Pabilsaĝ ( /pabilsaŋ/; also
romanized
In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...
as Pabilsag) was a
Mesopotamian god
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'', a ...
. Not much is known about his role in Mesopotamian religion, though it is known that he could be regarded as a bow-armed warrior deity, as a divine
cadastral
A cadastre or cadaster ( ) is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or real property's metes and bounds, metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref>
Often it is represente ...
officer or a judge. He might have also been linked to healing, though this remains disputed. In his astral aspect, first attested in the
Old Babylonian period
The Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to , and comes after the end of Sumerian power with the destruction of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the subsequent Isin-Larsa period. The chronology of the first dynasty of Babyloni ...
, he was a divine representation of the
constellation
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The first constellati ...
Sagittarius.
A spousal relationship between Pabilsaĝ and the medicine goddess
Ninisina
Ninisina ( Sumerian: "Mistress of Isin") was a Mesopotamian goddess who served as the tutelary deity of the city of Isin. She was considered a healing deity. She was believed to be skilled in the medical arts, and could be described as a divine ph ...
is well attested. It is presumed he was implicitly regarded as the father of her children,
Damu
The Department of Dramatic Theatre (, abbreviated DAMU) is one of three departments at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (alongside the Film and TV school and the Department of Music). The academy was opened in 1945 immediately after th ...
,
Gunura
Gunura was a Mesopotamian goddess, best known as a daughter and member of the entourage of the medicine goddess Ninisina. She was also associated with other similar goddesses, Gula (goddess), Gula and Nintinugga. Her original cult center is unknow ...
, Šumaḫ. Sometimes he is instead attested alongside other medicine goddesses, such as
Gula or
Ninkarrak, though not necessarily in the role of a spouse. He was also closely associated with
Ninurta
Ninurta (: , possible meaning "Lord fBarley"), also known as Ninĝirsu (: , meaning "Lord fGirsu"), is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with farming, healing, hunting, law, scribes, and war who was f ...
, and possibly through syncretism with him came to be viewed as a son of
Enlil
Enlil, later known as Elil and Ellil, is an List of Mesopotamian deities, 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 t ...
.
Larak, a lost city possibly located near
Isin
Isin (, modern Arabic language, Arabic: Ishan al-Bahriyat) is an archaeological site in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq which was the location of the Ancient Near East city of Isin, occupied from the late 4th millennium Uruk period up until at ...
, was the main cult center of Pabilsaĝ. He was also worshiped in
Isin
Isin (, modern Arabic language, Arabic: Ishan al-Bahriyat) is an archaeological site in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq which was the location of the Ancient Near East city of Isin, occupied from the late 4th millennium Uruk period up until at ...
,
Nippur
Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"I. E. S. Edwards, C. J. Gadd, N. G. L. Hammond, ''The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory'': Vol. 1, Part 1, Ca ...
and
Lagash
Lagash (; cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Lagaš'') was an ancient city-state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Al-Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash ( ...
. Additional attestations come from
Ur,
Umma
Umma () in modern Dhi Qar Province in Iraq, was an ancient city in Sumer. There is some scholarly debate about the Sumerian and Akkadian names for this site. Traditionally, Umma was identified with Tell Jokha. More recently it has been sugges ...
,
Sippar
Sippar (Sumerian language, Sumerian: , Zimbir) (also Sippir or Sippara) was an ancient Near Eastern Sumerian and later Babylonian city on the east bank of the Euphrates river. Its ''Tell (archaeology), tell'' is located at the site of modern Tell ...
,
Babylon
Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...
,
Assur
Aššur (; AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; ''Āšūr''; ''Aθur'', ''Āšūr''; ', ), also known as Ashur and Qal'at Sherqat, was the capital of the Old Assyrian city-state (2025–1364 BC), the Midd ...
and . However, he was overall a minor deity, and was not venerated all across
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
.
Name
A number of different
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 ...
writings of Pabilsaĝ's name are known. Two are already attested in the
Early Dynastic period,
dGIŠ.BIL.PAP''-sag'' and
dBIL.PAP''-sag''. Its
etymology
Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...
remains unclear, and past proposals, such as "arrow shooter" (from
Sumerian ''sìg-gi
9-sag''), "the elder (is) the leader" (per analogy between /pabil/ and ''pa-bíl-ga'', "paternal uncle" or "paternal grandfather") and "presbiter", found no widespread acceptance and generally are regarded as implausible.
