Šarrāḫītu (
Akkadian: "The glorified one") was a
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'', a ...
worshiped chiefly in
Uruk
Uruk, the archeological site known today as Warka, was an ancient city in the Near East, located east of the current bed of the Euphrates River, on an ancient, now-dried channel of the river in Muthanna Governorate, Iraq. The site lies 93 kilo ...
from the
Achaemenid
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the large ...
period onward.
Oldest attestations of Šarrāḫītu come from Babylon, where she was identified with
Ašratum, the wife of
Amurru. She is mentioned among the deities worshiped in
Esagil during
Esarhaddon
Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon (, also , meaning " Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 681 to 669 BC. The third king of the S ...
's reign. A late esoteric text explains her name as ''Ašrat aḫītu,'' "
Ashratum, the foreigner." Ašratum's name was a cognate of that of the
Ugaritic goddess Athirat
Asherah (; ; ; ; Qatabanian: ') was a goddess in ancient Semitic religions. She also appears in Hittite writings as ''Ašerdu(š)'' or ''Ašertu(š)'' (), and as Athirat in Ugarit. Some scholars hold that Asherah was venerated as Yahweh's c ...
, but they developed separately from each other.
Šarrāḫītu was among the goddesses who were introduced to the pantheon of Uruk in the final centuries of history of ancient Mesopotamia, alongside the likes of
Amasagnudi and
Ama-arhus. She was associated with
Belet-Seri
Belet-Seri was a Mesopotamian goddess who served as a scribe in the court of the underworld goddess Ereshkigal. She could be regarded as the Akkadian counterpart of Sumerian Geshtinanna, but the name could also function as a title of Ašratum, t ...
. However, not much is presently known about her significance and the circumstances of her introduction. It has been pointed out that her rise to prominence in Uruk occurred at the same time as relative decline of
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
Urkayītu.
She is not attested in any known personal names.
References
Bibliography
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Mesopotamian goddesses
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