Asag- Mesopotamian DemonDemon · Monster
Also known as: Asakku
Domains
Description
A demon whose very breath brought fever, Asag raised an army of living stones against the gods. Ninurta slew him after a battle that shook the earth's foundations, then piled the stone warriors upon his corpse to form the mountain ranges and channeled the blocked waters into the Tigris and Euphrates.
Mythology & Lore
The Fever Demon
Whatever Asag breathed upon became sick. The Akkadian term "asakku" came to denote a class of diseases, particularly burning fevers. When exorcists treated fever patients, they invoked Ninurta's mythological victory over the demon, reenacting the god's primordial triumph to drive out the disease as Ninurta had driven out the source.
The Battle in the Mountains
The Sumerian poem Lugal-e preserves the fullest account of the war. Asag rose in the mountains with an army of animated stone warriors, the rocks themselves enlisted as soldiers against divine authority.
Ninurta, warrior champion of the gods and son of Enlil, armed himself with his sentient mace Sharur and marched to confront the demon. The first attack failed. Asag's stone army absorbed every blow Ninurta threw, and the demon's fever breath drove the god back from the peaks. But Sharur counseled him to attack again with full divine fury. Ninurta returned, and the second battle shook the mountains and the foundations of the earth. He prevailed and slew Asag.
Mountains, Rivers, and Stones
Ninurta's victory demanded a further act: the disposition of the stone army. He piled the defeated stones upon Asag's corpse, creating the mountain ranges that separated Mesopotamia from the highlands. This also blocked the primordial waters that had flowed unchecked into the lowlands. Ninurta channeled them into the Tigris and Euphrates.
The goddess Ninhursag received honor for naming the new mountain formation. And in the poem's most remarkable passage, Ninurta addressed each type of stone individually, pronouncing its fate: stones that had fought for Asag were cursed to menial use, while useful stones received blessings. Diorite would serve for royal statues. Lapis lazuli would adorn temples.