Due to Pabilsaĝ's role as the spouse of Ninisina it is presumed that he might have been designated by the similar masculine
theonym
A theonym (from Greek (), 'god', attached to (), ) is a proper name of a deity.
Theonymy, the study of divine proper names, is a branch of onomastics, the study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names. Theonymy helps develop an und ...
Lugal-Isin.
According to
Wilfred G. Lambert, it is possible that in the
Old Babylonian period
The Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to , and comes after the end of Sumerian power with the destruction of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the subsequent Isin-Larsa period. The chronology of the first dynasty of Babyloni ...
Pabilsaĝ could be also referred to as Erimabinutuku. A god bearing this name is appointed as the deity of
Isin
Isin (, modern Arabic language, Arabic: Ishan al-Bahriyat) is an archaeological site in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq which was the location of the Ancient Near East city of Isin, occupied from the late 4th millennium Uruk period up until at ...
in a passage from the myth ''
Enmešarra's Defeat'' dealing with the assignment of cities to individual members of the
Mesopotamian pantheon
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'', a ...
. This text is known from only one copy, which dates to the
Seleucid
The Seleucid Empire ( ) was a Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great, a ...
of
Parthian period, but it cannot be ascertained yet when it was originally composed. Erimabinutuku is otherwise unknown, with the exception of texts which appear to present this theonym as the name of a divine weapon belonging to
Ninurta
Ninurta (: , possible meaning "Lord fBarley"), also known as Ninĝirsu (: , meaning "Lord fGirsu"), is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with farming, healing, hunting, law, scribes, and war who was f ...
, and Lambert states that while it is plausible that it originally was the weapon of Pabilsaĝ instead, it is difficult to explain how its name instead came to designate its owner.
A shortened writing of Pabilsaĝ's name,
dPA, is attested in god lists. With a different determinative,
mulPA, it could be used to refer to his astral aspect.
Character and iconography

Pabilsaĝ's original character is difficult to ascertain, as it is uncertain which of his attested aspects constitute his original nature, which were acquired due to
syncretism
Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various school of thought, schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or religious assimilation, assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the ...
with
Ninurta
Ninurta (: , possible meaning "Lord fBarley"), also known as Ninĝirsu (: , meaning "Lord fGirsu"), is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with farming, healing, hunting, law, scribes, and war who was f ...
, and which are related to his marriage to
Ninisina
Ninisina ( Sumerian: "Mistress of Isin") was a Mesopotamian goddess who served as the tutelary deity of the city of Isin. She was considered a healing deity. She was believed to be skilled in the medical arts, and could be described as a divine ph ...
. As already attested in the Early Dynastic period, he could be perceived as a warrior god. His weapon was a bow.
argues that much like his wife, Pabilsaĝ was in part a deity associated with medicine. However, Irene Sibbing-Plantholt argues that he did not possess healing qualities himself, with the only possible exception being an unusual
Old Babylonian
Old Babylonian may refer to:
*the period of the First Babylonian dynasty (20th to 16th centuries BC)
*the historical stage of the Akkadian language
Akkadian ( ; )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Cambridge Enc ...
text, PBS 10/213, whose translation is uncertain and which might equate him with
Damu
The Department of Dramatic Theatre (, abbreviated DAMU) is one of three departments at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (alongside the Film and TV school and the Department of Music). The academy was opened in 1945 immediately after th ...
rather than ascribe such character directly to him.
It is additionally assumed that Pabilsaĝ was a judge deity, as in association with the Erabriri
temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...
he was referred to as "lord high judge", and it is possible he was sometimes associated with the prison goddess
Manungal in his judiciary role. Cadastral functions are attested both for him and his wife Ninisina, referred to as "cadastral director of
An" on occasion.
Same sources appear to point at an association between Pabilsaĝ and 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.
...
as well. In the incantation series ''
Udug Hul'' he is addressed as its "administrator", and he is accompanied by deities well known for their connection to the world of the dead, such as
Ningishzida
Ningishzida ( Sumerian: DNIN.G̃IŠ.ZID.DA, possible meaning "Lord f theGood Tree") was a Mesopotamian deity of vegetation, the underworld and sometimes war. He was commonly associated with snakes. Like Dumuzi, he was believed to spend a part ...
,
Hušbišag
Hušbišag or Hushbishag () is a Sumerian netherworld goddess. She is the wife of Namtar and mother of Hemdikug, a daughter.
