Deified Cultic Objects - Considering Selz

[us4-he2-gal2]

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The Holy Drum, the Spear, and the Harp


Reviewing G. Selz



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**In the below summary, the numbering system and highlighting are my own. I have simply highlight items I found interesting for various reasons, or musical instruments which I intend to discuss in a follow up post below.



I am writing this time about a paper contibuted be Gebhard Selz to the volume Sumerian Gods and Their Representations, Cuneiform Monographs 7, edited by Finkel and Geller (1997). This volume examines Sumerian notions of the divine in honor of Thorkild Jacobsen. The particular contribution of Selz is to examine how Sumerians in the 3rd millenium deified cultic objects - objects which become the object of cult and seem to differ from divine images in terms only in the degree of their religious power yet appear to be identical in terms of function. The full title of his article is 'The Holy Drum, the Spear, and the Harp: Towards an Understanding of the Problems of Deification in Third Millennium Mesopotamia."




1.0 Defining a "cult" object/

In Selz' definition this may designate an object which is worshipped just as surely as it may designate an object playing a role in a religious ceremony - the author supposes that in the course of it's ritual use the object obtains the holiness justifying it's worship.

Selz notes that such "holy" object are found through out Sumerian literature and are typically marked by the DINGIR - the divine determine. Although Selz discusses, in brief, objects from earlier periods I will quote below his lists from ED Fara as this is the first substantial entry:




2.1 Cultic Objects in ED Fara/


a) Deified items from lexical lists: Selz here draws from a lexical list called "Lista NAGAR" or "Metal list" it is known from Fara but also Uruk, Abu Salabikh, Ebla, Nippur and Kish. It lists a series of divine copper daggers - are these items from a temple and so cultic items? Are they divine by association with the house of the gods? The author doesn't know; here are some examples:

"the (divine) copper dagger", ... "the (divine) copper dagger for killing sheep", "the (divine) copper dagger for killing cows", "the (divine) copper dagger for splitting fish", "the (divine) copper dagger for disembowellig", ..."the (divine) copper handweapon" .. (and other examples of divine copper daggers follow).

2.2 b) Deified objects from the Fara godlists: Somewhat more interesting, Selz gives an accounting of deified objects listed in the Fara godlists - here we recognize objects and stations which distinguish Sumerian life (in their own view that is) and also some items which have been of interest at enenuru before. The author notes that these "deities" (as they were) "are related to deified cultural achievements and institutions" and interestingly, he sees similarities "between a huge number of these Fara-god names and the names of the m e enumerated in the famous 'list of the m e'..." Selz breaks these items down into six catagories:

i) Divine/deified emblems and paraphernalia: ^dmen_x (=GA2xEN); "The Crown"; dmenx-bar; 'a type of crown(?), perhaps "the Turnban(?)"; ^dmen_x-lamma; "the (deified) Crown (is) a 'Protective Goddess'"; ^dnin-men_x-lamma; "the Lady (of) the Crown (is) a 'Protective Goddess'"l ^dHAR-nun; "the Princely Ring(?)"; ^dhendur-sag̃; "the Staff (of) the Leader"; ^dig-alim (-ma); "the Stag Door" "Aurochs-door"; ^dlam-sag̃-za-gin3; "the Lapis Lazuli Necklace"; ^dna-ru2; "the Stela"; ^dsamàn; "the Nose-rope"; ^dnin-sig₄-tu(-lamma); "The Lady Birth-Brick (is) a 'Protective Goddess'"; ^dšum;"the Saw(?)"; ^dtemen-ku3; "the Holy Foundation Peg"; ^dšu-nir; "the Emblem"; possibly to be included here are names such as ^dnin-PA; "the Lady Sceptre". "

