ( ed . ) , Festschrift fur R. Borger zu seinem 65 .

ehurtstag (= C u n e i f o r m M o n o g r a p h s , 1 0 ), K o p e n h a g e n 1 9 9 8 , p . 1 1 no te 13 .

4

M . 1.. W es t , The East Face of Helicon. West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth O x f o r d 1 9 9 7 .

Originalverffentlichung in: S. Ribichini - M. Rocchi - P. Xella (Hg.), La questione delle influence vicino-orientali

sulla religione greca, Rom, 2001, S. 307-314


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3 8

W Rollig

Ancient

oriental influence were not on ly transcribed A parallel deve lopm ent also oc

curred

in the graphic and plastic arts of early Greece; eastern motifs appear in early

Greek metal w ork ing and the proto -geom etric brush work on ceramics, the ivory carvings

and the artworks of the gold- and silversmiths show the uninterrupted stream of pictorial

ideas from the east \ accompanied by indigenous experiments with them in the early cen

turies of the evo lution of Greek civil ization. I suppose that a part of the so-called infl u

ence was indirect, i.e. the Greek poets took those imported pieces of jewelry, cylinder

seals,

silver bowls etc. as a base for their own interpretations and narratives. I will return

to

this later.

One

of the elements of Greek art and literature which show striking similarities to an

cient Near Eastern traditions consists in their description of the Netherworld and their

ideas about the afterlife there. For this reason, and because recently an essay on this sub

ject has been published, I have chosen precisely this theme for my paper today.

One of the first things that strikes us about Mesopotamian mythology is that there is

a surprisingly amount of texts treating themes of the Netherworld. A prominent place

holds Inannas descent to the Ne the rw orld , a Sumerian com posit ion, which is a part of

the Inanna-Dumuzi cycle and survived in substantially changed and abbreviated form un

til Neo-Assyrian times, with different versions from Assur and Niniveh

6

. The story de

scribes

the unsuccessful attempt of Inanna/Istar to add the Netherworld to her zone of in

fluence,

to become the queen of all the regions of the universe. On the way to the palace

of the goddess of the Ne therw orld Ereskigal - wh ose name means mistress of the great

earth - Istar has to cross seven gates and divest herself of all her divine sym bols . Afte r a

short struggel, provoked by Istar, the goddess of the Netherworld Ereskigal attacks Istar

with 60 diseases and kills her. Sexual desire consequently vanishes all over the world.

Only through a trick of the god Ea and the intervention of a male prostitute can Istar be

revived

and allowe d to leave the La nd w ithou t Re tur n on con dition that she delivers a

substitute, in Sumerian mythology Dumuzi .

The second myth a bou t the goddess of the Ne therw orld is Nerga l and Eresk igal ,

which has no Sumerian version. It is only known from a Middle Babylonian tablet which

were found in Amarna in Egypt, clearly a school text, a Neo-Assyrian text from Huzirina

and a Late Babylonian text found in Uruk

7

. Th e story centers on the desire of the go d-

1

F o r s o m e b u t n o t a ll o f t h e s e i n f l u e n c e s s e e f o r e x a m p l e G . K o p c k e - I. T o k u m a r u ( e d s . ) , Greece between

East and West: 10tb-8th Centuries BC i M a i n z 1 9 9 2 ; s o m e c o n t r i b u t i o n s a l s o i n : N . D i m o u d i s - A . K y r i a t s o u l i s

(eds.), Die Geschicbte der hellenischen Spracb e und Schrift A l t e n b u r g 1 9 9 9 ; a d d i t i o n a l l y H . M a t t h a u s , The

Greek Symposium and tbe Near East. Chronology and Mechanisms of Cultural Transfer i n R . F . Do c te r - E . M .

M o o r m a n n

( eds . ) . Proceeding s of the X V Internat. Congress of Classical Archaeolog y Amsterd am Inly 1 2-17

1998 A m s t e r d a m 1 9 9 9 , p p . 2 5 6 - 2 6 0 .

F o r t h e S u m e r i a n v e r s i o n c f . W . R . S l a d e k , Inannas Descent to the Netherworld B a l t i m o r e , ( M d . ) 1 9 7 4 ; th e

Akkad ian tex ts are to be f o u n d i n R . Borge r , Babyloniscb-assyrische Lesestiicke

1

R o m e 1 9 7 9 , p p . 9 5 - 1 0 4 ; 1 4 3 f f .;

cf .

a l s o E . R e i n e r , Your Thwarts in Pieces: Your Mooring Rope Cut U n i v e r s i t y o f M i c h i g a n 1 9 8 5 , p p . 2 9 - 4 9 .