References
Mesopotamian goddesses
Underworld goddesses
{{MEast-myth-stub ...
and
Bidu. It has been proposed that this aspect of his character reflected a connection to either Manungal or Meslamtaea (
Nergal
Nergal ( Sumerian: d''KIŠ.UNU'' or ; ; Aramaic: ܢܸܪܓܲܠ; ) was a Mesopotamian god worshiped through all periods of Mesopotamian history, from Early Dynastic to Neo-Babylonian times, with a few attestations indicating that his cult surv ...
).
As first documented in Old Babylonian texts from
Kish
Kish may refer to:
Businesses and organisations
* KISH, a radio station in Guam
* Kish Air, an Iranian airline
* Korean International School in Hanoi, Vietnam
People
* Kish (surname), including a list of people with the name
* Kish, a former ...
and
Nippur
Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"I. E. S. Edwards, C. J. Gadd, N. G. L. Hammond, ''The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory'': Vol. 1, Part 1, Ca ...
, Pabilsaĝ also had an astral aspect. He represented a
constellation
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The first constellati ...
corresponding to modern
Sagittarius in
Mesopotamian astronomy. It has been pointed out that constellations representing closely related Gula (She-goat, modern
Lyra
, from ; pronounced: ) is a small constellation. It is one of the 48 listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and is one of the modern 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Lyra was often represented on star ...
) and Damu (Pig, variously interpreted as modern
Delphinus
Delphinus is a small constellation in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere, close to the celestial equator. Its name is the Latin version for the Greek word for dolphin (). It is one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Pt ...
,
Vulpecula
Vulpecula is a faint constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Latin for "little fox", although it is commonly known simply as the fox. It was identified in the seventeenth century, and is located in the middle of the Summer Triangle (an ...
or part of
Draco), are often listed alongside it.
In art Pabilsaĝ was depicted as a ''zazzaku'', a type of official, identified by Manfred Krebernik as a
cadastral
A cadastre or cadaster ( ) is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or real property's metes and bounds, metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref>
Often it is represente ...
officer, but it is also possible that based on the similarity of a figure sometimes depicted on ''
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 ...
'' (inscribed boundary stones) with the representation of Sagittarius in the
Dendera Zodiac
The sculptured Dendera zodiac (or Denderah zodiac) is a widely known Art of ancient Egypt, Egyptian bas-relief from the ceiling of the ''pronaos'' (or portico) of a chapel dedicated to Osiris in the Dendera Temple complex, Hathor temple at Dende ...
, it can be assumed that in later times in his astral aspect he could be represented as a
centaur
A centaur ( ; ; ), occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae (), is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version o ...
-like archer with a horse's body and a scorpion's tail.
Associations with other deities
Parentage
Pabilsaĝ 's parents were
Enlil
Enlil, later known as Elil and Ellil, is an List of Mesopotamian deities, 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 t ...
, the head of the pantheon, and Nintur, in this context to be identified as the wife of the former,
Ninlil
Ninlil ( D NIN.LÍL; meaning uncertain) was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the wife of Enlil. She shared many of his functions, especially the responsibility for declaring destinies, and like him was regarded as a senior deity and head of th ...
. An
Early Dynastic riddle from
Lagash
Lagash (; cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Lagaš'') was an ancient city-state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Al-Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash ( ...
calls him the "hero of Enlil" (''ur-sag
den-líl-lá''). However, this epithet does not necessarily designate him as his son, and the evidence for a parental relation first appears in sources from the
Old Babylonian period
The Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to , and comes after the end of Sumerian power with the destruction of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the subsequent Isin-Larsa period. The chronology of the first dynasty of Babyloni ...
.
A ''zi-hé-pà'' formula from the Old Babylonian period calls Pabilsaĝ a son of
Anu instead. However, this attestation is isolated and it is not certain if it reflects a fully separate distinct tradition.
Pabilsaĝ and Ninisina
A connection between Pabilsaĝ and the circle of Mesopotamian healing deities is well attested. He was regarded as the husband of
Ninisina
Ninisina ( Sumerian: "Mistress of Isin") was a Mesopotamian goddess who served as the tutelary deity of the city of Isin. She was considered a healing deity. She was believed to be skilled in the medical arts, and could be described as a divine ph ...
