Slaying of the Labbu
If you were to ask, “what is the first dragon to ever be mentioned that we know of”, the answer would have to include the Labbu myth.
In the Mesopotamian sphere, we have a mythology about Tishpak. Tishpak was chief god of Eshnunna, where myths of a god battling a seven-headed dragon were common. Even before the Enuma Elish, we have Tishpak’s battle with a dragon in the Old Akkadian myth, the Slaying of the Labbu.
The cities are in upheaval, and the people in distress. A raging dragon has ravished the lands. Where did this dragon come from? From the sea. Imagined by the chief deity Enlil, this was a beast with the length of fifty miles, and the width of one mile. His mouth was nine feet wide, and his ears were eighteen feet around. He was able to grasp birds straight out of the sky at a range of ninety feet, dragging them 13 feet below the water. HIs tail was so long, it seemed to sweep the whole sky when he raised it. Even the gods themselves feared this beast. They cried out for a hero amongst them, and asked who would go and slay this raging dragon, and become the king of the people? “Tishpak! Go slay the dragon!” They cried out. Tishpak, at first, questioned this. He said he did not know the ways in which the dragon does battle, and how could he be victorious against him? Another deity instructs him and tells him that he should use the power of the storm, conjure one up, and use that against the dragon. So, Tishpak goes forth and conjures up a storm. Using thunder and lightning, he directs the storm toward the dragon and the dragon is slain. The dragon’s blood flows continuously for the next three years and three months, and Tishpak becomes king of the people.
Image: The Sea Serpent by iangoudelock on DeviantArt
Translation from the tablets:
The cities are distraught,
The lands are thrown into confusion,
The nations decreased in number,
all of them in mass upheaval.
To their cry of distress no one
To their outcry no one
“Who created the dragon?”
“Sea created the dragon.”
Enlil in heaven drew its picture.
Fifty “miles” in his length,
One “mile” his width,
Six cubits his mouth,
Twelve cubits is the circumference of his ears,
At sixty cubits he can snatch birds,
In water nine cubits deep he drags
He raises his tail, he sweeps the sky
All the gods of heaven were afraid
In heaven the gods bowed down before Sin
And they grasped Sins robe by its hem:
Who will go and slay the raging dragon,
And deliver the wide land
And exercise kingship
“Go, Tishpak, slay the raging dragon
And deliver the wide land
And exercise kingship”.
“You have sent me, O Lord, to slay the offspring of River,
But I am not familiar with the raging dragon’s ways”
(Lines Missing)
_ Opened his mouth and spoke to Tishpak,
“Burst open the clouds and make a violent storm,
The seal of your life/throat before you,
Shoot at him and slay the raging dragon”.
He burst open the clouds and made a violent storm,
The seal of his life/throat before him,
He shot at him and slew the raging dragon.
For three years and three months,
Day and night,
The blood of the raging dragon flowed.
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