M . H u t t e r , Altorientalische Vorstellungen von der Unterw elt. ( = O B O , 6 3 ) , F r e i b u r g - G o t t i n g e n 1 9 8 5 ;

E. R e i n e r , op. eft. ( n o t e 6 ) , p p . 5 0 - 6 0 .


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yths ab out the Netherworld in the Ancient Near East and their Counterparts in the Greek R eligion 3 0 9

ss to marry N ergal w h o after a first rendezvou s with the goddess escapes to the as

sembly of the gods in heaven. In response to her threat to send the deceased to the earth

her

wish is fulfilled by the gods and Nergal becomes the companion of Ereskigal as Lord

of the Netherworld.

A

third myth, which is known from Neo-Assyrian times on only, is the so-called "Erra

epos or "Isum and Erra"

8

. It is not Ereskigal and her empire which form the center of

this narrative, but the fury of Erra, the god of pestilence, against the human beings who

disturb the gods with their noise. Erra, motivated by his vizier Isum, arranges that Mar-

duk,

the king of the gods and Lord of Babylon, leaves his throne and visits the fire god

Girra for the procedure of cleaning his adornments. In the meantime, Erra takes over the

world realm and changes all the rules. He destroys the human race, the world order, and

the basis of civilization, that is: Babylon, the center of the world. Finally, Erra can be

calmed

by his vizier and Marduk resumes his reign, which guarantees the reinstailment of

order.

This myth contains neither a description of the Netherworld nor a reflection on

the afterlife. What it does contain is a description of the fear of the Netherworld of one

of the gods when he is divested of his control over world order. The scope of this text is

probably not an explanation of the afterlife, but rather a warning to the audience to

leave

the existing order unchanged and to be obedient and support the legal government.

A comparable aim may be discerned in a badly preserved text from Assur known as

The underworld vision of an Assyrian prince"

v

. The classification of this unique text by

Alasdair Livingstone as "C ou rt Po etry " and " R oy al P rop aga nd a" in his last edition of

the text is correct, because the vivid description of the Netherworld which the royal

prince saw in his dream, serves as a means of conveying the scope of the grace of which

the

god Ne rgal is capable: " D o not forget or neglect me Th en I will n ot pass a verdict or

annihilation on you" - and the strength of the weapon which he wields: "Whoever of

you may have closed his ear to his speech, tasted the forbidden, trampled on the conse

crated - the luminous splendour of terrifying majesty will throw you down instantly, un

til

you are but wind " These short extracts show clearly that this is a kind of wisdom

text, an advice to a royal prince, and not a religious composition with mythical back

ground.

My final example is provided by the famous story which has been incorporated as

Tablet 12 into the Ninive-recension of the Gilgames epic '". It is evident that this text was

not

an original part of this epic but belonged to the Sumerian com position "Gilga m esh,

Enkidu and the N eth erw orld ", of wh ich it forme d the second part For reasons un kn ow n

L . C a g n i , L Epopea di Erra (= S t u d i S e m i t i c i , 3 4 ) , R o m a 1 9 6 9 ; i d . , The Poem of Erra (= Sourc es f ro m the

Ancient N e a r E a s t , 1 / 3) , M a l i b u 1 9 7 7 ; c f . F . N . H . A l - R a w i - J . A . B l a c k : Iraq, 5 1 ( 1 9 8 9 ) , p p . 1 1 1 - 1 2 2 .

' W . v o n S o d e n , " D i e U n t e r w e l t s v i s i o n e in e s a s s y r is c h e n K r o n p r i n z e n . N e b s t e i n i g e n B e o b a c h t u n g e n z u r

Vorgeschichte d e s A h i q a r - R o m a n s " : Z A , 4 3 ( 1 9 3 6 ) , p p . 1 - 3 1 ; a t l ea s t A . L i v i n g s t o n e , Court Poetry and Literary

iscell ne (= S A A , 3 ) , He l s i n k i 1 9 8 9 , N . 3 2 , pp . 6 8 - 7 6 .

111

R e c e n t l y p u b l i s h e d is a n e w t r a n s l a t i o n o f t h e G i l g a m e s h - e p i c : A . G e o r g e , The E pic of Gilgamesh, L o n d o n

1998.

