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Ḫegir
Ḫegir (𒀭𒃶𒄈) or Ḫegirnunna (𒀭𒃶𒄈𒉣𒈾) was a Mesopotamian goddess who belonged to the pantheon of Lagash. She was considered a daughter of Bau and Ningirsu. Name The reading of the first cuneiform sign in the theonym dḪÉ''-gír(-nun-na)'' is not certain. Among the authors who employ the form Ḫegir(nunna) are Wilfred G. Lambert and Andrew R. George. Toshiko Kobayashi omits the breve below the first consonant, and renders the name as Hegir. The spelling Gangir has also been proposed, and has been adopted for example by Mark Cohen. Kobayashi refers to Ḫegirnunna as the full form of the name, but Gebhard Selz notes that the difference between the variants seems to be chronological, with the shorter form being older. It is assumed that ''gír'' in the short form and ''gír-nun'' in the long one both refer to a procession route located in Girsu, and that ḪÉ might represent an allograph of the word ''gemé'', which makes it possible to translate the na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesopotamian Goddess
Deities in ancient Mesopotamia were almost exclusively anthropomorphic. They were thought to possess extraordinary powers and were often envisioned as being of tremendous physical size. The deities typically wore ''melam'', an ambiguous substance which "covered them in terrifying splendor" and which could also be worn by heroes, kings, giants, and even demons. The effect that seeing a deity's ''melam'' has on a human is described as ''ni'', a word for the " physical creeping of the flesh". Both the Sumerian and Akkadian languages contain many words to express the sensation of ''ni'', including the word ''puluhtu'', meaning "fear". Deities were almost always depicted wearing horned caps, consisting of up to seven superimposed pairs of ox-horns. They were also sometimes depicted wearing clothes with elaborate decorative gold and silver ornaments sewn into them. The ancient Mesopotamians believed that their deities lived in Heaven, but that a god's statue was a physical embodiment ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bau (goddess)
Bau, also read Baba (cuneiform: 𒀭𒁀𒌑 '' dBa-U2''), was a Mesopotamian goddess. The reading of her name is a subject of debate among researchers, though Bau is considered the conventional spelling today. While initially regarded simply as a life-giving deity, in some cases associated with the creation in mankind, over the course of the third and second millennia BCE she also acquired the role of a healing goddess. She could be described as a divine midwife. In art she could be depicted in the company of waterfowl or scorpions. In sources from Lagash and Girsu, Bau's husband was the god Ningirsu. Among their children were deities such as Igalim, Shulshaga and Ḫegir. While they could still be regarded as a couple in later sources, from the Old Babylonian period onwards Bau was also viewed as the wife of Zababa, the tutelary god of Kish. Another deity associated with her was her attendant goddess Lammašaga. Most likely for political reasons, Bau also came to be associat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Igalim
Igalim ( sux, 𒀭𒅅𒄋) or Igalimma ( sux, 𒀭𒅅𒄋𒈠) was a Mesopotamian god from the local pantheon of the state of Lagash. He was closely associated with Ningirsu, possibly originating as the personification of the door of his temple, and was regarded as a member of his family. His older brother was Shulshaga and his mother was Bau (goddess), Bau, as already attested in Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia), Early Dynastic sources. Until the end of the Ur III period he was worshiped in Lagash and Girsu, where he had a temple, though he also appears in a number of later texts. Name and character The consensus view is that Igalima's name can be translated as "door of the bison". It has been proposed that he was the personification of the gate of Ningirsu's temple, and the cuneiform sign ''alim'' in his name metaphorically referred to said god, rather than to a real animal. An inscription of Gudea refers to Igalim as a divine "high bailiff" (''gallu, gal5-lá-gal''). It is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lagash
