Kur
In Sumerian mythology, Kur is considered the first ever dragon , and usually referred to the Zagros mountains to the east of Sumer. The cuneiform for "kur" was written ideographically with the cuneiform sign 𒆳, a pictograph of a mountain. It can also mean "foreign land".
Mythology
Although the word for earth was Ki, Kur came to also mean land, and Sumer itself, was called "Kur-gal" or "Great Land". "Kur-gal" also means "Great Mountain" and is a metonym for both Nippur and Enlil who rules from that city.Ekur, "mountain house" was the temple of Enlil at Nippur. A second, popular meaning of Kur was "underworld", or the world under the earth.
Kur was sometimes the home of the dead, it is possible that the flames on escaping gas plumes in parts of the Zagros mountains would have given those mountains a meaning not entirely consistent with the primary meaning of mountains and an abode of a god. The eastern mountains as an abode of the god is popular in Ancient Near Eastern mythology.
The underworld Kur is the void space between the primeval sea (Abzu) and the earth (Ma).
Kurī
Kurī is the Māori language name for the Polynesian dog. It was introduced to New Zealand by Māori during their migrations from East Polynesia sometime around 1280 AD. It was used by Māori as a food source. In addition, they used the skins and fur to make dog-skin cloaks (Kahu kurī), belts, decorating weapons, and poi.
The kurī became extinct in New Zealand some time after the arrival of European settlers. The remains of the last known specimens, a female and her pup, are now in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
See also
References
Kur (disambiguation)
Kur is the first dragon in Sumerian mythology and also the Zagros mountains.
Kur, KUR or kur may also refer to:
