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Nabarbi
Nabarbi or Nawarni was a Hurrian goddess possibly associated with pastures. She was one of the major deities in Hurrian religion, and was chiefly worshiped in the proximity of the river Khabur, especially in Taite. It has been proposed that she was associated with the goddess Belet Nagar, linked to the Upper Mesopotamian city of Nagar. In addition to being venerated in Hurrian religion, she was also incorporated into the beliefs of the Hittites and into the local pantheon of Emar. She also continued to be worshiped in Taite in the Neo-Assyrian period, as attested in a text from the reign of Ashurbanipal, where she is one of the deities invoked to bless the king. Name and character Attested spellings of the theonym Nabarbi 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. Cuneif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hurrian Goddess
The Hurrian pantheon consisted of gods of varied backgrounds, some of them natively Hurrian, while others adopted from other pantheons, for example Eblaite and Mesopotamian. Like the other inhabitants of the Ancient Near East, Hurrians regarded their gods as anthropomorphic. They were usually represented in the form of statues holding the symbols associated with a specific deity. The Yazılıkaya sanctuary, which was Hittite in origin but served as a center of the practice of Hurrian religion, is considered a valuable source of information about their iconography. Hurrians organized their gods into lists known as ''kaluti'' or into similar lexical lists as the Mesopotamians. The formal structure of the pantheon was most likely based on either Mesopotamian or Syrian theology. The status of individual deities and composition of the pantheon could vary between individual locations, but some can nonetheless be identified as "pan-Hurrian." The following list does not include deities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belet Nagar
Belet Nagar ("Lady of Nagar") was the tutelary goddess of the ancient Syrian city Nagar (Tell Brak). She was also worshiped by the Hurrians and in Mesopotamia. She was connected with kingship, but much about her role in the religions of the ancient Near East remains uncertain. Character Belet Nagar means "Lady of Nagar," and much like in the case of Ashur and its god, the name of the deity was the same as that of the corresponding city. Despite her status as one of the head deities of ancient Syria, much about her character and functions remains uncertain. It is assumed that she owed her position in the pantheon to the political importance of her cult center. While in the Old Babylonian period the political importance of Nagar declined, she remained a commonly worshiped deity. In the second millennium BCE in Shekhna she was the tutelary goddess of the local dynasty. For example, in a letter from a certain Ea-Malik to Till-Abnu, ruler of a small kingdom in the Khabur Triangle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hurrian Religion
The Hurrian religion was the polytheistic religion of the Hurrians, a Bronze Age people of the Near East who chiefly inhabited the north of the Fertile Crescent. While the oldest evidence goes back to the third millennium Common Era, BCE, it is best attested in cuneiform sources from the second millennium BCE written not only in the Hurrian language, but also Akkadian language, Akkadian, Hittite language, Hittite and Ugaritic. It was shaped by contacts between the Hurrians and the various cultures with which they coexisted. As a result, the Hurrian pantheon included both natively Hurrian deities and those of foreign origin, adopted from List of Mesopotamian deities, Mesopotamian, Syrian (chiefly Eblaite and Ugaritic religion, Ugaritic), Anatolian and Elamite beliefs. The culture of the Hurrians was not entirely homogeneous, and different local religious traditions are documented in sources from Hurrian kingdoms such as Arrapha, Kizzuwatna and Mitanni, as well as from cities with s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kumarbi
Kumarbi, also known as Kumurwe, Kumarwi and Kumarma, was a Hurrian god. He held a senior position in the Hurrian pantheon, and was described as the "father of gods". He was portrayed as an old, deposed king of the gods, though this most likely did not reflect factual loss of the position of the head of the pantheon in Hurrian religion, but only a mythological narrative. It is often assumed that he was an agricultural deity, though this view is not universally accepted and the evidence is limited. He was also associated with prosperity. It was believed that he resided in the underworld. Multiple Hurrian deities were regarded as Kumarbi's children, including Teshub, whom he conceived after biting off the genitals of Anu. They were regarded as enemies. In myths dealing with the conflict between them Kumarbi fathers various enemies meant to supplant the weather god, such as the stone giant Ullikummi. Kumarbi was also closely associated with other deities who were regarded as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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''. Later she came to be absorbed by Gula, and ceased to be worshiped as a separate deity. Name The theonym Ninnibru can be translated from Sumerian as "the lady of Nippur." The Akkadian form of the name was Bēlet-Nippuri. The name Ungalnibru (Akkadian Šarrat-Nippuri) is sometimes used interchangeably with Ninnibru in scholarship, but it is generally agreed that these two goddesses were separate. While Ungalnibru occurs as a name of Gula, usually associated with Ninnibru, in the hymn of Bulluṭsa-rabi, the temples listed in the same passage were associated with Ninnibru. In early scholarship it was assumed that the name of the Hurrian goddess Nabarbi might be derived from Ninnibru's, but today it is assumed it is related to the topo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tašmišu
Tašmišu (Tashmishu) was a Hurrian god. He was regarded as a brother of Teshub, and it is assumed he had a warlike character. Character Volkert Haas proposed that Tašmišu's name was derived from the Hurrian language, Hurrian word ''tašmi'', which he translates as strong. The suffix -''šu'' is also known from the name of one Teshub's bulls, Šerišu, and various Hurrian personal names, such as Anniwašu or Ekammešu. Tašmišu was one of the multiple warrior gods in the Hurrian pantheon. Other such deities were Ugur (god), Ugur, Aštabi, Nergal and Ḫešui. In myths, his position appears to be that of a subordinate of his brother Teshub, and in one passage from the ''Song of Ullikummi'' he outright addresses him as "my lord." He served as his sukkal (attendant deity), though as noted by Daniel Schwemer this role in ritual texts could also be attributed to the god Tenu. He proposed that the latter was adopted from the religious tradition of ancient Aleppo, where a month was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ḫabūrītum
