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Ninniĝara
Ninniĝara (also romanized as Ninnigar, Ninnigara and Ninnigarra) was a Mesopotamian goddess. She was associated with the ''niĝar'', presumed to be a special part of certain É (temple), temples dedicated to deities such as Ninisina and Inanna. It has also been proposed that she was associated with birth, healing, or both of these spheres. She is attested in sources from the Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia), Early Dynastic period, such as the Shuruppak, Fara god list and the ''Zame Hymns''. The latter indicate her cult center was Kullaba, a district of Uruk. She continued to be worshiped in the Ur III period. However, in the Old Babylonian period her name started to be used as an epithet of other deities rather than a distinct theonym. Name Ninniĝara's name was written in cuneiform as dingir, dNIN.NÌGIN or dNIN.NÌGIN.''ĝar-ra''. Additionally, in two copies of the ''Zame Hymns'' the variants ''dnin-naĝar'' and ''dnin-''SIG.E2 (according to and Jan Lisman possibly a mistak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zame Hymns
''Zame Hymns'' or ''Zami Hymns'' are a sequence of 70 Sumerian language, Sumerian hymns from the Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia), Early Dynastic period discovered in Abu Salabikh. Their conventional title is modern, and reflects the recurring use of the formula ''zame'', "praise". They are the oldest known Mesopotamian collection of hymns, and some of the oldest literary cuneiform texts overall. No copies have been discovered outside Abu Salabikh, and it is possible that they reflect a local tradition. However, partial parallels have been identified in texts associated with other sites such as Shuruppak, Fara and Kesh (Sumer), Kesh. The sequence consists of 70 hymns, each of which is dedicated to a deity associated with a specific location. Most of them belonged to the Mesopotamian pantheon, pantheon of southern Mesopotamia, with Upper Mesopotamia, northern deities being less numerous and these from more distant areas like Ebla, Mari, Syria, Mari and Susa absent altogether. Whi ... [...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] |
Libation
A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an Sacrifice, offering to a deity or spirit, or in Veneration of the dead, memory of the dead. It was common in many religions of Ancient history, antiquity and continues to be offered in cultures today. Various substances have been used for libations, most commonly wine or other alcoholic drinks, olive oil, honey, and in India, ghee. The vessels used in the ritual, including the patera, often had a significant form which differentiated them from secular vessels. The libation could be poured onto something of religious significance, such as an altar, or into the earth. On the other hand, one or more libations began most meals and occasions when wine was drunk in Greco-Roman and other ancient societies, mostly using normal cups or jugs. Etymology The English word "libation" derives from the Latin ', an act of pouring, from the verb ', "to taste, sip; pour out, make a libation" (Indo-European root , "pour, make a libation"). Religio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ninmeurur
Ninmeurur (, '' dnin-me-ur4-ur4'') was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as a servant of Ishtar. In the '' balaĝ'' composition ''Uru-Ama'irabi'' she is specifically described as one of her advisers. Her name might be derived from the designation of a sanctuary of Nanaya located in Uruk, known from inscriptions of Sîn-gāmil and Anam. She was already worshiped in the Old Babylonian period. She also appears in ritual texts from Seleucid Uruk as one of the deities associated with Ishtar invoked during the '' akītu'' festival. Name and character Ninmeurur's name was written in cuneiform as '' d nin-me-ur4-ur4''. An ''emesal'' variant, ''ga-ša-an-me-ur4-ur4'', is also attested. It can be translated from Sumerian as "lady who collects all the '' me''". Joan Goodnick Westenholz suggested interpreting it as "lady of the Meurur temple". Multiple houses of worship bearing this name dedicated to either Ishtar or Nanaya are known, with one located in Larsa (as attested in a year formula of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ninḫinuna
Ninḫinuna or Ninḫenunna was a Mesopotamian goddess. She could be regarded as a servant deity or a deified instrument, specifically a harp or a lyre. She was associated with Inanna and Ninisina, as indicated by god lists and literary texts. She was worshiped in Old Babylonian Isin, as well as in Seleucid Uruk. However, in the latter city her introduction into the local pantheon might have been a late phenomenon reflecting the study of god lists, and she is absent from sources from the Neo-Babylonian period from the same location. Name and character The standard writing of Ninḫinuna's name in cuneiform was '' d nin-ḫi-nun-na''. This form is attested for example in the Isin god list. A variant, ''dnin-ḫé-nun-na'', occurs in a ritual text from Uruk. Julia Krul romanizes this form as Ninḫenunna. The name can be translated from Sumerian as "lady abundance" or "lady of abundance". According to Manuel Ceccarelli, the similarity to the term ''ḫenun'', "perfume", is accid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ninigizibara
