Nabarbi

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Nabarbi
Goddess of pastures
A relief of Nabarbi from the Yazılıkaya sanctuary.
Major cult centerTaite
Personal information
SpouseTašmišu
Equivalents
Mesopotamian equivalentpossibly Belet Nagar

Nabarbi or Nawarni

Neo-Assyrian period, as attested in a text from the reign of Ashurbanipal
, where she is one of the deities invoked to bless the king.

Name and character

Attested spellings of the theonym Nabarbi in cuneiform include dna-bar-bi (widespread in Hittite texts), dna-a-bar-bi, dna-a-bar-wi, dnaa-wa-ar-wee, dna-bar-WA[2] and dna-wa-ar-ni.[1] Alfonso Archi interprets it as "she of Nawar", with the toponym derived from Hurrian naw, "pasture".[3] Volkert Haas directly translates it as "she of the pasture",[2] and suggests she might have been associated with cattle pastures. [4] She also played a role in ritual purification, as indicated by the itkalzi rituals.[5]

Nabarbi and Belet-Nagar

Piotr Taracha argues that Nabarbi was identical with the “lady of Nagar” attested in Mesopotamian sources from the Ur III period, with Nagar and Nawar being two spellings of the same toponym,[6] and counts her among deities who were received by Hurrians from preexisting Syrian pantheons,[7]

Alfonso Archi does not accept equating Nagar and Nawar, but states it is possible Nabarbi was identified both with the “lady of Nagar” and with Ḫabūrītum, a goddess associated with the river Khabur similarly known from Mesopotamian sources from the Ur III period.[3] He also points out the tutelary goddess of Nagar appears alongside Hurrian deities in the inscriptions of Hurrian king Tish-atal of Urkesh.[8]

In early scholarship the view that Nabar might be an uncommon spelling of the toponym

Ur III and Isin-Larsa periods.[9]

Structurally similar theonyms

It has been pointed out that Nabarbi's name is structurally similar to that of Kumarbi, "he of Kumar".[10][3] The structure of these two names has been used as an argument in favor of restoring the name ḫrḫb from the Ugaritic myth Marriage of Nikkal and Yarikh, written in the local alphabetic script, as Ḫiriḫibi, "he of the mountain Ḫiriḫ(i),"[11][a] On the same basis it has been argued that the god Aštabi had Hurrian origin.[14] However, subsequent research has shown that the original spelling of his name was Aštabil, and that he was already worshiped in Ebla before the arrival of Hurrians in Syria.[15][b]

Associations with other deities

Tašmišu was regarded as the husband of Nabarbi,[6] as was Šuwaliyat,[17] his Hittite counterpart.[18] Volkert Haas argues that the pairing of Nabarbi and Šuwaliyat was based on their shared connection with vegetation.[19] However, Tašmišu had no connection to vegetation.[20]

In the

Mesopotamian goddess Aya, the bride of Shamash.[18]

An association between Nabarbi and Šauška is also attested.

Damkina, and Ḫepat and Mušuni.[24] One of such texts refers to "water of Šauška and Nabarbi", believed to have purifying qualities.[2]

Worship

Alfonso Archi considers Nabarbi one of the "principal deities" of the

Damkina, Ishara and others.[25] It is presumed that the selection of deities in this text was politically motivated, with their cult centers being located roughly in the core of the Mitanni state.[26]

Hittite reception

Reliefs depicting Allani, Ishara and Nabarbi in Yazılıkaya.[27]

From the Middle Hittite period onward Nabarbi was also worshiped by the Hittites in Hattusa, where she occurs among other Hurrian goddesses in offering lists dedicated to the entourages of Ḫepat and Šauška.[2] She is one of the Hurrian deities depicted in the Yazılıkaya sanctuary, with the relief 51 which represents her placed after Allatu (Allani) and Ishara and before Shalash.[27] The identification is directly confirmed by an accompanying hieroglyphic Luwian inscription.[28] The site is located close to Hattusa, and the pantheon depicted on its walls reflects Hurrian traditions from Kizzuwatna adopted by the Hittite royal family.[29]

Emariote reception

Nabarbi is also attested in documents from

Dagan, dNIN.KUR, Ishara or Saggar Nabarbi only occurs once in the preserved texts pertaining to this festival.[36] She is also absent from theophoric names, and there is no indication that a temple dedicated to her existed in the city.[37]

Assyrian reception

Nabarbi continued to be worshiped in Taite in the Neo-Assyrian period.[38] In a Tākultu ritual, she appears alongside two other originally Hurrian deities, Kumarbi and Samnuha.[2] These texts were focused on invoking deities both from central cities of Assyria, such as Assur and Nineveh, and from its periphery to bless the king, with the oldest examples dating to the reign of Shamshi-Adad I; the version Nabarbi is attested in has been dated to the reign of Ashurbanipal.[39]

Notes

  1. ^ Both this god[12] and the myth he appears in are assumed to have Hurrian origin.[13]
  2. Eblaites and then by Hurrians, similarly to Ishara.[16]
  3. ^ It has been noted that there is no evidence that it was influenced by the Hurrianization of nearby Aleppo.[31]

References

  1. ^ a b c Beckman 2002, p. 46.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Haas 1998, p. 1.
  3. ^ a b c d Archi 2013, p. 7.
  4. ^ Haas 1994, p. 332.
  5. ^ Haas 1998, pp. 1–2.
  6. ^ a b c Taracha 2009, p. 121.
  7. ^ a b Taracha 2009, p. 119.
  8. ^ Archi 2013, p. 8.
  9. ^ Biggs 1998, pp. 476–477.
  10. ^ Haas 1994, p. 309.
  11. ^ Rahmouni 2008, p. 230.
  12. ^ Wiggins 1998, p. 769.
  13. ^ Wiggins 1998, p. 767.
  14. ^ Archi 1997, p. 417.
  15. ^ Archi 1997, pp. 416–417.
  16. ^ Archi 1997, pp. 417–418.
  17. ^ a b Schwemer 2001, p. 410.
  18. ^ a b Archi 2013, p. 10.
  19. ^ Haas 1998, p. 2.
  20. ^ Trémouille 2013a, p. 476.
  21. ^ Trémouille 2013, p. 374.
  22. ^ Taracha 2009, p. 128.
  23. ^ Haas 1994, p. 555.
  24. ^ a b Wilhelm 1997, p. 498.
  25. ^ Haas 1994, p. 543.
  26. ^ Archi 2013, pp. 8–9.
  27. ^ a b Taracha 2009, p. 95.
  28. ^ Haas 1994, p. 635.
  29. ^ Taracha 2009, p. 93.
  30. ^ Thames 2020, pp. 173–174.
  31. ^ Archi 2013, p. 21.
  32. ^ Thames 2020, p. 101.
  33. ^ Thames 2020, p. 169.
  34. ^ Thames 2020, p. 167.
  35. ^ Thames 2020, p. 174.
  36. ^ Thames 2020, p. 172.
  37. ^ Beckman 2002, p. 51.
  38. ^ Wilhelm 1989, p. 52.
  39. ^ Pongratz-Leisten 2011, p. 121.

Bibliography

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nabarbi&oldid=1168012687"