Lagash (cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian: ''Lagaš''), was an ancient city state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Ash Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash (modern Al-Hiba) was one of the oldest cities of the Ancient Near East. The ancient site of Nina (Tell Zurghul) is around away and marks the southern limit of the state. Nearby Girsu (modern Telloh), about northwest of Lagash, was the religious center of the Lagash state. Lagash's main temple was the E-ninnu, dedicated to the god Ningirsu. Lagash seems to have incorporated the ancient cities of Girsu, Nina, Uruazagga and Erim. History From inscriptions found at Girsu such as the Gudea cylinders, it appears that Lagash was an important Sumerian city in the late 3rd millennium BC. It was at that time ruled by independent kings, Ur-Nanshe (24th century BC) and his successors, who were engaged in contests with the Elamites to the east and the kings of '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gudea Cylinders
The Gudea cylinders are a pair of terracotta cylinders dating to circa 2125 BC, on which is written in cuneiform a Sumerian myth called the Building of Ningirsu's temple. The cylinders were made by Gudea, the ruler of Lagash, and were found in 1877 during excavations at Telloh (ancient Girsu), Iraq and are now displayed in the Louvre in Paris, France. They are the largest cuneiform cylinders yet discovered and contain the longest known text written in the Sumerian language. Compilation Discovery The cylinders were found in a drain by Ernest de Sarzec under the Eninnu temple complex at Telloh, the ancient ruins of the Sumerian "holy city" of Girsu, during the first season of excavations in 1877. They were found next to a building known as the Agaren, where a brick pillar ''(pictured)'' was found containing an inscription describing its construction by Gudea within Eninnu during the Second Dynasty of Lagash. The Agaren was described on the pillar as a place of judgement, or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ninshubur
Ninshubur (; Ninšubur, "Lady of Subartu" or "Lady of servants"), also spelled Ninšubura, was a Mesopotamian goddess whose primary role was that of the '' sukkal'' (divine vizier) of the goddess Inanna. While it is agreed that in this context Ninshubur was regarded as female, in other cases the deity was considered male, possibly due to syncretism with other divine messengers, such as Ilabrat. No certain information about her genealogy is present in any known sources, and she was typically regarded as unmarried. As a ''sukkal'', she functioned both as a messenger deity and as an intercessor between other members of the pantheon and human petitioners. Due to the belief that she could intercede with higher ranking deities, Ninshubur was popular in everyday religion, and many theophoric names invoking her and other references to personal worship are known. Her original cult center was Akkil, but in the Early Dynastic Period she was already worshiped in nearby Uruk. She was also int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ninšar
Ninšar ( sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒊬, dNIN.SAR; also read Nin-nisig) was a Mesopotamian goddess commonly associated with the preparation of meat. The reading of her name remains uncertain, and its possible etymology appears to be unrelated to her role in the Mesopotamian pantheon. She was chiefly worshiped in Nippur, though her original cult center was the settlement AB.NAGAR. Name The reading of the theonym written in cuneiform as NIN.SAR remains uncertain. Wilfred G. Lambert considered Ninšar to be the correct reading. This option is also accepted by Andrew R. George. Antoine Cavigneaux and Manfred Krebernik instead argue that the correct reading might be Nin-nisig. Ninmu and Ninezenna have also been proposed as alternatives. According to the god list ''An = Anum'', the name could also be represented by the logograms dMUḪALDIM ("cook") or dGÍRI ("knife"). A syllabic spelling, ''Nin-nì-si'', might be present in a god list from Mari, but both the restoration of the final sign ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
É (temple)
É (Cuneiform: ) is the Sumerian word or symbol for house or temple. The Sumerian term É.GAL (𒂍𒃲,"palace", literally "big house") denoted a city's main building. É.LUGAL (𒂍𒈗,"king's house") was used synonymously. In the texts of Lagash, the É.GAL is the center of the ensi's administration of the city, and the site of the city archives. Sumerian É.GAL is the probable etymology of Semitic words for "palace, temple", such as Hebrew היכל ''heikhal'',''The New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon'' by Francis Brown et al. (), p. 228 and Arabic هيكل ''haykal''. It has thus been speculated that the word É originated from something akin to *hai or *ˀai, especially since the cuneiform sign È is used for /a/ in Eblaite. The term TEMEN (𒋼) appearing frequently after É in names of ziggurats is translated as "foundation pegs", apparently the first step in the construction process of a house; compare, for example, verses 551–561 of the account ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lammašaga