ii) Deified professions/offices: ^d-sir2-sir2AB; "a (divine) Seaman(?)" ^da b g a l : e2, perhaps "the Expert (of) the temple (?); ^db a har: e2, perhaps: "the Brick-maker (of) the temple (?); ^dengur₇ "the Lord (of(?)) the Granary; ^de n d i b_x(=ME.MU)-u n u g^ki "the Temple Barker/Cook (of) Uruk"; ^dGAL.GA/GARA2 'a leading person in the dairy industry'; ^dg a l - k a l a m "the Leader of the Land (Sumer)(?); ^d g u d u₄-n u n "the Princely Gudu-priest(?); ^dmash-mash-zi "the Righteous Exorcist"; ^dm u h a l d i m - z i - u n u g "the True Baker/Cook (of) Uruk; ^dnam2-abzu "the Function/Office (of) the Abzu; ^dn a m2- n i r "the High Esteem(?)"; ^dn a m2- n u n "the Priceliness(?); ^dn i n - a p i n "the Lady (of(?) the) Plough; ^dn i n - g a l - t u r3 "the Lady, the Leading Person of the Pen"; ^dn i n - gur₇-(:gur₇) "the Lady (of(?)) the Granaries"; ^dn i n - ka₁₅- k a s2- s i "the Lady Barmaid; n i n - NAGAR/b u l u g̃₄ "the Lady (of) the Chisel; ^dn i n - z a d i m "the Lady Jeweler"; ^dn u - n u s - t u r3 "the Women (of) the Sheep pen"; ^dn u - s a r(/k i r i6) "the Gardener(?); ^dp i s a n2^{s a g̃ g̃ a n}- u n u g 'a priest (of) Uruk"; ^ds a g̃ - k u d "the Tax Collector"; ^dshu - ush- u n u g "the (divine) Chariot-Fighter(?) (of) Uruk' ^du g u l a - u n u g "the Overseer (of) Uruk"; ^du m m e (- d a) "the Wet Nurse/ Kindergartner" ; (^du m b i s a g̃2 "the (divine) Winter); ^du t u l₁₂ "the Shepherd" etc.

iii) Cultural achievements and properties: ^dban - ku3 -la2 "..." ; ^dDUH.LAL₂ "the Bee's Wax (?); ^dshem-ki "the incense"; ^dgi:bil, ^dg i b i l₆(=N.GI), ^dIZI "the Burning Reed, the Fire"; ^dizi-da "the Warming Fire, the Roasting"; ^dizi-g̃ar; "the Brazier" ^dshen: "the Kettle"; ^dizi-la2 "the Torch"; ^dUTUL₂ "the Pot"; ^da-ru "the Exvoto(?)".

iv) Musical Instruments: ^dub3 "the Drum(?)".

v) Deified Animals: dam-a2-nun "the Might Aurochs"; ^dbar^mushen "...."; ^dburu^mushen "the Crow, Raven"; ^dam-gal-nun "the Great Princely Aurochs"; ^dgu₄-a2-nun-gi₄"the Repulsing Princly Bull" ^dki-ki(^mushen) 'a bird'; ^dlugal-dar "the Lord Cock(?)"; ^dMI2.U₈-zi "the True Ewe"; ^dnin-eme⁵ "the Lady She-Ass"; ^dnin-girim_x= IR.MUSH.HA.DIN.BALAG) "the Lady (of(?) the) ...-snail" ; ^dnin-HI^ku6 "the lady (of(?) the) ...-fish"; ^dnin-kilim "the Lady Mungo"; ^dnin-rin₄(MUSHxMUSH)-ru^ku₆ "the Lady (of(?)) a 'fish or snail'(?); ^dnin-pirig̃ "the Lady Lioness" ; ^dnin-sun2 "the Lady Cow"; ^dNINDA2-gu₄-gal "the Great Fattened Ox'; ^dpirig̃:lamma "the Lion(ess) (is) a 'Protective Goddess'", ^dpirig̃-TUR 'the Fiercy Lion(ess)"; ^dUM.HUR^mushen 'a bird'.

vi) Varia: ^dlugal-DUL3.DU "the Lord: Statue"; ^dme-lem₄ "the Radiance"; ^dME-NU-NUS-sha₄ "the 'ME' (of) the Lady(?); ^dnin-ildum3-ma "the Lady of the (social) group(?); even more dubious remain ^dKISH(-il_x(?))la(?) and ^dnu-gal "..."








