Our Lord with his Dogs

It's seems interesting to myself to consider a Cult of the Death God Nergal from ancient Iraq in the region around Mosul, in terms of what goes around comes around, atthe City of Hatra Nergal was the Patron God of executions...

The present article aims to throw some light on the “Lord with his Dogs”, a deity mentioned in The Fall of Idols, a sermon by Jacob of Sarug (451–521 AD).

“He (that is Satan) put Apollo as idol in Antioch and others with him, In Edessa he set Nebo and Bel together with many others, He led astray Harran by Sin, Baalshamin and Bar Nemre By my Lord with his Dogs and the goddess Taratha and Gadlat.

For want of literary sources, for a long time it was uncertain which deity the epithet the “Lord with his Dogs” referred to. Finds from the ancient city Hatra, however, a pre-Islamic city located 80 km west of Mosul in present-day Iraq, have proven unequivocally that the god in question must be Nergal

Nergal is the Ancient-Babylonian deity of the underworld, the god of pestilence and sudden death.

My Lord with his Dogs

The carving on marble from Mosul confirms the suggestion that there was a cult of the Lord and his dogs in that region, though he names this as relating to Bar-Nemre whereas more properly Bar-Maren, as there was a principle triad of Divinities with strong aspects of solar symbolism were Bar-Maren the son also represented the chthonic underworld aspects.

The scorpion seen in terms of black and white is associate with the constellation Scorpio as representing the gate of rebirth in the East and that always finds balance with death, the sting in the tail.

The triple headed dog was celebrated in terms of three seperate dogs at Hatra, one black, one red and one white, the dogs of apocalypse as it were.

It's interesting to note the importance of the titles Maran-Our Lord and Marten-Our Lady in terms of religious syncretism

It follows from inscriptions that the complex was the home of Hatra’s most important gods: Maren, “our Lord”, and Barmaren, “the son of our Lord”.

A great many of these shrines are centred around the cult of a Herakles-figure, who was worshipped in Hatra under the name of Nergal.
In addition, deities such as Baal-shamin, Atargatis, Nabu and Nanaia received a cult in the small shrines.

The deities worshipped in the temenos (the triad Maren, Marten, Barmaren, the goddess Allat and several other deities) also occur in inscriptions and representations from the small shrines.

The carving presents a remarkable image and generally can be understood as Nergal Guardian of the Underworld, there is balance in the representation in that the Goddess seen also with dogs most likely represented Allat the maiden member of a Triple Goddess scenario associated with spring and rebirth, though also components relating to the Goddess Bau or Gula from Sumeria, a healing Goddess and also Nanaya, a Goddess incarnate, all sub-cults of Hatra.

A Goddess with Dogs from Hatra

Whereas representations of Nergal in his eastern manifestation are rare, representations of the Graeco-Roman hero Herakles are abundant at Hatra. So far, 47 sculptures that represent Herakles have been found throughout the city, which makes him by far the most frequently represented deity in Hatra.

Nergal-Herakles was particular popular at the city gates and in the small shrines within the city.

The fact that the three heads have one snake for a tail, have four, rather than twelve legs, and share the same collar, favours their identification as one watchdog with three heads.

Kerberos guards the gate of the underworld and the defeat of this dog by Herakles means eternal life and immortality.

What these cults from Hatra indicate is the complexity of the religious syncretism in the centuries immediate to the Pre-Christian era, that there were developments that seemingly made Christianity inevitable, and that Bar-Maren as a curious composite of Herakles-Dionysous-Nergal is an important aspect of that with regards to the Lord that masters death itself.

a reply to: Kantzveldt

The triple headed dog was celebrated in terms of three separate dogs at Hatra, one black, one red and one white, the dogs of apocalypse as it were.

Black red and white, huh?

Ring any bells?

I always wonder about color schemes. Lately I been noticing politicians love to wear black suits, white shirts and red ties…

a reply to: Kantzveldt

A good deal of proto-iconography here.

a reply to: intrptr

There is that but more generally the Black-Red-White colour symbolism represented the Underworld-Earth-Heavens and has been used in funerary practise for at least around 12,000 years, with regards to the inter-connectivity of those realms in rebirth cults.

