wrestling as a symbol for maintaining the order

WRESTLING AS A SYMBOL FOR MAINTAINING THE

ORDER OF NATURE IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA
JOSEPH AZIZE
Abstract
There is found in the ancient art of Mesopotamia an enigmatic bearded hero who
appears in several attitudes, but often wrestling wild animals. An analysis of the
art demonstrates that this figure is a guardian of the natural order. It is now known
that the figure is not Gilgame, as was once thought, but a lahmu (singular), and
that the lahm (plural) as a class, are the servants of the god Enki.
The material considered here reveals a consistent outlook wherein the universe
is viewed as being in a dynamic, but not invulnerable, equilibrium. Everything
has a place, or better, a latitude, and when it lives and dies within its latitude,
balance is maintained. Paradoxically, the appetite of creatures to dominate and
prevail over other forms of life was admitted as a legitimate factor in the equation
of the universe. Every striving has both a natural scope and a natural limit. The
art work in question comprises, as it were, a prayer in pictures that the limits be
maintained. From all this a concept of nature implicitly emerges: it is the field
wherein gods, demi-gods, humans, animals and plants all struggle to sustain their
existence. It is, among other things, where animals and human consume, and protect
their own resources from being consumed.
The wrestling motif is significant in these art works. With few exceptions, the
bearded hero wrestles, rather than stabs, wild beasts attacking domestic animals.
Implicitly, it propagates the view that struggle is necessary to maintain the natural
balance. Wrestling (checking), not slaying, represents the appointed way to maintain order against the threat of the wild. The wrestling hero thus maintains a coexistence of contraries. Wrestling an opponent allows for the opponent to be subdued
without being destroyed.
The topic is large, and naturally opens onto other questions. It is necessary to
limit the paper, and I have done so in three ways: in time, geography and artistic
material. In time, and geographically, I concentrate on Early Dynastic Sumer. I
restrict my consideration of the artistic material to the art of cylinder seals, and
even then discuss only a selection of the available seals.

The Texts and Artefacts

The first question is, how do we understand the texts and artefacts
of ancient Mesopotamia? Can we reasonably expect to find a fully
articulated ecology in these materials? It is not unusual to read that
Brill, Leiden, 2002
Also available online www.brill.nl

JANER 2

joseph azize

the cultures of ancient Mesopotamia did not develop science and

philosophy of the type which did develop in ancient Greece. Mesopotamia is seen by many as a source of symbols, metaphors, and
myths that seem to express primitive, prelogical, mythopoeic, traditional, or oral human consciousness. Quite often, the other consciousness is set against reason, analysis, logic, philosophy, and
science.1
But these civilizations did use logic in their day to day existence
with their developed forms of irrigation, urbanization, writing and
literature, arithmetic, music, ceramics, architecture and building,
and other crafts and arts, government and the governmental arts of
law, public defence, international trade, diplomacy, warehousing
and currency. This might seem obvious, yet Albright wrote that:
With the Greeks in the fifth century BC we may say that the logical
age of man begins.2 While one can debate what age of man might
mean, one wonders how someone so closely acquainted with the
evidence as Albright was could see any real difference in the influence of logic or reason in the life of humanity at that point. One
would never guess that the economies of the Early Dynastic states
were developed in the prelogical age of man.3
This paper is not the place to explore these issues in great detail,
but it is worth remembering that the traditions of learning in Mesopotamia relied upon oral learning in tandem with the written tradition. Further, the surviving texts do not represent the whole content
of the ancient learning. Such is the authority of the written word
today, that where a concept is not expressed in a literate society, the
tendency to infer that the concept had not been conceived, is almost
irresistible. But philosophical concepts can be represented and even
transmitted in art and other practical methods. The capacity of the
Sumerians for logical thinking is evident in a consideration of their
actual works and accomplishments.
To provide a point of departure, I turn to discuss the concept of
ecology in the Standard Babylonian Gilgame epic, as it has surMaier (1995) p. 107.
Albright (1940) p. 84.
3
This is not the proper place to do so, but at some point it would be interesting to address Jaynes arguments that modern consciousness began with Assyria of the second millennium BC, and to show why I consider them wrong: see
Jaynes (1976) pp. 204-254. Jaynes uses very limited material, failing to address
anything which would disprove his hypothesis.
1
2

wrestling as a symbol for maintaining the order

vived today.4 It is, of course, not at all decisive for interpretations of

the art of Sumer. But ancient resources do not readily yield any
better material to contrast with the seal impressions considered below.
The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgame
There are two aspects of the epic I wish to touch upon: the slaying
of Humbaba and associated events; and the securing of animals at
the time of the flood. First, in Tablet II, after their initial struggle
(possibly a wrestling bout), Gilgame and Enkidu plan to journey to
the cedar forest and slay its guardian Humbaba. This shepherd of
trees, Humbaba, is described several times as having been placed
there by Enlil:
au ulumu qita erni

to keep safe the cedar forest.5

This is not some perfunctory epithet, for it appears in the text as

reconstructed by Parpola at lines 189, 197, 238, 246 and 260.
Humbaba is also described at lines II 138 and 147 as:
nair a qita erni

the guardian of the cedar forest.

Then one and a half tablets of the epic are spent in discussing the
expedition, and another entire tablet in describing the journey itself.
This does notand cannotemerge with appropriate weight from
a quick reading of translations, as so much of tablet III is missing.
Tablet V commences with their arrival at the Cedar Forest, which
may well be the forests of Lebanon.6 The forest trees are lovingly
described:
izzizma ina pattu qiti
a erni ittanaplasu mlau
a erni ittanaplasu nrebu
aar Humbba ittalaku kin kibsu

They stood at the border of the forest,

The cedars, beholding the forest height
The cedars, beholding the forest entrance
Where Humbaba would move, making
trails

4
The only complete up to date edition is that of Parpola (1997). I use the
translation in Dalley (1989)
5
I translate GI ERIN as cedar with Parpola. There is some literature on
the identification of trees.
6
Humbaba is associated with Lebanon in the OB version: Bauer (1957), reverse l. 13, p.255. in what may be simply a typographical error, Bauer renders the
cuneiform as La-ab-na-na when the last sign is clearly an, thus approximating
to the modern Lebanese name for the area and country.

joseph azize
harrntu uteura-ma ubbat
girr
emr ad erni mab
ilni parak Irnini
pn ad-ma ernu na
hiibu
abu illau mali riti

the ways are kept in order, the paths good.

