Sukkal (conventionally translated from
Sumerian as "
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...
") was a term which could denote both a type of official and a class of deities in
ancient Mesopotamia. The historical sukkals were responsible for overseeing the execution of various commands of the kings and acted as diplomatic envoys and translators for foreign dignitaties. The deities referred to as sukkals fulfilled a similar role in mythology, acting as servants, advisors and envoys of the main gods of the Mesopotamian pantheon, such as
Enlil
Enlil, , "Lord f theWind" later known as Elil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Ba ...
or
Inanna. The best known sukkal is the goddess
Ninshubur. In art, they were depicted carrying staffs, most likely understood as their attribute. They could function as intercessory deities, believed to mediate between worshipers and the major gods.
The office sukkal is also known from various areas to the west and east of Mesopotamia, including the
Hurrian
The Hurrians (; cuneiform: ; transliteration: ''Ḫu-ur-ri''; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri or Hurriter) were a people of the Bronze Age Near East. They spoke a Hurrian language and lived in Anatolia, Syria and Norther ...
kingdom
Arrapha
Arrapha or Arrapkha (Akkadian: ''Arrapḫa''; ar, أررابخا ,عرفة) was an ancient city in what today is northeastern Iraq, thought to be on the site of the modern city of Kirkuk.
In 1948, ''Arrapha'' became the name of the residential ...
, Syrian
Alalakh
Alalakh (''Tell Atchana''; Hittite: Alalaḫ) is an ancient archaeological site approximately northeast of Antakya (historic Antioch) in what is now Turkey's Hatay Province. It flourished, as an urban settlement, in the Middle and Late Bronze Ag ...
and
Mari and
Elam under the rule of the
Sukkalmah Dynasty
The Sukkalmah Dynasty (c. 1900-1500 BCE), also Epartid Dynasty after the founder Eparti/Ebarat, was an early dynasty of West Asia in the ancient region of Elam, to the southeast of Babylonia. It corresponds to the latest part of the Old Elamit ...
, while the concept of divine sukkals was incorporated into
Hurrian religion, in which major gods such as
Kumarbi
Kumarbi was an important god of the Hurrians, regarded as "the father of gods." He was also a member of the Hittite pantheon. According to Hurrian myths, he was a son of Alalu, and one of the parents of the storm-god Teshub, the other being Anu ...
or
Hebat commonly appear in company of their sukkals, similar to their Mesopotamian counterparts.
The office of sukkal
The word sukkal (
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-syllabic ...
: ''sukkallu'') has
Sumerian origin and at first denoted a class of human officials, responsible for the implementation of the commands of the king. Translations found in literature include "
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...
," "secretary," and "chancellor." Tonia Sharlach notes that "vizier" is considered to be the standard translation today. The same word is also conventionally employed as a translation of the name of another, unrelated, office, ''badalum'', used in northern Syrian cities, such as
Harran
Harran (), historically known as Carrhae ( el, Kάρραι, Kárrhai), is a rural town and district of the Şanlıurfa Province in southeastern Turkey, approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of Urfa and 20 kilometers from the border ...
and
Abarsal Abarsal was a city-state of Mesopotamia in the area of the Euphrates. Very litte is known of the history of the town and the site is unidentified at the moment. It could be the city of Aburru mentioned in various texts of the tablets of Mari, which ...
, in the third millennium BCE. It is also the conventional term for the
head of the Eblaite administration, most likely referred to as ''lugal sa-za''. The word sukkal is attested in Eblaite documents, but seemingly designates a type of
clergyman instead.
This office of sukkal is also known from outside southern Mesopotamia, for example from
Mari from
Alalakh
Alalakh (''Tell Atchana''; Hittite: Alalaḫ) is an ancient archaeological site approximately northeast of Antakya (historic Antioch) in what is now Turkey's Hatay Province. It flourished, as an urban settlement, in the Middle and Late Bronze Ag ...
in western Syria, from the
Hurrian
The Hurrians (; cuneiform: ; transliteration: ''Ḫu-ur-ri''; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri or Hurriter) were a people of the Bronze Age Near East. They spoke a Hurrian language and lived in Anatolia, Syria and Norther ...
kingdom of
Arrapha
Arrapha or Arrapkha (Akkadian: ''Arrapḫa''; ar, أررابخا ,عرفة) was an ancient city in what today is northeastern Iraq, thought to be on the site of the modern city of Kirkuk.
In 1948, ''Arrapha'' became the name of the residential ...
in northeastern Mesopotamia, and from
Elam. At least in southern Mesopotamia and Mari, a sukkal served as an intermediary between the royal administration and foreign envoys. There is evidence that they often knew more than one language and acted as
translators, and some were likely foreigners or children of foreigners who settled in Mesopotamia. In some cases, a specific foreign dignitary was always mentioned alongside the same local sukkal accompanying him.