3.0 Cultic Objects in Old Sumerian Lagash


Selz here culls similiar data from the state of ED Lagash, this time from administrative documents which record offerings made to the various objects in question - tellingly, "all recipients of offerings or votive donations were deemed divine." I will type this list below as well for comparative purposes with the Fara informations above; furthermore, Selz speciality in things Lagash allows him to comment on each category of item mentioned in these texts, I will abbreviate that comment in each case:

i) Images: "The alan "Statues" are, I think, the well known 'votive figurines', amply attested at several contemporary archaeological sites. The na-ru2-a "stela(e): which occasionally bear images, play an important part in the votive inscriptions: they guarantee the inviolability and sacrosanctity of borders."

alan; "statue(s)"; na-ru2-a "stela(e)".


ii) Divine emblems: "The divine emblems receiving offerings could be interpreted as secondary divinities, deified only as a theological afterthought..."

(^ddimgal-absu) "the Great Pole (of) the Absu"; gi-mush-^dnin-dar "the Punting Pole/Steering Oar (of) Nindar"; g̃oshimmar-urudu "the Bronze Date-palm"; Har-sar-ra "the Inscribed/Engraved Ring"; ^dig-alim(-ma) "the Stag Door", "Aurochs-door"; lugal-kur-dub2 "The Lord who Smashes the Mountains"); (^dsaman3 "the Nose Rope"); uzud-TAR "the ... She-goat"; (^(d)za-ra "the Door Pivot").

iii) Paraphernalia and cultural achievements: "With one exception the names in this group are all related to the conception of rulership.."


^dhendur-sag̃ "the Staff of the Leader" ^dPA "the Sceptor" and (^dnin-PA "the Lady (of(?)the) Scepter:); ^dPA-igi-du "the Sceptre (of(?) the) Leader"; ^dPA-lamma "the Sceptre (is) a Protective Goddess"; (^dTUG2(?)-nun-na) "the Princely Garmet"); zu2-si "the Sheep Plucking".

iv) Musical Instruments: "..several factors are likely to play a factor in their deification/ First of all, their highly impressive appearance is a factor...given the great importance Sumerian literary documents ascribe to the 'awe-inspiring' appearance of gods, men and objects, this fact should not be underestimated. Secondly, music is not only the pleasure of man and god, it also creates a means of communication between our would and the realm of the divine..."


balag̃ "Harp(s)"; ub₅-ku3 "Holy Drum(s)".

v) Professions: (^dgasham "the Expert"); ^dkinda2-zi "the Righteous Barber"; (^dnin-zadim "the Lady Jeweller"); (^dsag̃-kud "the Tax Collector"); (^dshu-kal "the Wrestler(?)"); ^dshul-utul₁₂ "the Young 'Shepherd'.

vi) Deified animals: (MI2.U₈-sig "the Young Ewe"); ^dnin-dar "the Cook"' (^dshara2 "the Falcon"), (^dnin-shara2 "the Lady Falcon"); (^dninkilim(RSP 460 bis) "the Lady Mungo")' (^dnin-girim "the Lady (of(?) the) ...snail")'' ^dnin-rin₄ (MUSHxMUSH)da-ru "the Lady (of(?)) a 'fish or snail'"); (sun2 "the Wild Cow); ^dnin-pirig "the Lady Lioness".

7. varia: "^gishgigir "the Chariot";







4.0 Summary of Conclusions



**See directly below....

[us4-he2-gal2]

*** Apologies to any browsing this thread, I was interrupted and will finish the post here:





4.0 Summary of Conclusions



Selz' intention with this article was to bring the topic into more active discussion and so there are no firm conclusions - while the author moves on to yet more data and lines of inquiry I will simply note some of his qualifications here.

- Lessor than the gods? One can note that the commodities offered to the cultic divine objects were less substantial than those made to the major gods, therefore indicating a lessor rank; and yet, other texts give evidence that the cultic objects themselves were given votive gifts "a practice which, as a rule, should have been restricted to 'major gods' " Selz says. For example one texts states:


"1 crown, 1 necklace for AB-irnun; 1 crown 1 necklace for the Holy Drum; 1 crown, 1 necklace fo Nintu--zaga."