They saw the cedar mountain, dwelling
of the gods,
sanctuary of Itar.
Upon the mountain the cedars lifted
their luxuriance
Good is their shade, full of joy.7

English cannot really capture the sense of the Akkadian, although it

can, by using far more words, translate its meaning. The word given
as ittanaplasu is an Ntn form of the verb palsu to behold. The sense
of the Akkadian Ntn is iterative: they beheld time and time again.
The construction of the lines is exquisite. Dalley finds an English
language equivalent of this line, in her sentence their shade was
good, filling one with happiness.
While this is an artistic expression of the pleasure received from
being in such a forest, it also explains why the gods set a guardian
over the forest to protect it. Yet, a deliberate ambivalence subsists:
Humbaba has been described as a monster, and even as evil, but he
has a serviceable function. Further, the forest is beautiful, but the
trees are useful as timber. Perhaps the idea is that if Humbaba was
less than utterly fearsome, he would not be an effective guardian.
The text is perhaps suggesting that choosing to do something
which is itself good may yet necessarily cause an evil, and poses the
question: how do we then decide how to act? This ethical question
emerges from the story line. Humbaba confronts Gilgame, and
terrifies him. Gilgame pleads with ama for assistance, and ama
sends winds which stymie Humbaba. After a tremendous battle,
Humbaba faces certain defeat. He begs Gilgame for his life, promising him a fabulous supply of timber. Enkidu tells Gilgame not to
listen to him. Humbaba retorts that he could have slain Enkidu
earlier, but spared him, so now he should intercede with Gilgame
on his behalf. Although Humbaba has been spoken of as an evil
monster, I am not sure that the poet necessarily shares every view
ever expressed by any of his characters. Is it perhaps ironic that
Humbaba, granted awesome power to preserve the forest, meets his
end partly because he preserved Enkidus life? The dispute with
Humbaba continues for a little: it was clearly significant; but much
is missing. It ends with Humbabas curse just before he is slain. In
the following tablet, Gilgame spurns Itars advances, and slays the
7

Tablet V, 1-8.

wrestling as a symbol for maintaining the order

Bull of Heaven. Then, in tablet VII, the great gods deliberate in

council. It is not too brief a summary to say that the chief gods
condemn the slaughter of Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven: Gilgame and Enkidu have over-reached themselves.
Humbabas task of preservation was entrusted to him by major
deities: in the Old Babylonian version, it seems that he guards the
cedar forests for Wer / Adad, whereas in the SB he does so at the
command of Enlil.8 So far as the remaining fragments allow us to
conjecture, his function seems equivalent in each version. Humbaba
seems to have been perceived in several different ways throughout
Mesopotamian history. For example, although he is not treated as
a deity in the Gilgame epic, he was so treated in other
Mesopotamian material. However, as often is the case in ancient
Mesopotamia, the various perspectives may have coexisted; there
seems to be no clear rationale as to when he was so treated and
when not.9 In an anthology of excerpts from short elegies found at
Sultantepe, written in the Neo-Assyrian dialect, is a very interesting
but much damaged reference to the daughters of Humbaba. This
anthology was christened by Livingstone Elegies Mourning the
Death of Tammuz. Although they do not name that enigmatic
character, they thematically resemble other, chiefly Sumerian, texts,
which are rightly so called.10
The reverse, at lines 24-9, relevantly reads, with Livingstones
translation:
24 DUMU.M dhum-bi x-ti-t dan-nat! GI.TIR eri-ni
25 [x]-ka- -sa ih-pu-u ka-lu x[xxx[x
[xx]x-di-ra-a e? ha-bi-ru a? la-le-[e-a]
[xx]-e-i ki-i ina nab-ra-[xxx]
[xxx A]D-u-a GAZ pa-[xxxxx]
29 [xxxx]-i -e-u-ni-i nu [xx]
24 The daughter of Humbaba, mighty [] of the cedar forest!
25 They have her house, broken all [..]
[] the lover [of my] charms
[] brought like []
[] my father is killed [..]
29 [] her, they have sent me out []

The passage is obviously damaged, but something of its meaning

still comes through. It is in keeping with the balance of the elegies.
Wilcke (1972-75) p. 532, and Dalley (1989) p. 143 [OB, III, iii].
Wilcke (1972-75) pp. 531-532.
10
Livingstone (1989) pp. xx-xxi, xxvi and 39-43.
8
9

joseph azize

One of these elegies, for example, laments the destruction of a canebrake and the havoc which this wreaks upon its bird life. Here, I
gather from line 28 that the immediate background to this elegy is
the slaying of Humbaba, and the levelling of vast amounts of cedar
by Gilgame and Enkidu. In line 26 the word lal which
Livingstone translates as charms seems to have a primary sense of
abundance of luxury, abundance of vegetation. The governing
noun hbiru / hwiru has a meaning of husband. Thus, we
may have an alternative, perhaps complementary sense, of the husband of my plentiful vegetation. It is an extraordinarily imaginative
piece, linking perhaps the cult of Tammuz and the philosophy of
nature and ecology found in the Gilgame epic.11
Finally, in connection with this passage, and again, only to provide an analogue, one might consider the urpu texts, known in
their Assyrian form, although certainly much older. Tablet ITAR,
written in Sumerian, includes an incantation addressed to the tall
cedar (GI.ERIN.GAL) growing in the high mountain. It goes on
to say that the fate (NAM.TAR) of the cedar was determined in the
mountain, the pure place (KUR KI.SIKIL.TA). The cedar reaches
heavenwards, its fragrance drifts over the fields, and comes from the
mountains for sprinkling water in purification rites.12 The text also
rhapsodizes other plants, but the point is this: the cedar has its own
destiny, and it has a role in the life of humans. Its beauty is, once
again, deeply appreciated, and its use acknowledged, together with
the necessity to cut it, even if only to take sprigs for use in rites.
The second passage of interest, and much briefer, is from the
flood narrative in tablet XI. Ut-napitim is securing the animals of
the earth from the coming catastrophe. In lines 83-5 he loads the
boat with zru napiti (the seed of life) and, specifically, in line 85,
with:
bl eri umm ri

