Ishum
Ishum | |
---|---|
Divine night watchman | |
Symbol | possibly a torch |
Personal information | |
Parents | |
Spouse | Shubula |
Equivalents | |
Sumerian equivalent | Hendursaga |
Ishum (Išum; possibly the
Character
Ishum has been characterized as a "benevolent fire-god".
No pictorial representations of Ishum have been identified, and it is uncertain if any specific symbol served as his attribute.[4] However, based on textual sources it is considered possible that he was associated with torches.[8]
Worship
The oldest evidence for the worship of Ishum are
According to a
Associations with other deities
According to Joan Goodnick Westenholz, Ishum's mother was Sudaĝ,[2] one of the names of the wife of Shamash (Aya).[13] Due to an association between Sudaĝ and Sud (Ninlil), a myth lists the latter as his mother instead.[2] Manfred Krebernik considers this to be the result of confusion between the names, rather than syncretism.[13] Ishum's father was Shamash.[14]
After the Old Babylonian period, Ishum came to be seen as the
When first introduced to the Mesopotamian pantheon, Ishum was not conflated with any Sumerian god of analogous character, similar to other minor gods of Akkadian origin, such as
Ishum's wife was
Mythology
Erra and Ishum
Ishum is one of the main characters of the composition Erra and Ishum,
The oldest known copies come from the Assyrian city of Nineveh and have been dated to the seventh century BCE, but it has been argued that the composition is between 100 and 400 years older than that based on possible allusions to historical events which occurred during a period of calamity which Babylonia experienced roughly between eleventh and eighth centuries BCE.[31] Based on a colophon, it was compiled by a certain Kabti-ilāni-Marduk.[33] Attribution of the text of a myth to a specific author was uncommon in ancient Mesopotamia.[33] It is assumed that the beginning of the poem designates Ishum as the god who revealed the text of the poem to Kabti-ilāni-Marduk in a dream.[1]
Ishum is introduced trying to stop his master Erra and his servants, the Sebitti, from waging war on the inhabitants of Babylonia.[34] Erra dismisses him, noting that it is necessary to regain respect in the eyes of humans, and embarks on a destructive campaign.[35] The following bloodshed is described from the perspective of Ishum, who explains that the chaos wrought by Erra surpasses the capability of other gods or mortal kings.[36] These sections of the poem do not celebrate Erra, but rather focus on the suffering of his victims.[37] Ishum eventually manages to bring an end to the bloodshed by waging a war himself on the inhabitants of Mount Sharshar, seemingly a site associated with the origin of a period of chaos in the history of late second and early first millennium BCE Babylonia which likely inspired this myth. Ishum's war is described in very different terms to Erra's, and with its end the period of instability comes to a close.[38] Erra is seemingly content with the actions of his sukkal and with hearing the other gods acknowledge the power of his rage. The narrative ends with him instructing Ishum to spread the tale of his rampage, but also to make it clear that only thanks to his calming presence the world was spared.[39] Andrew R. George notes that Ishum appears to play the role of Erra's conscience through the entire duration of the story.[40]
Other myths
In a fragment of an Old Babylonian poem, Ishtar explains the circumstances of Ishum's birth to Enlil.[41] In this composition, he was abandoned on the street before she found him, which might be a mythical justification of his role as a divine watchman.[42] Andrew R. George notes that the mention of Ishtar temporarily taking care of the young god is unusual, as she "was consistently described as not at any age temperamentally disposed to care for a baby," though he proposes that it might have been a nod to stars lighting up the night, the primary time of Ishum's activity.[43] Similarly, the fact that Ishum's parents according to this composition were Shamash and Ninlil is regarded as unusual[9] and likely results from confusion between alternate names of Ninlil and Shamash's wife Aya.[2]
Ishum also appears in the text Underworld Vision of an Assyrian Prince.[4] The eponymous figure, Kummâ (relation to any historical figures is uncertain), avoids being killed by Nergal, who is convinced that he insulted his wife, only thanks to the intervention of Ishum.[44]
References
- ^ a b c d e George 2015, p. 4.
- ^ a b c d Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 77.
- ^ a b Edzard 1980, pp. 213–214.
