Help Translating the Names of Deities

[nocodeyv]

Recently I began keeping my own "God List," a compendium compiled from a variety of sources (published material, internet encyclopedias, academia.edu, etc). A good variety of the deities I've come across I've been able to translate their names, more or less. An = sky, heaven, divinity; Ning̃išzida = Lord of the Good Tree; Gula = Great One; etc. While researching and compiling though, I've come across a number (a large number) of deities whose names I couldn't find translations for.

Now, I know better than to simply ask someone to do the work for me, though I wouldn't object in the slightest to anyone who wants to offer me such help! Instead, I'd like to know if there are any dependable resources I can turn to for assistance in understanding the names of these gods and goddesses.

All that said, I'll post the running list of "unknowns" that I have below, which I've tried (likely with some error) to divide up in an intelligent way.


City-Deities / Major Deities

Amurrû, alternate name of the god Martu
Bau, city-goddess of G̃irsu
Ilaba, city-god of Agade
Isimud, sukkal of Enki
Ištaran, city-god of Dēr
Medimša, alternate name of the goddess Šala
Mušdama, god of foundation rites
Namm(a/u), goddess of Eridu, Enki's mother
Nanše, city-goddess of Nina/Sirara
Ning̃irin, city-goddess of Murum
Nušk(a/u), sukkal of Enlil and god of radiance
Šara, city-god of Bad-tibira
Šerida, alternate name of the goddess Aya
Uraš, earth-goddess and spouse of An
Zababa, city-god of Kiš


Deities from the Netherworld

En-da-šurim-ma, ancestor of Enlil
En-du-kù-ga, ancestor of Enlil
En-kig, ancestor of Enlil
En-mu-utila, ancestor of Enlil
En-mul, ancestor of Enlil
Ḫušbisag̃, spouse of Namtar
Laṣ, spouse of Nergal (?)
Lugal-irra, alternate name of Nergal (?)
Nergal, King of the Netherworld
Neti, gate-keeper of the Netherworld
Nin-da-šurim-ma, ancestor of Enlil
Nin-du-kù-ga, ancestor of Enlil
Nin-mu-utila, ancestor of Enlil
Nin-mul, ancestor of Enlil


Nondescript Deities of the Earth

Alamuš, sukkal of Nanna
Atgi-maḫ, spouse of Martu
Bunene, charioteer of Utu
En-lulim, Ning̃irsu's temple personnel at G̃irsu
En-šeg-nun, Ning̃irsu's temple personnel at G̃irsu
Enzi-kalam-ma, second junior-wife of Enlil at Nippur
G̃atumdug, goddess at G̃irsu
Gayau, Nanna's temple personnel at Ur
G̃eštu, god sacrificed to create humans in Atraḫasīs
G̃išbar, Ning̃irsu's temple personnel at G̃irsu
Gunara, daughter of Ninurta and Gula
Hahanu, (?)
Ḫaia, spouse of Nisaba
Haniš, sukkal of Utu
Ḫe-šaga, daughter of Ning̃irsu and Bau
Ḫeg̃ir-nuna, daughter of Ning̃irsu and Bau
Irḫan, god of the Euphrates
Iškur-pa-e, daughter of Ning̃irsu and Bau
Itur-matiššu, Ištaran's temple personnel at Dēr
Kani-sura, daughter of Nanaya
Kinda-zid, Ning̃irsu's temple personnel at G̃irsu
Ku'annesi, spouse of Lugal-irra
Kur-šuna-buruam, Ning̃irsu's temple personnel at G̃irsu
Labar-túr-ma, sister of Ning̃išzida
Laḫamun, spouse of Enšag
Làma, Ning̃irsu's temple personnel at G̃irsu
Lisin, goddess of Adab/Keš
Lugal-anbara, Ninurta's temple personnel at Nippur
Lugal-ennu-iri-kugakam, Ning̃irsu's temple personnel at G̃irsu
Lugal-igi-huš, Ning̃irsu's temple personnel at G̃irsu
Lugal-kur-dub, Ninurta's temple personnel at Nippur
Lugal-si-sa, Ning̃irsu's temple personnel at G̃irsu
Mamu, goddess of dreams (?)
Manzât, spouse of Ištaran (?)
Nazi, part of the paradise myth
Nezila, Nungal's temple personnel at Nippur
Nindara, Nanše's spouse
Nindimgul, Ning̃irsu's temple personnel at G̃irsu
Nindub, (?)
Nineḫama, Asarluḫi's spouse (?)
Ninezengud, (?)
Ninnig̃bunara, (?)
Ninnisiga, goddess of vegetation (formerly Nin-šar)
Ninzaga, (?)
Nurra, god of pottery
Qudmu, Ištaran's temple personnel at Dēr
Rasu, Ištaran's temple personnel at Dēr
Siduri, demigoddess and alewife
Sisig, god of dreams (?)
Šul-šaga, Ning̃irsu's temple personnel at G̃irsu
Šullat, accompanies Iškur
Šuni-dug, Nanna's temple personnel at Ur
Turma, Ištaran's temple personnel at Dēr
Ud-ane, Ninurta's temple personnel at Nippur
Ur-agrunta-ea, daughter of Ning̃irsu and Bau
Urumaš, Ninḫursag̃a's temple personnel at Keš
Ušumgal-kalama, Ištaran's temple personnel at Dēr
Uttu, goddess of weaving
Zarg̃u, daughter of Ning̃irsu and Bau
Zazaru, daughter of Ning̃irsu and Bau
Zizanu, son of Ištaran
Zurg̃u, daughter of Ning̃irsu and Bau

[sheshki]

Well, that is a long list. Did you have a look into the "Reallexikon der Assyriologie"? They go very much into detail sometimes.
Part 1-11 are available via libgen.org

[hukkana]

Rather intrigued by the gods termed as "ancestor of Enlil", due to me not encountering any of these names or this term before.