cattle of the open country, wild beasts of the open

country

Both the cattle and the wild animals are needed to build the new
world.13 This perhaps indicates that it was thought that the order of
11
I am aware that this material is no evidence for thought in Sumer, but it
does show a continued concern in the later tradition.
12
Reiner (1970) p. 46, ll. 42-8.
13
This was so even in the more ancient versions of the Flood Story, Lambert
and Millard (1969) pp. 126-129.

wrestling as a symbol for maintaining the order

animals necessarily includes both the wild and the domestic.14 The
cedar forest exemplifies this on a small scale: to remain as a cedar
forest, to retain its beauty, a ferocious demon is needed to protect
it. There is no hint here that what is dangerous must be eradicated.
Both Humbaba and the wild beasts of the wild country are vital,
components of nature. This material justifies us, I think, in saying
that there existed in ancient Mesopotamia a concept of ecology,
even if it was expressed poetically rather than philosophically.
My thesis here is that the same concept can be found in the
glyptic art of Sumer, and that it is represented by figures who wrestle with each other. This prompts the question: how far developed
was wrestling in ancient Mesopotamia?
Wrestling in Ancient Mesopotamia
Wrestling, one could say, is a grappling contest subject to rules,
where the contestants attempt to throw or subdue one another by
applying holds and maneuvers to each others bodies and limbs.
The use of punches and kicks is not usual in wrestling. If blows have
a significant role in the bout, it would not be wrestling as defined
here. While we know that wrestling seems to have been a perennially popular sport in Mesopotamia, little evidence of it has survived
from ancient times. Much of the available material is to be found in
the pages of Poliakoffs Combat Sports in the Ancient World: Competition,
Violence, and Culture.15 That book includes the double vase stand from
Khafaje, which shows two wrestlers, naked but for their belts, gripping each other by those belts.16
Gripping, grappling, and binding the opponents limbs were a
feature of Mesopotamian wrestling: this is shown by the words for
wrestling as well as the art work. There is even a very clear depiction of a wrestler who has taken his opponents right thigh, has lifted
that off the ground, and with his hand behind the opponents neck,
is taking him directly onto his back.17 The wrestlers were invariably
clad only in a belt, and the belt could be used to throw the oppoIt takes me too far from this essay to consider the different treatment in
Genesis 6 and 7.
15
Poliakoff (1987) see esp. pp. 5, 10, 31-33, 64, 69, 134-136 and 170 n. 10.
16
The discovery of the vase was announced in Speiser (1937) p. 5, figure 4.
17
Boese (1947) p. 31.
14

joseph azize

nent: this emerges from the art work referred to below. However,
wrestling included much technical knowledge. The belt was often a
three ply belt, and at least one name for it seems to have been
kannu.18 There is a theory that victory could be obtained by removing the opponents belt, but if this rule did obtain in Nuzi, I am
not sure it was invariably associated with wrestling in Mesopotamia.19 The theory that the belts worn by warriors in the Hebrew
Bible were wrestling belts, was an overstatement of the evidence.20
However, it may be that there were similarities, or perhaps that the
wrestling belt may have developed from the soldiers belt.21
Note the magnificent BM 89147 on brown and white jasper, one
of the surviving treasures of the Akkadian period. This famous seal
shows a lahmu naked but for the three ply belt which is above his
hips, wrestling a lion. And there is no doubt at all that here we have
the technical art of wrestling. I shall take one of the complementary
groupings on this seal. The lahmu kneels, or more precisely, has
been kneeling on his right knee, with his left leg bent at 90 so that
the left leg has been supporting the weight of the lion, which the
lahmu is throwing over himself. He is moving upright and, it seems
to me, backwards. The left leg is lifted so that he is only on the ball
of the left foot, and the right leg is starting to ease up from the floor.
In other words, he has been lifting himself from the balls of his feet,
and the technique has been to commence the movement with his
left leg. The right arm has the lion about the neck, but this is
depicted in such a way that one can see that the lions arms are
trussed so as to be useless to the lion. The lahmus left arm is around
the lions waist. Collon thinks that he is reaching for its tail,22 but I
am not certain that it is so. It may simply be that the tail has been
drawn in proximity to the lahmus left hand, for the artist, while
drawing a splendid lion, is treating his subject as if the lahmu was
wrestling a human.
It seems to me, on the basis of my limited practical knowledge of
wrestling,* that the lahmu is most likely going to spin on his right leg
CAD K under kannu B, and the meaning at B3 belt of a wrestler.
Gordon (1950-1) pp. 131, 134-135.
20
Gordon (1948) p. 264, Gordon (1950-1) pp. 131-135, and contra Ginsberg
(1950) p. 158.
21
Sasson (1974) pp. 405-410.
22
Collon (1982) p. 63, figure 114.
*
I dedicate this paper, with gratitude, to (alphabetically) David Birchell, Nigel
Chapman and Barry Webb; three men whose skill and sense of humour has
enabled me to learn something about boxing and wrestlingsad as my efforts
have been.
18
19

