In Sumerian mythology, the utukku were a type of spirit or demon that could be either benevolent or evil.
In Akkadian mythology, utukki was the name given to the seven evil demons who were the offspring of Anu and Antu.
Behavior
The following passage quoted by Langdon shows the modus operandi of the Utukku:
The wicked Utukku who slays man alive on the plain.
The wicked Alû who covers (man) like a garment.
The wicked Etimmu, the wicked Gallû, who bind the body.
The Lamme (Lamashtu), the Lammea (Labasu), who cause disease in the body.
The Lilû who wanders in the plain.
They have come nigh unto a suffering man on the outside.
They have brought about a painful malady in his body.
The curse of evil has come into his body.
An evil goblin they have placed in his body.
An evil bane has come into his body.
Evil poison they have placed in his body.
An evil malediction has come into his parts.
Evil and trouble they have placed in his body.
Poison and taint have come into his body.
They have produced evil.
Evil being, evil face, evil mouth, evil tongue.
Sorcery, venom, slaver, wicked machinations,
Which are produced in the body of the sick man.
O woe for the sick man whom thy cause to moan like a šąharrat (pot).
--(Langdon, 357, 362, 364)
Art/Fiction
- Utuk'ku is the name given to the wicked queen of the Norns in Tad Williams' fantasy trilogy Memory, Sorrow and Thorn.
- Utukku appear in Dungeons & Dragons in "Creature Catalog", Dragon #89 (September 1984). It is an outsider from Tartarus that looks like a lion-like humanoid with a quilled mane and a scaly body. They sometimes come to the Prime Material Plane to spread misery and evil and to gather treasure.
- Utukku makes an appearance in the video game Final Fantasy XI as a ghost/wraith-class monster.
- There are Utukku djinn in the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud.
- The Utukki appear as the main villains in the series Babylon Rising by Tim LaHaye.
Source
- Langdon, Stephen Hubert. Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia. Vol. 4 (Semitic). ed. T.G. Pinches. London, 1861-64, 1891.