Lately I have been fascinated by Mesopotamian art–particularly early Sumerian art. Here is an inlay carved into a piece of shell from early dynastic Sumer (circa 2800-2600 BC). It depicts the hero/king/god, Ninurta fighting a seven-headed dragon (ancient Mesopotamians were fascinated with the number seven—which they put everywhere, in case you ever wondered why the week has seven days). Ninurta was a famous hunter and warrior (who some scholars suggest shows up in the Bible as the hunter Nimrod). His attributes include a bow and arrows, a sickle sword, and a talking mace named Sharur! [as an aside, I feel like a mace would be a singularly brain-damaged talking entity] Ninurta killed a sequence of seven heroic monsters in order to receive innovations and magical items (a tale which is echoed in the stories of Hercules and the offspring of Echidna). One of the monsters he fought was this splendid 7-headed dragon which, in this carving, looks like a cross between a leopard and a seven headed snake. This amazing mythological creature was quite likely the original version of the Greek hydra. Additionally a seven-headed dragon has a big scary role in the events of the Book of Revelations—so he is more on people’s minds than Ninurta is, these days. However all of these allusions and myths are not as important as the vitality and beauty of this amazing artwork—which is nearly 5 thousand years old!
9 comments
Comments feed for this article
December 2, 2015 at 12:25 AM
frithkin
Wow that was an extra awesome post amongst a great number of great posts . That story sounds like a D&D adventure including the talking mace and quest for magic items . Thank you for the exciting story and post .
It is interesting that our calendar has seven days as you mention , and the names of the days of our seven day week come from a number of different cultures in different periods of time !?
December 17, 2015 at 1:18 PM
Wayne
I wish we knew more about what the mace said! I bet he was pithy and blunt. The days of the week are such strange ancient artifacts. i have tried writing about them before but been defeated by their eclectic ancient roots.
December 4, 2015 at 11:21 AM
katesisco
Even more interesting is that the actual occurrances where animals–primarily mothers–can count their offspring up to 7.
December 17, 2015 at 8:48 PM
frithkin
In early iterations of D& D , magic swords and maces and the like all had a personality , motivations etc maybe this story could have been motivation for that ?
February 4, 2016 at 2:02 PM
Jamie Lyn Weigt
Great post! I was looking for an image of a Mesopotamian dragon for my own blog and found this — it’s simply perfect! I’m going to link back to your post so my followers can read the whole story, since you’ve laid it out so well. Thanks so much, I’m definitely going to be following you now! 🙂
November 5, 2016 at 5:57 PM
Jeffery Barber
Wayne,
You have put together an incredible site with some extremely valid information. You have connected some of my unconnected “dots”.
First, the seven headed beast of Revelation 13:2, is not a dragon. He has the feet of bear and head of a lion, to paraphrase the quote. The fact that he is a “beast” that “rises from the sea” tells use the he is a “Nephilim” who is descended from the Greek god Neptune. He is given his power by the “red dragon”, which is allegory for the Old Man, the Creator. “Seven heads” allegorically is seven brains and references superior intelligence. Metaphorically, it represents the individual who is the “Awaited One”, is the preferred title, if you please. There are a dozen titles that he holds, but this is valid to all of them. The beast has “seven heads with ten crowns” one of his heads has a fatal wound that has healed. This metaphor implies that each head is of royal extraction.
In reality, these are his angelic guides. Each one is a god with one exception and that it the head the has the wound. That is representative of Grandsire Bhishma Patimah, whot was also a Nephilim and the seven headed beasts counterpart in the third battle of good and evil that must be fought to end the Age.
The “red dragon” is represented as the Creator, who was also the Babylonians”Marduk”. So, he is checked off in the “holy ghost” category, but the “Son” and “Father” each claim a head and a crown. These are Vishnu and Shiva. The red dragon personifies the Old Man and is Brahmin. (That’s with the “I” not an a.).