wrestling as a symbol for maintaining the order

and hurl the lion to the ground (the maneuver known in modern
wrestling as turning the corner). He may, however, simply be
going to fall backwards, and crush the lion into the earth behind
him. The third possibility is that he may be going to stand up and
hurl the lion down, but the location of his left arm encourages me
to conclude that he is indeed going to turn the corner.
No other seal, to the best of my knowledge, has as much detail as
this instance. While cylinder seal engravers were always tempted to
compromise the verisimilitude of their depictions in order to accommodate the medium, the space available, or to present a striking
picture, this artist has engraved a realistic scene and fulfilled all
artistic expectations. There are several other seals to consider:
Collon reproduces wrestling scenes in numbers 702, and 704-706 of
her monograph on cylinder seals.23 Frankfort presents some other
seals, and in respect of several, concedes he is unsure whether they
represent dancing or wrestling. I do not consider here the dancing
seals, or those which are also found in Collon. These are Frankfort
Pl. XXVIIIm, Pl. XXIXm and Pl. XLIIn from what Frankfort calls
the Second Syrian Group.
The most famous written reference to wrestling is in a letter of
ami-Adad I, where he speaks of how wrestlers plot stratagems to
defeat one another, just as wrestlers do.24 There is another literary
reference to wrestling which Poliakoff may have been unaware of.
In what Lambert refers to as a preceptive hymn from the Middle
Assyrian period, there is a list of celebrations in honour of the deity.
The drum and cymbal ring out, fattened oxen and sheep are slaughtered as the kings sacrifice to the god, people sing songs of praise,
and:
7 e-lu-tu be-el e-mu-q ina -ma-i u a-ba-ri im-tah-[ x x ] x
Athletic young men fight for you with physique and might,25

CAD translates the same line as: The young men, the strong ones,
fight one another in wrestling and athletics for you (Ninurta).26 The
plain sense of this hymn is that certain festivities are carried out in
honour of the god Ninurta at his feast, and one of these is that
young men wrestle each other. This is corroborated by the
Sumerian Death of Gilgame, where Gilgame reflects that when he
23
24
25
26

Collon (1987) p. 156, with brief commentary on p. 155.

Excerpted in CAD part II, under ibq.
Lambert (1960) p. 120.
CAD A part 1, under abru B.

10

joseph azize

is dead he will not be able to participate in the wrestling and

boxing which regulary took place before mortuary statues in the
month of Abu, a month dedicated to Ninurta, and also to
Gilgame. A text known to me only by its citation in the CAD has
men competing in their city quarters in contests which last for nine
days.28
Another word used for wrestling, was apsu. Its primary meaning seems to have been to grip or to twist. However, in the
Gt form, it had the meaning of wrestle.29 In the same vein, egru meant to twist or become twisted, perverse, cross, confused,
maneuver for position. It was used in the t form in a proverb
translated You feint like a wrestler, but you cannot even jump
over a ditch.30 This suggests that the stratagems and moves of ancient wrestlers were not so dissimilar to modern versions, for modern wrestlers are coached to be loose and relaxed, until the moment
to move comes, when they explode into action, perhaps diving for
an ankle or a thigh. This may have suggested the derisive taunt, that
the one making a show of bravado cannot in reality leap a ditch.
It would seem that wrestling was conducted according to definite
rules, and the fact that it was conducted as part of a festival would
militate in favour of thinking that victory could be obtained short of
utterly crushing the opponent: in fact, there is, as we saw, a theory
that one could win by removing the opponents belt. It is certain
that the Mesopotamian art of wrestling rested upon holds and
throws, not punches and kicks. The evidence seems to show continuity in the Mesopotamian tradition, in this respect.
The Lahmu Contest Scenes in Ancient Art
As stated, I shall be concentrating upon a particular theme as it
appears in early glyptic art. This is not unsound. It would be preferable to consider how this motif relates to others, but considerations of space and time prevent more than a cursory view of those
motifs. The theme is apparent in surviving cylinder seals. Given the
type of artefacts which have survived for us from ancient Mesopotamia, and which are available for research here, glyptic is the
27
See the translation by Frayne in Foster (2001) p. 146, and Dalley (1989) p.
127, n. 19, and abu B in CAD A part 1, for the month.
28
CAD A part 1, under abaru B and also in CAD E under elu.
29
CAD part 1, under apsu.
30
CAD E, egru 2b

wrestling as a symbol for maintaining the order

11

best represented and most accessible form of art. The motif I examine is that of the bearded hero who wrestles with wild beasts, often
explicitly protecting the domestic animals.
The scene has been considered by a number of scholars, but while
it is recognized that domestic animals are being protected, the implications of this are not always drawn out, and I have yet to see
a connection made with other concepts from the ancient world.
Sometimes the significance of wrestling is missed altogether. For
example, Boehmer, in a chapter headed Ringer admits depictions
of heroes stabbing each other as examples of wrestling.31 On occasions, scholars have seen that wrestling is distinct from slaying with
weapons, but misunderstood the significance of the motif. Thus Barnett wrote that: The Old Sumerian seals show a hero throttling a
lion with his bare hands or defeating him in wrestling. It was not till
the late Bronze Age when the smiths grew more skilful in making
long swords, that it was possible to show a hero in single combat
with a lion, spitting it with his blade.32 However, as we shall see
below, the evidence is otherwise. Swords were used in these scenes
from a very early time. The preference for wrestling is, in my view,
ideological. These motifs with the lahmu protecting domestic animals from predators are attested for as long as cylinder seals were
used in ancient Mesopotamia.33
Frankfort, who saw that there was a substantial conceptual background to these scenes, wrote that: the Mesopotamians took a
grim view of the world, and saw it as a battle-ground of opposing
powers.34 To Frankfort: It is probable that the struggle between
lion and bull stands for a conflict between divine forces, and one
may surmise that the lion represents the destructive aspect of the
Great Mother, an aspect which was recognized but believed to be
held in check as a rule. It is generally restrained by two creatures,
a bull-man (and) a naked hero ...35 If my thesis is sound,
there is no need to undertake a detailed refutation of this view, as
it explains these scenes without needing to explain them by reference to theories for which there is no evidence.
Collon writes: Contest scenes depict the struggle between wild
and domesticated animals in which man at times intervenes. They
31
32
33
34
35

Boehmer (1965) pp. 47-48.

