Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea
Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea | |
---|---|
Pair of warrior gods, guardians of doors and gatekeepers of the underworld | |
Major cult center | Kisiga, Dūrum |
Weapons |
|
Animals |
|
Personal information | |
Spouse |
Lugal-irra (𒀭𒈗𒄊𒊏) and Meslamta-ea (𒀭𒈩𒇴𒋫𒌓𒁺𒀀) were a pair of
Names
Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea usually appear together in Mesopotamian texts.[2] Typically Lugal-irra was followed by Meslamta-ea, though instances of the order being reversed are known too.[3] While attestations of Lugal-irra without Meslamta-ea are known, they are considered unusual.[4]
Lugalirra
Lugal-irra's name was most commonly written in
Meslamtaea
The most common spelling of Meslamta-ea's name in cuneiform was dMes-lam-ta-è(-a).[5] It can be romanized as Meslamtaea as well.[6][7] It can be translated as "he who came out of Meslam" or "he who comes out of Meslam".[5] Meslam is well attested as the name, or element of the name, of multiple temples of Nergal[9] and related deities, with the most famous of them, the E-Meslam, being located in Kutha.[10]
dMAŠ.TAB.BA and analogous terms
The term Maštabba, dMaš-tab-ba, is a Sumerian phrase meaning "the divine twins", derived from the regular term for twins.
Character and iconography
Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea were regarded as warrior deities.
An instruction for the preparation of apotropaic figures states that the representation of Lugal-irra should hold a bow and arrows, while Meslamtaea an axe (in his left hand) and a mace (in his right hand).[21] The terms used, ḫutpalû and zaḫaṭû, more specifically indicate the weapons were a mace with a stone head and a single bladed axe.[22] Furthermore, the statuettes of Meslamta-ea were decorated with "black paste" (IM.GI6, an unidentified substance), and these representing Lugal-irra possibly with a bright pigment.[23] The statuettes wore garments known as tillû and horned headdress.[24] Neo-Assyrian sources indicate that they were buried under entrances to buildings.[16]
A hymn refers to Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea as a pair of ravens, respectively black and white, though the basis for this association is unknown.[9]
Associations with other deities
Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea were both closely associated with
According to Wilfred G. Lambert, the wife of Lugal-irra was Ku'annesi, while Meslamta-ea was associated with either Ninshubur or Mamitu.[9] However, the connection between the pair and Ku'annesi and Ninshubur is only documented in a single Old Babylonian god list, and it is not certain if it necessarily implies they were regarded as couples.[1][b] Their respective divine "viziers" (sukkal) were Zi-mingi (or dZi-MU)[31] and Zi-ĝara,[32] though a single god list postdating the Old Babylonian period instead equates this pair with them.[9] In texts belonging to this genre Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea could also be identified with other pairs of twin deities, presumably originating in the peripheries of Mesopotamia, including Almu and Alamu, Birdu and Šarrabu,[c] and two other duos whose names are only partially preserved.[12] An = Anum additionally refers to the deity Ḫar as the messenger of the pair, though this tradition is not documented elsewhere.[9]
According to Paul-Alain Beaulieu Gašru, a god worshiped in Mesopotamia in Opis and Mari, as well as further west in Emar and Ugarit, could be considered a form of Lugal-irra.[33]
Worship
Kisiga and Dūrum
The oldest known references to Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea as a pair have been identified in hymns from the reign of Ibbi-Sin, the last king from the Third Dynasty of Ur, which indicate at the time their cult center was Kisiga (Kišaga).[34] It is not certain if it was identical with Kissik known from sources from the first millennium BCE.[35]
Texts from the reign of Sîn-kāšid of Uruk refer to Dūrum as the cult center of Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea.[9] His inscriptions mention the renovation of the temples E-Meslam-melamilla ("E-Meslam which bears radiance"), dedicated to Meslamta-ea,[14] and E-niḫušgurusuzilla ("house clad in awesome terror, bearing radiance"), dedicated to Lugal-irra.[36] A literary letter attributed to his daughter Ninšatapada, who served as a high priestess of Meslamta-ea,[1] mentions a temple dedicated jointly to the pair named E-Meslam, which might be either an abbreviation of E-Meslam-melamilla or the name of a temple complex rather than a single house of worship.[14] Relying on the fact that Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea were only associated with Old Babylonian Dūrum, and not with Neo-Babylonian Dūru, which was a cult center of Sin and his wife Ningal instead, Paul-Alain Beaulieu suggests that these two toponyms referred to different settlements.