Annunitum
Annunitum | |
---|---|
Goddess of War | |
Major cult center | Sippar-Amnanum |
Annunitum (𒀭𒉡𒉌𒌈) or Anunītu was a
In later periods, she is best attested as the tutelary goddess of Sippar-Amnanum, where she was worshiped separately from Ishtar. She was also known from Uruk, Ur, Nippur, Babylon, Kisurra, and Mari. Her cult persisted at least until the final years of the neo-Babylonian period, and possibly even later, until the period of Seleucid rule over Mesopotamia.
Origin
Annunitum was initially an
Tonia Sharlach in her study of goddesses worshiped in the court of
Annunitum was not the only epithet of Ishtar who developed into a separate goddess.
Character and iconography
Annunitum was regarded as a warlike goddess.[18] She exemplified the martial side of Ishtar.[19] She was also the tutelary goddess of Sippar-Amnanum,[20] modern Tell ed-Der, located next to ancient Sippar-Yahrurum, modern Abu Habbah, which in antiquity was a cult center of Shamash and his wife Aya.[7] These twin cities are usually referred to simply as Sippar.[7] The epithet Šarrat-Sipparim, "queen of Sippar," could be applied both to Annunitum and Ishtar.[21]
A cylinder seal from Sippar assumed to depict Annunitum shows her holding a trident-like weapon and in the company of another goddess, likely Aya.[20] Another possible depiction of Annunitum on a cylinder seal shows her standing on the back of two addorsed lion-griffons.[22] She could also be depicted in a robe leaving one shoulder and breast exposed, similar to Ishtar and Aya on seals from the same city.[23] It is assumed that this garment was meant to highlight beauty, charm and sex appeal.[23]
In astronomical texts Annunitum was associated with the constellation Pisces.[24]
Worship
Earliest attestations of Annunitum come from the Sargonic period.[18] Naram-Sin referred to "Ishtar-Annunitum" as his personal deity,[25] and apparently after his deification was considered to be married to her.[19] A mace head dedicated to Ishtar-Anunnitum by Rimush has been found in Assur.[26] Shar-kali-sharri recorded establishing a new temple for Annunitum in Babylon in one of his year names: "In the year when Shar-kali-sharri laid [the foundations] [of the] temple of Annunıtum [and of the] temple of Ilaba in Babylon ...".[27]
In the Ur III period, Annunitum appears in the archive of queen
Material from Ur from the reign of Shulgi indicates that Annunitum was commonly worshiped alongside Ulmašītum, Belet-Šuḫnir and Belet-Terraban.[32] Ulmašītum was a name referring to Ishtar of Agade, derived from her temple E-Ulmash, and it is assumed she and Annunitum were similar in character.[33] However, E-Ulmash was also the name of Annunitum's temple in Sippar.[34] It has been proposed that some unexplained temple names, including E-Ulmash, might reflect situations in which a major Mesopotamian deity, like Ninurta or Ishtar, were superimposed over a preexisting one whose name was only preserved in the name of the temple, but this theory lacks evidence other than the presence of names with phrases like Ulmash seemingly functioning as a theophoric element, which can simply be explained as the temple name itself being regarded as divine, rather than by existence of otherwise unattested deities Ulmash or Shumesha.[34] E-Ulmash in Sippar was rebuilt at least twice, by the Old Babylonian king Ammi-Saduqa and later by Nabonidus.[35] A temple dedicated to Annunitum also existed in Agade, but its name is not fully preserved in known texts.[36] Other known temples of Annunitum include the E-mesigakalammasharra (Sumerian: "house of all the given me of the land") in Babylon,[37] and E-saggasharra ("foremost house of the universe") from the same city.[38] Furthermore, kings Shu-Sin of Ur and Itur-Shamash of Kisurra also built temples of Annunitum, but neither their names nor locations are known.[39] She is also mentioned in passing, as his mother, in the seal inscription of the deified Zardamu, king of Karahar, alongside Nergal, Šulpae, Ensignun, Tammuz, Ishtar and at least one deity whose name is not preserved.[40]
In the
Annunitum was also worshiped in
While it is known that Annunitum was worshiped in Uruk in the Ur III period, later references to her from this city are relatively late, and include a mention of pontiff (šangǔ) of this goddess from the reign of Nabu-apla-iddina and a neo-Assyrian letter mentioning that some sort of repair work pertaining to her, as well as to the deities Kurunnitu and dIGI.DU, had to be undertaken in the temple workshop of Uruk.[50]
Annunitum continued to be worshiped in Babylonia until the end of the neo-Babylonian period.[51] It is possible a single reference to her is present in a ritual text from Seleucid Uruk, but the restoration of the name is uncertain.[50]
References
- ^ a b c Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 62.
- ^ a b c Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 133.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 71.
- ^ a b Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 264.
- ^ Lambert, W. G. A Babylonian Prayer to Anūna. George, A. R.; Finkel, I. L. (eds.). DUMU-E2-DUB-BA-A. Studiesin Honor of ÅkeW. Sjöberg (OPSNKF 11). Philadelphia. Pp.321–336, 1989
- ^ Sharlach 2017, p. 269.
- ^ a b c Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 255.
- ^ Sharlach 2017, pp. 269–270.
- ^ Beckman 1998, p. 3.
- ^ Beckman 1998, p. 4.
- ^ Beckman 1998, p. 5.
- ^ Boivin 2018, p. 207.
- ^ George 2000, p. 299.
- ^ a b George 1993, p. 37.
- ^ Beaulieu 2003, p. 261.
- ^ Beaulieu 2003, p. 255.
- ^ Krebernik 2013, p. 513.
- ^ a b Sharlach 2017, p. 271.
- ^ a b c d Sharlach 2017, p. 272.
- ^ a b Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 261.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 74.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 260.
- ^ a b Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 269.
- ^ Peterson 2020, p. 11.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 20.
- ^ Westenholz 2004, p. 11.
- ^ Lambert, Wilfred G., "Babylon: Origins", Babylon: Wissenskultur in Orient und Okzident, edited by Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum, Margarete van Ess and Joachim Marzahn, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 71-76, 2011
- ^ Sharlach 2017, p. 209.
- ^ Sharlach 2017, p. 252.
- ^ Sharlach 2017, pp. 252–253.
- ^ Schwemer 2001, p. 409.
- ^ Sharlach 2021, p. 430.
- ^ Sharlach 2021, p. 431.
- ^ a b Beaulieu 1995, p. 90.
- ^ George 1993, p. 155.
- ^ George 1993, p. 161.
- ^ George 1993, p. 124.
- ^ George 1993, p. 139.
- ^ George 1993, pp. 162–163.
- ^ Wilhelm 1989, p. 113.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 251.
- ^ Peterson 2009, p. 52.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 262.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 93.
- ^ Dalley 2002, p. 130.
- ^ Nakata 2011, p. 130.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 273.
- ^ Heimpel 2003, p. 260.
- ^ Behrens & Klein 1998, p. 343.
- ^ a b Beaulieu 2003, p. 311.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 286.
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