Barnett (1975) p. 66.
Wiggermann (1981-82) pp. 99-100 for a brief survey.
Frankfort (1970) p. 29.
Frankfort (1970) pp. 29-30.

12

joseph azize

acquired a profound symbolic meaning and became one of the principal subjects treated on cylinder seals .36 However, she does not
say what that symbolic meaning may be. In a later essay she writes
that at a certain early stage, the contest scene was lifted from
the realm of symbolic reality into the realm of symbolic fantasy,
and relates this to iconographic changes.37 This view seems correct.
The aim of this paper is to explicate something about the symbolism, and to relate it to other elements in the culture of ancient
Mesopotamia. Crowley, amongst others, saw that there is a connection between these contest scenes and the scene known as the
Master/Mistress of Animals, and that the hero subdues (rather
than destroys) his untamed opponent.38 However, while there is a
great deal of literature on the religious significance of the Master /
Mistress, Crowleys focus is on the international transference of artistic motifs; there is no discussion of the ideology.
Of these glyptic contest scenes, Amiet said that they: sont
difficilement utilisables par lhistorien de la religion .39 For this
very reason a careful approach is required, considering the depictions from many angles, and considering them sensitively. To start
with, we need to study the phenomenon of glyptic art, and in particular, the characters, animal, human and divine, which appear on
the seal designs under discussion.
While cylinder seals came to be widely distributed throughout
society,40 and even slaves could own seals,41 there was an enormous
difference in the quality of the seals. For the wealthier, they were
often made of valuable materials: lapis lazuli, diorite, (rarely) turquoise, amethyst, agate, beryl and others.42 Seals could often be
worn by use of a string threaded through them, and thus also functioned as good fortune amulets.43 The type of artwork under consideration here was that of the more expensive seals. It is helpful, too,
I think, to distinguish between the seal itself and the seal design.
While the seal was usually primarily functional, Porada may well be
correct to say of the design that: In my opinion, the primary pur36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43

Collon (1987) p. 193.

Collon (1995) p. 24.
Crowley (1989) pp. 28-33.
Amiet (1980).
Pittman (1995) p. 1,596.
Steinkeller (1977) p. 48, speaking of the Ur III period.
Collon and Finkel (1997) pp. 19-20.
Collon (1987) p. 113 and Porada (1980) pp.3-5.

wrestling as a symbol for maintaining the order

13

pose of the seal design was amuletic, that is, the scene represented
was meant to have a propitious meaning for and influence on the
life of the seal owner.44 In other words, the wrestling seals may
well have been intended to perpetuate the natural balance through
struggle which I interpret in some of their designs. I think that
when one understands the purposes of seals, my hypothesis seems
more plausible. In this respect, it is worth noting that many seals
seem to have been prepared by non-professional seal cutters. In
particular, Porada is of the view that some were made by scribes
specifically to be used in rituals. This would increase the likelihood
that some ideological or spiritual conception is, at least sometimes,
displayed in seal designs.45
Finally, there is reason to believe that the seal designs which had
individual designs, rather than simple repeated patterns, were cut
for specific individuals, whereas the others were for institutions.46
Then, amongst seals cut for individuals, it appears that there were
further differentiations, although these conclusions are not firmly
established. It appears from studies of the use of seals in the early
periods I am concentrating upon, that the elite of society, especially
persons at court, favoured banquet scenes on seals.47 By contrast,
contest scenes, especially in shell, were amulets or insignia associated with the men of the city capable of bearing arms or serving
the ruler.48 Zettlers analysis of an admittedly small sample from
the Sargonid period indicates that among servants of the ruler the
contest scene was the most popular.49 In the later Ur III and IsinLarsa periods, seals with designs of presentation scenes may have
been given by the king only to specially privileged individuals who
have a close personal connection with the palace .50
Lions, by far the most commonly depicted predator in these seals,
became extinct in Mesopotamia only about a hundred years ago, as
did leopards.51 However, they were apparently never so prevalent as
their representations in art and literature suggest.52 The first domesPorada (1980) pp. 9-10. Teissier (1984) notes that scholars are not agreed as
to whether all seals were intrinsically amuletic: p. xxvii.
45
Porada (1977) pp. 9-11.
46
Nissen (1977) pp. 18-21.
47
Rathje (1977) pp. 26-30.
48
Rathje (1977) p. 26.
49
Zettler (1977) pp. 33-35, esp. table 1, p. 34.
50
Franke (1977) p. 65.
51
Collon (1987) p. 187.
52
Hesse (1995) p. 203: The importance of wild animals in the minds of
44

14

joseph azize

ticated animals seem to have been sheep and goats.53 The ancient
Mesopotamians kept these, chiefly it would appear, not for their
flesh, but their milk and wool. Pigs were kept, possibly in reasonable
numbers, mainly for wax and grease. Fewer cows were maintained,
although they were important. Once again it was not their flesh,
which was used mostly in state rituals, but their hides, milk and
traction which was prized: they were used for plowing and seeding.
As urbanization developed, they were kept further and further outside the cities. The domestication of animals may have been partly
a product of and also partly contributed to the development of
wealthier elites who, by virtue of their stock, could survive lean
times, and thus support those who were then their employees. Hesse
speculates that these elites: both supported now dependent
herders and acquired a benefit that could be translated into social
terms.54
To turn to the other characters in the art under discussion, it is
now known that the bearded hero is lahmu, the hairy one.55 Lahmu
can be considered as an individual, but also as one of the fifty lahmk
(hairy ones), the servants of Enki. Wiggermann believes that there is
another lahmu, the muddy one, who with his consort or feminine
counterpart lahamu, features in the Enuma Eli.56 However, I am
restricting the scope of this paper to the lahm as they appear in
Mesopotamian art, considering other functions of the lahm only
where necessary. Enki is god of the abzu, the cosmic principle of
water, and his servants live with him in the abzu. The idea that the
lahmu upholds the pillars of the world, like a Mesopotamian Atlas,
cannot be maintained. However, he is often associated with water.57
He appears to have a role as guardians of sea life, and in this reancient scribes and artists is not a certain guide to their economic or practical
importance. There is no better example of this than the evidence for the lion
(Panthera leo). While ubiquitous in text and art, the animal is represented in the
archaeological record for the entire region in the period from about 3000 to 600
BCE by less than a few bone fragments . While the general point is valid, one
wonders, would lions have been dying in those places where archaeologists have
been digging?
53
Gilbert (1995) p. 163, and Maisels (1990) pp. 60-62.
54
Hesse (1995) p. 207. On domestication in ancient Mesopotamia generally,
there is a detailed study throughout Maisels (1990), and more general discussion
in Postgate (1994) pp. 157-166. For an accessible and compact treatment with
good references see Hesse (1995) pp. 203-222.
55
See Wiggermann (1981-2).
56
For more details see Wiggermann (1992a) pp. 155-6.
57
Wiggermann (1992a) p. 156.

