Simut (god)

Simut or Šimut (Shimut) was an Elamite god. He was regarded as the herald of the gods, and was associated with the planet Mars. He was also worshiped in Mesopotamia, where he was compared with the war god Nergal.

Name

Various spellings of Simut's name are attested in Elamite sources, including '' ^dSi-mu-ut'', ''^dŠi-mu-ut-ta'', ''^dŠi-mu-ut'' and ''^dŠi-mut'', as well as logographic ^dMAN/^dPAP. The last spelling might be related to one of the Mesopotamian names of Mars, ^mulMAN-''ma'', "the strange star." It is also possible that in at least one location another logographic spelling of his name was NIN.DAR.(A).

The spelling "Simut" is the standard in Mesopotamian sources from the Middle Babylonian period, though in earlier, Old Babylonian ones, Šimut (Shimut) appears to be the correct orthography. In neo-Assyrian sources, the name is spelled as "Šumudu" (Shumudu).

Functions

Simut was known as "god of Elam," ''berir napirra'' ( Elamite: "herald of the gods") and ''silhak perir nappipir'' ("mighty one, herald of the gods"). It is possible that he was a warrior god, and that the word tentatively translated as "herald" refers to a specific administrative or military position. Like Humban, Simut was associated with the concept of '' kittin'', which can be understood as "(area of) divine protection." He appears in judicial and economic documents from Susa, in at least one case sharing the role of a divine witness and guardian of contracts with Inshushinak and Mesopotamian Shamash.

Simut was frequently associated with the planet Mars in Babylonian astrological texts, and the planet was often called "the star Simut," ^mul''Si-mu-ut''.

While Wilfred G. Lambert describes Simut as an "infernal" god in the Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie, Daniel T. Potts, following the more recent research of Wouter Henekelman, concludes that he had no funerary or underworld associations.

Worship

Like many other gods worshiped in Elam, for example Pinikir, Humban and Manzat, Simut is attested for the first time in the treaty of Naram-Sin with an unknown Elamite monarch, possibly Hita of Awan, where he appears right after Inshushinak. Old Babylonian copies of earlier inscriptions also mention a governor ('' ensi'') of Elam from the Sargonic period bearing the theophoric name Sanam-Shimut.

Historically notable Elamites bearing theophoric names connected to the worship of Simut include Kuk-Simut, chancellor of king Tan-Ruhurater of the Shimashki dynasty, and Simut-wartash from the Sukkalmah period, whose inscriptions were found in Liyan on the coast of the Persian Gulf.

While it is assumed Simut had a main cult center, similar to how Inshushinak was associated with Susa, Ruhurater with Huhnur and Napirisha with Anshan, its name and location are presently unknown.

Multiple temples of Simut are attested in Elamite texts. Untash-Napirisha dedicated temples in Susa and Chogha Zanbil to him. The latter one was shared with the goddess Belet-ali. It was referred to with the term ''kinin'', variously translated in modern literature as "gate," " lock," "fate" or "(divine) help." Like a number of other terms used to describe temples forming the Chogha Zanbil complex it is a hapax legomenon.
According to inscriptions of kings Shutruk-Nahhunte and Hutelutush-Inshushinak sites of worship of Manzat and Simut treated as a pair existed in Susa. A temple in Anshan was dedicated jointly to Simut, Kiririsha, Napirisha and Inshushinak. It was built during the reign of Hutelutush-Inshushinak.

The Neo-Elamite ruler Hanni of Ayapir left behind an inscription dedicated to Humban, Tepti, Napir and Simut.

Worship of Simut continued in the former Elamite territory under the rule of the Persian Achaemenid dynasty, and he is attested in the so-called Persepolis fortification archive. According to one document, a priest named Appirka received wine from the royal administration to offer it to Simut, Ahura Mazda and Mithra, which indicates that Elamite and Iranian deities were worshiped side by side in this period. At least one theophoric name invoking Simut, Shati-Shimut, appears in this corpus of texts.

In Mesopotamia

Oldest attestations of the worship of Simut in Mesopotamia come from the Old Babylonian period from the reign of Rim-Sîn I of Larsa, when this god starts to appear in theophoric names.

Stephanie Dalley argues that it is possible that Simut had a minor cult center somewhere in Mesopotamia, as another Elamite deity worshiped there and attested in theophoric names, Igishta (^dIGI.DU; Igišta) had one in Udannu, a small settlement near Uruk.

Multiple theophoric names indicate that he was among the deities present in the pantheon of the First Sealand dynasty, possibly in association with Manzat. Feminine names are among them, for example Amat-Šimut. Some of these names, as well as other given names from the same area, combine Akkadian and Elamite elements, but according to Ran Zadok it is difficult to speculate about the identity of their bearers. Mixed Akkadian-Elamite names are also common in documents from Susa.

Nine theophoric names indicate that worshipers of Simut were present in Nippur in the Kassite period. He might also be present in an earlier Nippur god list, but this attestation is uncertain.

Connections with other deities

In Elam Simut was likely viewed as the husband of Manzat, the goddess of the rainbow, and is a common assumption in scholarship that they were regarded as a couple. Simut was also associated with Belet-ali (Akkadian: "lady of the city"), a goddess most likely analogous to Manzat. According to Wouter Henkelman the deity NIN.DAR.A, who appears with Manzat in some inscriptions, can also be identified with Simut. However, Daniel T. Potts identifies NIN.DAR.A as a goddess. The name Nindara or Nindar originally belonged to a male Mesopotamian deity, the husband of the goddess Nanshe, who was worshiped in Lagash, Girsu and Ki'esa.

In Mesopotamia Simut was frequently associated with Nergal and shared his association with Mars and possibly his warlike character, though unlike him he was not an underworld deity. The two of them are equated in the so-called Weidner god list. In one case Simut appears in a Mesopotamian document alongside Laṣ, the wife of Nergal. Wouter Henkelman additionally proposes that "Nergal of Hubshal (or Hubshan)," known from Assyrian sources, was the same deity as Simut. However, Volkert Haas instead identifies him as Ugur. Hubshan was an area associated with the worship of Manzat, Simut's presumed wife, according to Elamite royal inscriptions. It is presently unknown if " Aya of Hubshen" known from the same Assyrian sources as Nergal of Hubshen is related in any way to Manzat.

Stephanie Dalley proposes that due to their shared role as heralds of the gods, Mesopotamians might had associated Simut with Ishum.

References

Bibliography

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Elamite gods
Mesopotamian gods
Stellar gods
War gods
Martian deities