Nergal (also known as Erra and Irra) is the Mesopotamian god of death, war, and destruction. He began as a regional, probably agricultural, god of the Babylonian city of Kutha in the Sumerian Early Dynastic I period (circa 2900-2750/2700 BCE) and was venerated through the Neo-Babylonian period (626-539 BCE). As his temple was known as E-meslam, he was also known as Meslamtaea ("He Who Comes Forth ...