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A legend relates that Allat reigned alone in hades and was invited by the gods to a feast which they had prepared in heaven. Owing to her hatred of the light she refused, sending a message by her servant, Namtar, who acquitted himself, with such a bad grace, that Anu and Ea were incensed against his mistress, and commissioned Nergal to chastise her.
It is more plausible that a god like Nin-azu was understood under 'the god of the great city. Besides these gods, there is another series of beings who belong to Allatu's court, the demons who are directly responsible for death in the world. Of this series, Namtar is the chief and the representative.
At each gate Ishtar asks the same question, why the watchman strips her, and the same answer is given. The removal of one ornament after the other symbolizes, evidently, the gradual decay of vegetation, not, as has been supposed, that the dead enter Aralû naked. Allatu calls upon her messenger, Namtar, to strike the goddess with disease in all parts of her body.
Her chief attendants are the terrible Namtar and a scribe also a female known as Belit-seri. Of these two personages, Namtar, the personification of disease, is a popular conception, whereas the addition of a scribe points again to the influence of the schools. Marduk, the chief god of the living, has a scribe who writes down, at the god's dictation, the fate decreed for individuals.
Some of these diseases, moreover, were personified, as Namtar, the demon of 'plague, and Ashakku, the demon of 'wasting disease. But the petty annoyances that disturb the peace of man a sudden fall, an unlucky word, a headache, petty quarrels, and the like were also due to the instigation of the demons; while insanity and the stirring up of the passions love, hatred, and jealousy were in a special sense indicative of the presence and power of the demons.
To Namtar, her messenger, she addressed an order: Go, Namtar, smash the true palace. Bring out the Anunnaki and place them on golden thrones. Besprinkle Ishtar with the waters of life and take her from me. Namtar obeys the order. Ishtar is led through the seven gates.
The demon at her side would then be the special messenger of this goddess, Namtar. The goddess has her two arms extended, in the act of strangling a serpent. The act symbolizes her strength. Her face is that of a lioness, and she is suckling two young lions at her breasts.
Assisted by fourteen companions, whose names 'fever, 'fiery heart, 'lightning sender' remind us again of the eleven monsters that constitute Tiâmat's assistants, Nergal proceeds to the lower world, and knocks at the gate for admission. Namtar, the plague-demon, acts as the messenger. He announces the arrival of Nergal to Allatu.
For example, in Chaldea, diseases were held to be the work of demons, to be feared in proportion as they were powerful and malignant, and to be restrained by incantations and exorcisms. Among these demons the one, perhaps most dreaded, was called Namtar, the genius of the plague.
As the one who gathers in the living to the dark abode, it is natural that he should be pictured as guardian at the gates of the great palace of Allatu. But by the side of Namtar stand a large number of demons, whose task is similar to that of their chief.
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