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--- the_assyrian_queen_and_the_scorpion [2014/08/07 22:15] – dahl
+++ the_assyrian_queen_and_the_scorpion [2014/10/23 17:30] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1
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 ==== The Assyrian Queen and The Scorpion ====
-The scorpion (Akkadian “zuqiqīpu(m)/zuqaqīpu(m)”. See Gelb 1957: 309; Sumerian “GĺR.TAB”.  See CDA: 450; Chikako E.Watanebe, Animal Symbolism in Mesopotamia, A Contextual Approach, WOO, Band 1, Institut für Orientalistik, Universität Wien, Wien 2002, p.39) certainly figures in Mesopotamian art , especially engraving, from very early times (Sumerian) and is thought to have been “quite clearly connected with fertility” (Macgregor 2012: 77). Indeed, representations of scorpions are known from prehistoric times onwards, but not unequivocally as a religious symbol until late in the Kassite Period on kudurrus, on which the creature is labelled as a symbol of goddess Išhara (Jeremy Black-Anthony Green, Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia, An Illustrated Dictionary, Illustrations by Tessa Rickards, British Museum Press, London 1992, p.160). The creature’s scorpion tail suggests its fertility aspect; this aspect manifests elsewhere in the scorpion’s association with Išhara, the goddess of sexual fertility and fecundity. It is also emphasised in the divine function of Sin; the responsibility of Adad to provide rain can also be related to the fertility of the land (Watanebe 2002: 160).
+The scorpion (Akkadian “zuqiqīpu(m)/zuqaqīpu(m)”; See Gelb 1957: 309; Sumerian “GĺR.TAB”.  See CDA: 450; Chikako E.Watanebe, Animal Symbolism in Mesopotamia, A Contextual Approach, WOO, Band 1, Institut für Orientalistik, Universität Wien, Wien 2002, p.39) is found in Mesopotamian art, especially engravings, from at least the third millennium and is thought to have been “quite clearly connected with fertility” (Macgregor 2012: 77). Indeed, representations of scorpions are known from prehistoric times onwards, but not unequivocally as a religious symbol until late in the Kassite Period on kudurrus, on which the creature is labelled as a symbol of the goddess Išhara (see J. Black and A. Green's //Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia, An Illustrated Dictionary//. 1992, 160). The creature’s association with fertility is suported by the shape of the creature's tail and in its association with Išhara, the goddess of sexual fertility and fecundity. It is also emphasised in the divine function of Sîn, and the responsibility of Adad to provide rain can also be related to the fertility of the land (Watanebe 2002: 160).
 Ideologically, the Assyrian queen was the image of the Queen of Heaven, Mulissu/Ištar, and was accordingly depicted with the main attributes of the goddess, the mural crown, the mirror and the spindle. In Assyrian religion, Mulissu was the heavenly mother of the king, the holy spirit, who spoke through the prophets and pleaded for the king and all mankind in the “divine council” in heaven. As the physical mother of the future king, the queen effectively coalesced with her heavenly paragon. By the virtue of her access to the king’s bed, she also personified the goddess of marital love, Išhara. All documents of the queen were sealed with the image of scorpion, the symbol of Išhara (Parpola 2012: 619).