The Artifact Revisited: Sharur the Talking Mace

In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Robert discusses Sharur, the talking mace from Sumerian mythology…

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of
I Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and
this is the Artifact, a short form series from Stuff
to Blow Your Mind, focusing on particular objects, ideas, and
moments in time. As any Dungeons and Dragons player can

(00:24):
tell you, there are magical weapons, and then there are
weapons that can talk, and these are often among the
most powerful and dangerous artifacts your character can possibly attune.
To the well of human mythology, which Dungeons and Dragons
certainly draws on, contains many such speaking and singing weapons.

(00:45):
Fictional black Razor is equalled or exceeded by the magical
broadsword of Collervo in Finnish traditions or various speaking swords
in Irish legend, but one of the oldest and most
fantastic examples of the speaking weapon can be found in
the mythology of ancient Sumer. The wielder is none other

(01:07):
than Ninurta, god of spring, thunder, showers, and protector of agriculture.
Ninurta's weapon is the mace Shahur, the smasher of thousands.
Why a mace, you might ask, well as Gabriel at
all point out in from sumer to Rome. The mace

(01:30):
was one of the most important weapon technologies of the
ancient world. While certainly an evolution of the simple club,
the mace was absolutely devastating against the unarmored skulls of
your enemies. The authors point out that the ancient Egyptians
kept the mace is a symbol of authority and power
until seventeen hundred b C. As their armies only fought

(01:55):
enemies that boasted neither armor nor helmets, the mace dominated
the battlefield. In fact, the helmet emerged as a technological
response to the crushing power of the mace. According to
Gabriel at All, the third millennium b CE Steel of
Vultures presents us with the earliest evidence of spearmen wearing helmets,

(02:17):
and this is backed up by the bodies of soldiers
found in the death pits of er from around d
b c E. But the son mace reigned supreme as
the most commonly used melee weapon from roughly four thousand
to hundred b C. So it is the ideal weapon

(02:37):
for an ancient Sumerian god to wield. There was simply
no compelling reason to abandon it if one's enemies lacked
metal helmets, but Sharu was no typical mace. The weapon spoke,
It could fly across vast distances and even take on
the form of a winged lion. Is ibraheim Men points

(03:00):
out in the Monster Hunter's Handbook, the weapon was capable
of smashing enemies, either on its own or in the
hands of Ninurta. It also rained fire and venom down
on its enemies and allowed the hero god to slay
the terrifying demon Azag and its army of rock demons.

(03:21):
In the Sumerian poem Ninurta's Exploits, the hero is said
to pound a Zag's body with the mace as if
a Zog were mirror barley, and such is the power
of Shure that the condition of the slain demon's body
is compared to that of a ship wrecked by a
tidal wave. Tune into additional editions of the artifact each week.

(03:46):
As always, you can email us at contact It's Stuff
to Blow Your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your
Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from my
heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or

(04:07):
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.