[nocodeyv]

Jul 14, 2015 8:25:08 GMT -5 sheshki said:

Well, that is a long list. Did you have a look into the "Reallexikon der Assyriologie"? They go very much into detail sometimes.
Part 1-11 are available via libgen.org

Thanks for the link, Sheshki.

I had actually stumbled across the Reallexikon toward the end of last week, but was quite daunted by the sheer breadth which it covers. I will have to delve in now though, since I'm sure there's a lot I could learn.

The list is quite long, which is why I'm only posting it if anyone is interested in helping, or recognizes a name. I fully intend to try and discover the translations on my own if possible though.

[nocodeyv]

Jul 15, 2015 8:03:06 GMT -5 hukkana said:

Rather intrigued by the gods termed as "ancestor of Enlil", due to me not encountering any of these names or this term before.

Thanks for the reply, Hukkana.

The "ancestors of Enlil" are a group of gods I actually first learned about on Enenuru. I'll have to look later (after work) to see if I can find the thread where they're mentioned. For now though, they're also talked about in a Nippur version of The Death of Gilgamesh

About halfway down the text, lines 1-7, you'll see them:

He …… the audience-gifts for Enki, Ninki, Enmul, Ninmul, Endukuga, Nindukuga, Enindašuruma, Nindašuruma, Enmu-utula, En-me-šara, the maternal and paternal ancestors of Enlil

The spellings that I chose for my list came from a different source (likely a print-source). I'll have to see if I can locate it tonight as well.

[hukkana]

Jul 15, 2015 10:48:41 GMT -5 nocodeyv said:

Jul 15, 2015 8:03:06 GMT -5 hukkana said:

Rather intrigued by the gods termed as "ancestor of Enlil", due to me not encountering any of these names or this term before.

Thanks for the reply, Hukkana.

The "ancestors of Enlil" are a group of gods I actually first learned about on Enenuru. I'll have to look later (after work) to see if I can find the thread where they're mentioned. For now though, they're also talked about in a Nippur version of The Death of Gilgamesh

About halfway down the text, lines 1-7, you'll see them:

He …… the audience-gifts for Enki, Ninki, Enmul, Ninmul, Endukuga, Nindukuga, Enindašuruma, Nindašuruma, Enmu-utula, En-me-šara, the maternal and paternal ancestors of Enlil

The spellings that I chose for my list came from a different source (likely a print-source). I'll have to see if I can locate it tonight as well.

Thanks for the response. The only one of the names after Ninki that I've come across is Enmešarra, who I found to be noted as both an underworld deity and a guardian of flocks.

[us4-he2-gal2]

nocodeyv - This is an excellent thread, thank you for presenting your question according to the convention of the board, to make a running list is the right idea.. because yes, this is one of those issues which cannot be solved with reference to one book or maybe even a dozen. To my knowledge, there is no one work which addresses divine names and their meanings. Scholars tend to supply such information only when giving a focused discussion of a deity in an article, book or entry, but this information can be skipped should it prove burdensome or inconclusive. So, your chances of getting a scholarly opinion on this particular aspect of the study are always haphazard and prone to frustration, unfortunately. A running list like this one, where information can be collected and added following chance discoveries, is the most realistic option.


Sheshki's suggestion to use the RlA series of encyclopedic books is a good one, some of the most focused descriptions of gods occur in the entries in this series. Unfortunately, most entries are in German. In any case, you are welcome of course to ask for any information on enenuru, you could ask if anyone knows the meanings of names on your list, legitimate to ask of course.


A good thread for the ancestors of Enlil is the Enmesharra thread. See below link:

enenuru.proboards.com/thread/99/enmesharra

And the article by Binsbergen and Wiggermann which was initially of interest on that thread can viewed here:

www.enenuru.net/pdfs/Wiggerman_Binsbergan_Magic_in_History.pdf




If you have the chance to read through said article, there should be some discussions of a few divine names of interest there. Don't worry about understanding all of their suggestions, the work is highly theoretical and many scholars do no fully understand or agree with their direction in this article. But that was never the point. It is meant to stimulate the mind regarding trends in early Mesopotamian religion using an unusual blend of anthropology and assyriology (Binsbergen is the anthropologist, Wiggermann the assyriologist).

[nocodeyv]

Thanks for the reply, Ushegal.

I remember first learning about the Ancestor's of Enlil from the Enmesharra thread, and believe you'd even linked me to it before when I had another question. It's a good thread. I downloaded the currently-available volumes of the Lexicon, and was going to ask about whether a bilingual version existed, but you've also satisfied that question, ha ha. Finally, I will be giving the Binsbergan-Wiggermann PDF a view this week as well. Thanks for the help, and I'll be sure to update my list as I learn new translations, or come across new unknowns.

[seeker666utu]

ORAC has An=Anum God List 1 which lists Enlil's ancestors. It does take a bit to find but it is there. Search An-Anum God lists in Google & a top post will show a ORAC technical page with a link. He is the link to the dcclt page:

oracc.museum.upenn.edu/dcclt/Q000264,Q003221,Q003222,Q003223,Q003224,Q003225,Q003226