Nammu
Nammu | |
---|---|
Creator goddess | |
Major cult center | Eridu |
Personal information | |
Children | Enki |
Nammu (𒀭𒇉 dENGUR = dLAGAB×ḪAL; also read Namma
While Nammu is already attested in sources from the
In the Old Babylonian myth Enki and Ninmah, Nammu is one of the deities involved in the creation of mankind alongside the eponymous pair and a group of seven minor goddesses. Her presence differentiates this narrative from other texts dealing with the same motif, such as Atra-Hasis.
Name and epithets
Nammu's name was represented in
The sign ENGUR could also be read as engur, a synonym of
Nammu could be referred to with epithets such as "lady who is great and high in the sea" (nin-ab-gal-an-na-u5-a),[5] "mother who gave birth to heaven and earth" (dama-tu-an-ki) or "first mother who gave birth to all (or senior) gods" (ama-palil-u3-tu-diĝir-šar-šar-ra-ke4-ne).[11]
Character
Few sources providing information about Nammu's character are known.
In the local tradition of Eridu, Nammu was regarded as a creator deity.[4] There is no indication in known texts that she had a spouse when portrayed as such.[5] Julia M. Asher-Greve suggests that while generally treated as a goddess, Nammu can be considered asexual in this context.[11] Joan Goodnick Westenholz assumed the process of creation she was involved in was imagined as comparable to parthenogenesis.[4] While primordial figures were often considered to no longer be active by the ancient Mesopotamians, in contrast with other deities,[16] Nammu was apparently believed to still exist as an active figure.[17]
Nammu was also associated with incantations, apotropaic magic and tools and materials used in them.
Associations with other deities
Nammu was regarded as the mother of
In incantations, Nammu could appear alongside deities such as Enki,
A single explanatory text equates Nammu with
Worship
Evidence for the worship of Nammu is scarce in all periods it is attested in.[10][4] She belonged to the local pantheon of Eridu,[27] and could be referred to as the divine mother of this city.[17] The only indication of an association with a local pantheon other than that of Eridu is the epithet assigned to her in the god list An = Anum (tablet I, line 27), munusagrig-zi-é-kur-(ra-)ke4, "true housekeeper of Ekur", but it might have only been assigned to her due to confusion with similarly named Ninimma, who was a member of Enlil's court.[17] The Early Dynastics zame hymns assign a separate settlement to her, but the reading of its name remains uncertain.[28] Lugal-kisalsi, a king of Uruk, built a temple dedicated to her, but its ceremonial name is not known.[29] An inscription dated to around 2400-2250 BCE commemorates this event:
𒀭𒇉 / 𒁮𒀭𒊏 / 𒈗𒆦𒋛 / 𒈗𒀕𒆠𒂵 / 𒈗𒋀𒀊𒆠𒈠 / 𒂍𒀭𒇉 / 𒈬𒆕
dnamma / dam an-ra / lugal-kisal-si / lugal unuki-ga / lugal urim5ki-ma / e2 dnamma / mu-du3
"For Namma, the wife of
In the
According to Frans Wiggermann, a
Shrines named kius-Namma, "footstep of Nammu", existed in Ekur in Nippur and in Esagil in Babylon.[10] Andrew R. George suggests that the latter, attested in a source from the reign of Nabonidus, was named after the former.[35]
It is assumed that Nammu was not a popular deity.
Texts dealing with the study of calendars (hemerologies) indicate that the twenty seventh day of the month could be regarded as a festival of Nammu and Nergal, and prescribe royal offerings to these two deities during it.[10]
Mythology
Nammu appears in the myth Enki and
References
- ^ a b Wiggermann 1998, pp. 135–136.
- ^ a b Wiggermann 1998, p. 136.
- ^ Lambert 2013, pp. 433–434.
- ^ a b c d e Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 53.
- ^ a b c d Wiggermann 1998, p. 137.
- ^ Lambert 2013, p. 435.
- ^ Ceccarelli 2017, pp. 6–7.
- ^ Lambert 2013, p. 503.
- ^ Ceccarelli 2017, p. 6.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiggermann 1998, p. 139.
- ^ a b Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 17.
- ^ a b c Lambert 2013, p. 427.
- ^ a b c Ceccarelli 2017, p. 2.
- ^ Lambert 2013, p. 431.
- ^ a b Lambert 2013, p. 238.
- ^ Lambert 2013, p. 304.
- ^ a b c d e f g Wiggermann 1998, p. 138.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, pp. 241–242.
- ^ Lambert 2013, p. 444.
- ^ Krul 2018, p. 10.
- ^ a b Lambert 2013, p. 446.
- ^ Woods 2005, pp. 42–43.
- ^ Lambert 2013, p. 218.
- ^ Lambert 2013, p. 429.
- ^ a b Ceccarelli 2017, p. 5.
- ^ Lambert 2013, p. 436.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 65.
- ^ Krebernik 2016, p. 204.
- ^ George 1993, p. 167.
- ^ Lapérouse 2003, pp. 64–65.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 6.
- ^ Peterson 2009, p. 34.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 97.
- ^ Bartelmus 2017, p. 259.
- ^ George 1993, p. 113.
- ^ Bartelmus 2017, p. 311.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 141.
- ^ Ceccarelli 2017, pp. 2–3.
- ^ Lambert 2013, p. 330.
- ^ Lambert 2013, p. 337.
- ^ Lambert 2013, p. 334.
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. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
- Bartelmus, Alexa (2017). "Die Götter der Kassitenzeit. Eine Analyse ihres Vorkommens in zeitgenössischen Textquellen". Karduniaš. Babylonia under the Kassites. De Gruyter. .
- Ceccarelli, Manuel (2017). "Bemerkungen zu Namma und weiteren Wassergottheiten". Altorientalische Forschungen. 44 (1). Walter de Gruyter GmbH: 1–8. ISSN 2196-6761.
- George, Andrew R. (1993). House most high: the temples of ancient Mesopotamia. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns. OCLC 27813103.
- Krebernik, Manfred (2016), "Zame/i-Hymnen", Reallexikon der Assyriologie (in German), retrieved 2022-10-29
- Krul, Julia (2018). The Revival of the Anu Cult and the Nocturnal Fire Ceremony at Late Babylonian Uruk. Brill. ISBN 9789004364936. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
- Lambert, Wilfred G. (2013). Babylonian creation myths. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns. OCLC 861537250.
- Lapérouse, Jean-François de (2003). "Stone sculpture production". Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus. Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 62–65. ISBN 978-1-58839-043-1. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
- Peterson, Jeremiah (2009). God lists from Old Babylonian Nippur in the University Museum, Philadelphia. Münster: Ugarit Verlag. OCLC 460044951.
- Wiggermann, Frans A. M. (1998), "Nammu", Reallexikon der Assyriologie, retrieved 2022-10-30
- Woods, Christopher (2005). "On the Euphrates". Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie. 95 (1–2). De Gruyter. S2CID 162245901.