The Temple Hymns / zà-mì hymns
Sept 8, 2012 10:56:56 GMT -5
Post by us4-he2-gal2 on Sept 8, 2012 10:56:56 GMT -5
Thread Orientation: This thread explore the gods listed on the OB Temple hymns and the ED zà-mì hymns.
In a recent paper assignment, I attempted to explore some of Steinkeller's 1999 proposals regarding the early pantheon and weigh them against selected data. The gender of city gods is particularly interesting in this regard and Selz has recently named the OB temple hymns and the ED zà-mì hymns as important sources in this regard (Selz RLA 14 Stadtgott).
An important understanding is that there was no universal pantheon within Mesopotamia - many readers are aware that each city state had it's own pantheon, consisting more less of the patron deity, his or her spouse, their children and the royal court (also divine). Of course, many of the local pantheons were linked with each other through blood. At each locality scholars distinguish between three different notions of the divine - the royal or official pantheon is evident in royal inscriptions, offering lists and administrative documents. Since the temple hymns mention the city gods in particular, I think they represent this royal pantheon. Certain types of texts, such as god lists and mythological or literary texts, are considered to be derived from the theological speculations of the scribes - a scribal pantheon. Lastly there is the popular religion but scholars are mainly limited to the onomasticon for this. (See Rubio 2011).
In the below sections, most of the content consists of passages taken directly from my paper - the discussions of the OB temple hymns and the discussion of the ED zà-mì hymns. Below these will follow the fotenotes. After this I will type the list of the deities appearing in the zà-mì hymns, which can be found in Robert Biggs volume OIP 99. I will also include some identifications of these gods which I found in various sources to be given below.
The Temple Hymns/
Readers at enenuru are probably most familiar with the temple hymns from the ETCSL link here. However the original translation was done by Sjoberg and Bergmann, in 1969 (in the volume The collection of the Sumerian temple hymns). It is from there that some of the below perspective originates.
Although the Old Babylonian version is known from 35 texts and fragments from the OB period and 2 from the Ur III, texts, chiefly from Nippur, it’s possible that the data itself may better be understood as representative of Akkadian period temples: scholars involved with the texts see no reason to doubt that the subscript to these texts, which informs the reader that the hymns were written by Enḫeduanna, are in any way misleading.1 Supporting this likelihood is data attested in individual hymns which could only support an initial date of composition in the Ur III period or earlier: for example, Temple Hymn 14 features Ninazu as the head god of the city of Ešnunna, a position known to have been usurped by Tišpak sometime before the Old Babylonian period. 2
In a gender analysis of deities of the 42 Old Babylonian temple hymns W.G. Lambert excludes number 28 (text is broken), numbers 3-6 (since they relate to secondary temples and are not in the same category as the city gods listed in other entries) and number 9 (as it relates to a deified ruler). This leaves a total of 36 deities to consider, 22 of which are male and 14 female “a balance entirely out of line with the holding of power as between men and women in ancient Sumer” as was mentioned above.3 In any case, this would mean that goddesses occupy 38% of the temples praised in the OB temple hymns.
The zà-mì Hymns:
In describing the zà-mì temple hymns4, so called because of the repeated use of the phrase zà-mì (“praise”), Biggs noted that deities whose cult centers were close to each other tend to be in proximity in the list as well; another type of grouping involves deities who are associated in the myths and epics.5 Known from Abu Salabikh only, it has been suggested that the final temple, Giš-gi, is also in the city of composition – and therefore that Giš-gi is the ancient name of Abu Salabikh (in analogy with the OB Temple Hymns, which end with a temple in the city of Enheduanna, their composer);6 this suggestion cannot be confirmed at present however.
Robert Biggs’ observation that some zà-mì deities can only be found elsewhere in the Fara and Abu Salabikh godlists can now be somewhat qualified by recent analysis: of the 69 deities named, 42, or 60%, appear also in the Abu Salabikh godlist (with 27 appearing also in the Fara godlist).7 As the temple lists document city gods who relate particularly with the royal or official pantheon, a modest 60% agreement with the so called scholarly pantheon of the god lists may not be totally surprising (and is considerably higher than the 23% agreement rate between Fara offering lists to the Fara god list, noted above.)
Turning to the question of the gender statistics in the zà mì hymns, I am not aware of any existing analysis such as that offered by Lambert for the OB temple hymns. Using a selection of published and unpublished studies however it is possible to address the problem. 8
Of the 69 zà-mì hymns, scholars have identified the gender of approximately 58 of them while 11 entries remain too obscure or are unreadable.9 Allowing for at least a minimal of interpretation (for example, I assume that gods whose names begin with Lugal are male, and that amar distinguishes a male god (in view of Black and Green’s translation of amar as “bull-calf”), it seems possible to distinguish 31 male gods10 listed in the zà-mì hymns against 27 female11. This means that of the 58 zà-mì deities whose gender is discernible, roughly 46% are goddesses.
