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Å umugan
Å umugan, Å amagan, Å umuqan or Å akkan (ð’€ð’„Š) was a god worshipped in Mesopotamia and ancient Syria. He was associated with animals. Character Å umugan was a shepherd god. He was associated with various quadrupeds, especially donkeys or alternatively wild sheep. In Ebla he was associated with mules. In literary texts he was also tasked with caring for their habitat and plants growing there. In some texts his epithet is "shepherd of everything." Other known epithets include "god of wool," "god of herd animals," "god of grass-eating animals" and "god of watering places." He was regarded as responsible for prosperity and agricultural fertility, often in connection with grain deities (such as Ezina) and beer deities (such as Ninkasi). The name could also be metaphorically applied to a stallion of a herd. Due to the association between the steppe, where he was believed to dwell, and the netherworld, he sometimes appears in connection with the latter. Texts attesting this conne ... [...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] |
Ezina
Ashnan or Ezina ( d; both possible readings are used interchangeably) was a Mesopotamian goddess considered to be the personification of grain. She could also be called Ezina-Kusu, which led to the proposal that the goddess Kusu was initially her epithet which only developed into a distinct figure later on. She was already worshiped in the Uruk period, and appears in documents from many Mesopotamian cities from the third millennium BCE. She is also known from various works of Mesopotamian literature, such as the debate poem ''Debate between Sheep and Grain''. Names and character The logogram dŠE.TIR can be read as both Ezina and Ashnan. According to Jeremy Black, both are used interchangeably to refer to the same deity in modern publications. Frank Simons argues the latter can be understood as the "Akkadianised version" of Ezina. The Sumerian word ''ezina'' was also a common noun referring to grain. The Akkadian ''ašnan'' could be interpreted the same way. However, the precise ... [...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] |
Kura (deity)
Kura was a god worshiped in Ebla (modern Tell Mardikh in Syria) in the third millennium BCE. He was the tutelary god of the city, as well as the head of the local pantheon. While his functions are difficult to ascertain, it is well attested that he was connected to the institution of kingship. The etymology of his name is presently unknown, and it is commonly assumed that it belongs to an unknown linguistic substrate, similar to the names of some of the other Eblaite deities, such as Aštabi, Hadabal or Išḫara. Kura's spouse was the goddess Barama, who like him was only worshiped in Ebla. After the destruction of the city both of them disappear from records. A number of proposals have been made regarding identification of deities attested from later periods with Kura, but most of them are not widely accepted. Name and origin The oldest attestations of Kura come from administrative texts predating the destruction of Ebla by thirty five to forty years. The name of the god is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ninkasi
Ninkasi was the Mesopotamian goddess of beer and brewing. It is possible that in the first millennium BC she was known under the variant name Kurunnītu, derived from a term referring to a type of high quality beer. She was associated with both positive and negative consequences of the consumption of beer. In god lists, such as the '' An = Anum'' list and the Weidner god list, she usually appears among the courtiers of the god Enlil, alongside deities such as Ninimma and Ninmada. She could also be paired with Siraš, a goddess of similar character, who sometimes was regarded as her sister. A possible association between her and the underworld deities Nungal and Laṣ is also attested, possibly in reference to the possible negative effects of alcohol consumption. A number of works of Mesopotamian literature refer to Ninkasi, for example the myths '' Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave'' and '' Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird''. A hymn dedicated to her, known simply as the ''Hymn t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iku-Shamagan
Iku-Shamagan (, ''i-ku- D sha-ma-gan,'' ) was a King of the second Mariote kingdom. He is one of three Mari kings known from archaeology, Ikun-Shamash probably being the oldest one. Another king was Ishqi-Mari, also known from an inscribed statue. In their inscriptions, these Mari kings used the Akkadian language, whereas their contemporaries to the south used the Sumerian language. Vase A vase mentioning Iku-Shamagan "in an early semitic dialect" is also known: Statue Iku-Shamagan is known from a statue with inscription, discovered by André Parrot in 1952. The statue, in the National Museum of Damascus, was restored by the Louvre Museum in 2011. Iku-Shamagan's votive statue was dedicated through an inscription on the back of the statue: The statue was discovered in Mari, in the Temple Ninni-zaza. The statue was heavily damaged during the conquest by the armies of the Akkad around 2300 BC. File:Asma al-Assad and Marisa Leticia.jpg, Asma al-Assad and Marisa Leticia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tell Brak
