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Shara
Jul 31, 2009 10:25:50 GMT -5
Post by ninurta2008 on Jul 31, 2009 10:25:50 GMT -5
The only thing I could find is the legend of the Anzud bird and a few hymns to him. Where can I read up more on Shara? Who is he? what's he about?
All I read is he is the son of Ishtar and Anu. what else is there?
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Shara
Jul 31, 2009 14:35:27 GMT -5
Post by us4-he2-gal2 on Jul 31, 2009 14:35:27 GMT -5
Hey Ninurta2008: Well, if you throw cara2 into the ETCSL search engine, searching the non-english results, you should get all the instances of this deity in the Sumerian literature currently available. Unlike his mother, Shara was not a major literary figure, nor am I aware of his having any great cultic following. I suppose in the end we may imagine or wonder about a god as being greater or lessor than our limited sources are able to inform us about.. however, in the end, for an academic understanding it's exactly these limitations we must acknowledge. I would expect nothing further in regards Shara short of some paltry mentions in this or that god list or economic text (which usually fail to say anything so revealing as you may hope). Of course, now that this thread is here, theres always a chance something unexpect my surprise us..
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Shara
Aug 1, 2009 10:45:33 GMT -5
Post by ninurta2008 on Aug 1, 2009 10:45:33 GMT -5
He was the chief god of Umma I read somewhere. But beyond that no he wasn´t major, but thanks! I am going to look there now.
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Update, they didn't have anything I didn't have access to on him. I have more on Shara than Oxford does, but its not helpful to know exactly who he is.
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Shara
Aug 2, 2009 13:41:17 GMT -5
Post by ummia-inim-gina on Aug 2, 2009 13:41:17 GMT -5
I don't have much to add to this because as is correctly stated above there isn't much information about this deity available. You are correct in identifying Šara as the patron Deity of the city of Umma. His temple there was called the E-mah ("Magnificent house") Also I will add that Šara is usually referred to as a "warrior god" in most of my books. I'm assuming this is because of his war-like portrayal as the nemesis of Ninurta. However it should also be noted that in multiple sources Šara is referred to as a hairdresser (Specifically in Inana's descent to the nether world and in the Temple Hymns)
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Shara
Aug 2, 2009 13:43:09 GMT -5
Post by ummia-inim-gina on Aug 2, 2009 13:43:09 GMT -5
Here are the relevant entry regarding Šara at the ETCSL:
Inana's descent to the nether world: c.1.4.1 At the Šeg-kuršaga in Umma, Šara, in his own city, threw himself at her feet. He had sat in the dust and dressed himself in a filthy garment. The demons said to holy Inana: "Inana, proceed to your city, we will take him back." Inana's descent to the nether world: c.1.4.1 Holy Inana answered the demons: "Šara is my singer, my manicurist and my hairdresser. How could I turn him over to you? Let us go on. Let us go on to the E-muš-kalama in Bad-tibira." Lugalbanda in the mountain cave: c.1.8.2.1 She who makes …… for the poor, whose game (i.e. battle) is sweet, the prostitute who goes out to the inn, who makes the bedchamber delightful, who is food to the poor man -- Inana (i.e. the evening star), the daughter of Suen, arose before him like a bull in the Land. Her brilliance, like that of holy Šara, her stellar brightness illuminated for him the mountain cave. When he lifted his eyes upwards to Inana, he wept as if before his own father. In the mountain cave he raised to her his fair hands: Lugalbanda in the mountain cave: c.1.8.2.1 The bull that eats up the black soup, the astral holy bull-calf (i.e. the moon), came to watch over him. He shines (?) in the heavens like the morning star, he spreads bright light in the night -- Suen is greeted as the new moon; Father Nanna gives the direction for the rising Utu. The glorious lord whom the crown befits, Suen, the beloved son of Enlil, { the god } { (1 ms. has instead:) the lord } reached the zenith splendidly. His brilliance like { holy Šara } { (1 ms. has instead:) holy Utu } { (1 ms. has instead:) lapis lazuli }, his starry radiance illuminated for him the mountain cave. When Lugalbanda raised his eyes to heaven to Suen, he wept to him as if to his own father. In the mountain cave he raised to him his fair hands: Lugalbanda and the Anzud bird: c.1.8.2.2 "Like Šara, Inana's beloved son, shoot forth with your barbed arrows like a sunbeam, shoot forth with reed-arrows like moonlight! May the barbed arrows be a horned viper