page_title: Anzû
section_title: Sumerian and Akkadian myth
hierarchical_section_title: Anzû / Sumerian and Akkadian myth
caption_attribution_description: English: This lion-headed eagle (Imdugud or Anzu) is the Sumerian symbol of the God Ningirsu. In this panel, Anzu appears to grasp two deers, simultaneously. The panel was found at the base of the temple of Goddess Ninhursag at Tell- Al-Ubaid. From southern Mesopotamia (Iraq), early dynastic period, circa 2500 BCE. The British Museum, London.
context_page_description: Anzû, also known as ᵈZû and Imdugud, is a lesser divinity or monster in several Mesopotamian religions. He was conceived by the pure waters of the Apsu and the wide Earth, or as son of Siris. Anzû was depicted as a massive bird who can breathe fire and water, although Anzû is alternately depicted as a lion-headed eagle.
  Stephanie Dalley, in Myths from Mesopotamia, writes that "the Epic of Anzu is principally known in two versions: an Old Babylonian version of the early second millennium [BC], giving the hero as Ningirsu; and 'The Standard Babylonian' version, dating to the first millennium BC, which appears to be the most quoted version, with the hero as Ninurta". However, the Anzu character does not appear as often in some other writings, as noted below.
context_section_description: In Sumerian and Akkadian mythology, Anzû is a divine storm-bird and the personification of the southern wind and the thunder clouds. This demon—half man and half bird—stole the "Tablet of Destinies" from Enlil and hid them on a mountaintop. Anu ordered the other gods to retrieve the tablet, even though they all feared the demon. According to one text, Marduk killed the bird; in another, it died through the arrows of the god Ninurta.
  Anzu also appears in the story of "Inanna and the Huluppu Tree", which is recorded in the preamble to the Sumerian epic poem Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld.
  Anzu appears in the Sumerian Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird (also called: The Return of Lugalbanda).
caption: Frieze of Imdugud (Anzu) grasping a pair of deer, from Tell al-'Ubaid.
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