A . S h a f f e r , Sumerian Sources of Tablet XII of the Epic of Gilgames, P h D D i s s e r t a t i o n , U n i v . o f P e n n s y l v a n i a

1963;

se e n o w J . T o u m a y - A . S h a f fe r , L Epopee de Gilgamesh, P a r is 1 9 9 4 , p p . 2 7 0 - 2 7 4 .


4/8

31

Rollig

t o

u s i t h a s b e e n t r a n s l a t e d i n t o A k k a d i a n a n d a l s o i n c o n t r a s t t o t h e a l r e a d y f i n i s h e d s t o

ry - p u t a t t h e e n d o f t h e c o m p o s i t i o n . I t s h o u l d b e s t r e s s e d , h o w e v e r , t h a t t h e o r i g i n a l

tablets o f t h i s t e x t a r e f e w , c o m e f r o m N i n i v e h o n l y a n d it is d u b i o u s t h a t t h e s t o r y w a s a n

integral p a r t o f t h e e p i c o u t s i d e t h e A s h u r b a n i p a l l i b r a r y . N e v e r t h e l e s s , i t t e ll s u s t h e j o u r

ney o f E n k i d u i n t o t h e N e t h e r w o r l d , w h e r e h e is r e t a i n e d b u t b r o u g h t b a c k f o r a s h o r t d i a

logue

w i t h G i l g a m e s i n a s p e c i a l c e r e m o n y . I w i l l c o m e b a c k t o th i s t e x t s h o r t l y . F o r t h e

mom e n t I w o u l d l i ke t o s t re s s t h e f a c t a g a i n t h a t t h i s S u m e r i a n c o m p o s i t i o n is a l s o k n o w n

f r om t a b l e t s o f t h e O l d - B a b y l o n i a n p e r i o d b u t t h a t n o " s t r e a m o f t r a d i t i o n " re a c h e s th e

Ne o - A s s y r i a n p e r i o d . N e v e r t h e l e s s , s o m e k n o w l e d g e a b o u t t h i s c o m p o s i t i o n m u s t h a v e s u r

vived.

I f

w e t r y t o s u m m a r i z e t h e i n f o r m a t i o n o n t h e N e t h e r w o r l d w h i c h c o m e s f r o m t h e

a f o r emen t i o n e d t e x t s w e g e t t h e f o l l o w i n g p i c t u r e

l2

: T h i s r e g i o n c a l l e d k i " e a r t h " o r k u r

" ( f o r e i gn ) l a n d " i n S u m e r i a n , erset Id tari " T h e L a n d w i t h o u t R e t u r n " i n A k k a d i a n is

s i t ua ted in t h e d e p t h s o f t h e e a r t h , a n d is a n t i t h e t i c a l t o t h e h e a v e n b u t a l a d d e r o n

wh i c h

m e s s e n g e r s c a n g o u p a n d d o w n c o n n e c t s h e a v e n a n d t h e N e t h e r w o r l d . A c c e s s t o

the N e t h e r w o r l d i s t h r o u g h s e v e n g a t e s w i t h a g a t e - k e e p e r w h o t a k e s c a r e t h a t n o b o d y

enters w i t h t h e s i g n s o f h i s o r h e r e a r t h l y p o w e r . S o m e t i m e s , b u t n o t i n t h e e p i c s , a r i v e r

H u b u r

i s n a m e d w h i c h s u r r o u n d s t h e N e t h e r w o r l d

14

a n d h a s t o b e c r o s s e d b y s h i p . E v e n

a f e r r y m a n is k n o w n f r o m t h e " V i s i o n o f a P r i n c e " ; h i s n a m e is H u m u t - t a b a l , - " H u r r y