. They are one of the multiple examples of Mesopotamian divine couples consisting of a medicine goddess and a warrior god. As noted by John Z. Wee, he "often seems overshadowed by his spouse" in Mesopotamian texts. Cities in which they were worshiped as a couple include
Isin
Isin (, modern Arabic language, Arabic: Ishan al-Bahriyat) is an archaeological site in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq which was the location of the Ancient Near East city of Isin, occupied from the late 4th millennium Uruk period up until at ...
,
Larak and
Lagash
Lagash (; cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Lagaš'') was an ancient city-state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Al-Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash ( ...
. They are attested together in offering lists, literary compositions and other sources from the
Ur III period
The Third Dynasty of Ur or Ur III was a Sumerian dynasty based in the city of Ur in the 22nd and 21st centuries BC (middle chronology). For a short period they were the preeminent power in Mesopotamia and their realm is sometimes referred to by ...
onward. They came to be regarded as spouses no later than at this time, though it has been noted Pabilsaĝ is already attested in Ninisina's cult center, Isin, in the Early Dynastic and
Old Akkadian periods. As attested in records from the ninth year of
Amar-Sin
Amar-Sin (: '' DAmar D Sîn'', "calf of Sîn", the "𒀭" being a silent honorific for "Divine"),(died c. 2037 BC) initially misread as Bur-Sin (c. 2046–2037 BC) middle chronology, was the third ruler of the Ur III Dynasty. He succeeded his fa ...
's reign, a festival connected to Pabilsaĝ and his cult center Larak involved the travel of Ninisina to this city by boat. There is also evidence that Ninisina could be called the "Lady of Erabriri", Erabriri being the ceremonial name of a temple dedicated to Pabilsaĝ.
It is possible that originally in Larak Pabilsaĝ's spouse was instead Gašan-ašte. This goddess, whose name can be translated as "throne lady", occurs only in
Emesal
Sumerian was the language of ancient Sumer. It is one of the oldest attested languages, dating back to at least 2900 BC. It is a local language isolate that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, in the area that is modern-day Iraq.
Akkadian, a ...
laments, and the hypothetical standard Sumerian ("Emegir") form Nin-ašte is not attested. She presumably at some point came to be equated with Ninisina. Irene Sibbing-Plantholt proposes that this process reflected an attempt at providing Ninisina with a husband representing a city which traditionally held ideological significance, and that she might have completely absorbed Pabilsaĝ's previous spouse after Larak lost political relevance.
Despite the connection between Pabilsaĝ and Ninisina, no known texts directly address him as the father of her children,
Damu
The Department of Dramatic Theatre (, abbreviated DAMU) is one of three departments at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (alongside the Film and TV school and the Department of Music). The academy was opened in 1945 immediately after th ...
and
Gunura
Gunura was a Mesopotamian goddess, best known as a daughter and member of the entourage of the medicine goddess Ninisina. She was also associated with other similar goddesses, Gula (goddess), Gula and Nintinugga. Her original cult center is unknow ...
. It is nonetheless presumed that he was implicitly understood as the father of both of them as well as of another minor god similarly associated with Ninisina, Šumaḫ. A document from
Puzrish-Dagan
Puzrish-Dagan (modern Drehem) (Tall ad-Duraihim) is an important archaeological site in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate (Iraq). It is best-known for the thousands of clay tablets that are known to have come from the site through looting during the ear ...
from
Ibbi-Sin
Ibbi-Sin (, ), (died c. 2004 BC) son of Shu-Sin, was king of Sumer and Akkad and last king of the Ur III dynasty, and reigned c. 2028–2004 BC (Middle chronology). During his reign, the Sumerian empire was attacked repeatedly by Amorites. As f ...
’s reign attests that offerings were provided in Isin for Pabilsaĝ and his family: Ninisina, Gunura, Damu and Šumaḫ.
Pabilsaĝ and other healing goddesses
Pabilsaĝ could alternatively be regarded as the husband of other healing goddesses. A small number of sources from Old Babylonian
Mari connect
Ninkarrak, usually paired with
Išḫara
Išḫara was a goddess originally worshipped in Ebla and other nearby settlements in the north of modern Syria in the third millennium BCE. The origin of her name is disputed, and due to lack of evidence supporting Hurrian or Semitic etymolog ...
instead in local tradition, with him, which might depend on a preexisting connection between Ninisina and this goddess. Two contemporary seals, one from
Tell Harmal and one of unknown provenance, pair them together as well. Ninkarrak is also addressed as his wife in
Bulluṭsa-rabi's
hymn to Gula.