Ḫabūrītum ('' dḫa-bu-ri-tum'') was a goddess of the river Khabur worshiped in ancient Syria. She was incorporated into the Mesopotamian pantheon in the Ur III period. Her original cult center was most likely Sikani, which in the early third millennium was located in an area ruled by Hurrians. Not much is known about her character. In Mesopotamian texts she appears chiefly in association with other deities worshiped in Syria, such as Dagan and Išḫara. Character Tonia Sharlach notes that in the past, two possible explanations of the name Ḫabūrītum have been proposed: "the one from the Khabur river egion or "the one from he cityḪabura." While individuals from the latter, most likely located in the proximity of modern Al-Hasakah, are attested in documents from the Ur III period, it is generally considered more likely that the goddess represented the river instead. Nothing else is known about her character. Associations with other deities In Mesopotamia Ḫabūrītu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nikkal
Nikkal (logographically dNIN.GAL, alphabetically 𐎐𐎋𐎍 ''nkl'') or Nikkal-wa-Ib (''nkl wib'') was a goddess worshiped in various areas of the ancient Near East west of Mesopotamia. She was derived from the Mesopotamian goddess Ningal, and like her forerunner was regarded as the spouse of a moon god, whose precise identity varied between locations. While well attested in Hurrian and Hittite sources, as well as in Ugarit, she is largely absent from documents from the western part of ancient Syria. Name and character Nikkal was derived from the Mesopotamian goddess Ningal ( Sumerian: "great lady"), wife of the moon god Nanna. Similarly to deities such as Ea, Damkina, Aya or Pinikir she was introduced from Mesopotamia to Hurrian areas possibly as early as in the third millennium BCE. Alfonso Archi assumes that the presence of Ningal in the pantheon of the kingdom of Mari in particular was in part responsible for her adoption by the Hurrians and her later prominence in thei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ugaritic
Ugaritic () is an extinct Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language known through the Ugaritic texts discovered by French archaeology, archaeologists in 1928 at Ugarit, including several major literary texts, notably the Baal cycle. Ugaritic has been called "the greatest literary discovery from antiquity since the deciphering of the Egyptian hieroglyphs and Cuneiform, Mesopotamian cuneiform". Corpus The Ugaritic language is attested in texts from the 14th through the early 12th century BC. The city of Ugarit was destroyed roughly 1190 BC. Literary texts discovered at Ugarit include the ''Legend of Keret'' or Kirta, the legends of Danel (AKA 'Aqhat), the ''Myth of Baal-Aliyan'', and the ''Death of Baal''. The latter two are also known collectively as the ''Baal Cycle''. These texts reveal aspects of ancient Northwest Semitic religion in Syria-Palestine during the Late Bronze Age. Edward Greenstein has proposed that Ugaritic texts might help solve Bible, biblica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ritual Purification
Ritual purification is a ritual prescribed by a religion through which a person is considered to be freed of ''uncleanliness'', especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification may also apply to objects and places. Ritual uncleanliness is not identical with ordinary physical impurity, such as dirt stains; nevertheless, body fluids are generally considered ritually unclean. Most of these rituals existed long before the germ theory of disease, and figure prominently from the earliest known Ancient Near Eastern religion, religious systems of the Ancient Near East. Some writers connect the rituals to taboos. Some have seen benefits of these practices as a point of health and preventing infections especially in areas where humans come in close contact with each other. While these practices came before the idea of the germ theory was public in areas that use daily cleaning, the destruction of infectious agents seems t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isin-Larsa Period
The Isin-Larsa period (–1763 BCE, Middle Chronology, or 1961–1699 BCE, Short Chronology) is a phase in the history of ancient Mesopotamia, which extends between the end of the Third Dynasty of Ur and the conquest of Mesopotamia by King Hammurabi of Babylon leading to the creation of the First Babylonian dynasty. According to the approximate conventional dating, this period begins in 2025 BCE and ended in 1763 BCE. It constitutes the first part of the Old Babylonian period (2025–1595 BCE), the second part being the period of domination of the first dynasty of Babylon, which ends with the Sack of Babylon in 1595 BCE and the rise of the Kassites. The Third Dynasty of Ur immediately preceded the Isin-Larsa period, and its fall was due to the combined attacks of the Amorites from the west, and the Elamites from the east. As its name suggests, the Isin-Larsa period saw successively the emergence of two great powers in Lower Mesopotamia: the kingdom of Isin, which attempts to se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 historians as the Neo-Sumerian Empire. The Third Dynasty of Ur is commonly abbreviated as "Ur III" by historians studying the period. It is numbered in reference to previous dynasties, such as the First Dynasty of Ur (26-25th century BC), but it seems the once supposed Second Dynasty of Ur was never recorded. The Third Dynasty of Ur was the last Sumerian dynasty which came to preeminent power in Mesopotamia. It began after several centuries of control, exerted first by the Akkadian Empire, and then, after its fall, by Gutian and independent Sumerian city-state kings. It controlled the cities of Isin, Larsa, and Eshnunna and extended as far north as Upper Mesopotamia. The Ur III provinces, from north to south were Sippar, Tiwe, Urum, P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
