Erra and Ishum
c. 800–750 BCE · Neo-Babylonian · Babylon; Nineveh
Erra and Ishum is a five-tablet Babylonian epic composed during a period of political instability around 800 BCE — one of the most psychologically intense works of ancient literature. Erra, god of war, plague, and violent disorder, is roused from dormancy by his weapons, which taunt him for inactivity. He persuades Marduk to temporarily vacate his cult statue in Babylon, ostensibly for repairs. With Marduk absent, Erra seizes control: he incites Babylonians against each other, brings foreign armies, destroys temples, slaughters indiscriminately — the good and wicked alike. His vizier Ishum repeatedly urges restraint; Erra dismisses every appeal. Only when his rage is fully exhausted does he relent. He decrees that whoever possesses this poem will be protected from plague and war. The text ends with a colophon naming its author: Kabti-ilani-Marduk, to whom Erra revealed it in a dream.
notes
The only major Babylonian literary text to name its author. Copies were hung in houses to ward off plague. The text has been read as a literary response to historical sackings of Babylon and as the earliest exploration of divine madness.
currently held: British Museum; Iraq Museum