Caution must be used in interpreting this data however, besides the most obvious issue of the 11 ungendered deites from the list, it should be stressed that many of the deities are little understood and could possibly be misidentified. Furthermore, to say that the 38% goddess figure of the OB temple hymns compared with 46% goddess figure of the zà-mì hymns necessarily means goddesses were less prominent as city patrons of the later period may be incorrect - if the OB hymns (42) had sampled so large a number of cites as their ED counterparts (69), the ratio of goddesses to gods may well have been closer to the earlier figure. Or not. With these reservations aside, it may be tentatively stated that the data offers some loose support for some of Steinkeller’s proposals, and particularly to Heimpel’s statement that “many city-gods were female throughout Babylonia” (see below).
Notes:
1 Sjoberg and Bergmann 1969 pg.5; the authors further note that some of the sanctuaries named are from northern Babylonia, further speaking to Enheduanna’s authorship. (note 2) Further, Cohen noted that the final temple listed is e2-a-ga-de3-ki, the temple of A(m)ba in Akkad, the city of the redactor, Enḫeduanna. (Cohen JCS 1976, pg.91)
2 ibid pg. 8
3 Lambert 1986 pg. 128
4 The term “hymns” is used for convenience, although Krecher had pointed out that the extreme brevity of each entry may suggest instead the term “litany”. c.f. Rubio 2011 pg. 102
5 Biggs OIP 99 pg. 45
6 Cohen 1976 pg. 91
7 Rubio 2011 pg. 102
8 I have made wide use of a forthcoming study on the Gods and Goddesses of the ANE by D. Frayne and J. Stuckey; Entries in RLA 9 and 10 (often by Cavigneaux and/or Krebernik) were very helpful; Biggs own notes to the zà-mì hymns OIP 99 sometimes gave clues; additionally Mamoru Yoshikawa’s personal notes and material for a Sumerian lexicon have been digitized and innumerable hints for the study of the Sumerian pantheon. See
htq.minpaku.ac.jp/databases/sumer/index-eng.jsp?HEADER=false
9 I would suggest the following as currently unidentifiable deities: ašdud, d.Men, d.Ab.gíd.gíd, d. nin-PISAN, d.Nin.á.NE, d.tu-da, Nin.È.kù and whatever deities are meant on lines 147-148, 167-169, 205-206
10 Male Deities: d.Enlil, (d)En te ḫu nu du10, (d)Asal-lú-KAL, d.Nanna, d.Utu, d.Ningal, An, am-gal-nun, ban-kù-lá, (d)GÌR.UNUG, d.Zababa, d.ŠÀR X DIŠ-gi(4) , d.Meš-sanga-unug, d.Lugal-bàn-da, d.IM, d. Nin-ildumma, d. Ki-ki-ḫu, d. Nin-ur, d.Šara, d.Ningirsu, d. Nin-gublaga, lugal an dùl du, d.Ninazu, d.Nam.nir, d.BIL.GI, d.En.gal.te, d. Lugal-SAḫAR-EZEN X AN, d. Lugal-kud-da, d. Dam-mi, d.Amar-engur-na, d. Ama-ušum-gal
11 Female deities: d.Nin-unug, d.Inanna, d.Dam-gal-nun, d.Nin-um, d.Nin-bí-lu-lu, d.Nin-tu, lamma d.Nin-sun, d. Nisaba, d. Ašnan, d. Gá-tùm-dùg, d.Nanše, d.ENGUR, Nin-ab-KID-KID, d. Lamma-ša(6)-ga, d.Nin-girim, d.Nin-mar, d.Nin-kas-si-din, d.Inanna, d.Nin-zadim, d.Nin-sar, d.Sùd, d.Nin-in, d.Me-dím-túm, d. NU-NUNUZ-du10, d.Nin-al-sul, d.Nin-NAGAR, ama d.Li8-si4
A list of all, and identification of some, of the zà-mì gods/
In the below chart I have types the list of 69 gods and godesses mentioned in zà-mì hymns - this data is taken from R. Biggs OIP 99 Inscriptions from Tell Abu Salabikh (available here[/url). In the below list, the gender and identification of some gods is obvious - for example, few of us will have a big problem with (d) Utu. Or if a deities name starts with Lugal, I have assumed the deity is male. In other cases, the deity is simply unattested in Old Babylonian literature and therefore totally obscure to most reader - with reference mainly to Frayne's unpublished dictionary of gods, I have made a note for some of these and the gods name with be highlighted in white if this is the case : see below for the corresponding note.
