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Uṣur-amāssu
Uṣur-amāssu (also spelled Uṣur-awāssu or Uṣur-amāssa) was a Mesopotamian deity. While originally viewed as male, she later came to be regarded as a goddess. Regardless of gender, Uṣur-amāssu was considered as a child of Adad and Shala and like other members of their entourage was considered a deity of justice. The earliest attestations of veneration of Uṣur-amāssu are theophoric names from cities such as Kish, but the female version of this deity is best attested in sources from Uruk from the Neo-Babylonian period. She belonged to the pentad of goddesses who stood on top of the local pantheon, which also included Ishtar, Nanaya, Bēltu-ša-Rēš and Urkayītu. She is still attested in texts from the Seleucid period, and continued to be celebrated during an ''akitu'' festival. Name and gender Uṣur-amāssu's name was derived from an ordinary masculine given name known from Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian sources, Uṣur-awāssu, whose historically notable bearers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nanaya
Nanaya ( Sumerian , DNA.NA.A; also transcribed as "Nanāy", "Nanaja", "Nanāja", '"Nanāya", or "Nanai"; antiquated transcription: "Nanâ"; in Greek: ''Ναναια'' or ''Νανα''; , ) was a Mesopotamian goddess of love closely associated with Inanna. While she is well attested in Mesopotamian textual sources from many periods, from the times of the Third Dynasty of Ur to the Fall of Babylon and beyond, and was among the most commonly-worshipped goddesses through much of Mesopotamian history, both her origin and the meaning of her name are unknown. It has been proposed that she originated either as a minor Akkadian goddess or as a hypostasis of Sumerian Inanna, but the evidence is inconclusive. Her primary role was that of a goddess of love, and she was associated with eroticism and sensuality, though she was also a patron of lovers, including rejected or betrayed ones. Especially in early scholarship, she was often assumed to be a goddess of the planet Venus like Inanna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Urkayītu
Urkayītu, also known as Urkītum, was a Mesopotamian goddess who likely functioned as the divine representation of the city of Uruk. Her name was initially an epithet of Inanna, but later she came to be viewed as a separate goddess. She was closely associated with Uṣur-amāssu, and like her belonged to the pentad of main goddesses of Uruk in the Neo-Babylonian period. She also continued to be worshiped in this city under Achaemenid and Seleucid rule. Name The theonym Urkayītu is an Akkadian nisba and can be translated as "the Urukean." Names of Mesopotamian goddesses which were etymologically adjectives derived from the names of corresponding cities are common, and the earliest examples are known from the third millennium BCE. The earliest attested form of Urkayītu's name is Urkītum. According to Manfred Krebernik, a late school text from Babylon still lists this version of the name as one of the two "Daughters of E-Ningublaga" alongside Mannu-šāninšu, but according to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kanisurra
Kanisurra (also Gansurra, Ganisurra) was a Mesopotamian goddess who belonged to the entourage of Nanaya. Much about her character remains poorly understood, though it is known she was associated with love. Her name might be derived from the word ''ganzer'', referring to the underworld or to its entrance. In addition to Nanaya, she could be associated with deities such as Gazbaba, Išḫara and Uṣur-amāssu. She is first attested in sources from Uruk from the Ur III period, and continued to be worshiped in this city as late as in the Seleucid period. Name and character The character and functions of Kanisurra are unclear. Her best attested characteristic is her association with Nanaya. Both of them belonged to a group of female deities invoked in love and potency incantations, which also included Ishtar, Išḫara and Gazbaba. Some of these texts use formulas such as "at the command of Kanisurra and Išḫara, patron goddess of love" or "at the command of Kanisurra and Išḫara ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesopotamian Deity
Deities in ancient Mesopotamia were almost exclusively Anthropomorphism, 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 substance which "covered them in terrifying splendor" and which could also be worn by heroes, kings, giants, and even demons. The effect that seeing a deity's ''melam'' has on a human is described as ''ni'', a word for the "Paresthesia, physical creeping of the flesh". Both the Sumerian language, Sumerian and Akkadian languages contain many words to express the sensation of ''ni'', including the word ''puluhtu'', meaning "fear". Deities were almost always depicted wearing horned caps, consisting of up to seven superimposed pairs of ox-horns. They were also sometimes depicted wearing clothes with elaborate decorative gold and silver ornaments sewn into them. The ancient Mesopotamians believed that their deities lived in Heaven, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mīšaru
Mīšaru (Misharu), possibly also known as Ili-mīšar, was a Mesopotamian god regarded as the personification of justice, sometimes portrayed as a divine judge. He was regarded as a son of the weather god Adad and his wife Shala. He was often associated with other similar deities, such as Išartu or Kittu. He is first attested in sources from the Ur III period. In the Old Babylonian period, he was regarded as the tutelary deity of Dūr-Rīmuš, a city in the kingdom of Eshnunna. He was also worshiped in other parts of Mesopotamia, for example in Mari, Assur, Babylon, Sippar and in the land of Suhum. In the Seleucid period he was introduced to the pantheon of Uruk. A deity with a cognate name, Mêšaru, also belonged to the Ugaritic pantheon. It is assumed that like his Mesopotamian counterpart, he was regarded as a divine judge. A further possibly analogous deity, Misor, is also attested in the writings of Philo of Byblos. Name and character Mīšaru's name means "justice," ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 and in Zabban, regarded as cult centers of her husband as well. She is first attested in the Old Babylonian period, but it is possible that an analogous Sumerian goddess, Medimsha, was already the wife of Adad's counterpart Ishkur in earlier times. Both in a number of relatively late Mesopotamian texts and in modern