Aya (goddess)
Aya | |
---|---|
Goddess of dawn | |
Other names | Ayu-Ikalti,[1] Nin-Aya,[2] Sherida, Ninkar, Sudaĝ, Sudgan[3] |
Major cult center | Sippar, Larsa |
Personal information | |
Spouse |
|
Children | Mamu, Kittum, Ishum |
Aya was a
Names
Aya's name was written in
Multiple additional names of Aya are attested in god lists.[3]
Sherida
Sherida (𒀭𒂠𒉪𒁕; dŠÈ.NIR-da, also dŠÈ.NIR, Šerida or Šerda[13]) could function as a Sumerian equivalent of Aya's primary name.[6] It has been suggested that it was a loanword derived from Akkadian šērtum, "morning".[14] However, this proposal is not universally accepted.[13]
The name Sherida is already attested in the god list from
Sudaĝ (dsud-áĝ or dsù-da-áĝ
Due to similarity of the names Sudaĝ and
Ninkar
Ninkar or Ninkara (from kár, "to light up") was one of the names of Aya according to An = Anum (tablet III, line 126).
Manfred Krebernik assumes that in texts from Ebla, the name Ninkar also refers to the spouse of a sun deity, who he assumed was seen as male in this city.[27] Alfonso Archi instead concludes that the Eblaite sun deity was primarily female based on available lexical evidence.[28] Joan Goodnick Westenholz proposed that Ninkar in Eblaite texts should be interpreted as Ninkarrak rather than the phonetically similar but less well attested Mesopotamian Ninkar.[29] She points out occasional shortening of Ninkarrak's name to "Ninkar" is known from Mesopotamian sources.[30] The identification of Eblaite Ninkar with Ninkarrak is also accepted by Archi.[28]
Other names
Further names of Aya attested in An = Anum include Nin-mul-guna ("lady colorful star"; tablet III, line 132)[31] and Nin-ul-šutag (𒀭𒎏𒌌𒋗𒋳; "lady delighted with charm"; tablet III, line 134, the end of the Aya section).[32] Paul-Alain Beaulieu additionally proposes that Belet Larsa ("Lady of Larsa") known from a number of Neo-Babylonian letters might be identical with Aya.[33]
Character and iconography
Aya was considered the personification of dawn.
The astronomical compendium MUL.APIN states that Aya was associated with the constellation Ewe,[35] typically represented by the sumerogram mulU8, though a source referring to it with the phonetic Akkadian translation, mulImmertu, is known too.[36] It might have corresponded to the northeastern section of the constellation Boötes.[37] However, ultimately its identification remains uncertain.[38]
In
Associations with other deities
As the wife of Shamash, Aya was regarded as the
In
A single god list dated to the Middle Babylonian period or later equates Lahar with Aya and explains that the former should be understood as "Aya as the goddess of caring for things" (da-a šá ku-né-e), though Wilfred G. Lambert noted this equation is unusual, as Lahar was consistently regarded as male otherwise, and the evidence for connections between both goddesses and mortal women with herding sheep, a sphere of life he was associated with, is limited.[4]
Worship
Aya was already worshiped in the
Sippar
Aya was worshiped in Sippar in the
In the
Other Babylonian cities
It has been argued that in contrast with her position in Sippar, Aya was less prominent in the other city associated with Shamash, Larsa, where she does not appear in official lists of offerings.[12] It is assumed that his temple in this city, which also bore the name Ebabbar, was nonetheless also dedicated to her.[58] Some references to her are also present in texts from the Neo-Babylonian period, with one text mentioning the priests from Larsa sent jewelry of Aya and of the "divine daughter of Ebabbar" to Uruk for repairs.[59] References to a "treasury of Shamash and Aya" are known too.[60]
While Aya was not worshiped in Neo-Babylonian Uruk, she appears in ritual texts from this city from the Seleucid period.[61] Julia Krul suggests that her introduction into the local pantheon reflected a broader phenomenon of incorporating spouses, children and servants of deities already worshiped locally (in this case Shamash) into it.[62] She was celebrated during the New Year festival.[63] In this context she appears alongside Shamash and Bunene.[64]
A house of worship dedicated to Aya, the Edimgalanna ("house, great bond of heaven"), is mentioned in the Canonical Temple List, but its location is unknown.[65]
Outside Babylonia
Aya was worshiped in
A sanctuary dedicated to Aya, Eidubba ("house of storage bins") existed in Assur in Assyria.[69]
Hurrian reception
Aya was among
Mythology
Buduhudug, a mythical mountain where the sun was believed to set, was regarded as "the entrance of Shamash to Aya" (nēreb dŠamaš <ana> dAya) - the place where they were able to reunite each day after Shamash finished his journey through the sky.[73][74]
In the "Standard Babylonian" version of the Epic of Gilgamesh, Ninsun during her prayer to Shamash asks Aya three times to intercede on behalf of her son Gilgamesh to guarantee his safety both during the day and the night.[75] Ninsun states that the optimal time for Aya to appeal to her husband is right after sunset, when he returns home from his daily journey.[76]
Notes
References
- ^ a b c d Taracha 2009, p. 127.