As it's tough to imagine a drum actually wearing a necklace or crown, Selz suggests, among other things, that the cultic performer assoicated with the instrument may actually have taken them up - and yet there is no clear evidence how this system worked precisely.


Selz sums up: "A statue of a god was an independant entity because it stood on a holy place, and had the name of a god, the appearance of a god, and so on. It was these qualities of a statue, including its partaking in certain rituals, which left no doubt that it was the god himself.

The same holds true for the "cultic objects" : it is their function and their special attributes, including their participation in the holy rites, which made them god-like. Of course, on the level of 'reality' - to use an inappropriate modern word - the Sumerians knew that those items were man-made objects. The evidence mentioned above for the relatively small gifts offered to them, proves that the Sumerians made relevant distinctions. A hierarchy in divinity certainly was part of the historic development of the Mesopotamian pantheon, again reflecting reality."





What I find most interesting about all of this is the way in which the Sumerians defied objects and professions and so on which seem represent the core of what makes their culture thrive, and what sustains their religo-magical worldview and the economy of the time; Their would seem to be a connection between the deification of these objects and the recognition of the named ME in that way. One wonders if the offerings and devotions may have intentionally or unintentionally supported these pillars of Sumerian life just as offerings to the temple had a religious purpose but also a practical result - providing for the temple staff.

[enkur]

Charging the objects with emotional energy is all what makes sorcery to work. Recognizing human affectiveness is the key to understanding the ancient mentality. The present mentality regards itself as outgrown the primitive animistic perception in the same way as the mature men think about their childhood. That could be true as regards the growing individuality but not so true as regards the perception. The process of individuation shouldn't be at the expense of perception. The ancient people did really perceived another reality than that we presently perceive by suppressing our affectiveness.

[us4-he2-gal2]

Divine Music and Magical Efficacy in Sumer

As a follow up post, I'd like to explore a few separate perspectives on the role and nature of music in Sumer as we have just seen that music was important enough in Sumerian society to merit the deification of instruments as divine cult objects. There are of course numerous other threads on enenuru dealing with music - this will be an attempt to synthesize that information with what Selz has to say.




Instruments as divine entities/



While Selz' article is entitled "The Holy Drum, the Spear, and the Harp" it does not focus on music instruments per se: these are perhaps just potent examples of what the author alludes to. However, when discussing items from the Ur III period, Selz says this on the instruments:


"Taking up the issue of the 'musical instruments' in Neo-Sumerian times, numerous offerings are attested for harps (b a l a g̃), occasionally written with the divine determinative. Like statues and other "cultic objects" they, too, bore names identifying them as entities or individuals. The importance that names had for the peoples of the Ancient Orient can hardly be overestimated. Names virtually decided existence or non-existence...

The inscriptions of Gude'a call two of Nin-Girsu's harps (b a l a g̃) by their names: one was call u š u m g a l - k a l a m - m a , meaning "dragon of the land (Sumer), the other l u g a l - i g i - h u š "red-eyed-lord". Both were doubtlessly perceived as personalized. Parallels to this can be found elsewhere during the Ur III period. From the time of Shulgi(r)'s wife Shulgi-simtum, we have records concerning offerings for a harp of Inana, named ^dn i n - i g i - z i - b a r - r a, "lady, legitimately/truly looked upon (by a god)". In Umma, we find offerings for a harp of Gula named ^dn i n - e2 - g a l - e - s i "the lady is suited for the palace." Whether this harp is connected with the b a l a g̃ - u₄ - n u2- a (^dn i n - i b - g a l), "harp (of Ninibgal) (for) the day of the disappearance of the moon", remains unclear. This 'day of the disappearance of the moon' or 'black moon day' certainly alludes to a mourning ritual in which the harp played a part."




The Power of an Instrument/



Jack Cheng, in a recent JNES article, (JNES 2009 "Sumerian Music: Man's Animal Call?") points out the strong connection Sumerians drew between their music and the natural world; over and above the obvious implications of a bull shaped lyre, 20 out of 22 recovered images associated with Early Dynastic instruments depict animal scenes. Notes on this article appear on the Reconstructing Mesopotamian Music thread. (Reply #11).


