Apkallu
Also called Abgal.
The Apkallu are the seven antediluvian sages of Mesopotamian tradition, sent from the waters to bring the arts of civilisation to humanity, and later rendered as fish-cloaked or bird-headed guardian figures.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Mesopotamian mythology
- Region
- Mesopotamia (place of origin)
- Trait family
- The Land-Shapers
Near this figure
Symbols
Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.
- Cloak bears The cloak denotes protection, dignity, and rank, but also concealment, withdrawal, disguise, villainy, invisibility, mourning, and the masked outer personality.
why
… as men wearing a fish cloak, the head of the fish …
- Cone bears The pine cone denotes solar fire, the world-axis, fertility, good fortune, and spiraling generative force, serving as divine emblem and priestly or royal headwear.
why
… carrying a bucket and a cone with which they perform a …
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Behaviour
- Culture bringer teaches crafts
why
The Apkallu, called Abgal in Sumerian, are sages of the time before the flood, credited with bringing writing, law, craft, and the other foundations of settled life to the first cities.
Defensive powers
- Warding malevolent spirits
why
Small figurines of them were buried under floors and doorways to guard buildings, which means they functioned as protective presences in daily practice and not only as figures in a story about the distant past.
Utility powers
- Knowledge bestowal
why
The Apkallu, called Abgal in Sumerian, are sages of the time before the flood, credited with bringing writing, law, craft, and the other foundations of settled life to the first cities.
Roles
Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.
- Wise Old Man carries both readings
2 citations
- Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, s.v. "Abgal."
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Abgal."