wrestling as a symbol for maintaining the order

15

spect, parallel Humbaba, except that as guardian of the sea he assists

people by keeping fish available. It should be noted, that Wiggermann considers a lahmu-like monster defeated by the gods to be
apparently a successor of Humbaba,58 and a clear illustration of
Humbaba presents him in a fashion identical to that of the lahm.59
The lahmu can be presented without animals, whether domestic or
wild. For example:
* IB SA 15 A steatite seal from ED III, where a lahmu is engraved on axis (i.e. horizontally on the face of the seal, rather than
upright), with a flounced skirt and is bathed in water flowing from
a vase he holds at waist height. A similar figure is depicted in other
places holding aloft a lion or a snake in each hand.60 On this seal
is also shown a seated god with streams of water. This god is Enki.61
* The Seal of Ibni-arrum, from the late Akkadian period, a bipartite mirror image seal. On the left, as on the right, a lahmu holds
an overflowing vase to which water buffalo come to drink. Here the
lahm wear only the three ply belt, with hanging tassels. This is a
cincture for use in belt-wrestling, referred to above.62 The lahmu
and kusarikku do tend to wear the belt more than any other item.
They are often naked but for it. As on this seal, even when wearing
the belt, the lahmu is described as naked.63
The lahmu is often associated with the kusarikku, known as the
bull-man, although the latter is in fact a man-faced bison.64 Just
as lahmu is associated with Enki, the kusarikku is associated with the
sun god, Utu.65 Frankfort describes him as a curious creature combining with human face, arms, trunk and posture, the horns, tail and
Wiggermann (1992a) pp. 164-5.
See Humbaba on the cover of Parpola (1997).
60
Van Buren (1940) p. 7.
61
Black and Green (1992) under the rubric Enki (Ea) on p. 75.
62
For a good view of the base for twin vases from Khafaje, see Gordon (19501), plate I, and a clear sketch at Boese (1947) p. 33. The base is formed by two
wrestlers who grasp each others belts. Frankfort (1939), p. 60, notes that a triple
girdle and shoes with upturned toes are characteristic of mountaineers of the
region. There is no reason why it may not also be a girdle used in wrestling.
63
Black and Green (1992) p. 185.
64
Collon (1987) sees him as being probably a bison from the Zagros mountains, p. 187. Ellis (1989) thinks that the term could designate either the bison or
the water-buffalo, p. 127.
65
Wiggermann (1996) p. 215.
58
59

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joseph azize

hind legs of a bull.66 There is still much about these figures we do

not understand. For example, my research has not disclosed any
accepted theory as to its role in BM 22962 and BM 116724, where
the kusarikku kneels by a triple-plant on mountain. A vulture,
possibly a guardian of the earth in that it clears carrion, perches on
its back.67 The kusarikku seems to be bowing before the three jointed plant, possibly a representative of the deity it serves, but we
cannot be certain.
There is a curious ambivalence about the kusarikku. He is known
from Enuma Eli to be one of Tiamats creatures, and yet he is one
of the mixed beings represented on the doors and gates of various
temples, and on victory chariots of the gods.68 The same ambivalence also appears in a Standard Babylonian incantation, of which
Ellis says that: the connection with defeat and death is again made
clear. The relevant clause reads: if he has the face of a kusarikku
he will be rich (and) honoured, (but) he will be killed by a weapon.69 Ellis goes on to ask when the kusarikku became a positive
symbol, with protection and life-fostering attributes, and speculates that creatures and items sourced from outside Mesopotamia
were seen by the Mesopotamians as unknown and presumably
hostile but yet were also a source of goods that add to the richness
of Mesopotamian life.70 Ellis observes that this ambivalence extended to other phenomena in the cultural and mythological world
of Mesopotamia.71 But I am not certain that her characterization
of the incantation is exhaustive, for although a connection with
death is present, so too is a connection with prosperity. Perhaps the
co-existence of these attributes is the essence of the kusarikku. I shall
return to this idea later.
To establish our theme, we can consider several of the earliest
seals, where we find a motif of a man fighting with or wrestling with
wild animals, protecting the domestic animals. For example:
* Ashmolean 121 (Kish Y 199) A calcite seal from the ED period
where a man grasps the tale of a lion which is rampant over
sheep.72
66
67
68
69
70
71
72

Frankfort (1955) p. 25.