T ak e a w a y " . T h e N e t h e r w o r l d is a r e g i o n w i t h o u t s u n s h i n e o r o t h e r l i g h t . D e s p i t e t h is ,

it i s r u l e d l i k e a n o r m a l k i n g d o m b y t h e q u e e n E r e s k i g a l a n d h e r h u s b a n d N e r g a l , a s s i s t

ed b y h e r v i z i e r N a m t a r . I n t h e v i s i o n o f t h e A s s y r i a n p r i n c e i t a l s o c o n t a i n s a c o n s i d e r

ab le

n u m b e r o f d e m o n i c m o n s t e r s . T h e i n h a b i t a n t s o f t h e N e t h e r w o r l d , t h e " d e a t h s " , e x

ist

t h e r e in a h a b i t o r f e a t h e r s , m u r m u r i n g l i k e d o v e s o r w a i l i n g , d r i n k i n g b r a c k i s h w a t e r

an d e a t i n g d u s t a n d c l a y . T h e y a r e b o u n d t o t h e N e t h e r w o r l d w i t h o u t h o p e o f a r e t u r n -

their o n l y h o p e is t h a t E r e s k i g a l w i l l b r e a k t h e i r s p e l l a n d s e n d t h e m i n t o t h e w o r l d o f

the

l i v i n g w h e r e t h e y c a n s p r e a d h o r r o r a n d fe a r . W i t h t h e a i d o f s p e c i a l m a g i c a l c e r e

mon i e s t h e y m a y o c c a s i o n a l l y b e e v o k e d f r o m t h e N e t h e r w o r l d f o r n e c r o m a n c y .

N o w , a f t e r t h i s v e r y s h o r t i n t r o d u c t i o n t o t h e i d e a s o f t h e N e t h e r w o r l d i n t h e A n c i e n t

Ne a r

E a s t d u r i n g t h e I

s

' m i l l . B . C . , l e t u s t u r n t o e a r l y G r e e k s o u r c e s , e s p e c i a l l y t o t h e Ili-

ad a n d t h e Odyssee. H e r e , w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n o f t h e f a m o u s Nekyia i n t h e e l e v e n t h S o n g

o f t h e Odyssee n o p a s s a g e i s d e v o t e d t o t h e N e t h e r w o r l d a l o n e . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , w e

d o h e a r a b o u t H a d e s ' h o u s e , w h i c h i s d e s c r i b e d a s eurypyles " w i d e - g a t e d " , a n d it i s u n -

12

S ee M . H u t t e r ( n o t e 7 ) ; j . B o t t e r o , " L a m y t h o l o g i e d e l a M o r r e n M e s o p o t a m i a a n c i e n n e " , i n B . A l s r e r (ed.).

eath in Mesopotamia C o p e n h a g e n 1 9 8 0 , p p . 2 5 - 5 2 ; J . T r o p p e r , Nekromantie. Totenbefragung im Alten Orient

und im Alten Testament (= A O A T , 2 2 3 ) , N e u k i r c h e n - V l u y n 1 9 8 9 ; B . G r o n e b e r g , " Z u d e n m e s o p o t a m i s c h e n U n -

terweksvorstel lungen. D a s J e n s e i t s a l s F o r r s e r z u n g d e s D i e s s e i t s " : A o F , 1 7 ( 1 9 9 0 ) , p p . 2 4 4 - 2 6 1 ; J . A . S c u r l o c k ,

"Dea th a n d t h e A f t e r l i f e i n A n c i e n t M e s o p o t a m i a T h o u g h t " , i n J . M . S a s s o n ( e d .) , Civilizations of the Ancient

ear East I I I, N e w Y o r k 1 9 9 5 , p p . 1 8 8 3 - 1 8 9 3 ; M . B a l d a c c i , / / libra dei morti della antica Ugarit C a s a l e M u n -

ferrato 1 9 9 8 .

I

C f . W . H o r o w i t z , Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography W i n o n a L a k e 1 9 9 8 , p p . 3 4 8 - 3 6 2 .

" S e e W . R o l l i g , Hubur i n R 1 A 4 , 1 9 7 2 / 5 , p . 4 7 8 f . ; W . H o r o w i t z , be. at. ( n o t e 13 ) pp . 3 5 5 - 3 5 8 .


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yt s

about the Netherworld in the Ancient Near East and their Counterparts in the Greek Religion 3 11

doubtedly clear that those who arrive there will not leave this house again II . 23,75f.).

Wellknown

is the river - named A che ron in Sapp ho, Alcaeus and Aesch ylos - wh ich has

to be crossed in order to reach the land of the dead. But Odysseus has to sail across

ceanos to reach Hades. This change of place reminds us of the episode in the Gilgames

epic in which Utnapistim, the hero on his journey to the land of living, where he seeks

refuge has to cross the W aters of D ea th . Th is poiso ned sea cou ld only be crossed by

using

120 pun ting po les ' \ T hi s is clearly a sign of the inaccessibility o f this land - but

bear in mind that this is just Hades, and not yet the Netherworld itself. Like the Babylon

ian Netherworld, that of Greek tradition is the empire of a goddess, Persephone, and a

world of m isty and silent da rk , where the dead whisper like birds. Th e similarities to

the Ancient Oriental mythology are obvious.

