Ninsusinak
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Inshushinak (
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 ...
: ''Inšušnak'', Cuneiform: , ''dinšušinakki''; possibly from
Sumerian Sumerian or Sumerians may refer to: *Sumer, an ancient civilization **Sumerian language **Sumerian art **Sumerian architecture **Sumerian literature **Cuneiform script, used in Sumerian writing *Sumerian Records, an American record label based in ...
'' en-šušin-a ', "lord of Susa") was one of the major gods of the Elamites and the protector deity of
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 ...
. He was called ''rišar napappair'', "greatest of gods" in some inscriptions.


Character and cult

Inshushinak is attested for the first time in the treaty of Naram-sin, much like many other Elamite gods. He played an important role as a god connected to royal power in the official ideology of many Elamite dynasties. King Atta-Hushu 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 Elamite pe ...
called himself "the shepherd of the god Inshushinak." Multiple rulers dedicated new construction projects to Inshushinak using the formula "for his (eg. the king's) life." Shutrukids commonly used the title "(king) whose kingdom Inshushinak loves." He was also a divine witness of contracts, similar to Mesopotamian
Shamash Utu (dUD "Sun"), also known under the Akkadian name Shamash, ''šmš'', syc, ܫܡܫܐ ''šemša'', he, שֶׁמֶשׁ ''šemeš'', ar, شمس ''šams'', Ashurian Aramaic: 𐣴𐣬𐣴 ''š'meš(ā)'' was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. ...
. Sometimes he shared this role with both Shamash and the Elamite god
Simut Simut or Samut (“Son of Mut”) was an ancient Egyptian priest who held the position of Second Prophet of Amun towards the end of the reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. He is known from a number of objects, including his (now lost), Theban tomb cha ...
in documents from Susa.


As a god of the afterlife

Inshushinak was closely related to the afterlife, and appears as a judge of the dead in the so-called Susa funerary texts. One of Inshushinak's temples was called ''haštu'', "tomb." The scholarly consensus is that Inshushinak's judgment involved the weighing of souls, an element unknown in Mesopotamia; the idea presumably developed independently from similar
Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
beliefs. However, archaeologist Nathan Wassermann recently challenged this view, arguing references to weighing in the Susa funerary texts were a mistranslation.


Temples

Inshushinak's temple located near the acropole of Susa is among the best documented buildings from that city. However multiple temples dedicated to him were located in it, including Ekikuanna ("Pure place of heaven"), a ''siyan husame'' (temple in a sacred grove) shared with Lagamar, and more. Inscriptions of the Sumerian king Shulgi state that he built an Inshushinak temple in Susa. It's possible it was the same building as the "old temple" restored by the Sukkalmah dynasty king Kuk-Kirwash. The ''kukkunum'' ("high temple") on top of
Chogha Zanbil Chogha Zanbil ( fa, چغازنبيل; Elamite: Dur Untash) is an ancient Elamite complex in the Khuzestan province of Iran. It is one of the few existing ziggurats outside Mesopotamia. It lies approximately southeast of Susa and north of Ahv ...
was dedicated to Inshushinak and Napirisha. Shutruk-Nahhunte built another Inshushinak ''kukkunum'' in Karintash.


In Achaemenid period

The fate of Inshushinak's cult in Achaemenid times is uncertain – while
Heidemarie Koch Heidemarie Koch (17 December 1943 – 28 January 2022) was a German Iranologist. Life and career Koch was born in Merseburg, Saxony, Prussia, Germany. She studied mathematics as her major between 1963 and 1966. Subsequently, she worked as a teach ...
proposed that he entirely lost his importance, Wouter Henkelman pointed out in a more recent publication that there is simply no known source dealing with his cult in these times, which isn't necessarily the same as evidence of loss of status, especially considering it is known that he maintained his prestige in the final decades of the Neo-Elamite period, and that other Elamite gods, especially Humban, continued to be venerated under Achamaenid rule, not necessarily only by Elamites.


