| Mušḫuššu | |
| Grouping: | Mythological hybrid |
| Aka: | Sirrush |
| Folklore: | Babylonian mythology |
| Region: | Mesopotamia |
The mušḫuššu (Sumerian: {{cuneiform|; formerly also read as Sumerian: sirrušu or Sumerian: sirrush) or mushkhushshu (pronounced as /muʃxuʃʃu/ or pronounced as /musxussu/) is a creature from ancient Mesopotamian mythology. A mythological hybrid, it is a scaly animal with hind legs resembling the talons of an eagle, lion-like forelimbs, a long neck and tail, two horns on its head, a snake-like tongue, and a crest. The Akkadian: mušḫuššu most famously appears on the Ishtar Gate of the city of Babylon, dating to the sixth century BCE.
The form Akkadian: mušḫuššu is the Akkadian nominative of Sumerian: {{cuneiform|, 'reddish snake', sometimes also translated as 'fierce snake'.[1] One author,[2] possibly following others, translates it as 'splendour serpent' (Sumerian: {{cuneiform| is the Sumerian term for 'serpent'). The older reading Sumerian: sir-ruššu is due to a mistransliteration of the cuneiform in early Assyriology[3] and was often used as a placeholder before the actual reading was discovered.[4]
Mušḫuššu already appears in Sumerian religion and art, as in the "Libation vase of Gudea", dedicated to Ningishzida by the Sumerian ruler Gudea (21st century BCE short chronology).[5]
The Akkadian: mušḫuššu was the sacred animal of Marduk and his son Nabu during the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The dragon Mušḫuššu, whom Marduk once vanquished, became his symbolic animal and servant.[6] It was taken over by Marduk from Tishpak, the local god of Eshnunna.[7]
The constellation Hydra was known in Babylonian astronomical texts as Bašmu, 'the Serpent' (MUL.dMUŠ). It was depicted as having the torso of a fish, the tail of a snake, the forepaws of a lion, the hind legs of an eagle, wings, and a head comparable to the Akkadian: mušḫuššu.[8] [9]
1. Similar to the Set animal in Egyptian mythology and the Qilin in Chinese mythology.