Bašmu

Ancient Mesopotamian religion
Primordial beings Abzu and Tiamat Lahmu and Lahamu Anshar and Kishar Mummu
Seven gods who decree Four primary Anu Enlil Enki Ninhursag Three sky gods Inanna/Ishtar Nanna/Sin Utu/Shamash
Other major gods Adad Dumuzid/Tammuz Enkimdu Ereshkigal Kingu Geshtinanna Lahar Marduk Nergal Ninurta
Minor gods Agasaya Anunnaki Asaruludu Ashnan Bel Enbilulu Geshtinanna Lahar Mami/Nintu Mamitu Nabu Namtar Nanshe Nidaba Ningal Ninkasi Ninlil Ninsun Nusku Sarpanit Uttu
Demigods and heroes Adapa Enkidu Enmerkar Gilgamesh Lugalbanda Shamhat Siduri Atra-Hasis
Spirits and monsters Utukku Lamassu/Shedu Asakku Edimmu Siris Anzû Humbaba Asag Hanbi Kur Lamashtu Pazuzu Rabisu
Tales Atra-Hasis Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta Enûma Eliš Epic of Gilgamesh
Other traditions
Arabian Levantine Near Eastern religions

Bašmu, inscribed in cuneiform as MUŠ.ŠÀ.TÙR/TUR, “Venomous Snake,” was an ancient Mesopotamian mythological creature, a horned snake with two forelegs and wings and the Akkadian word for the constellation Hydra (the snake), abbreviated to ^dMUŠ. The Sumerian terms ušum (portrayed with feet, see Dragon (Ninurta)) and muš-šà-tùr “birth goddess snake” (without feet) may represent differing iconographic types and possibly different demons.^[1] It first appeared in the 22nd century BC, in a cylinder inscription of Gudea.

Mythology

In the Angim, or "Ninurta's return to Nippur," it was identified as one of the eleven ur-sag, “warriors,” defeated by Ninurta. Bašmu was created in the sea and was “sixty double-miles long,” according to a fragmentary Assyrian myth^[2] which recounts that it devoured fishes, birds, wild asses and men, securing the disapproval of the gods who sent Nergal/Palil, the “snake charmer’” to vanquish it. It was one of the eleven monsters created by Tiāmat in the Epic of Creation, Enûma Eliš. It had "six mouths, seven tongues and seven . . .-s on its belly."^[3]

MUL.APIN has a "serpent" constellation (MUL.DINGIR.MUŠ) which loosely corresponds to Hydra.

References