| Erra amulet | |
|---|---|
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Amulet_to_ward_off_plague.jpg) Amulet to ward off plague inscribed with a quotation from the Akkadian Erra Epic. | |
| Material | Stone, copper |
| Size | L:1.81 in (4.6 cm) W:1.25 in (3.2 cm) |
| Created | 800–612 BCE |
| Period/culture | Neo-Assyrian |
| Place | Ashur |
| Present location | Room 55, British Museum, London |
| Identification | 118998 |
Erra (sometimes called Irra) is an Akkadian plague god known from an 'epos'[1] of the eighth century BCE. Erra is the god of mayhem and pestilence who is responsible for periods of political confusion. He was assimilated to Nergal at some point.[2]
- ^ Peter Machinist and Jack M. Sasson, "Rest and Violence in the Poem of Erra" Journal of the American Oriental Society 103.1 (January 1983, pp. 221-226) p. 221, prefer to withhold the expectations raised by "'myth', or worse, 'epic'" and simply call it "poem".
- ^ Nergal and Ereshkigal: Re-enchanting the Mesopotamian Underworld, 2000, Gateways to Babylon