ious demon who desired to establish the
rule of evil over gods and mankind.

In the "Legend of Etana" the Eagle, another demon which links with the
Indian Garuda, slayer of serpents, devours the brood of the Mother
Serpent. For this offence against divine law, Shamash, the sun god,
pronounces the Eagle's doom. He instructs the Mother Serpent to slay a
wild ox and conceal herself in its entrails. The Eagle comes to feed
on the carcass, unheeding the warning of one of his children, who
says, "The serpent lies in this wild ox":

He swooped down and stood upon the wild ox,
The Eagle ... examined the flesh;
He looked about carefully before and behind him;
He again examined the flesh;
He looked about carefully before and behind him,
Then, moving swiftly, he made for the hidden parts.
When he entered into the midst,
The serpent seized him by his wing.

In vain the Eagle appealed for mercy to the Mother Serpent, who was
compelled to execute the decree of Shamash; she tore off the Eagle's
pinions, wings, and claws, and threw him into a pit where he perished
from hunger and thirst.[100] This myth may refer to the ravages of a
winged demon of disease who was thwarted by the sacrifice of an ox.
The Mother Serpent appears to be identical with an ancient goddess of
maternity resembling the Egyptian Bast, the serpent mother of
Bubastis. According to Sumerian belief, Nintu, "a form of the goddess
Ma", was half a serpent. On her head there is a horn; she is "girt
about the loins"; her left arm holds "a babe suckling her breast":

From her head to her loins
The body is that of a naked woman;
From the loins to the sole of the foot
Scales like those of a snake are visible.

_R.C. Thompson's Translation._

The close association of gods and demons is illustrated in an obscure
myth which may refer to an eclipse of the moon or a night storm at the
beginning of the rainy season. The demons go to war against the high
gods, and are assisted by Adad (Ramman) the thunderer, Shamash the
sun, and Ishtar. They desire to wreck the heavens, the home of Anu:

They clustered angrily round the crescent of the moon god,
And won over to their aid Shamash, the mighty, and Adad, the
warrior,
And Ishtar, who with Anu, the King,
Hath founded a shining dwelling.

The moon god Sin, "the seed of mankind", was darkened by the demons
who raged, "rushing loose over the la