Erra & Išum (the Poem of the Plague-God's Rampage)
Coax the king of the gods off his throne for an hour, and the god of plague will burn the world while he's gone.
Also: Erra · Erra and Ishum · Erra epic · Poem of Erra · Nergal · Ishum · the Sebitti · the Seven · Kabti-ilani-Marduk · plague god
The Poem of Erra dramatizes the eruption of violence and disorder into the world. Erra — a god of war, plague, and sudden death — is restless and stirred up by his weapons, the Seven (Sebitti). He persuades Marduk, the king of the gods, to step down from his throne in Babylon to have his regalia refurbished; but with Marduk absent, cosmic order lapses and Erra runs riot, visiting war, slaughter, and chaos on Babylon and its cities, sparing neither righteous nor wicked. His wise minister Ishum repeatedly tries to restrain him and at last succeeds in calming his rage, after which Erra relents and even promises blessing. The poem ends by declaring that wherever its text is honored, that house will be spared — so the poem itself functioned as a protective charm against plague. It is a remarkable meditation on senseless violence and the fragility of order.
In short
The five-tablet Akkadian poem in which the violent god Erra (Nergal), god of plague and war, is roused to fury, lures Marduk from his throne so that order lapses, and unleashes devastation on Babylonia — until his level-headed vizier Išum calms him and turns his wrath aside.
Where it’s found
The Poem of Erra (Erra and Išum), Akkadian, 5 tablets (NOT freely served on ORACC — akkadian-pending; ed. L. Cagni, The Poem of Erra, 1977; tr. B. Foster, Before the Muses). Erra is the warlike aspect of Nergal, grounded in our corpus's netherworld material (Ereškigal/Nergal; ETCSL 1.4.1).
How the idea developed across Sumer, Babylon & Assyria
Composed in Standard Babylonian Akkadian; the poem uniquely names its author, Kabti-ilāni-Marduk, who states the work came to him whole in a dream by night. It is usually dated to around the 8th century BCE (the date is debated, with proposals across the 8th-7th centuries), perhaps reflecting an era of Babylonian upheaval (e.g. Sutian/Aramean raids). Copies were worn as amulets, reflecting its apotropaic use.
A myth/literary poem. Its author Kabti-ilāni-Marduk is named in the text (rare for Mesopotamia), but the 'received in a dream' claim is the poem's own framing; its date (c. 8th century BCE) is debated.