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Nergal vs Hades

These two are identified with one another in the record, which is not the same as being the same figure. Underworld sovereigns, both later reassigned as demons by de Plancy.

Deity · Mesopotamian · c. 2000 BCE

Nergal

also called Erra, Nirgali, Nirgal, 𒀭𒄊𒀕𒃲

God of plague, war and the underworld, consort of Ereshkigal — and one of the few Mesopotamian gods the Bible names directly.

Alignment
Disputed
Rank
God of the Underworld
First attested
Nergal and Ereshkigal · c. 1300–800 BCE
Named there as
Nergal
Texts naming it
3
Powers attributed
3
72attestedFolk & DemonologicalMesopotamian

Deity · Greek · c. 700 BCE

Hades

also called Aidoneus, Plouton, Pluton

Ruler of the dead by lot rather than by punishment — a god of the underworld who is not evil, a distinction Christian cosmology cannot express.

Alignment
Disputed
Rank
Lord of the Underworld
First attested
The Iliad · c. 750 BCE
Named there as
Aïdes
Texts naming it
4
Powers attributed
3
100attestedGreek

Where do they actually overlap?

Texts naming both

None. The two never appear in the same text in this corpus, which is worth knowing before accepting any confident claim that they are one figure.

Powers credited to both

Conducts Souls

Common questions

Are Nergal and Hades the same figure?

These two are identified with one another in the record, which is not the same as being the same figure. Underworld sovereigns, both later reassigned as demons by de Plancy. ColossiansOne records the link rather than asserting the identity: where texts disagree about whether two names denote one figure, the disagreement is what gets shown.

Which is older, Nergal or Hades?

Nergal is the older name: first attested around c. 2000 BCE, against c. 700 BCE for Hades. Where the two dates are far apart, that gap is the whole reason the pair is worth comparing.

Do any texts name both Nergal and Hades?

No text in this corpus names both. That is not proof they were considered the same figure, but it is why the identification has to be traced through the scholarship rather than read off a page.
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