to those they hit! Like a fish killed with the cleaver, may they be magic-cut! May you bundle them up like logs hewn with the axe!" -- Lugalbanda who loves the seed will not accept this. Lugalbanda and the Anzud bird: c.1.8.2.2 By midnight, but before they had brought the offering-table to holy Inana, he set foot joyfully in brick-built Kulaba. His lady, holy Inana, sat there on her cushion. He bowed and prostrated himself on the ground. With { (1 ms. adds:) joyful } eyes Inana looked at holy Lugalbanda as she would look at the shepherd Ama-ušumgal-ana. In a { (1 ms. adds:) joyful } voice, Inana spoke to holy Lugalbanda as she would speak to her son Lord Šara: "Come now, my Lugalbanda, why do you bring news from the city? How have you come here alone from Aratta?" The lament for Urim: c.2.2.2 { (1 ms. adds 1 line:) …… (partially preserved name of a goddess) has abandoned that house Larag and has let the breezes haunt her sheepfold. } Šara has abandoned E-maḫ and has let the breezes haunt his sheepfold. Ud-saḫara has abandoned that house Umma and has let the breezes haunt her sheepfold. The lament for Sumer and Urim: c.2.2.3 A violent storm blew over Umma and the Šeg-kuršaga. Šara took an unfamiliar path away from the E-maḫ, his beloved dwelling. Ninmul cried bitter tears over her destroyed city." Oh my city, whose charms can no longer satisfy me," she cried bitterly. A balbale to Šara (Šara A): c.4.30.1 (29 lines missing) (1 line fragmentary)…… great radiance ……. Šara, the song praising you befits you. Šara, your divine powers are most precious; Father An, who has engendered you …….
A balbale to Šara (Šara A): c.4.30.1 Your own mother, holy Inana, has let you sit with her on the holy ……. …… she is the Mistress. She has let you ……. She has called you by a good name. …… joyfully in your ……. …… dwells ……; the lord shines forth in its midst. (1 line fragmentary)Šara, you ……, praying in the good and holy ……. ……, the princely son, grandiloquent …… holy ……, coming forth like the sun from the shrine E-maḫ.
The temple hymns: c.4.80.1 O E-bur-sigsig (House with beautiful bowls) set up under heaven, mighty banqueting hall, fulfilling (?) the commands, abundance of the midst of the sea in ……, at whose holy …… there is entreaty and joy. The faithful man has enlarged E-maḫ (Magnificent house), the house of Šara, for you in plenty. Your house E-maḫ -- whose prince is the princely son of the Mistress -- continues (?) in good fortune, an area of abundance and well-being. The temple hymns: c.4.80.1 The one who arranges the hair at the nape of the neck, with the gaze of a wild cow, Šara, who …… good things, the son who allots the divine powers to his mother, has erected a house in your precinct, O house Umma, and taken his seat upon your dais. The temple hymns: c.4.80.1 11 lines: the house of Šara in Umma.
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Shara
Aug 20, 2009 16:40:21 GMT -5
Post by ninurta2008 on Aug 20, 2009 16:40:21 GMT -5
The verses where he has an association with being bright, and like the moon/sun rays, kinda reminds me of lightning.
What does his name mean? I know Shara can mean wealthy/wealth (I think), king is Sharru, and there is a few others.
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Shara
Aug 21, 2009 16:48:10 GMT -5
Post by ummia-inim-gina on Aug 21, 2009 16:48:10 GMT -5
The verses where he has an association with being bright, and like the moon/sun rays, kinda reminds me of lightning. These descriptions seem to mirror descriptions of Utu. Take note that in "Lugalbanda in the mountain cave" Šara is used interchangeably with Utu in different copies of the story: Lugalbanda in the mountain cave: c.1.8.2.1 The bull that eats up the black soup, the astral holy bull-calf (i.e. the moon), came to watch over him. He shines (?) in the heavens like the morning star, he spreads bright light in the night -- Suen is greeted as the new moon; Father Nanna gives the direction for the rising Utu. The glorious lord whom the crown befits, Suen, the beloved son of Enlil, { the god } { (1 ms. has instead:) the lord } reached the zenith splendidly. His brilliance like { holy Šara } { (1 ms. has instead:) holy Utu } { (1 ms. has instead:) lapis lazuli }, his starry radiance illuminated for him the mountain cave.What does his name mean? I know Shara can mean wealthy/wealth (I think), king is Sharru, and there is a few others. Dietz Otto Edzard actually uses Šara as one of his examples while discussing Sumerian Gods and Place Names that have non-Sumerian etymologies. Samuel Noah Kramer and many other Scholars used to accredit these sort of names to a "Proto-Sumerian" language that they believed to inhabit the Euphrates prior to the Sumerians however as discussed by Edzard there is no way to verify such ideas.
