I. Name
The raven, known in the Old Testament as a messenger bird (Gen. 8.7), has been associated with the divine in Mesopotamia (Nash 1990:75) and Ugarit.
II. Identity
In the Neo-Assyrian ‘God description text’, the parts of the body of a deity are mystically compared with elements, metals, animals, foods, trees, fruits etc. known from the physical world. The ‘mole’ of the deity is metaphorically seen as a ‘raven’: ú.naga. mušen (āribu) ki-pil-šú ‘his mole is a raven’ (Livingstone 1986:94 I:9 = …