A related office, known from
Early Dynastic Girsu
Girsu ( Sumerian ; cuneiform ) was a city of ancient Sumer, situated some northwest of Lagash, at the site of modern Tell Telloh, Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq.
History
Girsu was possibly inhabited in the Ubaid period (5300-4800 BC), but ...
and from the administrative texts of the
Third Dynasty of Ur
The Third Dynasty of Ur, also called the Neo-Sumerian Empire, refers to a 22nd to 21st century BC ( middle chronology) Sumerian ruling dynasty based in the city of Ur and a short-lived territorial-political state which some historians consider t ...
, was that of the sukkalmah (GAL.SUKKAL, ''sukkalmaḫḫu''). Tonia Sharlach proposes this term should be understood as the equivalent of a modern
secretary of state. A sukkalmah was in charge of a number of sukkals. In Elam, this term was adopted as a royal title, possibly because the sukkalmahs of the Ur III state, who resides in
Lagash, close to Elamite territory, were in charge of the territories surrounding
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 ...
when the state they served reached its maximal extent. The so-called
Sukkalmah Dynasty
The Sukkalmah Dynasty (c. 1900-1500 BCE), also Epartid Dynasty after the founder Eparti/Ebarat, was an early dynasty of West Asia in the ancient region of Elam, to the southeast of Babylonia. It corresponds to the latest part of the Old Elamit ...
ruled over Elam in the early second millennium BCE.
Some lexical texts explain sukkal as ''pašišu'', "salve priest," though the reason behind the equation of these two terms is not known.
Sukkal as a type of deities
In
Mesopotamian religion, some deities were designated as sukkals, and founctioned as a divine counterpart of the human officials. Due to more direct evidence present in myths compared to economic and administrative texts, their functions are better known than these of their human namesakes. A sukkal was the highest ranked member of a deity's court, and in some cases in god lists could appear even before their children. At the same time, not every servant deity was a sukkal. Three distinct classes of divine servants can be found in various documents: advisers and representatives (including the sukkal), deities dealing with the personal needs of a god, and finally those tasked with upkeep of their household, such as divine
cooks or
gardener
A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby.
Description
A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner suppl ...
s. In myths, sukkals act both as traveling envoys of their masters, and as their advisors at home. Wisdom was frequently regarded as a trait of this class of deities. While most deities had courtiers, usually only these whose position in the pantheon was well established had sukkals, and sukkals of the major city gods were likely the oldest deities of this type. Instances of a sukkal having a sukkal of their own, while known, should be regarded as an anomaly according to Richard L. Litke. For example,
Niĝgina
Kittum, also known as Niĝgina, was a Mesopotamian goddess who was regarded as the embodiment of truth. She belonged to the circle of the sun god Utu and was associated with law and justice.
Character
Kittum's name means "truth" in Akkadian and ...
, a sukkal of the
sun god Utu, had her own sukkal, as did
Alammuš
Alammuš (Alammush) was a Mesopotamian god. He was the sukkal (attendant deity) of the moon god Nanna, and like him was worshiped in Ur. He was also closely associated with the cattle god Ningublaga, and especially in astronomical texts they co ...
, the sukkal of the moon god
Nanna.
The goddess
Ninshubur is regarded by
Assyriologists
Assyriology (from Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , ''-logia'') is the archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic study of Assyria and the rest of ancient Mesopotamia (a region that encompassed what is now modern Iraq, northeastern Syria, sout ...
as "the earliest and most important" sukkal, the "archetypal vizier of the gods."
The attribute associated with all sukkals was a staff.
Papsukkal could be called ''bēl ḫaṭṭi'', "lord of the staff." Similarly,
Nuska
Nuska or Nusku, possibly also known as Našuḫ, was a Mesopotamian god best attested as the sukkal (divine vizier) of Enlil. He was also associated with fire and light, and could be invoked as a protective deity against various demons, such as ...
bore the Sumerian epithet ''en-ĝidri'', "lord of the scepter."
Alla,
Isimud
Isimud (also Isinu; Usmû; Usumu (Akkadian)) is a minor god, the sukkal of the god Enki, in Sumerian mythology.
In ancient Sumerian artwork, Isimud is easily identifiable because he is always depicted with two faces facing in opposite directions ...
and
Ninshubur were depicted holding staffs too. One possible depiction of Ninshubur carrying a staff is present on the
seal of
Lugal-ushumgal, governor of
Lagash during the reigns of
Naram-Sin of Akkad and his son
Shar-Kali-Sharri
Shar-Kali-Sharri (, '' DShar-ka-li-Sharri''; reigned c. 2217–2193 BC middle chronology, c. 2153–2129 BC short chronology) was a king of the Akkadian Empire.