[/color][td][/td][td]40. (d)Nam-nir[/td][td]41. gán nun gal [/td][td]42. d)Lamma-ša(6)-ga[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]43. (d)BIL.GI[/td][td]44. (d)En.gal.te[/td][td]45. (d)Nin-girim[/td][td]46.Nin-È-kù[/td][td]47. (d)Nin-mar[/td][td]48. ŠIR é-nun-ta é [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]49. (d)Nin-kas-si-din[/td][td]50. (d)Inanna[/td][td]51. (d)Nin-zadim [/td][td]52. (d)Nin-sar[/td][td]53. (d)Sùd[/td][td]54. (d)Nin-PISAN[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]55. (d)Nin-á-NE[/td][td]56. (d)Nin-in[/td][td]57. (d)Nin-x-ki(?)[/td][td]58. (d)Me-dím-túm[/td][td]59. (d)Lugal-SAḫAR-EZEN X AN[/td][td]60. (d)NU-NUNUZ-du(10)[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]61. (d)Lugal-kud-da[/td][td]62. (d)Dam-mi[/td][td]63. nu en lú gíd[/td][td]64. (d)Nin-al-šul[/td][[td]65. (d)Amar-engur-na[/td][td]66. (d)Tu-da[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]67. d)Ama-ušum-gal[/td][td]68. (d)Nin-NAGAR[/td][td]69. ama (d)Li8-si4[/td]
[/table]
2. (d)Nin-unug : Note 107 in Beaulieu 2003 makes reference to the work of Conti (1993), who argued that "nin-unug must be read nin-irigalx and that this hymn is a forerunner of the temple hymn in honor of Eanna, the temple of Inanna in Uruk"(as seen in the OB temple hymns). In any case, nin-unug is likely some form of Inanna.
4. (d)En te ḫu nu du10(?) - Espak's 2010 dissertation pg. 32 states that this name is actually to be read En.nutemud (=ENKI). This would make sense as the shrine associated with the god in this entry is Abzu.
11. Nin-um Frayne: Goddess attested in god lists of the Early Dynastic Period. The name appears in the archaic Zami Hymns in connection with the city of Zabala. She may have beeen a deity from that city. (Mander 1986: 40, 122, 126; Biggs 1974: 47)
12. am-gal-nun Frayne: Amgal-nuna (M) Minor Sumerian deity. City god of Gutir, likely near the modern Iraqi city of Ba@2q@uba in the Diyala region in Babylonia. Name means “Great Bull of the Prince.” Appears in a god list of Early Dynastic times and in the Zami Hymns. (Mander 1986: 44; Biggs 1974: 47)
15. Nin-bí-lu-lu. Frayne: (d)Nin-bí-lu-lu - Minor Sumerian deity found in early god lists. Perhaps a female equivalent of the god of ditches and dykes En-bilulu or another name for him. (Cavigneaux and Krebernik in Reallexikon IX: 336)
16: GÌR.UNUG It's apparent that the reading GÌR.UNUG is outdated; Following the advances by Lambert and Steinkeller, D. Katz discusses the deity mentioned in entry 16 of the zà-mì as KIŠ.UNU. That is to say, Nergal. Nothing can be said about his character in early period beyond that he seems to have been associated with the Netherworld. See D. Katz 2033 pg. 405
18: (d)ŠÀR X DIŠ-gi(4) - According to Yoshikawa's online database, B. Alster in AOAT 25, 21 identifies this god with Asgi
20. Mes-sanga-Unug . Frayne: A minor Sumerian god connected with Uruk and possibly the tutelary deity of a town in the region. Perhaps a god of justice. Attested as early as the Early Dynastic Period and as late as Hellenistic (Seleucid) times. Spouse Nin-gu@3e-siraka. His name might mean “Hero, Sanga Priest of Uruk.” (Tallqvist 1974 (1938): 375; Krebernik in Reallexikon VIII: 94-95)
24. (d)IM. (d)IM =Ishkur
26. Nin-Duluma. Frayne: Minor Sumerian carpenter deity. Protector of Dulum, a city near Zabala(m). Also a name of Enki/Ea. In an Akkadian ritual for the repair of a temple, the god Ea was credited with pinching off a piece of clay to create various deities, among them Nin-Duluma (Nin-ildu) “to be the completers of [the] construction work.” See Lugal-Duluma. (Litke 1998 (1958): 86 #157; Sachs in Pritchard 1969: 341; Cavigneaux and Krebernik in Reallexikon IX: 340-341)
30. Nin-Muru(m). Frayne: Minor Sumerian god. Husband of the mongoose goddess Nin-kilim. Vizier of Me-@hursag. Name means “Lord of Muru(m).” (Litke 1998 (1958): 172; Tallqvist 1974 (1938): 415; Cavigneaux and Krebernik in Reallexikon IX: 474)
35. Nin-Gublag. Frayne: Minor Sumerian god of cattle. Also a deity of potters. Tutelary deity of the city of Ki@3abrig. Jacobsen calls him “the bull god” (1976: 25). Son of the moon god and his wife Nin-gal. Brother of Alammu@s, vizier or minister of Nanna/Sîn…
38. (d)ENGUR Biggs in notes seems to say that (d)ENGUR =d.Nammu, and Leick in her Dictionary of the Ancient Near East Mythology states that d.Nammu is written d.Engur. Krebernik in the RLA seems to confirm this connection in this specific zà-mì entry.
39. Nin-ab-KID-KID - RLA 9 pg. 421, probably vizier of Inanna. Viziers tend to be the same gender in Mesopotamian myth.
43. (d)BIL.GI - Frayne suggest a reading of d.Gibil (the fire god) which seems possible given that the signs in the zà-mì texts could be read in any order.