[37] He proposes that Dūrum might have been renamed Udannu, or alternatively that cults native to it might have at some point been transferred to the latter city.[38] He points out that in Neo-Babylonian period two deities represented by the logogram dIGI.DU were worshiped there, and proposed a connection between them and Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea.[39][d] Odette Boivin suggests that Lugal-irra's presence in the archive of the First Sealand dynasty was tied to his position in Dūrum and Udannu.[41] He is attested without Meslamta-ea in a number of offering lists, though his position in them varies.[42] Sometimes he is placed next to Nergal.[43] Boivin argues his relative importance in the Sealand texts might indicate that the center of this kingdom was located close to Udannu.[44] However, she notes that he is attested alone, without Meslamta-ea, which is unusual.[43] He received offerings referred to as nindabû, possibly held to celebrate the full moon, similarly as the Sebitti and Nanshe.[45]
According to Wilfred G. Lambert there is no evidence that any major sanctuaries of Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea as a pair existed outside of Dūrum and Kisiga.[9]
Other cities
The Canonical Temple List assigns the E-melamsulimgurru ("house clad in fearsome radiance"), possibly located in Ur, to Meslamta-ea.[46] A house of worship bearing the same name (or a chapel within the temple of another deity), presumably identical with it, occurs in a topographical text which most likely originated in said city, though there it is described as dedicated to both Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea.[47] The same source lists the ceremonial names of their respective seats, Bara-šadišša ("dais of the perfect one") and E-ḫursag-siga ("house of the silent mountain").[48] The Canonical Temple List also mentions a further temple dedicated jointly to the pair, E-sulimgurruede ("house clad in awesome radiance"), though its location is unknown.[49]
In
In Nippur in the Old Babylonian period Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea were regarded as the divine doorkeepers of the temple of Nuska, where they received offerings.[43] The Nippur Compendium, known from copies from the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods and later,[57] lists them among the deities venerated in the local temple of Nergal, alongside Erra, Erragal and Damu.[58]
A single text from the reign of Rim-Anum of Uruk might indicate that Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea were worshiped there in the Old Babylonian period.[43] They are also attested in sources from this city from the Neo-Babylonian period.[59][60] Lugal-irra was worshiped at this time in one of the ekurrātu, small independent sanctuaries located in the city or in its proximity.[61] A street named after him is also attested.[59] It is uncertain if Meslamta-ea was also actively worshiped in Uruk in the Neo-Babylonian period, as he is only attested in the name of a city gate.[62] Both Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea were also venerated in Uruk in the Seleucid period.[63] The text KAR 132, an instruction for the akītu of Anu, mentions them among deities invoked during these celebrations.[7]
See also
Notes
- ^ Today the derived label "divine twins" (Zwillingsgottheiten) is chiefly used in Assyriology to refer to pairs of deities identified with pairs of stars.[11]
- ^ Frans Wiggermann treats this reference to Ninshubur as one of the attestations of her and Nergal (or Meslamta-ea treated as his epithet) as a couple instead.[30]
- ^ These two gods were Amorite deities according to Wilfred G. Lambert.[9]
- ^ dIGI.DU was often used as a logographic writing of Nergal's name in late sources, though much about the use of this logogram and deities who could be designated by it remains unclear.[40]
- ^ Not to be confused with the identically named temple of Nuska in Nippur.[46]
- ^ Also called Topography of Babylon in older publications.[53]
References
- ^ a b c d Brisch 2016.
- ^ Wiggermann 1998, p. 217.
- ^ a b c d Lambert 1987, p. 145.
- ^ Boivin 2018, pp. 228–229.
- ^ a b c d e Lambert 1987, p. 143.
- ^ a b George 1993, p. 3.
- ^ a b c d e f Krul 2018, p. 67.
- ^ Schwemer 2013, p. 163.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lambert 1987, p. 144.
- ^ George 1993, p. 126.
- ^ a b c Krebernik 2016b, p. 351.
- ^ a b c d Krebernik 2016b, p. 352.
- ^ Wiggermann 1992, p. 26.
- ^ a b c George 1993, p. 127.
- ^ Lambert 1987, pp. 134–144.
- ^ a b Black & Green 1992, p. 124.
- ^ Gabbay 2018, p. 17.
- ^ Schwemer 2013, pp. 162–163.
- ^ a b Hunger 1987, p. 530.
- ^ Krebernik 2016b, pp. 352–353.
- ^ Wiggermann 1992, p. 38.
- ^ Wiggermann 1992, p. 61.
- ^ Wiggermann 1992, pp. 54–55.
- ^ Wiggermann 1992, p. 56.
- ^ Krul 2018, p. 210.
- ^ George 1992, p. 366.
