Ninurta and the turtle

(Allegedly) Mesopotamian turtle amulet, 3rd-2nd millennium BC. 

There is a "weird" Sumerian text called "Ninurta and the turtle". In it, the Rain god Ninurta contemplates to overthrow the Flood god Enki. Enki figures that out, and then:

"Against Ninurta, Enki fashions a turtle from the clay of the abzu (the source of fresh water). Against him he stationed the turtle at an opening, at the gate of the abzu (source of fresh water)..."

"The turtle was able to grab Ninurta's tendon from behind...Enki...had the turtle scrape the ground with its claws, had it dig an evil pit. The hero Ninurta fell into it with the turtle. The hero did not know how to get out from ..."

Eeee what? Turtle??? Against the fierce Storm/Rain god? This doesn't make any sense...Well it does actually. If you know Mesopotamian climate and fauna...And if you realise that Ninurta, Enki and the turtle, are all calendar markers...

The climatic year in Mesopotamia is divided into two halves: summer, hot and dry half (Apr/May-Oct/Nov) and winter, cool and wet half (Oct/Nov-Apr/May)...

The winter starts in Oct/Nov, with the rain, brought by the rain god Ninurta. And it ends in Apr/May...

With the flood, brought by the flood god Enki... 

Annual Tigris water flow chart

Annual Euphrates water flow chart

Both peak in Apr/May

The flood signals the end of the rains. Enki (traps) Ninurta...Yeah, yeah...Amazing. What about the turtles?  

Behold, the (fierce 🙂) Mesopotamian softshell turtle aka Euphrates softshell turtle. It is found throughout Euphrates–Tigris river basin...

Mesopotamian softshell turtle can weigh up to 20 kg, and it has a smooth leathery shell that can reach up to 68 cm in length. It nests between April and June!!! The nest is dug by the female in a bank of a river and it can be 50 cm deep...

So right at the time of the Enki's flood, which ends the Ninurta's rain season, pile of turtles come out of the water and start digging holes in canal and river banks...Not something you would miss, if you lived by the rivers and canals...

The rest is just poetic freedom...

25/9/2022 I just found out that turtle was a zodiac sign in Mesopotamian calendar...🙂