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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] |
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] |
Gazbaba
Gazbaba, also known as Kazbaba or Kazba, was a Mesopotamian goddess closely associated with Inanna, Nanaya and Kanisurra. Like them, she was connected with love and eroticism. Name and character Gazbaba's name is most likely derived from the Akkadian language, Akkadian word ''kazbu'', which can be translated as "sexual attraction." A form ending in the hypocoristic suffix ''-īya/-āya/-ūya'', ''dKa-az-ba-a-a'', is also attested, possibly representing an attempt at making the name more similar to Nanaya's, or resulting from confusion with a similar personal name. Little is known about Gazbaba's character, but she was associated with love and sex. Šurpu describes her as ''ṣayyaḫatu'', "the smiling one," which is likely a reference to the frequent mention of smiles in Akkadian erotic literature. She belonged to a group of deities invoked in love incantations, which also included Inanna/Ishtar, Nanaya, Kanisurra and Išḫara. For example, one such text contains the formula "Is ... [...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] |
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 etymologies it is sometimes assumed it might have originated in a linguistic substrate. In Ebla, she was considered the tutelary goddess of the royal family. An association between her and the city is preserved in a number of later sources from other sites as well. She was also associated with love, and in that role is attested further east in Mesopotamia as well. Multiple sources consider her the goddess of the institution of marriage, though she could be connected to erotic love as well, as evidenced by incantations. She was also linked to oaths and divination. She was associated with reptiles, especially mythical '' bašmu'' and ''ḫulmiẓẓu'', and later on with scorpions as well, though it is not certain how this connection initially devel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Iqbi-damiq
Iqbi-damiq was a Mesopotamian goddess who was regarded as one of the "Daughters of Edubba", and was worshiped in Kish for this role. According to the god list '' An = Anum'' she also functioned as the ''sukkal'' (attendant deity) of Niĝgina. She is mentioned in texts of Assur and Babylon. An illness named after her, the "hand of Iqbi-damiq," is known from texts focused on medicine and omens. Name Wilfred G. Lambert assumed Iqbi-damiq was a male deity, and accordingly translated the name as "He spoke: it was pleasant", but in a more recent publication Andrew R. George translates it as "She said 'it is fine!'" and notes that she was regarded as a member of a duo referred to as the Daughters of Edubba. Manfred Krebernik notes the name is structurally similar to that of Qibî-dumqī ("Speak my hail"). John MacGinnis suggests the two were simply variant names of the same deity. Krebernik only assumes that the writing dDUG4-''bi''-SIG5 might be read as either of these names. Qibî- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ishtar
Inanna is the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love, and fertility. She is also associated with political power, divine law, sensuality, and procreation. Originally worshipped in Sumer, she was known by the Akkadian Empire, Akkadians, Babylonian religion, Babylonians, and Assyrians as Ishtar. Her primary title is Queen of Heaven (antiquity), "the Queen of Heaven". She was the patron goddess of the Eanna temple at the city of Uruk, her early main religious center. In archaic Uruk, she was worshipped in three forms: morning Inanna (Inana-UD/hud), evening Inanna (Inanna sig), and princely Inanna (Inanna NUN), the former two reflecting the phases of her associated planet Venus. Her most prominent symbols include the Lion of Babylon, lion and the Star of Ishtar, eight-pointed star. Her husband is the god Dumuzid (later known as Tammuz), and her (attendant) is the goddess Ninshubur, later conflated with the male deities Ilabrat and Papsukkal. Inanna ... [...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] |
Incantation
An incantation, spell, charm, enchantment, or bewitchery is a magical formula intended to trigger a magical effect on a person or objects. The formula can be spoken, sung, or chanted. An incantation can also be performed during ceremonial rituals or prayers. In the world of magic, wizards, witches, and fairies are common performers of incantations in culture and folklore. In medieval literature, folklore, fairy tales, and modern fantasy fiction, enchantments are charms or spells. This has led to the terms "enchanter" and "enchantress" for those who use enchantments. The English language borrowed the term "incantation" from Old French in the late 14th century; the corresponding Old English term was '' gealdor'' or '' galdor'', "song, spell", cognate to ON galdr. The weakened sense "delight" (compare the same development of "charm") is modern, first attested in 1593 ( OED). Words of incantation are often spoken with inflection and emphasis on the words being said. The ton ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker and denser than Earth and any other rocky body in the Solar System. Its atmosphere is composed of mostly carbon dioxide (), with a global sulfuric acid cloud cover and no liquid water. At the mean surface level the atmosphere reaches a temperature of and a pressure 92 times greater than Earth's at sea level, turning the lowest layer of the atmosphere into a supercritical fluid. Venus is the third brightest object in Earth's sky, after the Moon and the Sun, and, like Mercury, appears always relatively close to the Sun, either as a "morning star" or an "evening star", resulting from orbiting closer ( inferior) to the Sun than Earth. The orbits of Venus and Earth make the two planets approach each other in synodic periods of 1.6 years ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 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 Laṣ, 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] |