While an apparent association between Pabilsaĝ and
Gula is present in offering lists from Old Babylonian Nippur, according to Irene Sibbing-Plantholt they were not regarded as spouses in this context, though she does accept the possibility that their juxtaposition did reflect the close association between Gula and Ninisina. It is possible that in the local tradition of Nippur Pabilsaĝ s spouse was the sparsely attested deity Enanun, who came to be represented as a healing goddess in sources from the first millennium BCE. However, Gula is identified as his spouse in 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 ...
'' (tablet V, line 125). They were also associated with each other in
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...
n sources from
Assur
Aššur (; AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; ''Āšūr''; ''Aθur'', ''Āšūr''; ', ), also known as Ashur and Qal'at Sherqat, was the capital of the Old Assyrian city-state (2025–1364 BC), the Midd ...
and (for example the so-called ''
tākultu
''Tākultu'' was a type of religious ceremony in ancient Mesopotamia. It took the form of a ritual banquet during which a king offered drinks to deities. The oldest attestations have been identified in texts from Babylonia from the Old Babylonian ...
'' ritual) and in
Babylon
Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...
.
Pabilsaĝ is paired with
Nintinugga in an Old Babylonian incantation in which multiple divine couples are asked to judge the patient, with the other deities mentioned including
Tishpak
Tishpak (Tišpak) was a Mesopotamian god associated with the ancient city Eshnunna and its sphere of influence, located in the Diyala area of Iraq. He was primarily a war deity, but he was also associated with snakes, including the mythical mu ...
and
Ukulla,
Zababa
Zababa (, ''dza-ba4-ba4'', ) was a Mesopotamian god. He was the tutelary deity of the city of Kish and was regarded as a god of war. He was initially seen as a son of Enlil, though in Assyria during the reign of Sennacherib, he started to be ...
and
Bau,
Ninurta
Ninurta (: , possible meaning "Lord fBarley"), also known as Ninĝirsu (: , meaning "Lord fGirsu"), is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with farming, healing, hunting, law, scribes, and war who was f ...
and
Ninnibru
Ninnibru, also romanized as Nin-Nibru, was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the wife of Ninurta. She is attested in sources from between the Ur III and Kassite periods, including offering lists, the god list ''An = Anum'', and the poem ''Angim'' ...
and
Ningishzida
Ningishzida ( Sumerian: DNIN.G̃IŠ.ZID.DA, possible meaning "Lord f theGood Tree") was a Mesopotamian deity of vegetation, the underworld and sometimes war. He was commonly associated with snakes. Like Dumuzi, he was believed to spend a part ...
and
Azimua. Elsewhere her spouse was Endaga. Manfred Krebernik argues that this god might have been viewed as a
hypostasis of Pabilsaĝ.
Pabilsaĝ and Ninurta
Pabilsaĝ was partially syncretised with
Ninurta
Ninurta (: , possible meaning "Lord fBarley"), also known as Ninĝirsu (: , meaning "Lord fGirsu"), is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with farming, healing, hunting, law, scribes, and war who was f ...
, as attested in
lexical lists
The cuneiform lexical lists are a series of ancient Mesopotamian glossaries which preserve the semantics of Sumerograms, their phonetic value and their Akkadian or other language equivalents. They are the oldest literary texts from Mesopotamia ...
such as the Nippur god list and the late
Sultantepe god list. This process most likely began in the
Old Babylonian period
The Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to , and comes after the end of Sumerian power with the destruction of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the subsequent Isin-Larsa period. The chronology of the first dynasty of Babyloni ...
. An early instance of the identification between them is attested in a ''širnamšub'' composition dedicated to Ninurta originally composed during the reign of the
First Dynasty of Isin
The Dynasty of Isin refers to the final ruling dynasty listed on the ''Sumerian King List'' (''SKL''). The list of the Kings of Isin with the length of their reigns, also appears on a cuneiform document listing the kings of Ur and Isin, the ''Lis ...
. In some cases, Pabilsaĝ was by extension also identified with
Ningirsu
Ninĝirsu was a Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian god regarded as the tutelary deity of the city of Girsu, Ĝirsu, and as the chief god of the local pantheon of the state of Lagash. He shares many aspects with the god Ninurta. Ninĝirsu was identified as ...
. The
syncretism
Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various school of thought, schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or religious assimilation, assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the ...
between these three gods was enabled by their shared warlike character.
