THE SIN OF THE GOD ZU.
God Zu.—Obscurity of legend.—Translation.—Sin of Zu.—Anger of the
gods.—Speeches of Anu to Rimmon.—Rimmon’s answer.—Speech of Anu
to Nebo.—Answer of Nebo.—Lugal-turda.—Changes to a bird.—The Zu
bird.—Bird of prey.—Lugal-turda lord of Amarda.—Prometheus.
Among the legends of the gods, companion stories to the accounts of the
Creation and Deluge, one of the most curious is the legend of the sin
committed by the god Zu.
This legend stands quite alone, its incidents and its principal actor
being otherwise almost unknown from cuneiform sources. Only one copy
of the story has at present been detected, and this is in so mutilated
a condition that it cannot be connected with any other of the legends.
It belongs to the same cycle of myths as the myth of the exploits of
Dibbara, which will be given in the next chapter.
The principal actor in the legend is a god named Zu, the name being
found in all the three cases of an Assyrian noun Zu, Za, and Zi.
Analogy would lead us to infer that the name had been borrowed by the
Assyrians from the Accadians, as well as the story with which it is
connected.
Mr. Smith compared the legend with that of the mutilation of Uranus
by his son Kronus, and with the history of the outrage of Ham on his
father Noah; but its real analogue is the myth of Prometheus, the
benefactor of men, who stole the fire of heaven for their sake, and
brought upon himself the anger and punishment of Zeus. It contains two
difficult words, _partsi_ and _tereti_. The first is ambiguous, meaning
either “oracles” or “shrines,” but since it is coupled with _dup-simi_,
“tablets of destiny,” it is probably to be rendered “oracles.” _Tereti_
is very obscure. The sun-god is called “the lord of _tereti_” and the
word occurs in the hymn to the Creator, Rev. 17 (p. 79), where also it
is united with _partsi_, “command” or “oracle.” It may signify “lots.”
The tablets of destiny, stolen by Zu, for the benefit, apparently, of
mankind, formed the vault of the palace of the under-world. We may
compare the books which are to be opened on the day of judgment in Dan.
vii. 10, and Rev. xx. 12.
The tablet containing the account of the sin of Zu, K 3454, in the
Museum collection, originally contained four columns of text, each
column having about sixty lines of writing. The first and fourth
columns are almost entirely lost, there not being enough anywhere to
translate from. The mutilation of the text seriously adds to the
difficulties of translation.
The single fragment preserved, belonging to the first column, mentions
some being who was the seed or firstborn of Bel, with a number of
titles, such as “warrior, soldier of the temple of Bel,” and the name
of the god Zu occurs, but not so as to prove these titles to be his.
The following is a partial translation of the remains of this tablet:—
K. 3454.
COLUMN I. lost.
COLUMN II.
1. .... of the gods all of them he urged on.
2. ........ the image, Zu grew old (and)
3. Zu? like .... Bel seized his heel.
4. Three streams? of water in front also
5. the work of Bel in ........ he dreams of (_or_ ponders) in himself.
6. The crown of his majesty, the clothing of his divinity,
7. the tablets of destiny, himself, Zu, he dreams of, and
8. he dreams that he is the father of the gods also, the protector of
heaven and earth.
9. The desire to be Bel is taken in his heart,
10. Zu dreams that he is also the father of the gods, the protector of
heaven and earth.
11. The desire to be Bel is taken in his heart:
12. Let me too seize the tablets of destiny of the gods,
13. and the _tereti_ of the gods all of them let me kindle,
14. may my throne also be established, let me lift up the oracles,
15. let me urge on the whole of all of them, even the angels.
16. So he lifted up his heart in opposition,
17. in the lower part of the forest where he was dreaming he kept his
head away from the day.
18. When Bel pours out the bright waters,
19. spread out also on the throne his crown was placed,
20. the tablets of doom his hand took,
21. the attributes of Bel he seized, he laid hold of the oracles.
22. Zu fled away and a rugged mountain concealed (him).
23. He spread darkness, and made a commotion (?).
24. The father, their king, the ruler Bel
25. ..... outpoured the glory of the gods.
26. .........
27. Anu his mouth opened, he speaks
28. and says to the gods his sons:
29. Whoever will, let him slay Zu, and
30. among all men may his name be renowned.
—–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–—
31. (To Rimmon) the powerful firstborn the son of Anu
32. his will also to him he declares:
33. To Rimmon the powerful firstborn the son of Anu
34. his will to him he declares.
35. (O mighty) Rimmon, companion, may thy power of fighting never fail.
36. (Slay) Zu with thy weapon.
37. (May thy name) be renowned in the assembly of the great gods,
38. .... a rival have thy brothers
39. may they supply and build of brick (thy) altars,
40. in the four regions may they establish thy stronghold.
41. May thy stronghold be exalted to become a shrine.
42. They shall cry (?) in the presence of the gods and blessed be thy
name.
43. Rimmon answered the speech,
44. to his father Anu a word he speaks;
45. My father, to an impenetrable mountain do thou consign (him).
46. Let Zu never associate among the gods thy sons.
47. The tablets of destiny his hand took;
48. the attributes of Bel he seized, laying hold of the oracles,
49. Zu fled away and a rugged mountain concealed (him).
50. .... the opening of (his) mouth
51. ........ like mud
52. .... the gods sweep away
53. .... I will not go he said.