Brahmin is also your seven headed dragon of Sumer.
Clearly, Ninurta is depicted with arms crossed in reverence and is not fighting the dragon. Ninurta is representative of the “Melchizedek” in the first Age.
What the council of Nicea didn’t fully grasp is hat the ancient texts the bible was framed from where nothing more than eschatological prophecy, and they added some unicorns and butterflies and suddenly it’s a message of good hope. It is most certainly not any good hope. They failed to grasp that this prophecy had been fulfilled thrice prior, at the end of the three previous ages.
The battle to close the Age in each Age has been the story recounted in the epic of Gilgamesh to end the first Age .
The second Age was battle of the Ten Kings and the third Age was the battle recounted in the Mahabharata , with old Bhishma in the starring role.
The fourth Age or Yuga, will be the battle of the Armageddon , which actually just started in an official capacity, with the first salvo fired at the Army of Darkness which is personified by the CIA.
To fill in the blank I left when I went onto tangential avenue, is the remaining heads of the seven headed beast are embodied by the Greek god, Charron. (He prefers the two “r” spelling, thank you).
There are two heads and five crowns remaining.
Hermes is “Hermes Trismegistus” and he captures three crowns, obviously. His winged helmet and sandles are representative of immorality. Trismegistus means “thrice great”. Up to this point, I knew of his other avatars as Thoth, and a Pharaoh from the fifth dynasty. But, your sight opened my eyes and the first “great” avatar of Hermes is actually “Ningishzida” as depicted on the Caduceus.
The seventh and cutest head is the Etruscan goddess of Wisdom and Warfare and the patron goddess of the great state of California, the great and wise, Minerva, who claims the last two crowns, as her avatar, Seshet, the Egyptian Goddess of Wisdom and goddess, Minerva.
So, I hope this helps you as much as you have helped me to find understanding.
You have received two thumbs up from the cosmos, good sir, for helping to spread truth.
There is so much that has been lost and is currently being recovered with falsehoods by the malevolent army of Darkness , that I bid you please continue your good works.
I have just checked the status of your Akashic record and you, good sir, are in fine standing. I do look forward to meeting you, in a better time, in a better place.
Thank you, Wayne Ferrebee
Jeffery Barber
November 5, 2016 at 6:19 PM
Jeffery Barber
Wayne
The seven headed beast that rises from the sea is not a dragon. He is described as having the feet of a bear and head of a lion. The “beast” implies that he is a Nephilim. Who are the sire of the “sons of god’s and daughters of man”
The “rises from the sea” tells us he is descended from the Greek god, Neptune.
Ninurta is the “Melchizedek” of the first Age.
The bible is a prophetic foretelling that’s happened thrice prior. Once at the end of every Age.
The seven monsters are the seven armies of the combined army of darkness.
It is clear that Ninurta has arms folded in reverence and is by no means “fighting”, the seven headed dragon but worshipping as this is the Sumerian “Creator ” god, and is the same as the Babylonians”Marduk”, who is the biblical “red dragon” that gives the seven headed beast his power and his throne.
The seven headed beast is allergically the “Awaited One” and the dragon is the “Architect of the Universe” andd this would imply”divine right” of the king that is personified by the “beast”.
March 5, 2018 at 6:18 AM
Ad Roest
The seven headed monsters refer to the cycle of seven world periods. That cycle is caused by the ninth planet in our solar system: Nibiru. This cycle occured thousands of times and it will continue for ever. When you cut of one head, of this monster, you can be sure that a new one grows.
To know more about it, read ALL about Nibiru.
July 17, 2021 at 10:01 AM
Godzilla in Assyrien – Altorientalische Mythen und der moderne Monsterfilm – Wunderkammer der Kulturgeschichte
[…] Links: Siegel aus Ešnunna, akkadzeitlich (Rendsburg 1984, Tabl. XLVI)Rechts: Muschelplatte, jüngerfrühdynastisch (Quelle) […]