- ^ Wiggermann 1998, p. 216.
- ^ Katz 2003, p. 351.
- ^ Lambert 1987, pp. 144–145.
- ^ Wiggermann 1998, p. 220.
- ^ Krebernik 2016a, p. 290.
- ^ Krebernik 2016, p. 288.
- ^ Beaulieu 2003, p. 339.
- ^ Lambert 1987, pp. 143–144.
- ^ Beaulieu 1992, p. 417.
- ^ George 1993, p. 132.
- ^ Beaulieu 1992, p. 418.
- ^ Boivin 2018, p. 229.
- ^ Beaulieu 2003, p. 290.
- ^ Beaulieu 1992, pp. 404–405.
- ^ Boivin 2018, p. 208.
- ^ Boivin 2018, p. 198.
- ^ a b c d Boivin 2018, p. 228.
- ^ Boivin 2018, pp. 62–63.
- ^ Boivin 2018, p. 203.
- ^ a b c d George 1993, p. 124.
- ^ George 1992, p. 202.
- ^ George 1992, p. 203.
- ^ George 1993, p. 142.
- ^ George 1993, pp. 136–137.
- ^ George 1992, p. 26.
- ^ George 1992, p. 69.
- ^ a b George 1992, p. 1.
- ^ George 1992, p. 13.
- ^ George 1992, pp. 18–19.
- ^ George 1993, p. 166.
- ^ George 1992, p. 145.
- ^ George 1992, p. 159.
- ^ a b Beaulieu 2003, p. 341.
- ^ Krul 2018, p. 72.
- ^ Beaulieu 2003, p. 325.
- ^ Beaulieu 2003, p. 343.
- ^ Krul 2018, p. 81.
Bibliography
- Beaulieu, Paul-Alain (1992). "Kissik, Düru and Udannu". Orientalia. 61 (4). GBPress - Gregorian Biblical Press: 400–424. JSTOR 43076061. Retrieved 2023-07-08.
- Beaulieu, Paul-Alain (2003). The Pantheon of Uruk During the Neo-Babylonian Period. Leiden Boston: Brill STYX. OCLC 51944564.
- Black, Jeremy A.; Green, Anthony (1992). Gods, demons and symbols of ancient Mesopotamia: an illustrated dictionary. Austin. )
- Boivin, Odette (2018). The First Dynasty of the Sealand in Mesopotamia. De Gruyter. ISBN 978-1-5015-0782-3.
- Brisch, Nicole (2016). "Lugalirra and Meslamtaea (a pair of gods)". Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses. Oracc and the UK Higher Education Academy. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
- Gabbay, Uri (2018). "Drums, Hearts, Bulls, and Dead Gods: The Theology of the Ancient Mesopotamian Kettledrum". Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions. 18 (1). Brill: 1–47. ISSN 1569-2116.
- George, Andrew R. (1992). Babylonian Topographical Texts. Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta. Departement Oriëntalistiek. ISBN 978-90-6831-410-6. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
- George, Andrew R. (1993). House Most High: the Temples of Ancient Mesopotamia. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns. OCLC 27813103.
- Hunger, Hermann (1987), "Maš-tab-ba", Reallexikon der Assyriologie (in German), retrieved 2023-07-07
- Katz, Dina (2003). The Image of the Netherworld in the Sumerian Sources. Bethesda, MD: CDL Press. OCLC 51770219.
- Krebernik, Manfred (2016), "Zi-ĝara", Reallexikon der Assyriologie (in German), retrieved 2023-07-07
- Krebernik, Manfred (2016a), "Zi-mingi", Reallexikon der Assyriologie (in German), retrieved 2023-07-07
- Krebernik, Manfred (2016b), "Zwillingsgottheiten", Reallexikon der Assyriologie (in German), retrieved 2023-07-07
- Krul, Julia (2018). The Revival of the Anu Cult and the Nocturnal Fire Ceremony at Late Babylonian Uruk. BRILL. ISBN 9789004364936.
- Lambert, Wilfred G. (1987), "Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea", Reallexikon der Assyriologie, retrieved 2023-07-07
- Schwemer, Daniel (2013). "Gauging the influence of Babylonian magic: The reception of Mesopotamian traditions in Hittite ritual practice". Diversity and Standardization. De Gruyter. pp. 145–172. ISBN 978-3-05-005756-9.
- Wiggermann, Frans A. M. (1992). Mesopotamian protective spirits: the ritual texts. Groningen: STYX & PP Publications. OCLC 27914917.
- Wiggermann, Frans A. M. (1998), "Nergal A. Philological", Reallexikon der Assyriologie, retrieved 2023-07-08