The Symbolism of Fire in War in Ancient Mesopotamia

This article deals with the symbolism of fire in war, according to Mesopotamian textual and figurative sources dating from the 3rd until the first half of the 1st millennium BC. Fire is discussed as an energy element aimed not only at destruction but also at transformation, purification and regeneration. Fire is simultaneously a symbol and a tool of an ambivalent violence, an ideal and real manifestation of a terrible violence destined to restore order and peace. Fire could also be the hypostasis of gods’ and kings’ power, of their energy that is the reason and the agency of their superiority over the cosmos.