Anshar- Mesopotamian PrimordialPrimordial
Also known as: Anšar
Domains
Description
When Tiamat raised her monstrous army, the primordial sky god Anshar struck his thigh and bit his lip in anguish. He sent Ea against her. Ea turned back. He sent his own son Anu. Anu could not face her. Only then did Anshar summon the assembly that would grant supreme power to young Marduk.
Mythology & Lore
The Primordial Sky
Anshar, "Whole Sky," emerged from the primordial couple Lahmu and Lahamu, who themselves arose from the mingling of Apsu's fresh waters and Tiamat's salt sea. With his consort Kishar, "Whole Earth," Anshar formed the second generation of cosmic beings. Before them, there was only water and silt; with them came the separation of above and below.
Anshar begot Anu, the sky god, "in his own likeness," a god who became "his fathers' equal." Through Anu came Ea, and through Ea, Marduk.
The Failed Champions
When Tiamat raised an army of eleven monsters for war against the younger gods, Anshar was stricken. The Enuma Elish describes his anguish in visceral terms: he struck his thigh, bit his lip, and could find no rest. He first sent Ea, the wisest of the gods, against Tiamat. Ea turned back, unable to face her. Anshar dispatched his own son Anu. Anu too retreated before Tiamat's terrifying presence.
The Assembly
When Marduk stepped forward and offered to face Tiamat, demanding supreme authority over all the gods as his price, it was Anshar who set the investiture in motion. He sent his vizier Gaga to summon the divine assembly, instructing him to recount the full crisis: Tiamat's preparations, the failure of Ea and Anu, and Marduk's bold demand. The gods gathered, feasted, drank until they were merry, and confirmed Marduk's elevation with a single voice.
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