Lammašaga was a Mesopotamian goddess who functioned as the sukkal (divine vizier) of Bau. She belonged to a class of protective deities known as Lamma. She was originally worshiped in Lagash and Girsu, though attestations are also available from other cities. A hymn focused on her was copied in scribal schools in the Old Babylonian period. Name and character The name Lammašaga can be translated as "the good protective spirit" or "the good Lamma," with the element Lamma referring to a type of female protective deity. The name Lamma itself sometimes could be used to refer to the specific goddess too. Irene Sibbing-Plantholt notes that the addition of the element ''šaga'' to a theonym also finds a parallel in Memešaga, a variant form of the name of the goddess Meme. Lammašaga functioned as the divine vizier (sukkal) of Bau. She was believed to intercede between her and worshipers. Her role might be reflected by the personal name Lamma-sukkal. The association between her and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shulshaga
Shulshaga (Šulšaga) or Shulsagana (Šulšagana) was a List of Mesopotamian deities, Mesopotamian god. He was a part of the state pantheon of the city-state of Lagash. His name means "youth of his heart" in Sumerian language, Sumerian, with the possessive pronoun possibly referring to Shulshaga's father, Ningirsu. While direct references to the lineage of deities are rare in sources from the Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia), Early Dynastic period, it is certain that Shulshaga was viewed as the eldest son of Ningirsu and his wife Bau (goddess), Bau, and as the older brother of Igalim. One inscription refers to Shulshaga and Igalim as "beloved children of Ningirsu." They received an equal amount of offerings according to documents from Early Dynastic Lagash. Several rulers of Lagash were devoted to Shulshaga. Ur-Nanshe built a statue of him. Urukagina mentions building temples to multiple deities of Lagash, including Shulsaga, as well as his parents, brother, as well as Hegir, B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)
The Early Dynastic period (abbreviated ED period or ED) is an archaeological culture in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) that is generally dated to c. 2900–2350 BC and was preceded by the Uruk and Jemdet Nasr periods. It saw the development of writing and the formation of the first cities and states. The ED itself was characterized by the existence of multiple city-states: small states with a relatively simple structure that developed and solidified over time. This development ultimately led to the unification of much of Mesopotamia under the rule of Sargon, the first monarch of the Akkadian Empire. Despite this political fragmentation, the ED city-states shared a relatively homogeneous material culture. Sumerian cities such as Uruk, Ur, Lagash, Umma, and Nippur located in Lower Mesopotamia were very powerful and influential. To the north and west stretched states centered on cities such as Kish, Mari, Nagar, and Ebla. The study of Central and Lower Mesopotamia has long b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Urukagina
Uru-ka-gina, Uru-inim-gina, or Iri-ka-gina ( sux, ; 24th century BC, middle chronology) was King of the city-states of Lagash and Girsu in Mesopotamia, and the last ruler of the 1st Dynasty of Lagash. He assumed the title of king, claiming to have been divinely appointed, upon the downfall of his corrupt predecessor, Lugalanda. He is best known for his reforms to combat corruption, which are sometimes cited as the first example of a legal code in recorded history. Although the actual text has not been discovered, much of its content may be surmised from other references to it that have been found. In it, he exempted widows and orphans from taxes; compelled the city to pay funeral expenses (including the ritual food and drink libations for the journey of the dead into the lower world); and decreed that the rich must use silver when purchasing from the poor, and if the poor does not wish to sell, the powerful man (the rich man or the priest) cannot force him to do so. He also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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