Rule
Succeeding his father Naram-Sin in c. 2217 BC, he came to the throne in an age ...
. A sukkal was expected to walk in front of their master, leading the way with their staff. Sukkals could be associated with doors as well. In literary texts, they could be tasked with screening visitors who wanted to see their master.
The title of sukkalmaḫ could be applied to divine sukkals, though there is no evidence that a divine sukkalmaḫ was in charge of regular sukkals, and in some cases a deity had multiple sukkals but none of them was referred as a sukkalmaḫ, while in other a sukkalmaḫ was the only sukkal of their master. Most likely addressing a deity as a sukkalmaḫ was only meant to highlight the high position of their master in the pantheon. Deities addressed as sukkalmaḫs include Nuska (the sukkal of
Enlil
Enlil, , "Lord f theWind" later known as Elil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Ba ...
),
Ara
ARA may refer to:
Media and the arts
* American-Romanian Academy of Arts and Sciences
* '' Artistička Radna Akcija'', compilation album released in former Yugoslavia
* Associate of the Royal Academy, denoting membership in the British Royal Acad ...
(one of the two sukkals of
Enki), Ninpirig (one of the sukkals of
Utu), Ninshubur (the sukkal of
Inanna) and Alammuš (the sukkal of Nanna). A further title used to describe some of the divine sukkals was SAL.ḪÚB
2. In most of the texts where this word is attested, it occurs in parallel with "sukkal." It only ever designates gods, not human officials, and only a handful of attestations are known. It is assumed that it referred to a sukkal particularly emotionally close to their master. Deities referred to this way include Ninshubur (both male and female),
Bunene The ancient Mesopotamian deity Bunene, inscribed in cuneiform sumerograms as dḪAR and phonetically as d''bu-ne-ne'', was a subordinate to and '' sukkal'' ("vizier") or charioteer of the sun-god Šamaš, whom he drove from the eastern horizon at ...
, Ninpirig,
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 "n ...
and Muduggasa'a (in a
bilingual text where he occurs as the equivalent of the former), and Innimanizi. The number of references to each of them is not equal, and only Ninshubur is referred to as SAL.ḪÚB
2 more than once or twice, with seven recorded instances currently known. In one case, she was labeled as the "beloved SAL.ḪÚB
2 of Inanna," and appears right after
Dumuzi in an enumeration of deities associated with her mistress, before some of her family members, for example her
sister in law
A sibling-in-law is the spouse of one's sibling, or the sibling of one's spouse, or the person who is married to the sibling of one's spouse.Cambridge Dictionaries Online.Family: non-blood relations.
More commonly, a sibling-in-law is referred ...
Geshtinanna. In some cases, terms such as MUNUS.SUKKAL (for example in the case of Sililitum) or ''
nin-sukkal'' (in the case of Ninshubur and
Amasagnudi) was used to indicate a sukkal was female.
It has been argued that many sukkals simply represented the effect of their masters' actions: the fire god
Gibil Gibil () in Sumerian mythology is the god of fire, variously of the son of An and Ki, An and Shala or of Ishkur
Hadad ( uga, ), Haddad, Adad (Akkadian: 𒀭𒅎 '' DIM'', pronounced as ''Adād''), or Iškur ( Sumerian) was the storm and ...
was served by a deified
flame
A flame (from Latin '' flamma'') is the visible, gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic chemical reaction taking place in a thin zone. When flames are hot enough to have ionized gaseous components of sufficient density the ...
, Nabium, while the weather god
Ishkur
Hadad ( uga, ), Haddad, Adad (Akkadian: 𒀭𒅎 '' DIM'', pronounced as ''Adād''), or Iškur ( Sumerian) was the storm and rain god in the Canaanite and ancient Mesopotamian religions.
He was attested in Ebla as "Hadda" in c. 2500 BCE. ...
by a deified
lightning
Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an average ...
, Nimgir. Other seem to be personifications of specific commands, for example Eturammi ("do not slacken"), Nēr-ē-tagmil ("kill, spare not") or
Ugur ("destroy"). However, Frans Wiggermann points out that neither explanation is suitable for the sukkals of particularly well established deities: Ninshubur, Nuska, Bunene, Isimud and Alammuš, whose character was independent from that of their masters.
It is sometimes argued that a sukkal had to match the gender for their master. However, exceptions from this rule are known.