In Mesopotamia

Inshushinak enjoyed a limited recognition in Mesopotamia, generally as a god of the underworld, associated with
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 religion, Sumerian mythology. In later myths, she was said to rule Irkalla alongside her husb ...
. According to the god list ''An-Anum'' Inshushinak was the son of Tishpak (and his wife Kulla) and the brother of Ishtaran. All three of these gods, as well as Ninazu and Ningishzida, are part of Frans Wiggermann's proposed grouping of "transtigridian snake gods" existing on the boundary between Elamite and Mesopotamian culture, sharing a connection to judgment, the afterlife and snakes, as well as similar locations of their major cult centers. Some Babylonian sources equated both Inshushinak and
Ruhurater Ruhurater or Lahuratil was an Elamite deity. Character Ruhurater's gender is uncertain, though some researchers refer to him as a male deity. It has been proposed that his name means "(the god who is the) creator (of) man" and that he was connecte ...
, who had a similar role as a divine witness of contracts, with
Ninurta , image= Cropped Image of Carving Showing the Mesopotamian God Ninurta.png , caption= Assyrian stone relief from the temple of Ninurta at Kalhu, showing the god with his thunderbolts pursuing Anzû, who has stolen the Tablet of Destinies from En ...
.


Connections to other deities

In some texts Inshushinak appears to form a trinity with two other prominent Elamite deities, Napirisha and
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 ...
. Examples can be found in the inscription of kings
Untash-Napirisha Untash-Napirisha was king of Elam (in present-day southwest Iran) during the Middle Elamite period, circa 1300 BCE. He was the son of the previous Elamite king, Humban-Numena. He was named after Napirisha, an Elamite deity. He founded and built ...
(from
Chogha Zanbil Chogha Zanbil ( fa, چغازنبيل; Elamite: Dur Untash) is an ancient Elamite complex in the Khuzestan province of Iran. It is one of the few existing ziggurats outside Mesopotamia. It lies approximately southeast of Susa and north of Ahv ...
) and Shilhak-Inshushinak. Lagamar and Ishmekarab were two deities associated with Inshushinak in funerary context. They escorted the dead to Inshushinak's judgment.


Lagamar

Lagamar or Lagamal (Akkadian: "no mercy") was an underworld deity first recorded in 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 ...
, attested as far west as Mari, and presumably introduced to Elam from Mesopotamia. Some later Mesopotamian god lists equate Lagamar with
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 ...
. Most sources regard Lagamar as a male deity, though Milad Jahangirfar notes there are some claims that the name belongs to a goddess. Lagamar was regarded as the ''son'' of Urash (the
tutelary god A tutelary () (also tutelar) is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety an ...
of Dilbat rather than the earth goddess
Urash Uraš or Urash ( sux, 𒀭𒅁), in Sumerian religion, is a goddess of earth, and one of the consorts of the sky god Anu. She is the mother of the goddess Ninsun and a grandmother of the hero Gilgamesh. However, ''Uras'' may only have been anot ...
) in Mesopotamia which casts doubts on the possibility of this deity being female.


Ishmekarab

Ishmekarab (Akkadian: "he heard the prayer") was a law deity with some underworld-related functions, and also a guardian of oaths. Outside of the underworld context, texts related to oaths also associate Inshushinak with Ishmekarab. Ishmekarab's gender is uncertain. Florence Malbran-Labat refers to Ishmekarab as a goddess, but Wilfred G. Lambert wrote that while it's not impossible that Lagamar and Ishmekarab were a mixed gender pair, it's far from certain and both of them being male is a more likely possibility. In Mesopotamia Ishmekarab was one of the "standing gods" in Ebabbar, a cult site dedicated to
Shamash Utu (dUD "Sun"), also known under the Akkadian name Shamash, ''šmš'', syc, ܫܡܫܐ ''šemša'', he, שֶׁמֶשׁ ''šemeš'', ar, شمس ''šams'', Ashurian Aramaic: 𐣴𐣬𐣴 ''š'meš(ā)'' was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. ...
.W. G. Lambert, ''Išme-karāb'' n''Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie'' vol 5, 1980, p. 196


Gallery

File:Foundation nail-Sb 2879-P5280608-gradient.jpg, Foundation nail dedicated by Shulgi to the
Elam Elam (; Linear Elamite: ''hatamti''; Cuneiform Elamite: ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ; he, עֵילָם ''ʿēlām''; peo, 𐎢𐎺𐎩 ''hūja'') was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretc ...
ite god Inshushinak, found 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 ...
. Louvre Museum File:Bull-man protecting palmtree Louvre 14390-91.jpg, Bull-man protecting a palmtree, Decorative brick panel from the outer wall of a temple to Inshushinak at
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 ...
(12th century BC)


References

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Footnotes

{{Reflist Elamite gods Mesopotamian gods Underworld gods Justice deities Tutelary deities Susa