47. (d)Nin-mar - Frayne: Same as Ninmarki. Nin-marki (M) Sumerian goddess. A deity of cattle, of oaths, and perhaps of the sea. Tutelary deity of the city Gu-aba. Known from Early Dynastic times
49. (d)Nin-kas-si-din. Alster ZA 80 identifies with Ninkasi (c.f. Yoshikawa note on Ninkasi)
51. Nin-zadim - a misreading of the name Nin-mug
Frayne- Nin-mug(a) (M) Minor Sumerian goddess, originally male and identified with Enki. Deity of craftwork and birth. Wife of I@sum and also of @hendur-sag. Also an Underworld deity. In the Sumerian composition “Enki and the World Order,” Enki assigned to Nin-mug(a) the area of metal-working. She was to make tiaras for and crown new-born kings. In “Enki and Nin-ma@h,” Nin-mug(a) was one of eight goddesses who helped Nin-ma@h in the creation of human beings. Jacobsen translated the name as “Lady Vulva” (1976: 109). Nin-mug(a) was worshiped at, among other places, F@ara; Kisiga; Adab, a city south east of Nippur; Laga@s; and Umma. The seeming variations Nin-zed and Nin-zadim resulted from a confusion of signs. (Foster 2005: 219; Black, Cunningham. Robson, and Zólyomi 2004: 224; Black and Green 2003: 112; Litke 1998 (1958): 201; M. Cohen 1993: 204; Jacobsen 1976: 109; Tallqvist 1974 (1938): 415; Cavigneaux and Krebernik in Reallexikon IX: 471-473)
**Krebernik RLA indicates the Ninmug was in early times female
52. Nin-sar. Frayne: Nin-SAR, Nin-nisi(g) (M) Minor Sumerian deity, usually female, but sometimes male. Butcher of the great temple of Enlil at Nippur. Also a steward there. Her spouse was Erra-gal, an Underworld deity. Attested in god lists and hymns of the Early Dynastic Period. In the late “Ritual . . . When Covering the Temple Kettle-Drum,” Nin-SAR, as a male deity, shared in offerings and appeared, in a poem integral to the ritual, as one of the deities created by Ea from pieces of clay. Nin-SAR had a temple at Nippur called “House Worthy of the Cleansing Ritual” (George 1993: 147 #1063). Temples for the deity are attested at Girsu and Ur, and she/he was worshiped at Umma, Laga@s, and Mari also. Nin-SAR had a role in the Festival of Ba@3u/Baba in the Laga@s state and received offerings on separate days of the celebration. (Litke 1998 (1958): 60; M. Cohen 1993: 53, 55; George 1993: 24, 169 #1398-1399; Sachs in Pritchard 1969: 335, 341; Cavigneaux and Krebernik in Reallexikon IX: 484-486)
However - Selz ASJ 12 sates that Nin-sar is female at ED Lagash.
56. (d)Nin-in. Frayne identifies with Nin-Isin
58. (d)Me-dím-túm
Krebernik idenitifes as Medimsa in RLA 7 , probably wife of Adad.
60. (d)NU-NUNUZ-du(10)
Krebernik RLA 9 - Nunus-dug (dnUNunus-dug) "Good
Woman. "In the Great Gods list of Fara (SF 1 ix 129, see ZA 76 [19,861,177) in which Gods list of Tall Abu SalabII}
62. Damgi. Frayne: Minor Sumerian god attested in the archaic Zami Hymns from Ab@u @ral@ab@i@h of the Early Dynastic Period. Tutelary deity of the town EZENxNIMGIR. Mander’s reading of the divine name is uncertain. If the name is Damgi, it could be a spelling related to the Akkadian word damqu(m) “good,” but this is very uncertain. Mander points out the existence of a deity Nin-dam-MI, likely the wife of Damgi, in a god list from Ab@u @ral@a@i@h. The name could also be read Dammi, as noted by Frayne. Town name is likely to be read Dugina, possibly modern Qal@2at Daham in the vicinity of Umma. (Frayne 2009: 75 note 102; Mander 1986: 124)?
68. Nin-Nagar Frayne: Sumerian goddess. Tutelary deity of the city of Nagar which almost certainly was located at Tell Brak in northern Mesopotamia, now in Syria. Means “Lady of Nagar.” Possibly a birth/mother goddess. Mentioned in god lists and hymns of the Early Dynastic Period.Worshiped also at Mari and Ur. See B@elet-Nagar. (Cavigneaux and Krebernik in Reallexikon IX: 474-475)
The Hymns in OB and ED
and some Gender Statistics
In a recent paper assignment, I attempted to explore some of Steinkeller's 1999 proposals regarding the early pantheon and weigh them against selected data. The gender of city gods is particularly interesting in this regard and Selz has recently named the OB temple hymns and the ED zà-mì hymns as important sources in this regard (Selz RLA 14 Stadtgott).
