Namtar- Mesopotamian GodDeity"Vizier of Death"

The Vizier of Death

Namtar's name means "Fate" or "Cutter-Off." He served as chief minister of Ereshkigal, queen of the underworld, and delivered the summons when a mortal's allotted time had ended. Unlike demons who attacked without cause, Namtar came by appointment. The gods had decreed a lifespan for each person, and Namtar enforced it.

Nergal and Ereshkigal

When the gods held a banquet to which Ereshkigal could not ascend from the underworld, she sent Namtar to heaven to collect her portion. All the gods rose to greet him out of respect for his mistress. All except Nergal, who remained seated. The insult reached Ereshkigal, and she demanded Nergal be sent down to face her. A moment's disrespect toward death's own messenger ended with Nergal descending to the underworld and becoming its co-ruler.

The Water of Life

In Inanna's descent to the underworld, Namtar appears at the turning point. After Inanna has been killed by Ereshkigal and her corpse hung on a hook, Enki's intervention secures her release. Ereshkigal commands Namtar: "Sprinkle Inanna with the water of life and bring her before me." The vizier of death obeys, restoring the goddess to life with the sacred water.

The Sixty Diseases

Texts attribute to Namtar command over sixty specific afflictions: fevers, plagues, wasting diseases, sudden collapses. Exorcists who treated the sick addressed him directly, seeking to establish that the patient's appointed time had not yet come and commanding him to withdraw. If the ritual succeeded in turning him back, the patient lived.