Napirisha (

Linear Elamite Linear Elamite was a writing system used in Elam during the Bronze Age between , and known mainly from a few extant monumental inscriptions. It was used contemporaneously with Elamite cuneiform and records the Elamite language. The French archae ...

''Napirriša'') was an

Elamite Elamite, also known as Hatamtite and formerly as Susian, is an extinct language that was spoken by the ancient Elamites. It was used in what is now southwestern Iran from 2600 BC to 330 BC. Elamite works disappear from the archeological record ...

deity from the region of

Anshan Anshan () is an inland prefecture-level city in central-southeast Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, about south of the provincial capital Shenyang. As of the 2020 census, it was Liaoning's third most populous city with a population ...

, and was the main deity of the kingdom from at least the late 3rd millennium BCE. In

, his name means "Great (-''ša'') God (''napir'')"; in

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...

texts, the word is written using the ideogram GAL (meaning "great" in Sumerian), which was without a correct interpretation for some time. Napirisha is depicted as an anthropomorphic deity, often with a snake figure that symbolizes primordial waters. He is thus identified with the Mesopotamian god Enki/Ea, who rules the primordial waters of the abyss. In Elam, he was close to the character of

Humban Humban ( elx, 𒀭𒃲𒈨𒌍, Humban, ''dhu-um-ban'', also ''dhu-ban'', Huban) was an Elamite god. He is already attested in the earliest sources preserving information about Elamite religion, but seemingly only grew in importance in the neo-Elam ...

, the great god of the

Awan Awan may refer to: Places * Awan (ancient city), a city-state in Elam in the 3rd millennium BCE * Awan (region), a town in Guna district, Madhya Pradesh, India * Awan, Bhulath, a village in Kapurthala district, Punjab, India, Punjab, Pakistan * ...

region, which he replaced as a titular deity of Elamite kings around 2000 BCE. In Anshan, Napirisha did not have a main temple. Napirisha was in all likelihood worshiped in large, open stone sanctuaries, such as Kurangun; he is probably the deity depicted on bas-reliefs with his consort (

Kiririsha Kiririsha (Elamite: “great lady”) was a major goddess worshiped in Elam. Early scholarship incorrectly identified her as one and the same as Pinikir, an unrelated goddess from a different part of Elam. Character Kiririsha is regarded as on ...

?) and other deities, providing life water. A large temple dedicated to Napirisha was built in Dur-Untash (Choga-Zambil), in

Susa Susa ( ; Middle elx, 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗, translit=Šušen; Middle and Neo- elx, 𒋢𒋢𒌦, translit=Šušun; Neo-Elamite and Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭, translit=Šušán; Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼, translit=Šušá; fa, شوش ...

, shared with the local titular god

Inshushinak Inshushinak (Linear Elamite: ''Inšušnak'', Cuneiform: , ''dinšušinakki''; possibly from Sumerian '' en-šušin-a ', "lord of Susa") was one of the major gods of the Elamites and the protector deity of Susa. He was called ''rišar napappa ...

. The template was next to a large

ziggurat A ziggurat (; Cuneiform: 𒅆𒂍𒉪, Akkadian: ', D-stem of ' 'to protrude, to build high', cognate with other Semitic languages like Hebrew ''zaqar'' (זָקַר) 'protrude') is a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia. It has ...

References

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References

Further reading