Joan Goodnick Westenholz
Joan Goodnick Westenholz (1 July 1943 – February 2013) was an Assyriologist and the chief curator at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem. She held positions related to academic research at the Oriental Institute (University of Chicago), Ha ...
pointed out that interchange of traits between certain deities was also likely facilitated by the existence of multiple couples consisting of a warrior god and a healing goddess, citing Pabilsaĝ and Ninisina, Ningirsu and Bau and Ninurta and Ninnibru as examples. Manuel Ceccarelli argues that the syncretism had a political dimension, as by identifying Pabilsaĝ with Ninurta the rulers of Isin could elevate the position of Ninisina and directly connect her to the family of the head of the pantheon,
Enlil
Enlil, later known as Elil and Ellil, is an List of Mesopotamian deities, 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 t ...
, by making her his daughter-in-law due to Pabilsaĝ becoming his son like Ninurta. He points out inserting various deities into the family tree for political reasons would have a plausible precedent in the development of the traditions presenting Ningirsu and
Nanna as Enlil's sons respectively during the reign of
Gudea
Gudea ( Sumerian: , ''Gu3-de2-a''; died 2124 BC) was a Sumerian ruler ('' ensi'') of the state of Lagash in Southern Mesopotamia, who ruled –2060 BC ( short chronology) or 2144–2124 BC ( middle chronology). He probably did not come from the ...
and the
Third Dynasty of Ur
The Third Dynasty of Ur or Ur III was a Sumerian dynasty based in the city of Ur in the 22nd and 21st centuries BC ( middle chronology). For a short period they were the preeminent power in Mesopotamia and their realm is sometimes referred to by ...
.
In the epic of Anzû, Pabilsag is said to be the name of Ninurta applied to him in the Egalmaḫ, according to
Andrew R. George to be understood as the
temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...
of Ninisina in Isin rather than any of the other houses of worship bearing the same ceremonial name. This passage assigns a total of eighteen names to Ninurta in order to syncretize him with other originally separate figures. Pabilsaĝ is also mentioned in
Bulluṭsa-rabi's
hymn to Gula, in which the spouse of this goddess is similarly identified with a number of other gods.
In the later text KAR 142, Pabilsaĝ is listed as a member of a group addressed as the "seven Ninurtas". Its other six members are given as Ninurta himself,
Urash,
Zababa
Zababa (, ''dza-ba4-ba4'', ) was a Mesopotamian god. He was the tutelary deity of the city of Kish and was regarded as a god of war. He was initially seen as a son of Enlil, though in Assyria during the reign of Sennacherib, he started to be ...
,
Nabu
Nabu (, ) is the Babylonian patron god of literacy, scribes, wisdom, and the rational arts. He is associated with the classical planet Mercury in Babylonian astronomy.
Etymology and meaning
The Akkadian means 'announcer' or 'authorised pe ...
,
Nergal
Nergal ( Sumerian: d''KIŠ.UNU'' or ; ; Aramaic: ܢܸܪܓܲܠ; ) was a Mesopotamian god worshiped through all periods of Mesopotamian history, from Early Dynastic to Neo-Babylonian times, with a few attestations indicating that his cult surv ...
and
dDI.KUD.
Worship
Pabilsaĝ already appears in
Early Dynastic god lists from
Fara and
Abu Salabikh
The archaeological site of Abu Salabikh (Tell Abū Ṣalābīkh), around northwest of the site of ancient Nippur and about 150 kilometers southeast of the modern city of Baghdad in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq marks the site of a small Sume ...
. However, he was a minor god, and in contrast with deities such as
Enlil
Enlil, later known as Elil and Ellil, is an List of Mesopotamian deities, 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 t ...
or
Ninurta
Ninurta (: , possible meaning "Lord fBarley"), also known as Ninĝirsu (: , meaning "Lord fGirsu"), is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with farming, healing, hunting, law, scribes, and war who was f ...
he was not worshiped all across
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
. It is presumed that he originated in the city of
Larak, whose tutelary deity he was. This settlement only rarely appears in textual sources, and its location remains unknown. It is possible that it was located close to
Isin
Isin (, modern Arabic language, Arabic: Ishan al-Bahriyat) is an archaeological site in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq which was the location of the Ancient Near East city of Isin, occupied from the late 4th millennium Uruk period up until at ...