Wiseman (1962) p. 26 and plates 22d & e.
Ellis (1989) pp. 121-123.
Ellis (1989) p. 124 and n. 21.
Ellis (1989) p. 133.
Ellis (1989) pp. 133-134.
Buchanan (1966) p. 27, entry 121 and plate 121.

wrestling as a symbol for maintaining the order

17

* Ashmolean 125 (Kish 1604) A sandstone seal from the ED period where a man grasps the tale of a lion which is rampant over
goat held by second hero.73
* Pierpont Morgan 65 A lapis lazuli seal from ED III where a lion
attacks a gazelle, but the gazelle is grasped by a kusarikku which
threatens another lion. A lahmu grasps a threatened stag and a
gazelle.74
In a variation, the animal protected is not a domestic beast, but a
human headed bull.
* JECM Hobart NX 03 A grey steatite or soapstone (talc) seal
from the late Early Dynastic or early Akkadian period where a
lahmu seizes a lion which attacks a human headed bull. A kusarikku
battles a lion.75
The human headed bull under attack here does not seem to be the
same as a kusarikkuwhich is also featured in this seal. The range
of monsters does not seem to have been closed in Mesopotamia,
even if we can identify a repertoire. Wiggermann believes that it was
possible to invent monsters on the basis of a general rule: the
dreadful inhabitants of the underworld are monsters generally composed out of parts of deadly animals.76 This is so of the hellish
beasts he described there, but perhaps the same principle could be
used to create an upperworld creature which, by uniting the features
of a human and a bull, could represent something like the human
interest, and alignment with, the world of domestic animals. One
wonders whether this may not evince a knowledge that when a
species has been completely domesticated it depends upon humanity
for survival.77
Collon sees a development where seals of the late fourth millennium first show lions attacking their prey, and then, in the early
third millennium man intervenes.78 But I suspect that this seeming
development is a trick of the eye due to the chance of survival. For
73
74
75
76
77
78

Buchanan (1966) p. 27, entry 125 and plate 125.

Porada (1948) p. 12 and figure 65.
Merrillees (1990) pp. 74-75, # 14. Illustration 4 in the appendix.
Wiggermann (1996) p. 219.
Maisels (1990) p. 64.
Collon (1987) p. 193.

18

joseph azize

example, we find the intervening man motif in at least two fourth

millennium seals:
* BM 102427 A gypsum seal, from the Uruk period, the face of
which is divided into upper and lower registers. In the lower register, a goat seems to rear behind a bearded man who is holding a
lion by the tail, and has a hand raised, possibly to strike the lion. He
may have a small weapon in his raised hand. It is difficult to tell
from the illustration, but if he does, Wiseman does not mention it
in the commentary.79
* Yale 139 A gray green serpentine seal, from the Uruk period,
where a warrior, poised on the back of a cow giving birth, handles
a spear which he points at the breast of a rampant lion.80
This motif is continued into the third millennium, and as Collon
notes, new features appear in the art work. There are clear examples of where the protector of the domestic animals wields a
dagger:
* AIA Melbourne 13 A dolomite seal from ED III where two
kilted male figures attack a lioness which is attacking a shaggy
sheep.81
It is interesting that generally speaking, only the lahmu and kusarikku ever look out from the illustration: the animals are generally
in profile. It could be that this is related to the amuletic use of seals:
perhaps the creature which looks out from the seal is the one which
is active in the amulet. More precisely, maybe the force, the spirit
or the power in nature symbolized by these creatures is operational
when they gaze out at us.
The protector is not always a lahmu or a kusarikku. One remarkable seal illustrates this fact while demonstrating the scene I term
the co-existence of contraries, where the protector holds a predator with one arm and the domestic animal with the other, thus
harmonizing them, or bringing them into communion.
Wiseman (1962) p. 1 and plate 1d. Wiseman notes that the seal was probably
recut in the Early Dynastic Period, and that its authenticity is questioned, but
gives no details of the basis of this questioning.
80
Buchanan (1981) pp. 46-47.
81
Merrillees (1990) p. 69 # 9. Illustration 2 in the appendix.
79

wrestling as a symbol for maintaining the order

19

* IB SA 6 A limestone seal from ED, where the man who holds

the antelope and the lion in the co-existence of contraries is bird
headed.82
The bird headed figure is an unknown in this context, at least as far
as my researches go. It seems to me unlike the more standard griffin,
or the apkall of later art which were the seven primordial sages in
bird form. There is a human headed bird figure, the identification
of which is controversial, but which can be a symbol of the war god
Ninurta.83 In respect of a different seal, IB SA 2, Van Buren thinks
that the lion headed eagle Imdugud may be depicted between two
groups of lions.84 However, in IB SA 6 the creature has a bird head,
rather than having an avian body with an extraneous head. If Collon is correct, and the human head of the kusarikku indicates that
he is intelligent,85 then what can we make of the bird head of this
figure? I am not sure we have the necessary resources to say with
any confidence.86
The motif which suggests the master or mistress of animals, is
likewise attested from an early period. For example:
* BM 104493 A lazurite seal, from ED II, whereon a man with an
open kilt holds two animals by the foreleg.87 The goats are springing
up, and the man is stepping forward, yet the motion strikes one as
vigorous rather than furious.
Some seals suggest both the contest scene and the master of animals.
For example:
* BM 123625 A pink marble seal where a predator attacks an
animal, and the kneeling heroit is difficult to see whether he is a
lahmholds the animal attacked and also holds an antelope by its
rear leg.88 The antelope seems to me to be upside down, which
would tally with Wisemans suggestion that it is held by the rear.
Van Buren (1940) p. 2 and figure 3.
Green (1994) p. 249. See generally Black and Green (1992) under the rubrics
Bird Gods and Birds on p. 42 and Griffin and Griffin Demons at pp. 99101.
84
Van Buren (1940) p. 3.
85
Collon (1987) p. 186.
86
The precise figure is not found in either Wiggermann (1994) or Green
(1994).
87
Wiseman (1962) p. 16 and plate 13e.
88
Wiseman (1962) p. 19 and plate 15i.
82
83

20

joseph azize

The design which shows holding an animal upside down is curious.

