Among the mighty monsters of mythology is Bashmu (Bašmu) of ancient Mesopotamia. One of the eleven creatures of destruction birthed by the Chaos Goddess Tiamat, Bashmu is a hybrid snake dragon created of the sea.
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His name means "venomous serpent" in Akkadian, the official trade and commerce language of Mesopotamia. Mention of Bashmu dates back to the 22nd century BCE.
In appearance he's a horned snake with wings and two forelegs. Among the stars, Bashmu is represented by the constellation known to the Greek as Hydra, the largest of the 88 modern constellations.
A variant of the story features the god Enlil drawing a dragon in the sky to eradicate humans because their noise keeps him from sleeping. The Gods find it so terrifying, Enlil sends war god Nergal to slay it.
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In Greek mythology the Hydra is a winged four-legged dragon with mutiple heads and poisonous barbed tail. Each time a head is cut off two more grow in its place.
According to Assyrian myth, Bashmu is "sixty double miles long", with six heads and seven tongues. In some accounts he has origins in the Enuma Elish (Enūma Eliš), or Babylonian creation myth of the Chaoskampf.
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The epic battle of the forces of Order personified by the god hero Marduk, and Chaos, personified by Tiamat, elemental creation Goddess of the Sea, lasts twelve days, known as the 12 Days of Zagmuk.
As Marduk seems to be winning the battle, Tiamat gives birth to eleven bloodthirsty serpent monsters or dragons, including Bashmu. Their veins run with poison instead of blood. Marduk slays Tiamat and from her body creates the earth and sky.
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Bashmu roams the primitive worlds. Fierce and voracious, he consumes "fish, birds, wild asses and men". This upsets the Gods, who send a champion in the form of Nergal, god of sickness, war and death to slay him. Eventually he accomplishes the task with a magic arrow.
Bashmu features in a similar legend, Ninurta's Return to Nippur or Angim. An ancient Sumerian God of agriculture, hunting and war, Ninurta is often the subject of myths and adventures.
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A mythological praise poem of 210 lines, Ninurta's Return to Nippur is a šìr-gíd-da or 'long song', which may refer to the specific tuning of the accomanying instrument(s).
In the poem Ninurta defeats eleven warriors or ur-sag and hangs their bodies on his chariot. One is the seven-headed serpent, also known as Ninurta's Dragon, equated with the monster Bashmu.
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An element of Chaos, Bashmu is eternal. Like the giant snake Apep, he has powers of resurrection. In animal spirituality Snake is a primal dragon associated with rebirth. As time goes by Bashmu faces the heroes of the day, and the Chaoskampf continues.
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