- ^ a b Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 7.
- ^ a b c d Krebernik 2011a, p. 602.
- ^ a b Lambert 2013, p. 523.
- ^ a b c Frayne 1990, p. 333.
- ^ a b c d Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 258.
- ^ a b c Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 119.
- ^ a b Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 64.
- ^ a b Cavigneaux & Krebernik 1998, p. 326.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 6.
- ^ Archi 2013, p. 10.
- ^ a b c d e f g Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 259.
- ^ a b c d Krebernik 2011, p. 394.
- ^ a b c d Selz 1995, p. 276.
- ^ Selz 1995, p. 275.
- ^ Selz 1995, p. 155.
- ^ Krebernik 2011, p. 395.
- ^ a b Cavigneaux & Krebernik 1998c, p. 500.
- ^ Krebernik 2013, p. 241.
- ^ a b Krebernik 2013, p. 242.
- ^ Krebernik 2013a, p. 242.
- ^ a b Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 77.
- ^ Cavigneaux & Krebernik 1998a, p. 441.
- ^ a b Cavigneaux & Krebernik 1998a, pp. 440–441.
- ^ a b Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 55.
- ^ a b Cavigneaux & Krebernik 1998a, p. 440.
- ^ Krebernik 2011a, p. 606.
- ^ a b Archi 2019, p. 43.
- ^ Westenholz 2010, p. 397.
- ^ Westenholz 2010, p. 380.
- ^ Cavigneaux & Krebernik 1998b, p. 473.
- ^ Volk 1998, p. 510.
- ^ Beaulieu 1991, p. 58.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 273.
- ^ Hunger & Pingree 1999, p. 59.
- ^ Beaulieu et al. 2017, pp. 55–56.
- ^ Hunger & Pingree 1999, p. 272.
- ^ Beaulieu et al. 2017, p. 56.
- ^ a b c Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 269.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 264.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 262.
- ^ Tugendhaft 2016, p. 176.
- ^ Tugendhaft 2016, p. 180.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 267.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 251.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 110.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 255.
- ^ a b Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 257.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 260.
- ^ Frayne 1990, p. 335.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 256.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 261.
- ^ Harris 1975, p. 307.
- ^ a b Sharlach 2007, p. 67.
- ^ Sharlach 2007, p. 70.
- ^ Sharlach 2007, p. 68.
- ^ Sharlach 2007, pp. 67–68.
- ^ George 1993, p. 70.
- ^ Beaulieu 1991, p. 59.
- ^ Beaulieu 1991, p. 60.
- ^ Krul 2018, p. 72.
- ^ Krul 2018, p. 75.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 126.
- ^ Krul 2018, p. 67.
- ^ George 1993, p. 75.
- ^ Nakata 1995, p. 236.
- ^ Nakata 1995, pp. 235–236.
- ^ Nakata 1995, p. 246.
- ^ George 1993, p. 103.
- ^ Taracha 2009, p. 119.
- ^ Taracha 2009, p. 95.
- ^ Taracha 2009, p. 89.
- ^ George 2003, p. 863.
- ^ Woods 2009, p. 187.
- ^ George 2003, pp. 459–460.
- ^ George 2003, p. 461.
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