Nergal is interesting as the Hebrew Satan is derivative of his cult, in that he was seen as capable of destroying anything, generally over time, and hence relationship to negative aspects of the Planet Saturn, this could lend itself to either physical, mental and moral undermining corruption and degradation, Nergal was the natural consequence of things gone bad.

Hmm. The other day I was on a shamanic journey, recovering parts of myself from an elevated plane of blackness. I rolled off the shelf and fell back to normal consciousness, and I landed on a red and white striped cushion. It's a good thing it was there, because I haven't gotten the knack of landing on my feet. But the old ones are teaching me.

👣

a reply to: BlueMule

As far as interior design goes the colour symbolism is seen on the earliest known painted mural which it would have to be because it's also the earliest known adobe brick built wall dating back 11,000 years at Djade al-Mughara on the Euphrates, northeast of the city of Aleppo.

Nice1

This lord of the thread sure seem similar to Hecate, who from the Greek and Celtic traditions. A triple goddess. Often accompanied by dogs, puppies were often offered at crossroads, both became two of her main symbols, she was associated with passage to the under/otherworld, child birth and witchcraft among many other things.



The green man looking carving with the serpent in the hair/leaves was a intresting image too!

originally posted by: Kantzveldt
a reply to: BlueMule

As far as interior design goes the colour symbolism is seen on the earliest known painted mural which it would have to be because it's also the earliest known adobe brick built wall dating back 11,000 years at Djade al-Mughara on the Euphrates, northeast of the city of Aleppo.

These patterns are so consistently laid out as if to semetrically incorporate a third "element" not so dissimilar to the twofold Masonic black and white checker board. The last one especially.

a reply to: Wifibrains

In Sumerian mythology Nergal was married to Eraskigal the Queen of the Underworld, were Nergal's cult was stronger in Northern Mesopotamia and Eraskigal in the South, so she was similar in function in some respects to Hecate, it's possible also they were picking up on some of the connections seen here with regards to the dogs, though in Sumerian mythology they were more associated with Bau (as in Bow wow).

The patterns are most interesting as they correspond to the South American (and North) Chakana motif which was understood as a symbol of transition between the tripartite realms and attested from the earliest civilization of Caral Supre.

a reply to: Kantzveldt

Yes you can definitely see the red entering the black n white so the transition between realms makes sense.


Any info on the sceptre looking object?

a reply to: Kantzveldt

This is interesting. Scorpio is included on the relief, representing death and rebirth. So constellations were important.
Is it possible...a stretch, maybe...that the three-headed dog is showing the belt of Orion? That's what it reminds me of. Was Orion Nergal to the Babylonians, or am I over-constellationing (lol) this deity?

a reply to: Kantzveldt

Hekate is primarily a goddess of the Underworld, holding dominion over death and rebirth. This is meant both in the literal sense and in the metaphorical as well. For life is filled with many deaths and rebirths aside from that of the flesh. Because of this the Dark of the Moon especially is her time of the month, since it is a time of endings and beginnings, when what was is no more, and what will be has yet to become. 

Hekate guards the limenoskopos (the doorstep), for she is a goddess of liminality and transition. Of being on and crossing boundaries. This includes not only the boundary between life and death, but any boundaries, such as those between nature and civilization, waking and sleep, sanity and madness, the conscious and the subconscious minds. Indeed, any transition can be said to be her domain. As such she is also goddess of the crossroads, where the paths of one's life fork and a person must choose which future to embark upon. In ancient times these were believed to be special places where the veil between the worlds was thin and spirits gathered.

Hekate is also the goddess of psychological transformation. Her Underworld is the dark recesses of the human subconscious as well at that of the Cosmos. Many have accused her of sending demons to haunt the thoughts of individuals. What they fail to understand is that the demons are not hers, but their own. By the light of her twin torches Hekate only reveals what is already there. These are things which the person needs to see in order to heal and renew.