A reference to the most impressive description of the afterlife in the Nekyia in the

eleventh Song of the Odyssee is fitting at this po int. Fro m the island of the enchantress

Circe Odysseus sails with the current and at sunset, i .e. in the west, the well-known

land of the de ad in Egy pt, he reaches the land of the Kim m erio i ' a people shrouded in

clouds

and darkness, who never see the sun. This region not only brings to mind the

Netherworld in Mesopotamia but also the famous Babylonian map of the world on

which one of the regions beyon d the Bitter River bears the caption wh ere the sun is not

seen

|7

. One cannot be sure whether this is meant in a mythological or geographical

sense i.e. if actual knowledge of a northern and for a long time during the year dark and

cloudy land resulted in such a description. After arrival at the place which had been de

scribed by Circe, Odysseus performs a ritual: he digs a sacrificial pit with his sword and

sacrifices honey, wine and barley flour. The ritual is followed by a prayer and the slaugh

tering of sheep whose blood runs down into the pit. It has been shown by Gerd Steiner

that this ceremony has exact parallels in Hittite purification rituals of Hurrian origin, in

13

,h

Cen tury B.C. texts which have been preserved in Hattu sa, the capital of the Hittites

ls

.

A further striking parallel comes from the twelfth tablet of the Gilgames epic in which at

the co m m an d of the god Enki/Ea the hero m ake s an opening in the N eth erw orld

whence the ghost of his friend Enkidu is able to return. In the

Nekyia

the spirits of the

deceased com e from the Erebos and assemble at the pit: yo un g married wom en , young

men,

old m en, w h o had endured mu ch, tender girls with hearts you ng in grie f... After

drinking from the blood of the sacrifice, Teiresias from Thebes is able to speak mantical-

ly - this is in sharp contrast to the story of Gilg am es an d E nk idu, w here the deceased

friend makes some explanations about the fate of the dead persons in the Netherworld

but does not have mantic attributes. Nor is the drinking of blood mentioned in the texts

from the Near East and this may have a specific Aegean background.

11

G i l g . E p i c X 1 5 8 f f .

F o r t he p r o b l e m s c o n n e c t e d w i t h t h e C i m m e r i a n s s e e A . I . I v a n t c h i k , Les Cimmeriens au Proche-O rient

(=

O B O , 1 2 7 ) , F r e i b u r g - G o t t i n g e n 1 9 9 3 .

17

S e e a t l e a s t W . H o r o w i t z ,

loc. cit.

( n o t e 1 3 ) p . 2 2 a n d c o m m e n t a r y p . 3 2 f.

G . S t ei ne r , D i e U n t e r w e l t s b e s c h w o r u n g d e s O d y s s e u s i m I. i ch t e h e t h i ti s c h e r T e x t e : U F , 3 ( 1 9 7 1 ) , p p . 2 6 5 -


6/8

3 2

Rollig

I

cou ld go in to details - and m uch of these details have been collected in the extensive

volume of M .L . W est ' . Instead of such an und ertaking I wou ld like to rise some c om

mon

methodological quest ions.

As a scholar who is first of all a philologist in the field of ancient oriental languages

but

with a special interest in the production and tradition of works of l iterature I would

like

to risk some critical methodological comments.

1.

It is a widespread error to suppose that literary texts in the ancient Near East had a

broad distribution in a public which was able to read them. On the contrary: By far the

greater

part of cuneiform tablets which have been found are generally of economic or ju

ridical content, i .e. economic and legal contracts, debts, documents arranging marriage,

divorce

adoption, inheritance and so on. The same is true of the letters, which very sel

dom

contain a reference to the person al belongings of the correspond ents. Lit era ry

texts

normally in a single copy, are only stored in some very special archives or libraries

and are as a rule attached to temples or palaces in the capital cities

2

.

2.

It can be shown that these texts were usually used either for religious ceremonies

e.g. conjurations, new year rituals etc., for scientific purposes such as the hemerologies,

the

astron om ical texts and the ha nd bo ok s for hepatoscopy , or as basic mater ia l in

schools

teaching young scribes the cuneiform script and the Sumerian or Akkadian lan

guage.

