Scorpion man

Scorpion Men are featured in several Akkadian language myths, including the Enûma Elish and the Babylonian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. They were also known as aqrabuamelu or girtablilu. The Scorpion Men are described to have the head, torso, and arms of a man and the body of a scorpion.
==Mythology==
They were first created by Tiamat in order to wage war against the younger gods for the betrayal of her mate Apsu. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, they stand guard outside the gates of the sun god Shamash at the mountains of Mashu. These give entrance to Kurnugi, the land of darkness. The scorpion men open the doors for Shamash as he travels out each day, and close the doors after him when he returns to the underworld at night. They also warn travellers of the danger that lies beyond their post. Their heads touch the sky, their "terror is awesome" and their "glance is death". This meeting of Gilgameš, on his way to Ūta-napišti, with the Scorpion-folk guarding the entrance to the tunnel is described in Iškār Gilgāmeš, tablet IX, lines 47-81.A. R. George : The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic. Oxford University Press, 2003. p. 493
==Comparative mythology and religions==
The scorpion is likewise a magical guard to an entrance among, e.g., the Mekeo of Papua -- "a scorpion charm is used to protect ... your house."Michele Stephen : A'isa's Gifts. University of California Press, 1995. p. 259
According to Aztec legend such beings were called Tzitzimime, spirits of defeated gods cast out of the sky after they destroyed the sacred grove of fruit trees. A pair of blue anthropomorphic creatures, one with arms and tail of a scorpion decorate the pillars in the "Star-Chamber" at the Cacaxtla archeological site southeast of Mexico City. A reproduction of the murals can be seen at the National Museum of Anthropology.
File:MuralDelTemploDeVenus(left).jpg|Left column
File:MuralDelTemploDeVenus(right).jpg|Right column
== In Popular Culture ==
* The video game Dark Souls II features one known as Manscorpion Tark, who serves to warn the player about and help them against the area boss.
* In the 2002 real-time strategy game Age of Mythology, Scorpion men are available as myth units for the Egyptian culture.http://aom.heavengames.com/gameinfo/units/egyptian/myth
* In Volume 4 of RWBY one of the servants of the main villain is a faunus named Tyrion, who has a scorpion tail as his faunus trait.
* In the 2002 movie, The Scorpion King, the Scorpion King himself is a Scorpion man.
==See also==
* Scorpion goddess (disambiguation)
==Notes==
==External links==
* Graphic of Scorpion man (From boundary stone: Kudurru). Pictured in register IV-(row IV). (Article with Detail-graphic)
Category:Epic of Gilgamesh
Category:Enûma Eliš
Category:Mythological arthropods
Category:Mesopotamian legendary creatures
Category:Mythological human hybrids
Category:Anthropomorphic animals