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{{Short description|Demon from Sumerian mythology}}
{{Mesopotamian myth|expanded=5}}

In the [[Sumerian religion|Sumerian mythological]] poem ''[[Lugal-e]]'', '''Asag''' or '''Azag''' ([[Sumerian language|Sumerian]]:{{cuneiform|𒀉𒉺}} {{transliteration|sux|a₂-sag₃}} [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]: asakku<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bácksay |first1=András |last2=Niederreiter |first2=Zoltán |date=2022 |title='You Write (This Incantation) on a Cylindrical Amulet, Place (It) around His Neck and He Will Get Well!" Clay Cylindrical Amulets Inscribed with Incantations, Tools for Medical-Magical Rituals.' |journal=Le Journal des Médecines Cunéiformes |volume=40 |pages=20}}</ref>), is a [[Monster|monstrous]] [[demon]], so hideous that his presence alone makes fish boil alive in the rivers. Azag is a personification of winter cold and sicknesses.{{sfn|Bane|2014|p=52|loc=Asag}}

This demon lives either in the Abyss{{which|date=February 2025}} or in the mountains and is accompanied by an army of rock demon offspring—born of his union with the mountains themselves.{{sfn|Bane|2014|p=52|loc=Asag}}

He was vanquished by the heroic Akkadian deity [[Ninurta]], using [[Sharur (mythological weapon)|Sharur]], his enchanted talking [[mace (bludgeon)|mace]], after seeking the counsel of his father, the god [[Enlil]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Black |first1=J. A. |author2=Green, A., & Rickards, T. |year=2014 |title=Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary |location=Austin, TX |publisher=Univ. of Texas Press |pages=35–36}}</ref>

== Asakku ==
The name '''Asakku''' is used by researchers as either a synonym of Azag{{sfn|Wiggermann|1992|p=162}} or a "variation" in the form of multiple spirits and monsters that prey on humans and kill them by causing [[migraine]]s.{{sfn|Bane|2014|p=52|loc=Asakku}}

==References==
<references/>

==Sources==
* {{cite book |last=Bane |first=T. |title=Encyclopedia of Demons in World Religions and Cultures |publisher=McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers |series=McFarland Myth and Legend Encyclopedias |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-7864-8894-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=njDRfG6YVb8C&pg=PA52 |access-date=2025-02-18}}
* {{cite book |last=Wiggermann |first=F.A.M. |title=Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts |publisher=STYX & PP Publications |series=Cuneiform monographs |year=1992 |isbn=978-90-72371-52-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xYX64ZkwkMIC&pg=PA162 |access-date=2025-02-18}}

==External links==
* [http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.6.2&charenc=j# Ninurta defeats the Asag—ETCSL tablet translation]

{{Sumerian mythology}}

[[Category:Mesopotamian demons]]


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