The unique exception is the library of king Ashurbanipal in the 7

rh

century B.C.,

who

himself gave orders for the collection of all the literary texts in Babylonia, even from

temple-libraries

with the goal of having a complete collection of the literary production

of

his time

11

.

3.

Today scholars have the literary production in cuneiform of nearly 3 millennia at

their

disposal, i .e. from the beginning of Sumerian writing until the compositions of the

Seleucid period. The situation of the scribes in Assyria and Babylonia was in many in

stances

quite different. As a rule they both had at hand the traditional literature of two

or

three generations which had been copied and recopied in the school. It should be

stressed

however, that many l i terary composit ions which we know today were not in

cluded into the stream of tradition, but excluded for reasons unknown to us. This is true

of

almost all the great Sumerian compositions, the epics and myths, the lamentations and

dialogues which were collected in a canonical version in Old Babylonian times and in

one

place, the temple library of Nippur. It is evident that these compositions were un

known

in the second half of the second millennium and of course not a part of the tradi

tion

during the first millennium. Such compositions cannot be considered in the context

of

the transm ittal of oriental m otivs into the Greek w orl d. If - as has been the case in a

M . L . W e s t , The East Face ( se e n o t e 4 ) , p p . 4 1 5 - 4 1 7 .

211

S o m e b u t b y fa r n o t al l p r o b l e m s o f t h e c o l l e c t i o n a n d t r a d i t i o n o f c u n e i f o r m t e x t s a r e d i s c u s s e d i n K . R .

Veenhof ( e d . ) , Cuneiform Archives and Libraries. Papers read at the 30 RAI, L e i d e n 1 9 8 6 .

C f . S . J. L i e b e r m a n , C a n o n i c a l a n d O f f i c i a l C u n e i f o r m T e x t s : T o w a r d s a n U n d e r s t a n d i n g o f A s s u r b a n i p a i ' s

Personal

T a b l e t C o l l e c t i o n , i n T . A b u s h - j . H u e h n e r g a r d - P . S t e i n k e l l e r ( e d s . ) , Lingering over Words. Studies in

o or of W.L. Moran, A t l a n t a 1 9 9 0 , p p . 3 0 5 - 3 3 6 .


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yths about the Netherworld in the Ancient Near East and their Counterparts in the Greek Re ligion 3 1 3

rti le

by Gisela Strasburger just published in An tike und Abe nd lan d

22

- such narra

tives as "The Death of Urnammu", the sulgi hymns or the Sumerian myth of "Enlil and

Ninlil are used as specific motifs, it should be borne in mind that the tradition of these

texts ended with the Old Babylonian period. There are no traces of an oral tradition of

such

texts, and we have to conclude that not only the specific formulations but also the

entire content of these texts did not survive.

4. Nevertheless, M.L. West, who is aware of some of these problems, believes: "The

Gilgames epic and other Akkadian classics must have been available in many palace,

temple,

and private libraries in Assyria and Babylonia, and there must have been scribes

capable of translating them into Aramaic, if there was any call for it

2

. Even if this may

be true of the Gilgames epic, which was widespread and handed down over centuries,

the "Akkadian classics" are a fiction which never existed. The supposed Aramaic "trans

lations

are a similar fiction. W ithin the wh ole corpus of Aram aic texts know n today -

and

this corpus is not small - not a single "literary" text of Akkadian origin is known to

us. Not even the "Proverbs of Ahiqar"

24

is a translation of an Akkadian text but an in

dependent composition with some allusions to perhaps orally delivered words of wis

dom.

It seems to me that much scribal experience with the new medium of alphabetic

writing would be necessary until the art of composing longer literary texts had been de

veloped

as we can see in the enormous amount of compositions in later Syriac.

5. On the other hand, there are signs of a long oral tradition of stories about certain

persons - for example Sargon or Naram-Sin of Akkade

2>

- and of mytho logical themes,

which only occasionally were written down. An example of this is the myth "Inanna's de

scent

to the Netherworld" which I have already discussed. Despite the fact that this text

is also incompletely preserved i.e. was not fully composed, the preserved texts of the

Akkadian versions differ markedly both amongst themselves and also particularly from

the Sumerian version of the Old Babylonian period. If scholars in the field of Greek and

Roman

literature and religion are not always aware of these problems, then we have only

scholars of Ancien t Or iental Studies to blame - that is, those wh o are unable to pr oduce

an up-to-date history of literature for the Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite and Ugaritic tradi

tions.