; identification with
Tell al-Wilayah has been proposed too but was not conclusively proved. From
Ur III
The Third Dynasty of Ur or Ur III was a Sumerian dynasty based in the city of Ur in the 22nd and 21st centuries BC (middle chronology). For a short period they were the preeminent power in Mesopotamia and their realm is sometimes referred to by ...
to
Middle Babylonian times Larak appears exclusively in
lexical lists
The cuneiform lexical lists are a series of ancient Mesopotamian glossaries which preserve the semantics of Sumerograms, their phonetic value and their Akkadian or other language equivalents. They are the oldest literary texts from Mesopotamia ...
, literary texts and
theophoric name
A theophoric name (from Greek: , ''theophoros'', literally "bearing or carrying a god") embeds the word equivalent of 'god' or a god's name in a person's name, reflecting something about the character of the person so named in relation to that d ...
s, and while a city bearing the same name does appear in
Neo-Assyrian
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew to dominate the ancient Near East and parts of South Caucasus, Nort ...
historical records it is not certain if it can be identified with the earlier cult center of Pabilsaĝ.
In Isin, his other cult center, Pabilsaĝ was worshiped as early as in the
Old Akkadian period. His temple in this city was likely known under the ceremonial
Sumerian name Erabriri, "house of the shackle which holds in check". He was also venerated in the temple of his wife Ninisina, Egalmaḫ, "exalted palace". Both of these houses of worship commonly appear side by side in laments. One of the city gates of Isin was also named after him.
It has been argued that the worship of Pabilsaĝ was important in the state of
Lagash
Lagash (; cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Lagaš'') was an ancient city-state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Al-Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash ( ...
as well. However, in the Early Dynastic period he is only attested there in an early literary text, a compilation of riddles, and in the theophoric name Ur-Pabilsaĝ. Douglas Frayne notes that based on the former it is possible to speculate that he was the main deity of a hitherto unidentified settlement in Lagashite territory. In the Ur III period he was worshiped in this area in the city of Urub, and in offering lists often appears alongside his wife Ninisina.
A further city in which Pabilsaĝ was worshiped was
Nippur
Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"I. E. S. Edwards, C. J. Gadd, N. G. L. Hammond, ''The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory'': Vol. 1, Part 1, Ca ...
. He is already mentioned in sources from the Old Akkadian and Ur III periods, in the latter case appearing alongside Ninisina in offering lists. In similar Old Babylonian texts, he was grouped with
Dumuzi and
Gula. ''Gudu
4'' priests in his service are mentioned in texts from this period as well.
Evidence for the worship of Pabilsaĝ in
Ur also exists. The
seal
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, also called "true seal"
** Fur seal
** Eared seal
* Seal ( ...
of an ''ereš-dingir'' priestess of Pabilsaĝ, a certain Gan-kuĝ-sig, has been discovered in the Early Dynastic
royal tombs of Ur, and it is possible that she belonged to the city's royal family. Additionally, a fragment of a bowl inscribed with the name of the king
Ur-Pabilsaĝ has been found in the same city. Douglas Frayne suggests that he might have been Gan-kuĝ-sig's son, relying on the possible identification of two tombs (PG 779 and PG 777) located close to the findspot of her seal (PG 580) as belonging to, respectively, Ur-Pabilsaĝ and his wife, but admits the proposal is ultimately conjectural. It is not certain if Ur-Pabilsaĝ was a native ruler of Ur in the first place, and his reign cannot be dated conclusively. A different individual bearing the name Ur-Pabilsaĝ is attested from a text from Ur from the Ur III period as well.
An Early Dynastic inscription of E-abzu, a ruler of
Umma
Umma () in modern Dhi Qar Province in Iraq, was an ancient city in Sumer. There is some scholarly debate about the Sumerian and Akkadian names for this site. Traditionally, Umma was identified with Tell Jokha. More recently it has been sugges ...
, might mention Pabilsaĝ, but the restoration of the theonym is uncertain. Texts from the same city from the reigns of
Shulgi
Shulgi ( dšul-gi,(died c. 2046 BC) formerly read as Dungi) of Ur was the second king of the Third Dynasty of Ur. He reigned for 48 years, from (Middle Chronology). His accomplishments include the completion of construction of the Great ...
and
Amar-Sin
Amar-Sin (: '' DAmar D Sîn'', "calf of Sîn", the "𒀭" being a silent honorific for "Divine"),(died c. 2037 BC) initially misread as Bur-Sin (c. 2046–2037 BC) middle chronology, was the third ruler of the Ur III Dynasty. He succeeded his fa ...
mention grain offerings made to him there by his ''gudu
4'' priests. The theophoric name Ur-Pabilsaĝ is attested in Umma too.
