Nergal
Nergal West AsiaAccording to one Babylonian myth, it happened that Ereshkigal, ‘the mistress of death’, summoned Nergal to account for his refusal to stand up in the assembly of the gods before her envoy. The gods agreed that Nergal should depart from them, and Ea gave him an escort of fourteen demons who caused sickness. The exiled god used these horrible comrades to advantage in seizing the seven portals of the nether world. Once inside the throne room himself, Nergal seized Ereshkigal by the hair and cast her on the floor. His dagger was only stopped from slitting the goddess's throat through a successful appeal to his masculinity. ‘Kill me not’, cried out Ereshkigal. ‘I shall be your wife and the kingdom of the dead acknowledge your sovereignty. In your hand I shall place the tablets of wisdom.’ Nergal accepted the proposal and henceforth as her consort ruled in death. A variant legend recounts his return to the assembly of the gods, whence a...
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