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Amasagnudi
Amasagnudi was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as a servant of Anu and as the wife of Papsukkal. She is only known from a handful of sources, including the god list ''An = Anum'' and documents from Seleucid Uruk. Name The name Amasagnudi can be translated as "the indestructible mother," "the unmovable mother," "the mother who does not go away," or "the mother who cannot be pushed aside." The resurgence of deities with names starting with the sign ''ama'', "mother," in the theology of Seleucid Uruk, including both her and Ama-arḫuš, is considered to be unusual. Readings of the name proposed in the past, now regarded as erroneous, include Amasagsilsirsir and Amapanul. Both were based on the forms dAMA.SAG.QA.NU.NU and dAMA.PA.NU.UL from Seleucid documents from Uruk. It has been argued that the spelling varied due to Amasagnudi's obscurity prior to her rise of prominence in this period making her name difficult to render even for the literati of the city. Most likely its origina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Papsukkal
Papsukkal () was a Mesopotamian god regarded as the sukkal (attendant deity) of Anu and his wife Antu in Seleucid Uruk. In earlier periods he was instead associated with Zababa. He acquired his new role through syncretism with Ninshubur. Character Papsukkal was originally the sukkal (attendant and messenger deity) of Zababa, the tutelary god of Kish. His name is a combination of the Sumerian words ''pap'', "older brother," and sukkal. Papsukkal's eventual rise to prominence at the expense of other similar figures, such as Ninshubur, as well as Kakka and Ilabrat, was likely rooted simply in the presence of the word sukkal in his name. In the context of the so-called "antiquarian theology" relying largely on god lists, which developed in Uruk under Achaemenid and Seleucid rule, he was fully identified with Ninshubur and thus became Anu's sukkal and one of the eighteen major deities of the city. In the Seleucid period he was regarded as the sukkal of both Anu and Antu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sukkal
Sukkal (conventionally translated from Sumerian as "vizier") 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 dignitaries. 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 or Inanna. The best known sukkal is the goddess Ninshubur. In art, they were depicted carrying staves, 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 kingdom Arrapha, Syrian Alalakh and Mari and Elam under the rule of the Sukkalmah Dynasty, while the concept of divin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesopotamian Goddesses
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] |
Gula (goddess)
Gula (Sumerian language, Sumerian: "the great") was a Mesopotamian goddess of medicine, portrayed as a divine physician and midwife. Over the course of the second and first millennia BCE, she became one of the main deities of the Mesopotamian pantheon, and eventually started to be viewed as the second highest ranked goddess after Ishtar. She was associated with dogs, and could be depicted alongside these animals, for example on ''kudurru'' (inscribed boundary stones), and receive figurines representing them as votive offerings. While Gula was initially regarded as unmarried, in the Kassite period she came to be associated with Ninurta. In Babylon his role could also be fulfilled by Mandanu, while the god list ''An = Anum'' links Gula with Pabilsag and Abu. The circle of deities closely associated with her also included Damu and Gunura, who eventually started to be regarded as her children, as well as her sukkal (divine attendant) Urmašum, who might have been imagined as a dog-like ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ninshubur
Ninshubur (,; Ninšubur, "Lady of Subartu" or "Lady of servants"), also spelled Ninšubura, was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the ''sukkal'' (divine attendant) of the goddess Inanna. While it is agreed that in this context Ninshubur was regarded as female, in other cases the deity was considered male, possibly due to syncretism with other divine messengers, such as Ilabrat. No certain information about her genealogy is present in any known sources, and she was typically regarded as unmarried. As a ''sukkal'', she functioned both as a messenger deity and as an intercessor between other members of the pantheon and human petitioners. Due to the belief that she could intercede with higher ranking deities, Ninshubur was popular in everyday religion, and many theophoric names invoking her and other references to personal worship are known. Her original cult center was Akkil, but in the Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia), Early Dynastic Period she was already worshiped in nearby Ur ... [...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] |
Mesopotamian Goddess
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] |
Ama-arḫuš
