View source for Gallu

{{Short description|Great demon in Mesopotamian mythology}}
[[File:Dumuzi aux enfers.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|A [[cylinder seal]] of the god [[Dumuzid]] being tortured in the [[ancient Mesopotamian underworld]] by ''galla''s]]
{{Mesopotamian myth}}

In [[Sumerian religion|Sumerian]] and [[ancient Mesopotamian religion]], '''gallûs'''<ref Name="Morris">{{Cite book| last = Morris  | first = John   | title = The new nation  | year = 1880  | location = Original from Oxford University  | pages = [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_YwMDAAAAQAAJ/page/n46 40]& 311 (volume 3 of 5)  | url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_YwMDAAAAQAAJ| quote = Gallu demon.  }}</ref> (also called '''gallas''';<ref Name="Muss-Arnolt">{{Cite book| last = Muss-Arnolt  | first = William|author-link=William Muss-Arnolt| title = A Concise Dictionary of the Assyrian Language  | publisher = Reuther & Reichard; Lemcke & Büchner; etc., etc  | year =1905  | location = Original from Harvard University  | pages = 216  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=i0TmOm5Kj40C&dq=Gallu+demon&pg=PA216}}</ref> [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] ''gallû'' < [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] {{smallcaps|gal.lu}}) were [[demon]]s or [[devil]]s of the [[ancient Mesopotamian Underworld]].

== Role in mythology ==

Gallu demons hauled unfortunate victims off to the [[underworld]]. They were one of seven devils (or "the offspring of hell") of Babylonian theology that could be appeased by the sacrifice of a lamb at their altars.<ref Name="Brigs&Howell">{{Cite book|last1=Briggs|first1=Charles August|last2=Toy|first2=Crawford Howell|author-link1=Charles Augustus Briggs|author-link2=Crawford Howell Toy|title = Essays in Modern Theology and Related Subjects  | publisher = C. Scribner's sons  | year = 1911  | location = Original from Harvard University   | pages = [https://archive.org/details/essaysinmodernt00toygoog/page/n181 155]–158  | url = https://archive.org/details/essaysinmodernt00toygoog   | quote = Gallu demon.  }}</ref>

The goddess [[Inanna]] was pursued by ''gallu'' demons after being escorted from the Underworld by Galatura and Kuryara.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Black|first1=Jeremy|last2=Cunningham|first2=Graham|last3=Flückiger-Hawker|first3=Esther|last4=Robson|first4=Eleanor|last5=Taylor|first5=John|last6=Zólyomi|first6=Gábor|author-link1=Jeremy Black (assyriologist)|author-link4=Eleanor Robson|title=Inana's descent to the netherworld|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr141.htm|website=[[Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature]]|publisher=Oxford University|access-date=22 June 2017}}</ref><ref name="Brigs&Howell"/> In the ''Descent'', it is stated that said demons <blockquote>know no food, know no drink, eat no flour offering, drink no [[libation]]. They never enjoy the pleasures of marital embrace, never have any sweet children to kiss. They snatch the son from a man’s knee. They make the bride leave the house of her father in law.<ref>{{cite web| url= https://cdli.ucla.edu/search/archival_view.php?ObjectID=P468903|title=Archival view of P468903|website=Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative|publisher=UCLA}}</ref></blockquote>

== Other uses ==

The word ''gallu'' may also refer to a human adversary, one that is dangerous and implacable.<ref>I. Tzvi Abusch ''Babylonian Witchcraft Literature: Case Studies'' 1987 "...especially, the initial position which he occupies in both support the propriety of our earlier analysis of obv. 37-40 on the basis of the comparison "Contra AHw sv, ''gallu'' in this line refers not to a demon but to a human enemy..."</ref>

== See also ==
{{Wiktionary|gallu}}
*[[Sumerian religion]]
*[[Asag]]
*[[Ḫulbazizi]]
*[[Udug]]
*[[Gello]]
*[[Ghoul]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Sumerian mythology}}

[[Category:Mesopotamian demons]]
[[Category:Mesopotamian underworld]]
[[Category:Ghouls]]


{{MEast-myth-stub}}