Also known as: Mammetum , Mammitum

Pray to her for: Keeping bonds strong, seeking justice where someone has broken faith, dealing with contracts and documents, new ventures, partnerships, and order in times of upheaval.

Invoke her with: Keep a piece of red and gold brocade in a roll and tie a black cord around it.

( Hand crafted by Deepta. Inspired by the myth of Etana)

Mamitu, meaning oath, ban or curse, was called upon especially in incantations with a god or king as witness. She was also called upon when  an individual simply made a promise. Treaties between nations were also signed by such oath. The person or the divinity in whose name the oath was taken would slay the one who broke the oath. Mamitu made the promise or undertaking a sacred one. She was also called the giver of the irrevocable curse and  would not forgive one who broke faith with her.

Mamitu was also the goddess who was consort of Nergal, the warrior god of pestilence, devastation and death. On one hand, as one who oversaw the sanctity of the oath, she could threaten utter destruction to any perjurer.  The other side to Mamitu in her role as the bride of Nergal is that she would temper his destruction and see that the balance was kept. Even in times of chaos and upheaval, she would see to it that there was order and hope.

According to some myths, Mamitu dwelt in the underworld, and was a judge of that realm. In some carvings, she is a fearsome goat-headed goddess who decrees the fate of man .

In some depictions, Mamitu  is shown with an eagle on her head and a serpent at her feet. Beside her, is the quill, of the written oath. The eagle and the serpent take one to the legend of Etana and the broken oath – and perhaps a chance at redemption.

The Myth of Etana

The story begins with the building of the great city of Kish and the gods’ search for a king worthy to rule there. Etana is finally chosen as fit to be king by the goddess Inanna and he builds a shrine to the god Adad (the Mesopotamian god of rain and storm). Near this shrine, grew a poplar tree, in which an eagle had built a nest in the branches and a serpent had made a home in the roots.

To maintain peace, the eagle and the serpent swear an oath of loyalty, before Shamash, the Sun God as their witness, that they will be friends and look after each other's young ones. They agree that the eagle will look after the serpent's children when the serpent goes out to search for food and the serpent will do the same for the eagle. All went well until the day the eagle decided to eat the serpent's children. He ignored the warnings of his own children who beg him not to.

At the end of the day, the serpent came home and he found his children gone, his nest destroyed and the eagle's talon marks imprinted in the earth around his home. He cries out to Shamash for help demanding vengeance on the eagle and the god tells him a way in which he can attack him, maim him and throw him into darkness in a deep pit. The serpent does as he is instructed and the eagle, helpless and wounded in the pit, begs forgiveness and cries out to Shamash asking for help. Shamash finally listened to his cries and tells the eagle that he what he did with the serpent's children was terrible but that he will send Etana to help the eagle.

Meanwhile, Etana, has been seeking the help of Shamash for the reason that his wife is barren and they despair of having an heir to the throne. Shamash directs Etana to the pit where the eagle is suffering and slowly, Etana nurses the bird back to health. The eagle is grateful and the king and he become friends. The eagle even starts to interpret Etana's dreams for him. In one of these dreams, Etana ascends to heaven riding on the eagle and is given the Plant of Birth by Ishtar. The eagle believes this dream is a message from the gods for the two of them to attempt this venture .

Etana clings to the huge bird’s underbelly and as they fly high up, he loses sight of earth and becomes afraid. He cannot go on and lets go of his grip. The eagle swoops down and catches Etana as he is falling to earth, and the two return to the city of Kish. They make another attempt and this second time, they reach the great heights and arrive at the gates of the gods. The inscriptions which give the rest of the story are lost but Etana did have a son, Balikh, who succeeded him as king and so one takes it that Etana’s dream did come true.

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