- ^ a b c d Edzard 1980, p. 214.
- ^ George 2015, p. 3.
- ^ George 2015, pp. 2–3.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 240.
- ^ George 2013, p. 50.
- ^ a b c d e f g Edzard 1980, p. 213.
- ^ a b Weiershäuser 2010, p. 355.
- ^ Weiershäuser 2010, p. 372.
- ^ George 1993, p. 165.
- ^ a b Krebernik 2013, p. 242.
- ^ a b George 2015, p. 2.
- ^ Wiggermann 1998, p. 220.
- ^ Weiershäuser 2010, p. 368.
- ^ Weiershäuser 2010, p. 371.
- ^ Peterson 2009, p. 54.
- ^ Beaulieu 2004, p. 166.
- ^ a b George 2015, p. 1.
- ^ George 2015, pp. 3–4.
- ^ George 2015, p. 5.
- ^ George & Krebernik 2022, p. 114.
- ^ George & Krebernik 2022, p. 118.
- ^ George & Krebernik 2022, pp. 118–119.
- ^ George & Krebernik 2022, p. 119.
- ^ George & Krebernik 2022, p. 139.
- ^ a b c Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 55.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 273.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 61.
- ^ a b George 2013, p. 47.
- ^ a b Wiggermann 1998, p. 217.
- ^ a b George 2013, p. 61.
- ^ George 2013, pp. 51–53.
- ^ George 2013, p. 53.
- ^ George 2013, pp. 54–55.
- ^ George 2013, p. 56.
- ^ George 2013, pp. 57–58.
- ^ George 2013, pp. 59–61.
- ^ George 2013, p. 62.
- ^ George 2015, p. 7.
- ^ George 2015, pp. 7–8.
- ^ George 2015, p. 8.
- ^ Loktionov 2016, p. 41.
Bibliography
- Asher-Greve, Julia M.; Westenholz, Joan G. (2013). Goddesses in Context: On Divine Powers, Roles, Relationships and Gender in Mesopotamian Textual and Visual Sources (PDF). ISBN 978-3-7278-1738-0.
- Beaulieu, Paul-Alain (2004). "Mesopotamia". Religions of the Ancient World. Harvard University Press. .
- Edzard, Dietz-Otto (1980), "Išum", Reallexikon der Assyriologie (in German), retrieved 2022-05-11
- Foster, Benjamin (1996). Before the muses: an anthology of Akkadian literature. Potomac, MD: CDL Press. OCLC 34149948.
- George, Andrew R. (1993). House most high: the temples of ancient Mesopotamia. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns. OCLC 27813103.
- George, Andrew R. (2013). "The Poem of Erra and Ishum: A Babylonian Poet's View of War" (PDF). Warfare and Poetry in the Middle East. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1-78076-362-0.
- George, Andrew R. (2015). "The Gods Išum and Ḫendursanga: Night Watchmen and Street-lighting in Babylonia". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 74 (1). University of Chicago Press: 1–8. ISSN 0022-2968.
- George, Andrew; Krebernik, Manfred (2022). "Two Remarkable Vocabularies: Amorite-Akkadian Bilinguals!". Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale. 116 (1). CAIRN: 113–166. ISSN 0373-6032.
- Krebernik, Manfred (2013), "Sudaĝ", Reallexikon der Assyriologie (in German), retrieved 2022-05-11
- Loktionov, Alexandre Alexandrovich (2016). "An "Egyptianising" Underworld Judging an Assyrian Prince? New Perspectives on VAT 10057" (PDF). Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History. 3 (1). Walter de Gruyter GmbH: 39–55. ISSN 2328-9554.
- Peterson, Jeremiah (2009). God lists from Old Babylonian Nippur in the University Museum, Philadelphia. Münster: Ugarit Verlag. OCLC 460044951.
- Weiershäuser, Frauke (2010). "Weiser Išum, der du den Göttern vorangehst". Von Göttern und Menschen (in German). BRILL. pp. 351–376. .
- Wiggermann, Frans A. M. (1998), "Nergal A. Philological", Reallexikon der Assyriologie, retrieved 2022-05-11