Publication details
The Rising of the Sun-God as a Mythological Motif: Old Akkadian Seals in Relation to the Gilgamesh Epic
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2015 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Asian and African Studies |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | Digitálna knižnica SAV |
| Field | Philosophy and religion |
| Keywords | sun-god rising; the Gilgamesh Epic; seals; glyptic; mythology; cosmology; Utu/Shamash; Mashu Mountain; scorpion-man; Mesopotamia; Old Akkadian period |
| Description | Old Akkadian glyptic remarks various representations of the sun-god Utu/Shamash in the aspect of its rise. This cosmological moment is definable not only on the basis of attributes which the sun-god disposes, but also other visual features are presented which complete the colour of the rise. Presented elements have analogical versions in the text namely in the Akkadian Gilgamesh Epic. Other Mesopotamian texts with cosmologic elements are used as a supplement in the practise in the comparison of seals with Epic. Seals and Epic content have in common mythological motifs in the representation of (two-)mountain, cosmic gate and the figure of a scorpion-man. The topic of the article is the rate link between glyptic and the text in the way of listed motifs. Some of influences cannot be totally excluded mostly if we speak about the scorpion-man. If these influences had occurred they were caused only from the sides of seals on the Epic because the latter is about one millennium younger. It seems that the analogical appearance of motifs is possible to assign to the dent of cosmological and mythological imaginations retold in Mesopotamia which were used for texts and glyptic. |
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