Gazbaba
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Gazbaba, also known as Kazbaba or Kazba, was a
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 substan ...
closely associated with
Inanna Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, Divine law, divine justice, and political p ...
,
Nanaya Nanaya (Sumerian language, Sumerian , Dingir, DNA.NA.A; also transcribed as "Nanāy", "Nanaja", "Nanāja", '"Nanāya", or "Nanai"; antiquated transcription: "Nanâ"; in Greek language, Greek: ''Ναναια'' or ''Νανα''; Aramaic: ''ננױ ...
and Kanisurra. Like them, she was connected with love and eroticism.


Name and character

Gazbaba's name is most likely derived from the
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...
word ''kazbu'', which can be translated as "sexual attraction." A form ending in the
hypocoristic A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek: (), from (), 'to call by pet names', sometimes also ''hypocoristic'') or pet name is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as ''Izzy'' for I ...
suffix ''-īya/-āya/-ūya'', ''dKa-az-ba-a-a'', is also attested, possibly representing an attempt at making the name more similar to
Nanaya Nanaya (Sumerian language, Sumerian , Dingir, DNA.NA.A; also transcribed as "Nanāy", "Nanaja", "Nanāja", '"Nanāya", or "Nanai"; antiquated transcription: "Nanâ"; in Greek language, Greek: ''Ναναια'' or ''Νανα''; Aramaic: ''ננױ ...
's, or resulting from confusion with a similar personal name. Little is known about Gazbaba's character, but she was associated with love and sex.
Šurpu The ancient Mesopotamian incantation series Šurpu begins ''enūma nēpešē ša šur-pu t'' 'eppušu'', “when you perform the rituals for (the series) ‘Burning,’” and was probably compiled in the middle Babylonian period, ca. 1350–1050 ...
describes her as ''ṣayyaḫatu'', "the smiling one," which is likely a reference to the frequent mention of smiles in Akkadian erotic literature. She belonged to a group of deities invoked in love incantations, which also included
Inanna Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, Divine law, divine justice, and political p ...
/Ishtar, Nanaya, Kanisurra and
Ishara Ishara (Išḫara) was the tutelary goddess of the ancient Syrian city of Ebla. The origin of her name is unknown. Both Hurrian and West Semitic etymologies have been proposed, but they found no broad support and today it is often assumed that ...
. For example, one such text contains the formula "Ishtar, Nanaya, Gazbaba help it!"