Ama-arḫuš was a Mesopotamian goddess associated with compassion and healing or epithet of goddesses designating them as compassionate. Name and character Ama-arḫuš can be translated from Sumerian as "compassionate mother". The variant Nin-ama-arḫuššu, "lady compassionate mother", is also attested. Sporadic addition of the sign NIN to preexisting names of deities as a prefix is a well attested phenomenon in Mesopotamian sources, with other examples including Nin-Aya, Nin-Aruru and Nin-Azimua. An Akkadian phrase analogous to Ama-arḫuš is also known, ''ummu rēmi'' or ''rēmēnītu''. Dina Katz notes that the term ''arḫuš'' had a broad meaning, referring to emotions such as pity, empathy, and mercy, but that at the same time it occurs primarily in texts involving deities. In addition to its literal meaning, the name Ama-arḫuš was also meant to highlight a connection to healing and midwifery, Since ''arḫuš'' also had meaning "uterus", Irene Sibbing-Plantholt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sadarnunna
Sadarnunna was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the wife of Nuska. Very little is known about her individual character. She was worshiped in Nippur, and appears alongside other deities of this city in texts from the Ur III period already. In later times she is also attested in sources from other locations, for example Harran and Uruk. Character The meaning of Sadarnunna's name remains uncertain. In the earliest texts she appears in, it is consistently written in cuneiform as '' dSa-dir(i)-nun-na'', but in the Old Babylonian period ''dSa-dàr(a)-nun-na'' () became the default spelling. According to the Old Babylonian forerunner to the later god list ''An = Anum'' and to an ''emesal'' vocabulary, she could also be called Ninka'ašbaranki, "mistress who makes decisions for heaven and earth." Further attested alternate names include Ninkiaĝnuna, "mistress loved by the prince," Ninmešudu, "mistress who perfects the '' me''," and Dumu-abzu, "child of the Abzu." Very little is kno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antu (goddess)
Antu () or Antum was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the feminine counterpart and spouse of the sky god, Anu. She was sometimes identified with the earth rather than the sky, though such references are not common. While already attested in the third millennium BCE, she was only a minor goddess, and only came to be worshiped commonly in Uruk in the Achaemenid and Seleucid periods due to religious reforms which elevated her and Anu to the position of tutelary deities of the city. At some point Antu was also incorporated into Hurrian religion, in which she was understood as a primeval deity. In the so-called "Standard Babylonian" edition of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' Antu is addressed as the mother of Ishtar, but this tradition was not commonly adhered to. Name and character Antu's name is etymologically an Akkadian feminine derivative of the theonym Anu. The cuneiform sign representing the latter name, AN, in addition to designating the sky god could also function as an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ašratum
Ašratum ( '' dAš-ra-tum'', in Larsa ''dA-ši-ra-tum'') was a Mesopotamian goddess of Amorite origin. She was regarded as the wife of the god Amurru. Her name is a cognate of Ugaritic Athirat, but despite likely sharing the same origin these two goddesses occupied different positions in the respective pantheons. Character Ašratum was a deity of Amorite origin. Her name is a cognate of Ugaritic Athirat, and it is likely they developed from a common source. Multiple etymologies have been proposed for the name, including "holy place" or "sanctuary" (based on the root ''ʾṯr'', "place," attested in both Akkadian and Ugaritic, as well as other Semitic languages) and "wife". However, due to Ašratum's position in the Mesopotamian pantheon and distinct circumstances of her development, information pertaining to her character cannot be necessarily assumed to apply to Athirat, and vice versa. For example, while it is possible Ašratum was associated with eroticism and voluptuousness, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Lamashtu or gallu. His symbols included a staff, a lamp and a rooster. Various traditions existed regarding his genealogy, with some of them restricted to texts from specific cities. His wife was the goddess Sadarnunna, whose character is poorly known. He could be associated with the fire god Gibil, as well as with various courtiers of Enlil, such as Shuzianna and Ninimma. The main cult center of Nuska was Nippur, where he is already attested in the Early Dynastic period. He was worshiped both in temples of his own and in the Ekur complex. He is attested in various documents from the Kassite period, including oath formulas and inscriptions, as well as in theophoric names. In later periods, he was introduced to the local pantheons of o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
