Assyrian Mythology

The Assyrian people, in ancient times, came initially from northern Mesopotamia, and came to rule an empire spreading throughout the Middle East, from Egypt to Türkiye to the Persian Gulf. While the Assyrian people are still extant in the world, this page focuses on the folklore and mythology of the Ancient Assyrians, which is not necessarily the same as that of the modern Assyrians. 
Much of Assyrian mythology was adapted from that of the earlier Sumerians, and their folklore is generally separated from the legal and religious contexts of texts by identifying motifs that appear in other sources from the region, and using these motifs to determine a range for these beliefs. Gaster, T.H. (1972). "Semitic folklore", in Leach, M. (ed) Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend. 3rd ed. pp.981-989
An issue of confusion for those studying Assyrian folklore is that the Assyrians often used the same term, ilu, as a general term for a supernatural being, and rarely went beyond that to clarify what they were talking about. 
Assyrian gods and kings are multi-rolled entities, and often display the aspects of one role while performing actions associated with another. 
== Animal Stories ==
A common theme in reconstructed folk tales is a dialogue between two animals. 
A common one is between the horse and the ox, with the horse claiming to be the most useful due to its use in both battle and transport, while the ox says that the horse is only useful because of its ox-hide saddle, and that it is the ox who ploughs the Earth to provide food. 
There is also a fragmentary dialogue between a fox and a dog, which ultimately explains why foxes were hunted and dogs domesticated. 
== Proverbs ==
A number of Assyrian proverbs were found in the Library of King Ashurbanipal. 
== Funerals ==
During a funeral, a limping dance would be performed. This sort of dance is still performed at funerals in parts of Syria and Egypt. 
== Cultural Practices ==
At funerals, people would walk around both the bier and the mortuary chapel three times. This was the forerunner of the modern practice of Sephardic Jews walking around a bier of dignitaries seven times. The original purpose of this was to create a closed circle around a thing to protect it from demons.
Images were burned to put curses on people.
== Further Reading ==
* Dhorne and Langdon, in Revue d'assyriologie et d'archarologie orientale
== See Also ==
* Circumambulation
* Vampires in Ancient Babylon and Assyria
== References ==
Category:Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend
Category:Culture Pages