Associations with other deities

Two late texts, a theological explanatory tablet and a
cultic Cult is the care (Latin: '' cultus'') owed to deities and temples, shrines, or churches. Cult is embodied in ritual and ceremony. Its present or former presence is made concrete in temples, shrines and churches, and cult images, including votiv ...
calendar, address Gazbaba and Kanisurra as "Daughters of Ezida," the temple of
Nabu Nabu ( akk, cuneiform: 𒀭𒀝 Nabû syr, ܢܵܒܼܘܼ\ܢܒܼܘܿ\ܢܵܒܼܘܿ Nāvū or Nvō or Nāvō) is the ancient Mesopotamian patron god of literacy, the rational arts, scribes, and wisdom. Etymology and meaning The Akkadian "nab ...
in
Borsippa Borsippa ( Sumerian: BAD.SI.(A).AB.BAKI; Akkadian: ''Barsip'' and ''Til-Barsip'')The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory': Vol. 1, Part 1. Accessed 15 Dec 2010. or Birs Nimrud (having been identified with Nimrod) is an archeologi ...
, and additionally identify them as Nanaya's hairdressers. Most pairs of deities referred to this way are known from northern Mesopotamia. In addition to Daughters of Ezida, known pairs include the daughters of
Esagil The Ésagila or Esangil ( sux, , ''"temple whose top is lofty"'') was a temple dedicated to Marduk, the protector god of Babylon. It lay south of the ziggurat Etemenanki. Description In this temple was the statue of Marduk, surrounded by ...
in
Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
(Katunna and Sillush-tab), the daughters of Emeslam in
Kutha Kutha, Cuthah, Cuth or Cutha ( ar, كُوثَا, Sumerian: Gudua), modern Tell Ibrahim ( ar, تَلّ إِبْرَاهِيم), formerly known as Kutha Rabba ( ar, كُوثَىٰ رَبَّا), is an archaeological site in Babil Governorate, Iraq. ...
( Tadmushtum, a daughter of
Nergal Nergal ( Sumerian: d''KIŠ.UNU'' or ; ; Aramaic: ܢܸܪܓܲܠ; la, Nirgal) was a Mesopotamian god worshiped through all periods of Mesopotamian history, from Early Dynastic to Neo-Babylonian times, with a few attestations under indicating hi ...
in the god list ''
An = Anum ''An = Anum'', also known as the Great God List, is the longest preserved Mesopotamian god list, a type of lexical list cataloging the deities worshiped in the Ancient Near East, chiefly in modern Iraq. While god lists are already known from the ...
'', and Belet-ili), daughters of Edubba in
Kish Kish may refer to: Geography * Gishi, Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan, a village also called Kish * Kiş, Shaki, Azerbaijan, a village and municipality also spelled Kish * Kish Island, an Iranian island and a city in the Persian Gulf * Kish, Iran, ...
(
Iqbi-damiq Iqbi-damiq was a Mesopotamian goddess who was regarded as one of the "Daughters of Edubba", and was worshiped in Kish for this role. According to the god list ''An = Anum'' she also functioned as the '' sukkal'' (attendant deity) of Niĝgina. She ...
, "she said 'it is fine!'," and Hussinni, "Remember me!"), daughters of Ebabbar in
Sippar Sippar ( Sumerian: , Zimbir) was an ancient Near Eastern Sumerian and later Babylonian city on the east bank of the Euphrates river. Its '' tell'' is located at the site of modern Tell Abu Habbah near Yusufiyah in Iraq's Baghdad Governorate, some ...
(Mami and Ninegina), daughters of E-ibbi-Anum in
Dilbat Dilbat (modern Tell ed-Duleim or Tell al-Deylam, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian minor '' tell'' (hill city) located southeast from Babylon on the eastern bank of the Western Euphrates in modern-day Al-Qādisiyyah, Iraq. The ziggurat E-ibe-Anu, de ...
(Ipte-bita and Belet-eanni), and a further similar dyad associated with a temple of
Ningublaga Ningublaga (, less commonly Ningublag) was a Mesopotamian god associated with cattle. His cult center was Kiabrig, a little known city located in the proximity of Ur. He belonged to the circle of deities related to the moon god, Nanna, and some ...
in an unknown location, possibly Larsa (Mannu-shanishu and Larsam-iti). Nameless pairs of such "Divine Daughters" are also known from Uruk, Nippur and
Eridu Eridu ( Sumerian: , NUN.KI/eridugki; Akkadian: ''irîtu''; modern Arabic: Tell Abu Shahrain) is an archaeological site in southern Mesopotamia (modern Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq). Eridu was long considered the earliest city in southern Mesopotam ...
in
Babylonia Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...
and Arbela in
Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
. Additionally, some researchers, like Julia M. Asher-Greve and
Joan Goodnick Westenholz Joan Goodnick Westenholz (1 July 1943 – 2013) was an Assyriologist and the chief curator at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem. She held positions related to academic research at the Oriental Institute (University of Chicago), Harvard Univ ...
, place the Ningublaga temple in the south, in
Larsa Larsa ( Sumerian logogram: UD.UNUGKI, read ''Larsamki''), also referred to as Larancha/Laranchon (Gk. Λαραγχων) by Berossos and connected with the biblical Ellasar, was an important city-state of ancient Sumer, the center of the cul ...
, though according to Andrew R. George its location should be considered unknown. It has been suggested that these pairs of goddesses were imagined as maidservants in the household of the major deity or deities venerated in the corresponding temple. In the case of Gazbaba and Kanisurra, as well as the daughters of Esagil, there is direct evidence that they were viewed as the hairdressers of, respectively, Nanaya and
Sarpanit Sarpanit (alternately Sarpanitu, Ṣarpanitu, Zarpanit, Zirpanet, Zerpanitum, Zerbanitu, or Zirbanit) was the consort of Marduk, the main god of Babylon, and a goddess of birth. She was already attested as the wife of Marduk before his ascension t ...
. It is commonly presumed in modern scholarship that Gazbaba might have additionally been regarded as a daughter of Nanaya, but as pointed out by Gioele Zisa in a recent study, direct evidence in favor of this view is lacking. While both Gazbaba and Kanisurra were connected with Nanaya, Gazbaba's link with this goddess appears to be stronger in known texts. Most notably, she never appears alone in love incantations, but rather always alongside Nanaya.


Worship

Gazbaba was most likely worshiped in
Uruk Uruk, also known as Warka or Warkah, was an ancient city of Sumer (and later of Babylonia) situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates River on the dried-up ancient channel of the Euphrates east of modern Samawah, Al-Muthannā, Iraq.Harm ...
, and appears among other deities associated with this city, such as Kanisurra, Nanaya and
Mes-sanga-Unug Mes-sanga-Unug ( dMES.SANGA.UNUGki; also read Pisangunug) was a Mesopotamian god closely associated with the city of Uruk, and especially with one of its districts, Kullaba. He was regarded as a warrior deity. In early sources he was described as ...
, in an exercise text from
Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
. She is also present in the
Old Babylonian Old Babylonian may refer to: *the period of the First Babylonian dynasty (20th to 16th centuries BC) *the historical stage of the Akkadian language Akkadian (, Akkadian: )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Camb ...
god lists from
Nippur Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory': Vol. 1, Part 1. Accessed 15 Dec 2010. Akkadian language, Akkadian: '' ...
and
Isin Isin (, modern Arabic: Ishan al-Bahriyat) is an archaeological site in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq. Excavations have shown that it was an important city-state in the past. History of archaeological research Ishan al-Bahriyat was visited b ...
. A further attestation is known from Mari, though the text appears to simply list deities belonging to the southern Mesopotamian pantheon. It is possible that a temple of Gazbaba was mentioned in a destroyed passage of the so-called ''Canonical Temple List'', but this assumption is presently purely speculative and relies entirely on the assumption that as a deity closely linked with Nanaya she would likely be mentioned shortly after her.


In Hittite sources

In Hittite texts, the logogram GAZ.BA.BA or GAZ.BA.YA represented
Ḫuwaššanna Ḫuwaššanna was a goddess worshiped in Hittite religion and Luwian religion in the second millennium BCE. Her name could be written phonetically or using the logogram d GAZ.BA.BA and its variants. She was the main goddess of the city of Ḫupi ...
, the tutelary goddess of Ḫupišna. Little is known about her character, but rites dedicated to her seemingly involved a bed. It has been proposed that she belonged to the sphere of household worship of the royal family. There is however no direct indication in known texts that she was a love goddess like Gazbaba.


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * {{refend Mesopotamian goddesses Inanna Love and lust goddesses