As earlier stated, Hekate is a guide for people who are in transition. While she is most famous in her role as a psychopomp, guiding the spirits of the dead in their journey through the Underworld, she also aids those who cross boundaries or otherwise travel from one condition to another, particularly when that crossing involves danger........

threadsofspiderwoman.blogspot.co.uk...

a reply to: beansidhe

Sirius, or the "dog" star has long been one that stands out from the rest and it lines up with orions belt.

a reply to: Wifibrains

Nice to see you, as ever, Wifi!
So it does... like a dog on a lead.



Also, I noticed your Hecate point. She could easily be a re-worked Nergal - they have a lot in common. I'm interested in the sceptre too (in fact it was Log who told me about this thread!) - it has a double-discky feel to it.

a reply to: beansidhe

Nice to see you too bean! Looking pretty in pink, funky and full of attitude, in your new avatar!

Yeah, the staff thing looks very significant, like the top half elevated through those lower rings.

I watched this video earlier and the bottom half of the stick was similar to a image that flashes in the slideshow. Well,Ya know how I like to weave these things together...

See if you spot it

a reply to: Wifibrains

Aaaargh - I've been subliminally paganised - don't watch it Kantzveldt!

If it's the swirly gold disc, then yes, but I was distracted by the extra tall man (?) in a purple coat, so it might not have been. You do like to weave things together and you tend to strike gold when you do so.

I like the point about Nergal/Satan/ Saturn, too. We kinda haven't moved on much - we're still ancient!

So, let me see if I have this straight. Jacob of Sarug traveled around labeling gods that he didn't worship as the Satan of Christianity, or satanic idols? Yet, he referred to Nergal as 'my Lord'? Am I missing something?

👣

Just a observation on the two carvings with the staff/sceptre...

In the lower pic the staff has one ring, he has one dog, and there is little transformation, the Upper pic, the staff has three rings, there are three dogs, and there is major transformation...


@bluemule...

He is he.

I wouldn't rule out Cygnus as being part of this celestial concoction...

The birds on the head mean something! 

Rappenglück's interest focuses on a scene in a deep well shaft showing a falling birdman with a bison to his right and a bird on a stick below him. Rappenglück proposed that this Well Scene, as it is known, shows the stars of Cygnus, which if correct proves that this asterism was seen as a bird as early as 15,000 BC, and that shamans transformed themselves into bird-men to make this otherworldly journey in a death-like trance state.
 
The bird on a stick is the most interesting feature, for it is very likely a symbol of the sky-pole, or cosmic axis, with Cygnus as the bird on top. Furthermore, it demonstrates that this universal concept dates back to this age, and might easily have influenced the development of magico-religious ideals through until the beginning of the Neolithic age and beyond.

www.bibliotecapleyades.net...

a reply to: beansidhe

The dog traditionally in Mesopamia was associated with the Goddess Bau and she with Sirius as well as her husband Ninurta who could well be thrown into the mix here in terms of the warrior aspect of Herakles, it was a confusing age!

The only way they could have related this to Orion by the way is that in Egypt the aspect of Horus-Re in the Underworld was Sokar, a falcon of the night and associate with Orion, Osiris later hoovered Sokar's cult up and could be identified with Orion, Herakles-Nergal also represents that solar aspect in the Underworld, traditionally Nergal shared much symbolism with the sun God Shamash including the Lion as in the carving, which again in Egypt were traditional guardians of the entrance into the Underworld.


a reply to: Wifibrains

The standard as far as i recall is referred to as the Sym but i can't say much about it except it perhaps explains were the Devil got his tripod in the popular imagination, the eagle on the heads shows their relationship to the solar cult.

a reply to: BlueMule


It was a common term for principle Deities of the region, Our Lord and Our Lady, so i think he's just citing the general term that the idol of Bar-Maren was known by, Our Lord with his Dogs or My Lord with his Dogs.