What is the significance of Animal metaphor for the Sumerian
thinker? Laura Feldt's article "On the divine-referent bull metaphors in the ETCSL corpus" appears in the volume "Analysing Literary Sumerian: Corpus Based Approaches", 2007. While the author hesistates to offer an answer when it comes to the absolute significance of metaphor and similie in general, her statistics for bull metaphors are interesting. She studies the ETCSL and the Ershemma and Balag corpuses published by Cohen and determines that the major gods who are discussed as bulls are Utu, Ninurta, Nanna-Suen, Enki, Inana, Dumuzid, Enlil and Pabilsag. In that order, the deities receive the most bull metaphors. There are two main Sumerian nouns translated as "bull" in these metaphors - gud (domestic bull) and am (wild bull). While these have separate sets of connotations, the latter having to do more with aggressive acts, they are not rigidly expressed: for example, while Utu is sometimes said to be an am (a wild bull), the expressions connected with the metaphor in his case refer to "an image of rays likened to the wild bulls running" or an expression which "stresses Utu's youth and glow by connecting the am image to the glow of a torch (c.2.4.17.7)." On the other hand, the imagery of am (wild bull) when describing Ninurta, for example, has the expected imagery of the fierce goring bull. Metaphors relating to gud (domestic bull) seem to have less to do with physical attributes and more to do with a majestic image. It seems, therefore, that it is less a specific property of the bull that empowers the god in these metaphors, but the simple association of the bull itself.


Earlier on the Reconstructing Mesopotamian Music (reply # 12/13) the oft noted ritual of the kalu priest was discussed, whereby the sacred drum is constructed through a highly ritualized process. Incantations are whispered into the ears of the bull to be slaughtered - Oppenheim states that the bull "into which divine powers have been transferred by magic means - is killed in order to transfer its potency and sacredness to the kettle drum." The bull hide is then stretched over the drum. And already in the Old Babylonian period, some incantations suggest the magic power of drums, thus the drum called "hero of heaven" is mentioned in several incantations - it's tempting to suspect that it's ritual power, like that of the drum of the kalu, is derived from it's animal forebearer (the bull):

679: "When the copper drum - 'the hero of heaven' -
678-680: adds its fearsome noise to the incantation, the word of Enki, (it is)
681: so that the evil Udug-demon and evil ala demon may depart."





Ur III incantations vs the power of enemy music/





The fact that music was seen as having real power in Sumer is evidenced not only in the way that they constructed their instruments and deified them, but in the uses of music - that the gala and nar cultic funcitonaries were called upon to create and recite ershemmas, balag lamentations and namburbis which together placate and soothe the angry heart of the gods (ideally preserves the peace and order of the world). Given the fundimental and pivotal role assigned music in the religion of the Mesopotamians, one might rightly suspect that these rites have their roots in religious prehistory, and that the animalistic imagery and perhaps even sound of the music speaks so truly to the heart of the gods because they were themselves once non-anthropomorphic. That is, animals / natural objects.


Another indication of the power of music in those times is the existence of two Ur III incantations which target, seemingly, the music of enemy lands : Elam and Anshan specifically. These two incantations seem completely without precident - the exorcistic corpus of Mesopotamia is found to have been overwhelmingly "white magic" in content, incantation after incantation relates to proceedings for removing some evil presence, some demon or another. In these two incantations exceptionally rare content occurs: the incantation is more akin to a curse, to black magic - some authors have termed it "military magic" as it envolves the attacking of an enemy country. One of these incantations is published by M. Geller, and the other which is comparable in that it targets the music of Elam and Anshan at one point, was published by Kramer and Eren - the latter I have just recently obtained the translation for and so below I will be able to compare the two together for the first time. The text of Geller's incantation reads:



1. Incantation
2. The gudi-lute is silenced, (as well as) the nagal(-instrument)
3. (these) being the harmonious sound of Bahar-e(n)unzaku.
4. The lutes being made quiet (by the demons) are seven, (the demon) has also silenced the dim(-instrument)
5. The 'herald' is a bad sound which has silenced Elam, Anshan, and its land
6. the 'herald' binds the mouth with a spell
7. He made the seven doves of Elam, Anshan, and the enemy lands into gurgling singers.
8. He changed the water-rat (lit. well-sniffing rodent) into a leather purse,
9. he maliciously bound the limbs of the doormouse,
10. he changed the tourniquet into a weapon, the plow into blood spiller,
11. he has changed the human tongue into mouse-hair.
12. He consigned the heart of the lion to old age.
13. He maliciously drank mankind's blood.
14. As for the seven swallows of Elam, Anshan, and of its land, he tossed porridge-liquid into (their) beaks.
15. In his spiting, seven times two times seven in the land of Elam and Anshan and
16. their enemy lands, he changed the womb into illness.
17. ..., he changed Elam, Anshan, and the hostile [land] into a place-of-no-return.
.........



For the text of Kramer's incantation, please see the [utl=http://enenuru.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=recite&action=display&thread=61]Ur III incantations thread[/url]. (reply #18) In addition a scanned form of his original article appears to be offered online here.





While Kramer believes his text is 'military magic' and targets Elam and Anshan, specifically, their armies and musicians, Geller simply states about his incantation: "One theme of this incantation is that a 'hostile' demon causes havoc in nature...'

I believe that the recitation of this incantation may act more as a curse of the countries involved - that by voicing the hostile actions of the demon, the exorcist is at the same time inspiring and causing them. Although phrased in a surreal and unrealistic narrative, the literary text Enmerker and En-suḫgir-ana makes it clear that the notion of a hostile sorcerer attacking the order of a country was not unknown to Sumerian thinking. What are the hostile actions in our Ur III incantation? In the highlighted section of the incantation above, I have given what I suspect are the actions of the demon which amount to a cause - in the non-highlighted section, I perceive actions which amount to effect.

In lines 2 ,3 and 4 it is described that the instruments, seven in number, are being silenced - you have to wait until line 5 to see that the doer of the action is the Herald demon, and the location of the instruments is Elam and Anshan. That the number of instruments is seven is magical - objects numbering seven appear over 100 times in the ETCSL and number all manner of things; often, instruments are seven in number as in "my singers praised me with songs accompanied by seven tigi drums." Seven is a significant number.. is it the figurative totality of the type of object in question? the definitively effective numeral for all objects? This is unknown I believe.

The god Bahar-e(n)unzaku. is little known, his name may translate roughly as 'divine potter of an (unknown) locality' according to Geller. In some texts the god is given the epithet 'lord of ritual' which would make sense in this context as well.


In lines 5 6 and 7 it seems obvious that the goal of the demon is to silence the land with its 'bad sound' - but in the context of the preceding lines, more specifically to silence the music of these lands. In line seven "He made the seven doves of Elam, Anshan, and the enemy lands into gurgling singers." I am tempted to suspect that what is being referred to are not just doves but metaphorically seven cultic singers of the enemy land- this is a bit of a stretch, but Kramer's incantation makes mention of "...seven [enemy] kur-TAR-minstrels, they who are sons that were born in the city.." which is line 5 and line 6 may make reference to their "incantatory chants" (although Kramer is unsure). Perhaps to voice the profession of this seven would be to afford them to much power and so they are described as mere chirping birds?


Lines 8 to 17 represent to me the effect of the demons silencing of music - the land is cut off from its magico-religious defense, no longer able to soothe the anger of the gods the order of the natural world is thrown into chaos: the demon up ends natural order, removes the strength of the people (drinking their blood) and finally the enemy lands are turned into a netherworld.

Particularly interesting may be line 14: "As for the seven swallows of Elam, Anshan, and of its land, he tossed porridge-liquid into (their) beaks." This line seems to form a mirror with
line 7, seven birds, and gurgling / porridge in the beak. The porridge is also the food of the dead as is customarily offered through a reed pipe in the ground. Interestingly, line 15 seems familiar with the math of the preceding lines "In his spiting, seven times two times seven in the land of Elam.." But with a repetitive and esoteric obsession with the number seven, there's no way of knowing when the ancient mind thought it meant something and when it didn't (let alone why).