scholarship she is sometimes conflated or confused with Shalash, a Syrian goddess regarded as the spouse of Dagan. Name It is accepted that Shala's name has no plausible Akkadian etymology, and it is possible that it was derived from the Hurrian word ''šāla'', daughter. Researchers attributing Hurrian origin to Shala include Gary Beckman and Daniel Schwemer. A theory regarded as less plausible considers it to be a cog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Early Dynastic period, ''An = Anum'' most likely was composed in the later Kassite period. While often mistakenly described as a list of Sumerian deities and their Akkadian equivalents, ''An = Anum'' is focused on presenting the familial relationships between deities, as well as their courts and spheres of influence. The first four tablets list the major gods and goddesses ( Anu, Enlil, Ninhursag, Enki, Sin, Shamash, Adad and Ishtar) and their courts, arranged according to theological principles, but tablets V and VI do not appear to follow a clear system, and tablet VII is a late appendix listing the names of Marduk and one of his courtiers. Many other works of ancient scholarship were influenced by ''An = Anum'', including a simil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bēltu-ša-Rēš
Bēltu-ša-Rēš was a Mesopotamian goddess associated with a temple, or temples, bearing the name Rēš. She is only attested in sources from Uruk from the Neo-Babylonian and Seleucid periods. In the former, she belonged to the pentad of main deities of the city alongside Ishtar, Nanaya, Uṣur-amāssu and Urkayītu. In the latter, she served as the protective deity of a new temple complex dedicated to Anu and Antu. Name and character The theonym Bēltu-ša-Rēš can be translated as "Lady-of-the-Rēš" or "Mistress of the Rēš Temple." Her identity remains uncertain, though according to Paul-Alain Beaulieu, her name might be related to the ceremonial name of a temple of Lugalbanda located in Kullab, É.SAG, "foremost temple." However, whether the É.SAG is related to a temple of Anu and Antu attested in documents from the Seleucid period, known as either as É.SAG, Rēš or Bīt Rēš, remains uncertain. Julia Krul in a recent study concludes that the origin of the name re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shullat And Hanish
Shullat (Šûllat) and Hanish (Ḫaniš) were a pair of Mesopotamian gods. They were usually treated as inseparable, and appear together in various works of literature. Their character was regarded as warlike and destructive, and they were associated with the weather. Names Multiple syllabic spellings of the name Shullat are attested in cuneiform texts, including '' dśu-ul-la-at'', ''dšu-il-la-at'', ''dšu-ul-la-at'' and ''dsu-ul-ut.'' The spelling of Hanish's name was consistently ''dḫa-ni-iš''. Shullat's name was sometimes written logographically as dPA and Hanish's as dLUGAL. Ignace Gelb proposed that their names were derived from the Akkadian words ''šullatum'', "despoilment," and ''ḫanīšum'', "submission," but Dietz Otto Edzard and Wilfred G. Lambert note that while it is certain that both were derived from a Semitic language, their precise meaning is unknown, and it cannot be ruled out that speculative etymologies were already present in ancient scholarship. Dani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Išartu
Išartu was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the divine hypostasis of righteousness. She was closely associated with a deity of similar character, Mīšaru, and in the god list ''An = Anum'' they are described as a couple. Evidence of the worship of Išartu includes early Akkadian theophoric names, offering lists from Mari and late religious texts from Uruk. Character Išartu functioned as the divine hypostasis of righteousness. Julia Krul describes her as the feminine equivalent of Mīšaru. Volkert Haas assumed that in Mariote tradition they were regarded as twins. In the god list ''An = Anum'' (tablet III, line 247) she is described as his spouse. Manfred Krebernik argues that the pair represented the concept of law and order. Like Mīšaru, Išartu belonged to the circle of deities associated with Adad. Paul-Alain Beaulieu notes that both of them show affinity with another deity from this group, Uṣur-amāssu, and presumes the latter's own association with justice was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Mesopotamian Underworld
The ancient Mesopotamian underworld (known in Sumerian as ''Kur'', ''Irkalla'', ''Kukku'', ''Arali'', or ''Kigal'', and in Akkadian as ''Erṣetu''), was the lowermost part of the ancient near eastern cosmos, roughly parallel to the region known as Tartarus from early Greek cosmology. It was described as a dark, dreary cavern located deep below the ground, where inhabitants were believed to continue "a transpositional version of life on earth". The only food or drink was dry dust, but family members of the deceased would pour sacred mineral libations from the earth for them to drink. In the Sumerian underworld, it was initially believed that there was no final judgement of the deceased and the dead were neither punished nor rewarded for their deeds in life. The ruler of the underworld was the goddess Ereshkigal, who lived in the palace Ganzir, sometimes used as a name for the underworld itself. Her husband was either Gugalanna, the "canal-inspector of Anu", or, especially ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nabonassar
Nabû-nāṣir was the king of Babylon from 747 to 734 BC. He deposed a foreign Chaldean usurper named Nabu-shuma-ishkun, bringing native rule back to Babylon after twenty-three years of Chaldean rule. His reign saw the beginning of a new era characterized by the systematic maintenance of chronologically precise historical records. Both the Babylonian ChronicleTablet BM 92502 The ''Chronicle on the Reigns from Nabû-Nasir to Šamaš-šuma-ukin'' (ABC 1) lines 1 to 12. and the Ptolemaic Canon begin with his accession to the throne. He was contemporary with the Assyrian kings Aššur-nirarī V (755–745 BC) and Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727 BC), under the latter of whom he became a vassal, and the Elamite kings Humban-Tahrah I (reigned until 743 BC) and Humban-Nikaš I (742–717 BC). Attestations and possible vituperative chronicle Nothing is known of his provenance or origin, although it appears he was a native Mesopotamian. His three predecessors were from the migran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