—–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–—
(Sixteen lines lost here, part on this column, part on Column III.)
COLUMN III.
1. Zu fled away and a rugged mountain concealed (him).
2. .... the opening of his mouth ... the protector of heaven and earth
3. ........ like mud
4. .... the gods sweep away
5. .... I will not go he said.
—–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–—
6. To Nebo the powerful .... the eldest son of Istar,
7. (Anu his will) to him also declares:
8. O mighty Nebo, companion, may thy power of fighting never fail!
9. (Slay) Zu with thy weapon.
10. May (thy name) be renowned in the assembly of the great gods,
11. ..... among the gods thy brothers a rival have (?)
12. May they supply and build (thy) altars;
13. in the four regions may they establish thy stronghold.
14. May thy stronghold be exalted to become a shrine.
15. They shall cry (?) in the presence of the gods and blessed be thy
name.
16. Nebo answered the speech,
17. to his father Anu a word he speaks:
18. My father, to a trackless mountain do thou consign him.
19. Let Zu never associate with the gods thy sons.
20. The tablets of destiny his hand took,
21. the attributes of Bel he seized, laying hold of the oracles.
22. Zu fled away and a rugged mountain concealed him.
23. .... the opening of his mouth ... the protector of heaven and earth
The rest, including Column IV., is lost.
Such are the fragments of the story so far as they can be translated at
present. The divine Zu here mentioned, whose sin is spoken of, is never
counted among the gods, and there would be no clue to his nature were
it not for a curious tablet printed in “Cuneiform Inscriptions,” vol.
iv. p. 14, which throws light on his origin and character. This tablet
gives the following curious relation:
1. The god Lugal-turda (the valiant king) [fled] to the mountains, a
place remote;
2. in the mountains of Sabu [he dwelt].
3. No mother gave him life[16] or (suckled him).
4. No father gave him life or with him (associated).
5. No noble who knew him (helped him).
6. Of the resolution of his heart the resolution he (changed) not.
7. In his own heart the resolution (he kept).
8. Into the likeness of a bird was he transformed;
9. into the likeness of the divine storm bird (or Zu bird) was he
transformed.
10. The face of his wife who has faced?
11. The wife of the Divine Zu bird, the son of the divine Zu bird,
12. in companionship he made sit.
13. The goddess Enna, the lady of Tigenna,
14. in the mountain he brought back.
15. A woman fashioned was her mother according to likeness made,
16. the goddess of perfumes a woman fashioned was her mother according
to likeness made.
17. Her hair was white crystal;
18. Her navel was pure with silver and gold,
19. brightness was fixed in the womb;
20. in the womb dwelt perfection (?).
Many lines are lost here, and the story recommences on reverse.
1. .... a turban he placed on his head
2. (when) from the nest of the god Zu he came.
—–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–—
This Zu bird is plainly the same as the god Zu of the former legend,
and his nature is shown by a passage in the annals of Assur-nazir-pal
(“Cuneiform Inscriptions,” vol. i. p. 22, col. ii. l. 107), who says
that his warriors “like the divine Zu bird upon them darted.” This bird
is called the cloud or storm-bird, the flesh-eating bird, the lion or
giant bird, the bird of prey, the bird with sharp beak; and it is not
difficult to see what the deified bird really was. It was clearly the
storm-cloud, which appears in Aryan folklore under the varying forms
of the eagle, the woodpecker, and the robin redbreast, the bird of
Thor; while in Chinese mythology the storm-bird is described as “a
bird which, in flying, obscures the sun, and of whose quills are made
water-tuns.” The roc of the “Arabian Nights,” with its wings of ten
thousand fathoms in width, and its egg, which it was a sin in Aladdin
to wish to take from the place where it hung, is but an echo of the
Chinese storm-bird; and the identity of the Chaldean Zu with the latter
is demonstrated by its Accadian name, which signifies “the bird of the
divine storm-cloud.” Just as Prometheus brought the lightning from
heaven to earth, and suffered the penalty of enchainment to a desert
rock, so, too, the storm-bird of Accad stole the secrets of the gods,
and was punished by exile from them, and transformation into a bird.
When once the storm-cloud had been likened to a bird, it was easy
enough to identify it with an actual bird of similar name which swooped
upon its prey with sharp beak. That the lightning which darted from
the bosom of the black tempest really formed the tablets of destiny
was a ready conclusion to a people who read the future in the message
sent through the lightning from heaven to earth. Even the Hebrews saw
in the thunder “the voice of God.” Lugal-turda, it may be added, was
the patron of the city of Amarda or Marad, and is said to have been the
deity worshipped by Izdubar.
In the story of the offence of Zu there is another instance of the
variations which constantly occur in the Assyrian inscriptions with
respect to the relationship of the gods. Nebo is usually called son of
Merodach, but in this inscription he is called son of Anu. The part
that he plays in it is due to the fact that he was identified with the
“meridian sun.”
FOOTNOTES:
[16] This is the reading of the original Accadian text. The Assyrian
translation has, “was his establisher.”