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Shara
Aug 22, 2009 8:53:13 GMT -5
Post by ninurta2008 on Aug 22, 2009 8:53:13 GMT -5
Prior to the Sumerians? They must've been the first human inhabitants of mesopotamia, that was like in the stone age. Nevermind the etymology then, sumerian is hard enough, let alone a name from a forgotten time.
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Shara
Mar 5, 2011 4:02:02 GMT -5
Post by muska on Mar 5, 2011 4:02:02 GMT -5
I doubt that "son of Inanna" in case of Shara exactly means "biological son". For example, in one lamentation for Dumuzi (first published by V.Scheil in 1911, the complete translation provided later by V. Afanasieva) states "Inanna cries for her murdered spouse, for her murdered son (dumu) Dumuzi". So, Afanasieva suggests that dumu in some contexts (Dumuzi, Shara in their relationship with Inanna) probably means "lover". In one love spell even the common prostitute called child of Inanna (briefly mentioned in neareast.jhu.edu/bin/s/c/jc%20Prostitution.pdf, P.17). dumu-dInanna as Shara s epithet probably means the deity of her coterie (like prostitute called the child of Inanna or pupil cailed dumu-edubba). Generally, the usage of kinship terminology in Mesopotamian mythical texts seems obscure for me: maybe several traditions could mixed in one text, maybe the terms like "father" could used as terms of respect (see the Enki-Inanna discussion in G. Leick. Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian literature. 1994).
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Shara
Mar 5, 2011 12:21:52 GMT -5
Post by enkur on Mar 5, 2011 12:21:52 GMT -5
I tend to agree. That would change the interpretations of certain myths.
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Shara
Mar 13, 2011 14:31:27 GMT -5
Post by muska on Mar 13, 2011 14:31:27 GMT -5
In Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian literature G. Leick also explains the meaning of "son of Ishtar" regarding to Nergal in Assyrian version of Nergal and Ereshkigal: "The gods cheer him (Nergal) at his arrival as the ‘son of Ištar’, in view of his amorous exploits". Maybe the same epithet of Shara had the similar meaning. Nevertheless in Ninurta and Anzu Shara called bukur (the firstborn) of Ishtar - it seems to mean a biological son. I inclined to recognize the different traditions about Shara - 1. Inanna s biological son. 2. Her lover and follower or disciple. V. K. Afanasieva (in her Glossary to Russian translations of Sumerian literature texts and in Eagle and Serpent) marks that it is impossible to tell precisely, whether was Shara the son or lover of Inanna, and also that Shara was a dying and rising god. Latter circumstance seems very interesting.
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Shara
Mar 14, 2011 9:42:29 GMT -5
Post by enkur on Mar 14, 2011 9:42:29 GMT -5
It reminds me about Aphrodite/Eros relationship. I don't claim anything - just an association of mine
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Shara
Mar 14, 2011 10:41:07 GMT -5
Post by muska on Mar 14, 2011 10:41:07 GMT -5
At least Shara s favourite weapon is bow with bright arrows (as mentioned above in this topic in quotations from Lugalbanda and Anzud). In some Akkadian love incantations mentioned Iremum, son of Ishtar - he could be Mesopotamian analogue of Eros, as I.M. Diakonov and I.S. Klochkov suggested. In Leick s book and some other English translations Iremum translated unpersonally - as "love charm, offspring of Ishtar". Neverthenless Shara is warrior deity at first. Regarding Greek parallels, the combination of bow and lighting arrows with singing remains me Apollo. Shara also mentioned in Song of the Hoe (ETCSL. 5.5.4. lines 64-66): Shara sat down on Enlil s lap and Enlil gave him arrows and other weapons. Sumerian texts usually uses motif of sitting on knees as description of parental love (similar episode with sitting on father s knees and receiving gifts - Nanna and Enlil in ETCSL. 4.13.01. lines 25-36), maybe The Song of the Hoe reflects tradition about Shara being Enlil s son. In M. Cohen s The Cultic Calendars of Ancient Near East (1993) there are some mentions of rites and offerings connected with Shara s cult in Umma. People of Umma distinguished between several deities or different forms of Shara: Shara of Umma (the patron of city), Shara of Apisal and Shara-Anzu (!). Shara had his magur-ship (like Nanna). The different forms of Shara listed above mentioned together with Ninegal (Inanna s epithet as prisoner of Underworld). In some rituals Shara mentioned together with Dumuzi. Unfortunately, texts quoted by Cohen not provide information on any myths possibly reflected in Shara s cult or characteristic features of him.
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