An important understanding is that there was no universal pantheon within Mesopotamia - many readers are aware that each city state had it's own pantheon, consisting more less of the patron deity, his or her spouse, their children and the royal court (also divine). Of course, many of the local pantheons were linked with each other through blood. At each locality scholars distinguish between three different notions of the divine - the royal or official pantheon is evident in royal inscriptions, offering lists and administrative documents. Since the temple hymns mention the city gods in particular, I think they represent this royal pantheon. Certain types of texts, such as god lists and mythological or literary texts, are considered to be derived from the theological speculations of the scribes - a scribal pantheon. Lastly there is the popular religion but scholars are mainly limited to the onomasticon for this. (See Rubio 2011).
In the below sections, most of the content consists of passages taken directly from my paper - the discussions of the OB temple hymns and the discussion of the ED zà-mì hymns. Below these will follow the fotenotes. After this I will type the list of the deities appearing in the zà-mì hymns, which can be found in Robert Biggs volume OIP 99. I will also include some identifications of these gods which I found in various sources to be given below.
The Temple Hymns/
Readers at enenuru are probably most familiar with the temple hymns from the ETCSL link here. However the original translation was done by Sjoberg and Bergmann, in 1969 (in the volume The collection of the Sumerian temple hymns). It is from there that some of the below perspective originates.
Although the Old Babylonian version is known from 35 texts and fragments from the OB period and 2 from the Ur III, texts, chiefly from Nippur, it’s possible that the data itself may better be understood as representative of Akkadian period temples: scholars involved with the texts see no reason to doubt that the subscript to these texts, which informs the reader that the hymns were written by Enḫeduanna, are in any way misleading.1 Supporting this likelihood is data attested in individual hymns which could only support an initial date of composition in the Ur III period or earlier: for example, Temple Hymn 14 features Ninazu as the head god of the city of Ešnunna, a position known to have been usurped by Tišpak sometime before the Old Babylonian period. 2
In a gender analysis of deities of the 42 Old Babylonian temple hymns W.G. Lambert excludes number 28 (text is broken), numbers 3-6 (since they relate to secondary temples and are not in the same category as the city gods listed in other entries) and number 9 (as it relates to a deified ruler). This leaves a total of 36 deities to consider, 22 of which are male and 14 female “a balance entirely out of line with the holding of power as between men and women in ancient Sumer” as was mentioned above.3 In any case, this would mean that goddesses occupy 38% of the temples praised in the OB temple hymns.
The zà-mì Hymns:
In describing the zà-mì temple hymns4, so called because of the repeated use of the phrase zà-mì (“praise”), Biggs noted that deities whose cult centers were close to each other tend to be in proximity in the list as well; another type of grouping involves deities who are associated in the myths and epics.5 Known from Abu Salabikh only, it has been suggested that the final temple, Giš-gi, is also in the city of composition – and therefore that Giš-gi is the ancient name of Abu Salabikh (in analogy with the OB Temple Hymns, which end with a temple in the city of Enheduanna, their composer);6 this suggestion cannot be confirmed at present however.
Robert Biggs’ observation that some zà-mì deities can only be found elsewhere in the Fara and Abu Salabikh godlists can now be somewhat qualified by recent analysis: of the 69 deities named, 42, or 60%, appear also in the Abu Salabikh godlist (with 27 appearing also in the Fara godlist).7 As the temple lists document city gods who relate particularly with the royal or official pantheon, a modest 60% agreement with the so called scholarly pantheon of the god lists may not be totally surprising (and is considerably higher than the 23% agreement rate between Fara offering lists to the Fara god list, noted above.)
Turning to the question of the gender statistics in the zà mì hymns, I am not aware of any existing analysis such as that offered by Lambert for the OB temple hymns. Using a selection of published and unpublished studies however it is possible to address the problem. 8
Of the 69 zà-mì hymns, scholars have identified the gender of approximately 58 of them while 11 entries remain too obscure or are unreadable.9 Allowing for at least a minimal of interpretation (for example, I assume that gods whose names begin with Lugal are male, and that amar distinguishes a male god (in view of Black and Green’s translation of amar as “bull-calf”), it seems possible to distinguish 31 male gods10 listed in the zà-mì hymns against 27 female11. This means that of the 58 zà-mì deities whose gender is discernible, roughly 46% are goddesses.
Caution must be used in interpreting this data however, besides the most obvious issue of the 11 ungendered deites from the list, it should be stressed that many of the deities are little understood and could possibly be misidentified. Furthermore, to say that the 38% goddess figure of the OB temple hymns compared with 46% goddess figure of the zà-mì hymns necessarily means goddesses were less prominent as city patrons of the later period may be incorrect - if the OB hymns (42) had sampled so large a number of cites as their ED counterparts (69), the ratio of goddesses to gods may well have been closer to the earlier figure. Or not. With these reservations aside, it may be tentatively stated that the data offers some loose support for some of Steinkeller’s proposals, and particularly to Heimpel’s statement that “many city-gods were female throughout Babylonia” (see below).
