Alû
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In
Kur. The demon has no mouth, lips or ears. It roams at night and terrifies people while they sleep, it is also believed that the alû may also torment their victims for fun[1] and possession by Alû results in unconsciousness and coma;[2] in this manner it resembles creatures such as the mara, and incubus, which are invoked to explain sleep paralysis. In Akkadian and Sumerian mythology, it is associated with other demons like Gallu and Lilu
.
In ancient texts
H. C. Rawlinson
. From v Pl. 50, A, line 42:
Whom in his bed the wicked Alû covered,
Whom the wicked ghost by night overwhelmed.
Langdon (364) stated that Alû is
androgynous
and "attacks a man's breast".
The following passage quoted by Langdon shows the modus operandi of the Utukku:
The wicked Utukku who slays man alive on the plain.
The wicked Alû who covers (man) like a garment.
The wickedGallû, who bind the body.
The Lamme (Lamashtu), the Lammea (Labasu), who cause disease in the body.
The Lilû who wanders in the plain.
They have come nigh unto a suffering man on the outside.
They have brought about a painful malady in his body.
The curse of evil has come into his body.
An evil goblin they have placed in his body.
An evil bane has come into his body.
Evil poison they have placed in his body.
An evil malediction has come into his parts.
Evil and trouble they have placed in his body.
Poison and taint have come into his body.
They have produced evil.
Evil .
Sorcery, venom, slaver, wicked machinations,
Which are produced in the body of the sick man.
O woe for the sick man whom thy cause to moan like a šąharrat.
--(Langdon, 357, 362, 364)
In contemporary popular culture
- Alû is Monster in My Pocket #113
- Alu-demon in Dungeons & Dragons
- Alu is a demon in FAITH: Chapter III
References
Mythology portal
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- Langdon, Stephen Herbert. H. C. Rawlinson Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia. Vol. 4 (Semitic). ed. Theophilus Pinches. London: British Museum, 1861–64, 1891.