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Both Julian the Emperor’s Cave of the Nymph and the Egal of the goddess Nungal, which is the same as the Egal of Inanna/Ninegala, show creative and merciful aspects.
Julian the Emperor, Hymn to the Mother of the Gods 5.15.D (Wright):
But when he [Attis, Gallus] passed beyond this limit and came even to the lowest region, the myth said that he had descended into the cave, and had wedded the nymph. And the nimph is to be interpreted as the dampness of matter; … Indeed Heracleitus also says: “It is death to souls to become wet.”
Nungal Hymn 75-82, 99, 103:
(Nungal is speaking) Mercy and compassion are mine. I frighten no one. I keep an eye upon the black-headed people: they are under my surveillance. I hold the tablet of life in my hand and I register the just ones on it. The evildoers cannot escape my arm; I learn their deeds. All countries look to me as to their divine mother. I temper severe punishments; I am a compassionate mother. I cool down even the angriest heart, sprinkling it with cool water. I calm down the wounded heart; I snatch men from the jaws of destruction … .. (verse 99: Egal) My house of life … (verse 103) My house gives birth to a just person, but exterminate a false one.
Iddin-Dagan A 169-172:
In the palace, the house that administers the nation … the house called ‘River Ordeal’, (therein) has the dark-headed people, the nation in its enterity, founded a dais for Ninegalla. … That she take care of the life of all lands.
Dumuzi-Inanna Song P, Segment C 37-38:
May there be long life in the palace under him. CT XV 26.17:
That wailing is verily for the palace; it may not give birth to long life.
Sources (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
CT XV 26.17
Dumuzi-Inanna Song P, Segment C 37-38
Julian the Emperor, Hymn to the Mother of the Gods 5.15.D (Wright)
Iddin-Dagan A 169-172
Nungal Hymn 75-103
Bibliography
| Civil 1993 | Civil, M. “On Mesopotamian Jails and Their Lady Warden.” In: Mark E. Cohen, Daniel C. Snell and David B. Weisberg (eds.). The Tablet and the Scroll. Near Eastern Studies in Honour of William W. Hallo. Bethesda MD: CDL Press 1993, 72-78. |
| Jacobsen 1976, 37-40, 40-43, 43-47, 68-73 | Jacobsen, Thorkild. The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion. Sources from the Ancient Near East 2.3. New Haven, London: Yale University Press 1976. |
| Mander 2001, 119-124. | Mander, Pietro. “Antecedents in the Cuneiform Literature of the Attis Tradition in Late Antiquity.” Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 1 (2001) 100-149. [Brill (requires subscription)] |
| Wright 1913, 462-463 | Wright, Wilmer Cave. The Works of the Emperor Julian, I. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, London: Heinemann 1913. |
Links (external links will open in a new browser window)
Cf. The cosmic cave (1)
Cf. The cosmic cave (3)
Pietro Mander
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