The Udug
The udug claims the dubious honor of being the most nebulous and ill-defined demon in Mesopotamia.[33] [34] As such, it is the most malleable figure that appears in incantations, capable of fitting into any number of different roles as the text requires. Particularly when set against other supernatural figures, such as the demon Lamashtud3 who has both a clearly defined genealogy and an equally well-defined artistic representation, we see that there are few descriptions of the udug demon, and no pictorial references to it on either seal impressions or statuary. To further complicate matters, the word udug can itself apply to the specific demon, or be used to indicate the broad category of demonic entities in Mesopotamia.[35] [36] [37] Even when it is an individual demon, as opposed to a collective term, the udug appears in a broad range of texts, both chronologically and geographically speaking, from the third millennium to the late first millennium. The closest approximation we have of a physical depiction of the demon comes from the prominent and broadly circulated standard Babylonian incantation series, Udug Hul or Utukku Lemnutu, “Evil Demons,” wherein the udug is one of the many evils threatening mankind. In one text—part of a larger bilingual Sumerian and Akkadian series of incantations which also features, seen in the section quoted below, the Marduk-Ea formula—the god Asalluhi describes the demon to his father, Enki/Ea, in the following terms: O my father, the evil udug (udug hul/utukku lemnu), its appearance is malignant and its stature towering, Although it is not a god, its clamour is great and its radiance immense, It is dark, its shadow is pitch-black and there is no light within its body, It always hides, taking refuge, [it] does not stand proudly, Its claws drip with bile, it leaves poison in its wake, Its belt is not released, his arms enclose, It fills the target of his anger with tears, in all the lands, [its] battle cry cannot be restrained.15 As this text demonstrates, the udug is characterized by what it is not: the demon is nameless and formless, even in its early appearances. This shifting quality of the udug demon and its inherent malleable quality arise, in part, from the flexibility of the term itself; as “udug” may refer to one demon or to a group of demons, when the udug appears as an individual demon, it is a study in generic description, a template for a perfectly average demon. We see it, for example, as an individual in one list of demons afflicting a patient: “An evil namtaru has seized his head, an evil utukku (udug hul/ utukku lemnu) has seized his throat, an evil alu has seized his breast, an evil etemmu has seized his shoulders, an evil gallu has seized his hand, an evil god has seized his hand, an evil rabisu has seized his feet: they have covered this person like a net.”[38] [39] Here, the udug is merely one demon among many, part of a great and vast legion, and none of the list are given any greater importance or significance when compared to the others. In this list of demonic figures we can also see a behaviour typical to Mesopotamian incantations: the incantation hopes to cover all possible demons that could threaten the afflicted, ensuring that no matter what the potential cause of the harm which has befallen the patient, it will be driven away. The epitome of this practice may well be the existence of the mimma lemnu, literally the “anything evil” demon, which was to be protected against and could occur at the end of a longer list of specific demons, to truly ensure that all potential threats were neutralized?8 The udug is the most widespread and frequently attested of all demons in Mesopotamia, although it is without any noted personality or character. It operates as a stand-in for demons as a whole in Mesopotamian texts, and is the closest term within the entire category of supernatural figures to denote a generic marker for demons. Even when it functions as an individual, its nature is ill defined. It often acts as a vector for illness, be it physical or mental, and acts thus in a persistently malevolent manner in incantations, a nature it tends to express even when simply written as udug/utukku instead of the full udug hul/utukku lemnu (evil udug). However, the demon is not exclusively malevolent, and also functions as an aid to the exorcist, a behaviour we will turn to after examining out next supernatural figure.