Ningizibara, also known as Igizibara and Ningizippara, was a Mesopotamian goddess associated with the ''balaĝ'' instrument, usually assumed to be a type of lyre. She could be regarded both as a physical instrument and as a minor deity. In both cases, she was associated with the goddess Inanna. A connection between her and the medicine goddess Gula is also attested, and it is possible she could serve as a minor healing deity herself. Character Ninigizibara's name most likely means "well regarded lady" in Sumerian. Another possibility is to translate it as "lady with a noble gaze". In Umma, the name was written without the NIN sign, and the goddess was called Igizibara, "well regarded". In texts from Mari the usual spelling is Ningizippara. Ninigizibara was both the name of a goddess and of individual instruments placed in a number of temples of Inanna. The instrument represented by her was the ''balaĝ''. The precise meaning of this Sumerian term is a matter of scholarly debat ... [...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] |
Ninkarrak
Ninkarrak (, '' dnin-kar-ra-ak'') was a goddess of medicine worshiped chiefly in northern Mesopotamia and Syria. It has been proposed that her name originates in either Akkadian or an unidentified substrate language possibly spoken in parts of modern Syria, rather than in Sumerian. It is presumed that inconsistent orthography reflects ancient scholarly attempts at making it more closely resemble Sumerian theonyms. The best attested temples dedicated to her existed in Sippar (in modern Iraq) and in Terqa (in modern Syria). Finds from excavations undertaken at the site of the latter were used as evidence in more precisely dating the history of the region. Further attestations are available from northern Mesopotamia, including the kingdom of Apum, Assyria, and the Diyala area, from various southern Mesopotamian cities such as Larsa, Nippur, and possibly Uruk, as well as from Ugarit and Emar. It is possible that references to "Ninkar" from the texts from Ebla and Nikarawa, attes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 and one of the most widespread genres in the ancient Near East. Wherever cuneiform tablets have been uncovered, inside Iraq or in the wider Middle East, these lists have been discovered. History The earliest lexical lists are the archaic (early third millennium BC) word lists uncovered in caches of business documents and which comprise lists of nouns, the absence of verbs being due to their sparse use in these records of commercial transactions. The most notable text is LU A, a list of professions which would be reproduced for the next thousand years until the end of the Old Babylonian period virtually unchanged. Later third millennium lists dating to around 2600 BC have been uncovered at Fara and Abū Ṣalābīkh, including the '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Semitic language, gradually replaced Sumerian as the primary spoken language in the area (the exact date is debated), but Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary, and scientific language in Akkadian-speaking Mesopotamian states, such as Assyria and Babylonia, until the 1st century AD. Thereafter, it seems to have fallen into obscurity until the 19th century, when Assyriologists began deciphering the cuneiform inscriptions and excavated tablets that had been left by its speakers. In spite of its extinction, Sumerian exerted a significant influence on the languages of the area. The cuneiform script, originally used for Sumerian, was widely adopted by numerous regional languages such as Akkadian, Elamite, Eblaite, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nintinugga
Nintinugga (; also romanized as Nintinuga) was a Mesopotamian goddess associated with medicine and cleansing. She belonged to the local pantheon of Nippur. While she has been compared to other similar goddesses, such as Ninisina and Gula, and in a number of ancient texts they appear to be syncretised with each other or are treated as interchangeable, she was nonetheless a distinct deity in her own right. She was associated with Enlil and Ninlil, and was worshiped in their temples, though houses of worship dedicated only to her are also attested. Character Nintinugga's name is conventionally translated from Sumerian as "Mistress who revives the dead". However, Barbara Böck notes this interpretation might only reflect an "ancient scholarly etymology." It is possible it initially had a different meaning, with one proposal being "lady of the lofty wine," and only from the reign of Uruinimgina onward it started to be written with the cuneiform sign ''ug5'', "to die." An epithet som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ulmašītum
Ulmašītum was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as warlike. Her name was derived from (E-)Ulmaš, a temple in the city of Akkad dedicated to Ishtar. She was commonly associated with Annunitum, and in many texts they appear as a pair. While she originated in northern Mesopotamia, in the Ur III period she is best attested in Ur, though later she was also worshiped in Malgium. Name and character The theonym Ulmašītum is derived from (E-)Ulmaš, the name of a temple of Ishtar located in the city of Akkad. Paul-Alain Beaulieu notes that similarly as in the cases of E-Meslam (the temple of Nergal in Kutha) and E-Šumeša (the temple of Ninurta in Nippur), the element Ulmaš is attested in theophoric names, though this might simply indicate that the temples themselves were viewed as divine, rather than that the cult of its attested divine resident was imposed over a different deity preserved in the name of the structure. The theophoric names of three children of Naram-Sin include ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