I suggest that it indicates control over the animal (and the force that
manifests through it), and consequently that the force and ability to
do harm has been neutralized. Thus, if a lion is held upside down,
it is effectively the same as if its fangs had been drawn.
Sometimes conflict was simply a decorative motif, without the
philosophical significance I have argued subsists in some depictions.
For example, in one undated seal, it seems to me that two lahmu are
wrestling one another, gripping the others belt.89 However, the proposition that seal designs could have an esoteric significance is fairly
well established. Thus Van Buren notes in respect of two seals which
have a surrealistic atmosphere, IB SA 77 and IB SA 89, that the
inclusion of the seven dots of the Sibitti in the design evince an
esoteric intent.
* IB SA 77 A diorite seal from northern Mesopotamia of the midsecond millennium. A lion has a paw on the back of a gazelle, but
faces backwards, roaring at a bird, perhaps a rook. There are other
features, and seven dots strewn throughout the design. Van Buren
writes: These dots are the symbol of dSibittum; as was often the
case at this period as in very archaic times the dots are not arranged
in their proper order as a constellation, but are scattered throughout
the field to signify mystically that the representation had a magic
meaning and to conceal that mystery from all but the initiated.90
* IB SA 89 A pale rose quartz seal of unknown provenance, perhaps from the end of the second millennium. This seal features a
fleeing ox, horses and a bearded hunter. Again, Van Buren interprets the presence of the seven dots as indicating that this is not a
scene from the ordinary world, but has an esoteric meaning. She
must be correct to think that it illustrates an otherwise unattested
legend, or at least the imaginative arrangement of ideas and figures
known from mythology.91
Although these seals are later than those I have been concentrating
upon, the mystic dots appear also in very early designs.92
Gordon (1939) pp. 4-5, figure 9.
Van Buren (1940) pp. 30-31 and plate 65. See also his comments on IB SA
79, p. 33 and plate 69.
91
Van Buren (1940) p. 31 and plate 66.
92
For but two examples very early examples, Buchanan (1981) figures 174 and
195, pp. 61 and 70, from the Jemdet Nasr / Uruk period.
89
90

wrestling as a symbol for maintaining the order

21

To summarize, I would draw out six points from this discussion:

1 The glyptic art of ancient Mesopotamia into the early Akkadian
period shows a tremendous amount of variety and diversity, even in
the contest scene alone.
2 Within the broad category of contest scene, is a sub-group where
the lahmu and kusarikku hold in check, with their bare hands, wild
animals who are attacking domestic animals.
3 The fact that this tableau existed together with others where the
predator was slain indicate that it was significant that the beast is
wrestled. Further, there are tableaux where the lahmu holds both
wild and domestic animals together, each in a headlock, each in one
of his arms. These indicate that there is a definite concept of wild
and domestic beasts being brought together. in a sort of dynamic
harmony. I call this the co-existence of contraries.
4 That wrestling is portrayed in this art, evinces a belief that struggle can maintain an order in nature. The obverse concept is that the
order of nature needs to be actively maintained. There was an idea
in currency that it was not desirable that wild beasts be slain out of
hand. This is not to say that everyone in Mesopotamia subscribed
to this idea. I suggest that this concept is philosophical, and that it
is ecological.
5 Although the intervening figure could on occasions be a human,
human interventionists tend to be shown using a weapon. The use
of semi-divine creatures to wrestle lions and panthers is perhaps to
be expected, as humans are not equal to such a task. But the fact
that the cylinder seal engravers could and did portray armed humans attacking the wild beasts is significant, for, as noted, it shows
that the use of wrestling was intentional. It seems to me to follow
that the evocation of a semi-divine creature associated with Enki is
significant. It may be that it is an expression of a belief that the
natural order on earth can be obtained only through the assistance
of the gods, which is mediated through these agents, the lahm and
kusarikk. Incidentally, it may be that the odd human figure shown
wrestling is a servant of the gods, or perhaps represents the human
industry and organization which protects animals.
6 The subduing of predators is important. Their destruction was
depicted, and so these scenes are more likely than not indicating a
sense that the brutes can be allowed to survive, although they should
also be kept from domestic prey. The passage from the flood story
in Gilgame might indicate that this hypothesis is not fanciful. The

22

joseph azize

equilibrium of the universe can be maintained despite the fact that

some animals seek to kill others. Although I cannot study it here, it
appears to me that what we might call evil was seen as a necessary
part of the scheme of the world, but had to be held in check.
This is consonant with what we know of ancient Sumerian religion.
In particular, it relates to the concept of the mes, which were one of
the key theological notions in ancient Sumer. One point about the
mes is that not only do they include concepts such as En-ship, godhood, kingship, truth, music and power, but also the contraries:
enmity, the destruction of cities, lamentation, falsehood, terror, strife
and so on. The balance could not be taken for granted: these diverse
qualities which were an integral part of the cosmos had to be maintained in dynamic equilibrium by the activities of both gods and
humans.
One notes from books such as James Lovelocks Gaia mean that
many people in our society have different ideas of nature. But in
so far as we can speak of a recurring conception in the Mesopotamian material, one might say that, to them, nature was an
organic system in which gods, semi-divine beings, humans, and animals all played a part.93 If this is so, then they implicitly had a
concept of an order of nature as more than the sum of its parts, but
which could be endangered if its parts wantonly destroyed one another. Central to this is the idea of consumption: the wild feeds upon
the domestic, the human consumes the resources of nature at large,
andalthough it would take us too far from the topic to deal with
itthe divine feeds upon the offerings which humans make in the
houses of the gods. Legitimately, too, within this view, the gods
protect their cedar forests from undue exploitation, and humans
protect their domestic beasts from predators.
In conclusion, this essay will have been worthwhile if it makes out
a case that the civilization of ancient Mesopotamia had developed
an ecological outlook on the world, even if like ourselves, having the
outlook and living it were two different things.

93
I am aware of the slightly differing views expressed in Wiggermann (1992b),
but I do not see these as truly contradictory so much as complementary.

wrestling as a symbol for maintaining the order

23

A Note on Conventions
In keeping with style in Parpola (1997), I have used h for the
Akkadian letter often given as h with a small v beneath it. This
represents the sound which is in Arabic written and is often transliterated into English as kh.
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