Still anybody who has ever worked in this field knows the number of problems

connected

with such an undertaking.

6.

A problem which should be mentioned before I finish, one which is not only impor

tant but also controversial lies in the discussion of oral traditions: W h o c ould have been

responsible

for the transmittal of myths and rituals from other countries and languages

to

Greece? Walter Burkert has developed a p icture of the "wandering craftsmen"

22

G i s . S tr a s bu r ge r , " D i e F a h r t de s O d y s s e u s z u de n T o t e n i m V e r g l e i c h m i t a l t e r e n J e n s e i t s f a h r t e n " : Antike

und Abendland 4 4 ( 1 9 9 8 ) , p p . 1 - 2 9 .

21

M . L . W e s t , The E ast Face ( n o t e 4 ) , p . 5 9 3 .

A t l e a s t: J . M . L i n d e n b e r g e r , The Aramaic Proverbs of Ahiqar B a l t i m o r e - L o n d o n 1 9 8 3 ; I . K o r t s ie p e r , Die

eschichte und die Spriiche d es weisen Achiqar i n O . K a i s e r (e d . ) , T U A T 3 / 2 , 1 9 9 1 , p p . 3 2 0 - 3 4 7 .

2

S e e r e c e n t l y J . G . W e s t e n h o l z , Legends of the Kings of Akkade W i n o n a L a k e 1 9 9 7 , e s p e c . p p . 3 3 - 1 6 9 .


8/8

314

W R d l l i g

n

n a m e d t h e baru the d i v ine r , the Ba by lo n ian pr ie s t w h o is respons ib le for ex t i sp iey

26

,

sometimes

t rans la ted see r as on e o f these c ra f t sm en . Fr om the ev idence wh ich is ava i l

able toda y , on e can con c lu de tha t such spe c ia l i s t s were ca l l ed by l oca l ru le r s for spec ia l

tasks

and d id somet imes t rave l f rom one p lace to the o ther . The reasonab ly f requent ex

amples we have for such h ir ing in the 13

th

centur y B .C . sh ow h ow ever , tha t it w as the ex

ception a nd n ot the ru le for the wo rk o f these pr ie s ts . For th i s reason I co nc lud e tha t o c

casionally

one or two o f these barii m ay ha ve reached the Gre ek wo r l d but as a ru le they

had the i r p lace in a cu l t i c center an d ca nn ot h av e been gen era l l y res pon s ib le for the

transfer o f anc ien t or i en ta l r e l ig ious ideas to the Greek wor ld .

With t h e c o m m e n t s I h a v e m a d e I d o n o t m e a n t o q u e s t i on t h e i de a o r s ys t e m o f c om

paring A n c i e n t O r i e n t a l a n d G r e e k r e l i g i o u s i de a s . N e v e r t h e l e s s , I d o w i s h t o w a r n

against i m p r u d e n t u s e o f t h e a v a i l a b l e s ou r c e - m a t e r i a l .

We

s h ou l d a l w a y s b e a r i n m i n d t h a t m y t h s , r i t u a l a n d l i t e r a r y c om p os i t i on s h a v e a

certain p lace in h i s tory . Natura l l y , th i s a l so app l i e s to those o f the anc ien t Near Eas t . Be

cause

o f th i s , they shou ld not be used w i thout care fu l cons idera t ion o f the h i s tor i ca l con

text o f the i r c rea t ion and use , an d par t i c u lar l y w i th ou t con s ide ra t io n o f the ir S i t z im

eben i n t h e O r i e n t a l W o r l d - b e i t i n M e s op o t a m i a , A n a t o l i a , Sy ri a o r P a le s ti n e . Th e s e

basic pr inc ip les o f p ro fess iona l p rac t i ce are a lone su f f i c i en t to ensure sound and re l i ab le

methods

o f c om p a r i s on f o r f u r t h e r r e s e a r c h .

" Conc ernin g the see r e f . W. Burkert , Die orientalisierende Epoche (s. note 2) , pp. 43 -5 4, but with respect

to

their funct ion in the com mu nicat io n between the k ing and the gods see no w B. Pongratz -Leis ten, Herrscbafts-

w ss n in Mesopotamia (= S A A , 10) , Helsin ki 1 99 9, pp. 128 -20 1.

Myths About the Netherworld in the Ancient Near East and their Counterparts in the Greek Religion

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