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 could be regarded as twin brothers.
Name and character
Alammuš’s name was often written
logographically as
dLÀL () or
dMÙŠ.LÀL, though syllabic spellings are attested too. The
Sumerian logogram LÀL resembles that representing the unrelated deity
Kabta, leading to occasional confusion between them in scholarship in the past. Frans Wiggermann notes that the name and character of Alammuš (as well as these of other well attested
sukkals of major city gods:
Ninshubur,
Nuska,
Bunene and
Isimud) do not appear to show direct connection with these of his master,
Nanna, which means that he cannot be considered the personification of the effect of the corresponding major deity's actions (unlike sukkals such Nabium, deified flame associated with
Girra or Nimgir, deified lightning associated with
Ishkur) or a divine personifications of specific commands (unlike such deities as Eturammi, "do not slacken," the sukkal of
Birtum). It has been proposed that he was a god connected with food production, as the logogram LÀL used to write his name also meant "
honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...
" or "
syrup
In cooking, syrup (less commonly sirup; from ; , beverage, wine and ) is a condiment that is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a Solution (chemistry), solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars but ...
," and in an offering list from
Umma he appears alongside deities associated with grain (
Nisaba) and dairy (
Nineigara, the wife of
Ningublaga, whose name means "lady of the house of butter and cream").
Alammuš could be addressed as a ''sukkalmaḫ''. This term originally denoted an administrative official responsible for managing the duties of sukkals, in this context a class of lower ranked officials responsible for overseeing the implementation of royal orders rather than a type of deity. However, there is no evidence that a divine ''sukkalmaḫ'' was in charge of deities regarded as 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. A text written in the
Emesal dialect of Sumerian calls Alammuš "the noble lord of the courtyard," possibly a synonym of his usual title.
Frans Simons instead argues that Alammuš was a god associated with the
underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld.
...
, pointing at his position in a list deities on the so-called "
Land grant to Munnabittu kudurru," where he and Ningublaga occur between the members of two well established groups of underworld deities,
Nergal and his entourage and the snake gods
Tishpak and
Ištaran. He is uncertain if Alammuš and his twin should be regarded as members of one of these two groups, or as unrelated to either despite their postulated character. He also argues that since disappearance of the moon could be connected with the underworld and with funerary offerings, it would be reasonable to assume that some of the courtiers of the moon god would show affinity with this sphere.
The attribute of Alammuš was a staff, which most likely was used to identify sukkals in visual arts.
Associations with other deities
Alammuš was the
sukkal (attendant deity, divine
vizier
A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...
) of the Mesopotamian moon god, Nanna (Sin in
Akkadian). Manfred Krebernik proposes that he might have been also viewed as one of his sons at an unknown point in time. Alammuš also had a sukkal himself. Two writings of the latter deity's name are known,
dUru
3.gal and
dUru
x(EN).gal. Instances of a deity well established as a sukkal having a sukkal of their own should be regarded as an anomaly according to Richard L. Litke. The other attested case is
Niĝgina, a sukkal of the sun god
Utu, whose sukkal was
Iqbi-damiq.
The goddess
Ninurima was regarded as the wife of Alammuš. Her name means "lady of Ur." According to an inscription of
Shulgi, she had a temple in Karzida (
Ga'eš). At least two instances of Ninuruma receiving offerings alongside her husband are known. She also received offerings of flour on her own. A theophoric name invoking her, Geme-Ninurima, is known from the
Ur III period.
Alammuš was commonly associated with the cattle god
Ningublaga. They could be regarded as brothers. Early
assyriologist
Assyriology (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , ''-logy, -logia''), also known as Cuneiform studies or Ancient Near East studies, is the archaeological, anthropological, historical, and linguistic study of the cultures that used cune ...
Ernst Weidner incorrectly assumed that Ningublaga was a female deity and the wife of Alammuš, which has been disproven by subsequent studies. Together they corresponded to the constellation called "Little Twins" (
mulMAŠ.TAB.BA TUR.TUR) in
Mesopotamian astronomy. It has been proposed that Little Twins corresponded to
Lambda Geminorum and
Xi Geminorum. The analogous title "Great Twins" referred to
Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea. Alammuš and Ningublaga also appear together in incantations, ritual texts, and oath formulas.
In the
Nippur god list, Alammuš occurs outside the circle of Nanna, next to
Lulal. This placement was most likely based on the fact that the sign LÀL was also present in Lulal's name.
Worship
Alammuš was worshiped in
Ur. He is also present in offering lists from
Umma from the
Ur III period.
Andrew R. George considers him to be one of the possible identities of the deity worshiped in the temple E-bursasa (Sumerian: "house of the beautiful jars"), though he notes Ningublaga, his wife
Nineigara or another presently unidentified deity from the court of Nanna should be considered plausible options too. The same name also referred to part of the temple complex of
Shara in Umma and to his temple in
Babylon.
An oath sworn by Alammuš, Nanna,
Ningal,
Ninshubur and other deities which, if broken, was meant to result in infertility is mentioned in a
seal inscription of a certain Kussulu. Another inhabitant of Ur, Elali, who was his debtor, was apparently able to raise a family despite breaking the oath, leading Kussulu to implore the same gods again to enforce the contract. Legal texts from the
Kingdom of Khana mention him alongside deities such as
Marduk,
Shamash
Shamash (Akkadian language, Akkadian: ''šamaš''), also known as Utu (Sumerian language, Sumerian: dutu "Sun") was the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian Solar deity, sun god. He was believed to see everything that happened in t ...
,
Annunitum and
Adad. One mentions a field which was regarded as property of this god. He is also mentioned in the inscription on a
kudurru
A kudurru was a type of stone document used as a boundary stone and as a record of land grants to vassals by the Kassites and later dynasties in ancient Babylonia between the 16th and 7th centuries BC. The original kudurru would typically be stor ...
(boundary stone) from the reign of
Marduk-apla-iddina I
Marduk-apla-iddina I, contemporarily written in cuneiform as and meaning in Akkadian language, Akkadian: "Marduk has given an heir", was the 34th Kassites, Kassite king of Babylon 1171–1159 BC (short chronology). He was the son and successor ...
alongside Ningublaga, as well as a large number of other deities, including
Nergal,
Ishum,
Mammitum,
Ištaran and
Tishpak. He is also mentioned in an
Udug-hul incantation.
Alammuš was worshiped in
Uruk
Uruk, the archeological site known today as Warka, was an ancient city in the Near East, located east of the current bed of the Euphrates River, on an ancient, now-dried channel of the river in Muthanna Governorate, Iraq. The site lies 93 kilo ...
in the
Seleucid period, though he is absent from earlier sources from the city from the
neo-Babylonian period. Julia Krul proposes that his introduction was tied to increased focus on astronomy in local intellectual circles and resulting interest in astral deities, such as
Šulpae and the two pairs of "astral twins." He was paired with Ningubalaga during the annual ''
akitu'' festival of
Anu. He is however not attested in personal names or legal texts.
Theophoric names invoking Alammuš are known, one example being Awīl-Alammuš. It is unclear if
Early Dynastic names from Ur with the element LÀL, but without a dingir (so-called "divine determinative," a sign which preceded names of deities in
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...
), should be understood as invoking him.
Mythology
Alammuš appears very rarely in known literary texts. He is mentioned in ''
Lamentation over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur'', where it is stated that he "laid down the staff" during the described tumultuous period. Another text, possibly a fragment of a myth about Nanna going on a journey, describes him as "suitable for justice like
Utu."
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Alammuš
Mesopotamian gods
Ur