Abzu From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Abzu or Apsu (Cuneiform: 28 <7, ZU.AB; Sumerian: abzu; Akkadian: apsii, >"T—)), also called engur (Cuneiform: £1, LAGABSIIAL; Sumerian: engur; Akkadian: engurru- lit, ab='waterzu-'deep), was the name forthe primeval sea below the void space of the underworld (Kur) and the erth (Ma) above. Tt may also refer to fesh water from underground aquifers that was given a religious fertilizing aualiy. Lakes, springs, river, well, and other sources of fresh water were thought to draw their water fom the aba. Contents 1 In Sumerian culture 2 In Sumerian cosmology 3 Asadeity 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References In Sumerian culture In the city of Eridu, Enki's temple was known as E,-abzu (house ofthe cosmic waters) and was located atthe edge of a swamp, an abzu! Certain tanks of holy water in Babylonian and Assyrian temple courtyards were also called abzu (aps) Typical in religious washing, these tanks were similar 0 Judaism's mikvot, the washing pools of Islamic mosques, or te baptismal font in Christian churches. In Sumerian cosmology ‘The Sumerian god Enki (Ea in the Akkadian language) was believed to have lived in the abzu since before human beings were created, His wife Damgalnuna, his mother Nammu, his advisor Isimud and a variety of subservient creatures, such as the gatekeeper Lahmu, also lived in the abzu. ‘Asa deity Abzu (apsi) is depicted as a deity only in the Babylonian creation epic, the Eniima Elish, taken from the library of Assurbanipal (¢ 630 BCE) but Which is about 500 years older. In this story, he was a primal being made of fresh water and a lover to another primal deity, Tiamat, who was a creature of salt water. The Enuma Elish begins: "When above the heavens did not yet exist nor the carth below, Apsu the freshwater ocean was there, the first, the begetter, and Tiamat, the saltwater sea, she who bore them all; they were still mixing their waters, and no pasture land bad yet been formed, nor even a reed marsh.” This resulted in the birth ofthe younger gods, who later murder Apsu in order to usurp his lordship of the universe. Enraged, Tiamat gives birth to the first dragons, filling their bodies with "venom instead of blood”, and made war upon her treacherous children, only to be slain by Marduk, the god of Storms, who then forms the heavens and earth from her corpse. See also = Abyzou = Brida Notes rida in Sumerian Literature, Margaret Whitney Green, pages 180-182, Ph.D. dissertation, Univesity of Chicago, 1975, 2, Black and Green 1992 References 1 Jeremy Black and Anthony Green, 1992, Gads, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: an illustrated dictionary, s.. "abza, apsi ISBN 0-292-70794-0 Retrieved from "huips:/en.wikipedia.org/w/index php title~Abzuseoldid~76146705 Categories: Mesopota nian gods | Sea and river gods | Creator gods | Sumer + This page was last modified on 23 January 2017, at 03:48 = Text is available under the Creative Commons Aitribulion-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Ine., a non-profit organization.