Notes:
1 Sjoberg and Bergmann 1969 pg.5; the authors further note that some of the sanctuaries named are from northern Babylonia, further speaking to Enheduanna’s authorship. (note 2) Further, Cohen noted that the final temple listed is e2-a-ga-de3-ki, the temple of A(m)ba in Akkad, the city of the redactor, Enḫeduanna. (Cohen JCS 1976, pg.91)
2 ibid pg. 8
3 Lambert 1986 pg. 128
4 The term “hymns” is used for convenience, although Krecher had pointed out that the extreme brevity of each entry may suggest instead the term “litany”. c.f. Rubio 2011 pg. 102
5 Biggs OIP 99 pg. 45
6 Cohen 1976 pg. 91
7 Rubio 2011 pg. 102
8 I have made wide use of a forthcoming study on the Gods and Goddesses of the ANE by D. Frayne and J. Stuckey; Entries in RLA 9 and 10 (often by Cavigneaux and/or Krebernik) were very helpful; Biggs own notes to the zà-mì hymns OIP 99 sometimes gave clues; additionally Mamoru Yoshikawa’s personal notes and material for a Sumerian lexicon have been digitized and innumerable hints for the study of the Sumerian pantheon. See
htq.minpaku.ac.jp/databases/sumer/index-eng.jsp?HEADER=false
9 I would suggest the following as currently unidentifiable deities: ašdud, d.Men, d.Ab.gíd.gíd, d. nin-PISAN, d.Nin.á.NE, d.tu-da, Nin.È.kù and whatever deities are meant on lines 147-148, 167-169, 205-206
10 Male Deities: d.Enlil, (d)En te ḫu nu du10, (d)Asal-lú-KAL, d.Nanna, d.Utu, d.Ningal, An, am-gal-nun, ban-kù-lá, (d)GÌR.UNUG, d.Zababa, d.ŠÀR X DIŠ-gi(4) , d.Meš-sanga-unug, d.Lugal-bàn-da, d.IM, d. Nin-ildumma, d. Ki-ki-ḫu, d. Nin-ur, d.Šara, d.Ningirsu, d. Nin-gublaga, lugal an dùl du, d.Ninazu, d.Nam.nir, d.BIL.GI, d.En.gal.te, d. Lugal-SAḫAR-EZEN X AN, d. Lugal-kud-da, d. Dam-mi, d.Amar-engur-na, d. Ama-ušum-gal
11 Female deities: d.Nin-unug, d.Inanna, d.Dam-gal-nun, d.Nin-um, d.Nin-bí-lu-lu, d.Nin-tu, lamma d.Nin-sun, d. Nisaba, d. Ašnan, d. Gá-tùm-dùg, d.Nanše, d.ENGUR, Nin-ab-KID-KID, d. Lamma-ša(6)-ga, d.Nin-girim, d.Nin-mar, d.Nin-kas-si-din, d.Inanna, d.Nin-zadim, d.Nin-sar, d.Sùd, d.Nin-in, d.Me-dím-túm, d. NU-NUNUZ-du10, d.Nin-al-sul, d.Nin-NAGAR, ama d.Li8-si4
A list of all, and identification of some, of the zà-mì gods/
In the below chart I have types the list of 69 gods and godesses mentioned in zà-mì hymns - this data is taken from R. Biggs OIP 99 Inscriptions from Tell Abu Salabikh (available here[/url). In the below list, the gender and identification of some gods is obvious - for example, few of us will have a big problem with (d) Utu. Or if a deities name starts with Lugal, I have assumed the deity is male. In other cases, the deity is simply unattested in Old Babylonian literature and therefore totally obscure to most reader - with reference mainly to Frayne's unpublished dictionary of gods, I have made a note for some of these and the gods name with be highlighted in white if this is the case : see below for the corresponding note.