Tell Brak (Nagar, Nawar) was an ancient city in Syria; it is one the earliest known cities in the world. Its remains constitute a tell located in the Upper Khabur region, near the modern village of Tell Brak, 50 kilometers north-east of Al-Hasaka city, Al-Hasakah Governorate. The city's original name is unknown. During the second half of the third millennium BC, the city was known as Nagar and later on, Nawar. Starting as a small settlement in the seventh millennium BC, Tell Brak's urbanization began in the late 5th millennium BCE and evolved during the fourth millennium BC into one of the biggest cities in Upper Mesopotamia, and interacted with the cultures of southern Mesopotamia. The city shrank in size at the beginning of the third millennium BC with the end of Uruk period, before expanding again around c. 2600 BC, when it became known as Nagar, and was the capital of a regional kingdom that controlled the Khabur river valley. Nagar was destroyed around c. 2300 BC, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nergal
Nergal ( Sumerian: d''KIÅ .UNU'' or ; ; Aramaic: Ü¢Ü¸ÜªÜ“Ü²Ü ; ) 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 survived into the period of Achaemenid domination. He was primarily associated with war, death, and disease, and has been described as the "god of inflicted death". He reigned over Kur, the Mesopotamian underworld, depending on the myth either on behalf of his parents Enlil and Ninlil, or in later periods as a result of his marriage with the goddess Ereshkigal. Originally either Mammitum, a goddess possibly connected to frost, or Laá¹£, sometimes assumed to be a minor medicine goddess, were regarded as his wife, though other traditions existed, too. His primary cult center was Kutha, located in the north of historical Babylonia. His main temple bore the ceremonial name E-Meslam and he was also known by the name Meslamtaea, "he who comes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ib'al
Ib'al was the name used by Ebla Ebla (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''ebâ‚‚-la'', , modern: , Tell Mardikh) was one of the earliest kingdoms in Syria. Its remains constitute a Tell (archaeology), tell located about southwest of Aleppo near the village of Mardikh. Ebla was ... in the 24th century BC to indicate a confederation of tribes occupying the steppic region south of Ebla; the region included small villages and towns. Qatna could have been one of the urban centers in the region. Ebla and Mari were engaged in a long war and Ib'al was drawn into; during the reign of the Eblaite king Isar-Damu, repeated campaigns over the course of four years were aimed at the confederation and ended with the Ib'al defeat. Following the war with Ebla, Ib'al became an Eblaite ally and acted as such during a campaign against Mari. Ib'al maintained a peaceful relation with Ebla until the latter collapse, and the Ebla archive mentions the names of seven of its sheikhs. References Citatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eblaite Language
Eblaite (, also known as Eblan ISO 639-3), or Palaeosyrian, is an extinct East Semitic language used during the 3rd millennium BC in Northern Syria. It was named after the ancient city of Ebla, in modern western Syria. Variants of the language were also spoken in Mari, Syria, Mari and Tell Brak, Nagar. According to Cyrus Gordon, Cyrus H. Gordon, although scribes might have spoken it sometimes, Eblaite was probably not spoken much, being rather a written lingua franca with East and West Semitic features. The language was discovered through cuneiform tablets found in Ebla. Discovery The 1964 discovery at the Ebla, Tell Mardikh site in Northern Syria of an ancient city from the second half of the third millennium BC completely altered archaeological knowledge of the time, as it indicated the existence of a contemporary urban culture during the Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia), Early Dynastic Period of Mesopotamia, within a geographic zone where, at the time, previous excavat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irridu
Irridu (Irrite) was a city in northwestern Mesopotamia, likely located between Harran and Carchemish. It flourished in the middle and late Bronze Age before being destroyed by Assyria. History Middle Bronze IIA Yamhad Period The city was first mentioned in a letter from the king of Carchemish to Zimri-Lim of Mari. The letter suggested that Irridu had been a subject of Carchemish, and subsequently it came under the rule of Yamhad. In the late 18th century BC, Zitraddu, the governor of the city, rebelled against its overlord Yarim-Lim. Consequently, Yarim-Lim's brother, the Great King Abba-El I of Yamhad (c. 1750-1720 BC) quashed the rebels violently to the extent of destroying the city and he compensated his brother by giving him Alalakh. Late Bronze Mitanni Empire After the fall of Aleppo, the capital of Yamhad, to the Hittite king Mursili I (c. 1590 BC), Irridu came under the control of Mittani. Hittite Empire During the reign of Å uppiluliuma I of Hatti (c. 1350 BC), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Mesopotamian Deities
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] |
