Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea

In ancient Mesopotamian religion, Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea are a set of twin gods who were worshipped in the village of Kisiga, located in northern Babylonia.[2] They were regarded as guardians of doorways[1] and they may have originally been envisioned as a set of twins guarding the gates of the Underworld, who chopped the dead into pieces as they passed through the gates.[3] During the Neo-Assyrian period, small depictions of them would be buried at entrances,[1] with Lugal-irra always on the left and Meslamta-ea always on the right.[1] They are identical and are shown wearing horned caps and each holding an axe and a mace.[1] They are identified with the constellation Gemini, which is named after them.[1]

Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea are the "Great Twins" of the constellation Gemini.[1]

See also

References
  1. Black & Green 1992, p. 124.
  2. Black & Green 1992, p. 123.
  3. Black & Green 1992, pp. 123–124.

Bibliography
  • Black, Jeremy; Green, Anthony (1992), Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary, The British Museum Press, ISBN 978-0714117058CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Brisch, Nicole (2016), "Lugalirra and Meslamtaea (a pair of gods); Underworld deities that often occur together, also called the 'Divine Twins'. They are associated with the underworld god Nergal. Later traditions imagine them as guardians to the entrance of the underworld.", Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses, Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus, UK Higher Education AcademyCS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.