| 1. d.Enlil | 2. (d)Nin-unug | 3. (d)Inanna | 4.d)En te ḫu nu du10(?) | 5. (d)Asal-lú-KAL | 6. (d)Nanna |
| 7. (d)Utu | 8. (d)Nin-gal | 9. An | 10. (d)Dam-gal-nun | 11. (d)Nin-um (Inanna?) | 12. am-gal-nun |
| 13. ašdud | 14. ban-kù-lá | 15. (d)Nin-bí-lu-lu | 16. (d)GÌR.UNUG | 17. (d)Zababa | 18. (d)ŠÀR X DIŠ-gi(4) |
| 19. (d)Nin-tu | 20. (d)Meš-sanga-unug | 21. (d) Men | lamma (d)Nin-sun | 23. (d)Lugal-bàn-da | 24. (d)IM |
| 25. (d)Nisaba | 26. (d)Nin-ildumma | 27. (d)Ab-gíd-gíd | 28. (d)Ki-ki-ḫu | 29. (d)Ašnan | 30. (d)Nin-ur |
| 31. (d)Šara | 32. (d)Gá-tùm-dùg | 33. (d)Nanše | 34. (d)Ningirsu | 35. (d)Nin-gublaga | 36. lugal an dùl du |
| 37. (d)Ninazu | 38. (d)ENGUR |
[tr][td]43. (d)BIL.GI[/td][td]44. (d)En.gal.te[/td][td]45. (d)Nin-girim[/td][td]46.Nin-È-kù[/td][td]47. (d)Nin-mar[/td][td]48. ŠIR é-nun-ta é [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]49. (d)Nin-kas-si-din[/td][td]50. (d)Inanna[/td][td]51. (d)Nin-zadim [/td][td]52. (d)Nin-sar[/td][td]53. (d)Sùd[/td][td]54. (d)Nin-PISAN[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]55. (d)Nin-á-NE[/td][td]56. (d)Nin-in[/td][td]57. (d)Nin-x-ki(?)[/td][td]58. (d)Me-dím-túm[/td][td]59. (d)Lugal-SAḫAR-EZEN X AN[/td][td]60. (d)NU-NUNUZ-du(10)[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]61. (d)Lugal-kud-da[/td][td]62. (d)Dam-mi[/td][td]63. nu en lú gíd[/td][td]64. (d)Nin-al-šul[/td][[td]65. (d)Amar-engur-na[/td][td]66. (d)Tu-da[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]67. d)Ama-ušum-gal[/td][td]68. (d)Nin-NAGAR[/td][td]69. ama (d)Li8-si4[/td]
[/table]
2. (d)Nin-unug : Note 107 in Beaulieu 2003 makes reference to the work of Conti (1993), who argued that "nin-unug must be read nin-irigalx and that this hymn is a forerunner of the temple hymn in honor of Eanna, the temple of Inanna in Uruk"(as seen in the OB temple hymns). In any case, nin-unug is likely some form of Inanna.
4. (d)En te ḫu nu du10(?) - Espak's 2010 dissertation pg. 32 states that this name is actually to be read En.nutemud (=ENKI). This would make sense as the shrine associated with the god in this entry is Abzu.
11. Nin-um Frayne: Goddess attested in god lists of the Early Dynastic Period. The name appears in the archaic Zami Hymns in connection with the city of Zabala. She may have beeen a deity from that city. (Mander 1986: 40, 122, 126; Biggs 1974: 47)
12. am-gal-nun Frayne: Amgal-nuna (M) Minor Sumerian deity. City god of Gutir, likely near the modern Iraqi city of Ba@2q@uba in the Diyala region in Babylonia. Name means “Great Bull of the Prince.” Appears in a god list of Early Dynastic times and in the Zami Hymns. (Mander 1986: 44; Biggs 1974: 47)
15. Nin-bí-lu-lu. Frayne: (d)Nin-bí-lu-lu - Minor Sumerian deity found in early god lists. Perhaps a female equivalent of the god of ditches and dykes En-bilulu or another name for him. (Cavigneaux and Krebernik in Reallexikon IX: 336)
16: GÌR.UNUG It's apparent that the reading GÌR.UNUG is outdated; Following the advances by Lambert and Steinkeller, D. Katz discusses the deity mentioned in entry 16 of the zà-mì as KIŠ.UNU. That is to say, Nergal. Nothing can be said about his character in early period beyond that he seems to have been associated with the Netherworld. See D. Katz 2033 pg. 405
18: (d)ŠÀR X DIŠ-gi(4) - According to Yoshikawa's online database, B. Alster in AOAT 25, 21 identifies this god with Asgi
20. Mes-sanga-Unug . Frayne: A minor Sumerian god connected with Uruk and possibly the tutelary deity of a town in the region. Perhaps a god of justice. Attested as early as the Early Dynastic Period and as late as Hellenistic (Seleucid) times. Spouse Nin-gu@3e-siraka. His name might mean “Hero, Sanga Priest of Uruk.” (Tallqvist 1974 (1938): 375; Krebernik in Reallexikon VIII: 94-95)
24. (d)IM. (d)IM =Ishkur
26. Nin-Duluma. Frayne: Minor Sumerian carpenter deity. Protector of Dulum, a city near Zabala(m). Also a name of Enki/Ea. In an Akkadian ritual for the repair of a temple, the god Ea was credited with pinching off a piece of clay to create various deities, among them Nin-Duluma (Nin-ildu) “to be the completers of [the] construction work.” See Lugal-Duluma. (Litke 1998 (1958): 86 #157; Sachs in Pritchard 1969: 341; Cavigneaux and Krebernik in Reallexikon IX: 340-341)
30. Nin-Muru(m). Frayne: Minor Sumerian god. Husband of the mongoose goddess Nin-kilim. Vizier of Me-@hursag. Name means “Lord of Muru(m).” (Litke 1998 (1958): 172; Tallqvist 1974 (1938): 415; Cavigneaux and Krebernik in Reallexikon IX: 474)
35. Nin-Gublag. Frayne: Minor Sumerian god of cattle. Also a deity of potters. Tutelary deity of the city of Ki@3abrig. Jacobsen calls him “the bull god” (1976: 25). Son of the moon god and his wife Nin-gal. Brother of Alammu@s, vizier or minister of Nanna/Sîn…
38. (d)ENGUR Biggs in notes seems to say that (d)ENGUR =d.Nammu, and Leick in her Dictionary of the Ancient Near East Mythology states that d.Nammu is written d.Engur. Krebernik in the RLA seems to confirm this connection in this specific zà-mì entry.
