Nergal

God of plague, war and the underworld; consort of Ereshkigal.

Parentage

• parent: Enlil

Domains

• plague death
• war

Powers

• Loosing plague, fire and devastating warfare on the land
• Mastering Ereshkigal to take the underworld kingship

Epithets

• Meslamtaea akkadian · Meslamtaea · cultHe who comes forth from the Meslam; Nergal of his temple at KuthaSumerian hymns; the Emeslam temple of Kutha (primary)
• Erra akkadian · Erra · literaryThe god of plague and scorched war; Nergal's destructive aspectThe Epic of Erra (Erra and Ishum) (primary)
• šar erṣeti akkadian · shar erseti · cultKing of the underworld; consort of Ereshkigal and lord of the deadNergal and Ereshkigal (primary)

Relations

• sibling: NannaFull sibling — shares the same attested parentage (Enlil) per the figures' cited genealogy.
• interpretatio: ReshephReciprocal of canaanite_resheph.interpretatio — The Ugarit scribal list itself renders Resheph as Nergal. Preserves plague, war, and underworld lordship; Nergal's enthroned rule over the dead exceeds Resheph's gatekeeper role.Ugarit polyglot god-list (Ugaritica V): Rašap equated with Nergal (primary)
• equated with: HeraclesReciprocal of greek_apollod_heracles.equated-with — At Hatra (and Palmyra) Nergal is rendered in Heracles' club-and-lionskin type. Preserves the irresistible warrior who conquers death's realm; breaks on Nergal's plague-lordship and underworld throne.W. al-Salihi, 'Hercules-Nergal at Hatra', Iraq 33 (1971) (secondary)

Sources

• existence: Nergal and Ereshkigal (primary)