Namtar,
Ereshkigal
In Mesopotamian mythology, Ereshkigal ( sux, , lit. "Queen of the Great Earth") was the goddess of Kur, the land of the dead or underworld in Sumerian mythology. In later myths, she was said to rule Irkalla alongside her husband Nergal. Some ...
's sukkal, was male. The sukkal of the medicine goddess
Gula, Urmašum, was a male deity too. Amasagnudi, regarded as a goddess in known sources, appears as the sukkal of
Anu
, image=Detail, upper part, Kudurru of Ritti-Marduk, from Sippar, Iraq, 1125-1104 BCE. British Museum.jpg
, caption=Symbols of various deities, including Anu (bottom right corner) on a kudurru of Ritti-Marduk, from Sippar, Iraq, 1125–1104 BCE
, ...
in a single lexical text.
Sukkals could act as intercessory deities, leading to comparisions between them and another class of minor deities,
lamma, in modern scholarship. Both of them could be depicted in similar scenes on
cylinder seals, leading a human visitor to their divine master. The goddess
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 fr ...
was identified both as a sukkal and a lamma. A third class of deities involved in intercession were wives of major gods, and on occasion comparisions are made between them and sukkals too, for example the role of a mediator between a major deity and worshipers played by Ninshubur in the cult of Inanna has been compared to that played by the spouses of other major gods,
Aya in the cult of Shamash or
Shala
Shala (Šala) was a Mesopotamian goddess of weather and grain and the wife of the weather god Adad. It is assumed that she originated in northern Mesopotamia and that her name might have Hurrian origin. She was worshiped especially in Karkar ...
in Adad's.
Sukkals have also been compared to
angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles ...
s in comparative scholarship, and some researchers, for example Jan van Dijk and Frans Wiggermann, tentatively label study of sukkals as "Sumerian
angelology." Similarly, it has been argued that the nature of Lamma deities can be compared to modern idea of
guardian angel
A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played a major role in A ...
s.
List of sukkals
In addition to the sukkals listed above, according to 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 ...
'' the following deities had sukkals whose names are either not preserved or only partially preserved in known copies: Dingirmah, a goddess from
Adab conflated with
Ninhursag
, deity_of=Mother goddess, goddess of fertility, mountains, and rulers
, image= Mesopotamian - Cylinder Seal - Walters 42564 - Impression.jpg
, caption= Akkadian cylinder seal impression depicting a vegetation goddess, possibly Ninhursag, sitt ...
, Gishhuranki, the wife of
Ashgi,
Šulpae,
Panigingarra
Paniĝinĝarra (or Paniĝara) was a Mesopotamian god worshiped in Adab. His name could be contracted, and as a result in Old Babylonian documents the writing '' dPa-an-ni-gá-ra'' can be found.
An inscription from the reign of Meli-Shipak refers ...
, and
Ninsun
Ninsun (also called Ninsumun, cuneiform: dNIN.SUMUN2; Sumerian: ''Nin-sumun(ak)'' "lady of the wild cows") was a Mesopotamian goddess. She is best known as the mother of the hero Gilgamesh and wife of deified legendary king Lugalbanda, and appea ...
. An offering list from
Umma from the
Ur III period
The Third Dynasty of Ur, also called the Neo-Sumerian Empire, refers to a 22nd to 21st century BC (middle chronology) Sumerian ruling dynasty based in the city of Ur and a short-lived territorial-political state which some historians consider t ...
mentions a nameless sukkal of the artisan goddess
Ninmug
Ninmug or Ninmuga was a Mesopotamian goddess. She was associated with artisanship, especially with metalworking, as evidenced by her epithet ''tibira kalamma'', "metalworker of the land." She could also be regarded as a goddess of birth and assis ...
. Frans Wiggermann argues that based on iconographic evidence it can be assumed that sukkals associated with
Nanshe and
Ningirsu also existed, though their names are unknown.
List of sukkals from outside Mesopotamia
The concept of sukkal was also incorporated into
Hurrian religion. The
Hurrian
The Hurrians (; cuneiform: ; transliteration: ''Ḫu-ur-ri''; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri or Hurriter) were a people of the Bronze Age Near East. They spoke a Hurrian language and lived in Anatolia, Syria and Norther ...
spelling of this word was ''šukkalli''. All of the major
Hurrian gods were believed to have their own sukkals.
See also
*
Angels in Judaism
In Judaism, angels ( he, ''mal’āḵ'', plural: ''mal’āḵīm'', literally "messenger") are supernatural beings that appear throughout the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), rabbinic literature, apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, and traditional Jewish ...
*
Uthra (in Mandaeism)
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{{Hurrian mythology
Sumerian titles
Mesopotamian mythology
Hurrian mythology
Messenger deities