39. Nin-ab-KID-KID - RLA 9 pg. 421, probably vizier of Inanna. Viziers tend to be the same gender in Mesopotamian myth.
43. (d)BIL.GI - Frayne suggest a reading of d.Gibil (the fire god) which seems possible given that the signs in the zà-mì texts could be read in any order.
47. (d)Nin-mar - Frayne: Same as Ninmarki. Nin-marki (M) Sumerian goddess. A deity of cattle, of oaths, and perhaps of the sea. Tutelary deity of the city Gu-aba. Known from Early Dynastic times
49. (d)Nin-kas-si-din. Alster ZA 80 identifies with Ninkasi (c.f. Yoshikawa note on Ninkasi)
51. Nin-zadim - a misreading of the name Nin-mug
Frayne- Nin-mug(a) (M) Minor Sumerian goddess, originally male and identified with Enki. Deity of craftwork and birth. Wife of I@sum and also of @hendur-sag. Also an Underworld deity. In the Sumerian composition “Enki and the World Order,” Enki assigned to Nin-mug(a) the area of metal-working. She was to make tiaras for and crown new-born kings. In “Enki and Nin-ma@h,” Nin-mug(a) was one of eight goddesses who helped Nin-ma@h in the creation of human beings. Jacobsen translated the name as “Lady Vulva” (1976: 109). Nin-mug(a) was worshiped at, among other places, F@ara; Kisiga; Adab, a city south east of Nippur; Laga@s; and Umma. The seeming variations Nin-zed and Nin-zadim resulted from a confusion of signs. (Foster 2005: 219; Black, Cunningham. Robson, and Zólyomi 2004: 224; Black and Green 2003: 112; Litke 1998 (1958): 201; M. Cohen 1993: 204; Jacobsen 1976: 109; Tallqvist 1974 (1938): 415; Cavigneaux and Krebernik in Reallexikon IX: 471-473)
**Krebernik RLA indicates the Ninmug was in early times female
52. Nin-sar. Frayne: Nin-SAR, Nin-nisi(g) (M) Minor Sumerian deity, usually female, but sometimes male. Butcher of the great temple of Enlil at Nippur. Also a steward there. Her spouse was Erra-gal, an Underworld deity. Attested in god lists and hymns of the Early Dynastic Period. In the late “Ritual . . . When Covering the Temple Kettle-Drum,” Nin-SAR, as a male deity, shared in offerings and appeared, in a poem integral to the ritual, as one of the deities created by Ea from pieces of clay. Nin-SAR had a temple at Nippur called “House Worthy of the Cleansing Ritual” (George 1993: 147 #1063). Temples for the deity are attested at Girsu and Ur, and she/he was worshiped at Umma, Laga@s, and Mari also. Nin-SAR had a role in the Festival of Ba@3u/Baba in the Laga@s state and received offerings on separate days of the celebration. (Litke 1998 (1958): 60; M. Cohen 1993: 53, 55; George 1993: 24, 169 #1398-1399; Sachs in Pritchard 1969: 335, 341; Cavigneaux and Krebernik in Reallexikon IX: 484-486)
However - Selz ASJ 12 sates that Nin-sar is female at ED Lagash.
56. (d)Nin-in. Frayne identifies with Nin-Isin
58. (d)Me-dím-túm
Krebernik idenitifes as Medimsa in RLA 7 , probably wife of Adad.
60. (d)NU-NUNUZ-du(10)
Krebernik RLA 9 - Nunus-dug (dnUNunus-dug) "Good
Woman. "In the Great Gods list of Fara (SF 1 ix 129, see ZA 76 [19,861,177) in which Gods list of Tall Abu SalabII}
62. Damgi. Frayne: Minor Sumerian god attested in the archaic Zami Hymns from Ab@u @ral@ab@i@h of the Early Dynastic Period. Tutelary deity of the town EZENxNIMGIR. Mander’s reading of the divine name is uncertain. If the name is Damgi, it could be a spelling related to the Akkadian word damqu(m) “good,” but this is very uncertain. Mander points out the existence of a deity Nin-dam-MI, likely the wife of Damgi, in a god list from Ab@u @ral@a@i@h. The name could also be read Dammi, as noted by Frayne. Town name is likely to be read Dugina, possibly modern Qal@2at Daham in the vicinity of Umma. (Frayne 2009: 75 note 102; Mander 1986: 124)?
68. Nin-Nagar Frayne: Sumerian goddess. Tutelary deity of the city of Nagar which almost certainly was located at Tell Brak in northern Mesopotamia, now in Syria. Means “Lady of Nagar.” Possibly a birth/mother goddess. Mentioned in god lists and hymns of the Early Dynastic Period.Worshiped also at Mari and Ur. See B@elet-Nagar. (Cavigneaux and Krebernik in Reallexikon IX: 474-475)
