Motif
dead released against the living
dead_released_against_the_living
A motif of the Restless Dead, Haunting, and Vengeance family. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.
1 occurrences
1 traditions
mesopotamian
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Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament TWELFTH TABLET / VI. EA AND ATRAKHASIS1 / MM II: / VII. ISHTAR'S DESCENT TO HADES1; lines 8313-8514 confidence: medium
At the door of the land of No-return, Ishtar tells the watchman to open so she may enter; if not, she threatens to shatter the door, bolt, and threshold, tear down the doors, and bring up the dead so that they are more numerous than the living. The source note says the line about the dead eating the living is debated.
Ishtar threatens to bring up the dead so that they eat or outnumber the living if the gate is not opened.
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