Scorpion men (Akkadian: girtablullû, aqrabuamelu) make an appearance in various Akkadian language myths. They include the Enûma Elish Creation Epic, in which hero god Marduk takes credit for slaying all the monsters including Tiamat, and creating the world.
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Scorpion men also appear in the Babylonian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. A scorpion man has the head, arms and torso of a man, the body of a scorpion, and wings. Like other gatekeepers the scorpion men are often a duo or divine dyad.
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Tiamat their maker personifies Chaos, the primal seas existing long before the creation of the heavens and earth. She's described as 'glistening one' and may take the shape of a monster serpent or dragon, a seductive woman or the sea itself.
Scorpion men are first created by Tiamat in her war against her godly offspring, who murder her consort Abzu. They want the throne of heaven for themselves. Their battles with Tiamat and her monsters are legendary.
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The Enuma Elish Creation Epic (c. 12th century BCE) is the only myth likening Tiamat and Abzu to deities. In other Babylonian and Mesopotamian stories they're elemental entities (ground water and sea water), or in Tiamat's case, monstrous creatures.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, scorpion men guard the gates of the Sun God Shamash at the mountains of Mashu, a great cedar mountain. The gates lead to Kurnugi or Babylonian Kur, the Underworld, otherwise known as the Land of Death, the Dark Earth and Land of Darkness.
Every day the scorpion men open the gates for Shamash, and close the doors when he goes into the earth night. Shamash travels through a region just above the Underworld, the nether sky.
The scorpion men are huge. Their heads touch the firmament. According to description, "their terror is awesome" and "their glance is death." Should a traveler discover the gates, the scorpion men warn the person of the danger ahead in the realm of the Underworld.
The Goddess Queen Ereshkigal and her ravenous galla demons will trap a hapless wanderer forever in the Land of Death. Once she decrees a person to be dead, there is no escape.
Scorpion features appear on mythic creatures. The Sphinx can have the tail of a scorpion. The Greek manticore has a human head, body of a lion and scorpion tail. Once named for medicine goddess Lisin, Antares is the brightest star in the Scorpius constellation.