Abzu ( Akkad. Apsu ) or noise. Engurra , in Sumerian-Akkadian mythology, is a world ocean of underground freshwater surrounding the earth (ab is water, zu is far) .
In the Sumerian cosmogonic epos “ Enuma Elish ”, Abzu is represented as an element from which Earth and Sky originated from the connection with the Tiamat deep (ocean of salty waters), and the gods of the “older generation” were created. One of the main Sumerian gods, Enki , came from the “distant waters” of Abz, therefore the temple dedicated to him in the city of Eridu is called Abzu or “the house of Engurra”. (Subsequently, the holy water reservoirs in the courtyards of the Babylonian and Assyrian temples were also called).
The “young generation” of gods annoys Apsu with his behavior, and he and Mummu want to destroy them. But Enki puts to sleep and kills Abzu, and then builds a dwelling “Abzu” over him, where he conceives Marduk . [one]
The divine " me " was kept in the mythical Abzu and the assistants of Enki the wise men of Abgallu worked.
In the myth of Enki and Ninmach, Enki entrusts his wife, the mother goddess Ninmah, to mold the first man from clay, “taken from the very core of Abzu” (cf. Adam ).
Cuneiform Abzu symbol
Notes
- ↑ Abzu / V. K. Afanasev // Myths of the Nations of the World : Encyclical. in 2 t. / Ch. ed. S.A. Tokarev . - 2nd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia , 1987. - T. 1: A — K. - p. 22.
Literature
- Abzu / V. K. Afanasev // Myths of the Nations of the World : Entsikl. in 2 t. / Ch. ed. S.A. Tokarev . - 2nd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia , 1987. - T. 1: A — K. - p. 22.
- Svyatopolk-Chetvertynsky I. A. , Nebolsin A. S. The Abyss // Orthodox encyclopedia . - M .: Church-Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" , 2002. - T. IV. - p. 445-446. - 752 s. - 39 000 copies - ISBN 5-89572-009-9 .