A text from
Mari identified as a draft of an inscription for a
stele
A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...
commemorating a victory of
Zimri-Lim
__NOTOC__
Zimri-Lim was in the Middle Bronze Age the king of Mari, Syria, Mari (c. 1767–1752 BCE; low chronology).
Background Family
Zimri-Lim (Akkadian language, Akkadian: ''Zi-im-ri Li-im'') was the son or grandson of king Yahdun-Lim of Ma ...
mentions Pabilsaĝ. A single Old Babylonian seal inscription from Sippar mentions Pabilsaĝ alongside Gula.
In
Babylon
Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...
, a shrine dedicated to Pabilsaĝ existed in the temple of
Mandanu.
In
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...
Pabilsaĝ was worshiped in
Assur
Aššur (; AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; ''Āšūr''; ''Aθur'', ''Āšūr''; ', ), also known as Ashur and Qal'at Sherqat, was the capital of the Old Assyrian city-state (2025–1364 BC), the Midd ...
and . As an astral figure, he is well attested in
Neo-Assyrian
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew to dominate the ancient Near East and parts of South Caucasus, Nort ...
omen compendiums.
Mythology
In the composition ''Ninisina and the gods'' (''Nin-Isina F'' in the
ETCSL naming system), Pabilsaĝ is addressed as the "beloved spouse" of the eponymous goddess, who "spent time joyously with him".
In a fragmentary
Sumerian flood myth dated to the late
Old Babylonian period
The Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to , and comes after the end of Sumerian power with the destruction of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the subsequent Isin-Larsa period. The chronology of the first dynasty of Babyloni ...
at the earliest and presumed to reflect the tradition also documented in ''
Atrahasis
''Atra-Hasis'' () is an 18th-century BC Akkadian epic, recorded in various versions on clay tablets and named for one of its protagonists, the priest Atra-Hasis ('exceedingly wise'). The narrative has four focal points: An organisation of allie ...
'' and in the
flood myth
A flood myth or a deluge myth is a myth in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Parallels are often drawn between the flood waters of these Mythology, myths and the ...
which formed a part of the ''
Epic of Gilgamesh
The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poetry, epic from ancient Mesopotamia. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian language, Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh (formerly read as Sumerian "Bilgames"), king of Uruk, some of ...
'', the assignment of
Larak to Pabilsaĝ is mentioned in an early section of the narrative which describes the assignment of five cities, the other four being
Eridu
Eridu (; Sumerian: eridugki; Akkadian: ''irîtu'') was a Sumerian city located at Tell Abu Shahrain (), also Abu Shahrein or Tell Abu Shahrayn, an archaeological site in Lower Mesopotamia. It is located in Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq, near the ...
,
Sippar
Sippar (Sumerian language, Sumerian: , Zimbir) (also Sippir or Sippara) was an ancient Near Eastern Sumerian and later Babylonian city on the east bank of the Euphrates river. Its ''Tell (archaeology), tell'' is located at the site of modern Tell ...
,
Bad-tibira
Bad-tibira (also Patibira) ( Sumerian: , bad3-tibiraki) was an ancient Sumerian city on the Iturungal canal dating back to the
Early Dynastic period, which appears among antediluvian cities in the Sumerian King List. In the earliest days of Akkadi ...
and
Shuruppak
Shuruppak ( , SU.KUR.RUki, "the healing place"), modern Tell Fara, was an ancient Sumerian city situated about 55 kilometres (35 mi) south of Nippur and 30 kilometers north of ancient Uruk on the banks of the Euphrates in Iraq's Al-Qādisiy ...
, to their corresponding tutelary deities. The god responsible for this is stated to be
Enlil
Enlil, later known as Elil and Ellil, is an List of Mesopotamian deities, 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 t ...
.
Notes
References
Bibliography
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External links
*
Ninisina and the gods' in the
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL) is an online digital library of texts and translations of Sumerian language, Sumerian literature that was created by a now-completed project based at the Oriental Institute, Oxford, Orient ...
*
Pabilsaĝ's journey to Nibru' in the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pabilsag
Mesopotamian gods
Justice gods
Health gods
War gods
Isin