The Function of Itar in the Assyrian Royal Inscriptions: A Contextual
Analysis of the Actions Attributed to Itar in the Inscriptions of Ititi through
almaneser III
A Dissertation
Presented to
The Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Brandeis University
Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
Tzvi Abusch, Advisor
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy
by
Ilona Zsolnay
August 2009
UM Number: 3369237
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The signed version of this signature page is on file at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Brandeis University.
This dissertation, directed and approved by Ilona Zsolnays Committee, has been accepted and approved by the Faculty of Brandeis University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of:
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Adam B. Jaffe, Dean of Arts and Sciences
Dissertation Committee:
Prof. Tzvi Abusch, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
Prof. David P. Wright, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
Dr. Barbara Porter, Casco Bay Assyriological Institute
This work is dedicated to two wonderful and brilliant women:
My mother Ellen Burke, whose own passion for this field started me on this path and My wife Karen Morian, whose love and unfailing support took me to its conclusion
iv
Acknowledgements
This dissertation could not have been created had it not been for the support of numerous people. It is difficult even to begin to thank them all. I wish first to express my deepest gratitude to Tzvi Abusch. As my primary advisor and the chair of my dissertation committee, he has provided me with exceptional advice and guidance throughout the years. As one who encourages innovative approaches and a creative scholar himself, he has given confidence to my own creativity; however, even more than this, he has supported and believed in me through even the most difficult and complicated times. It is also with sincere appreciation that I thank David Wright for reading (usually with not much notice) several versions of this dissertation and for offering solid practical advice as to its structure. His critical mind and generosity of spirit have always inspired me, particularly during my years in coursework, a time of which I have fond memories of many enjoyable conversations. I also wish to thank Marc Brettler for being an excellent and supportive teacher. More than a first-rate Biblical scholar, Marc Brettler has a gift for developing burgeoning academics. Each of these men has always treated my ideas with the greatest respect and encouraged me to develop them into reputable scholarship. The outside reader for this dissertation was Barbara Porter of the Casco Bay Assyriological Institute. I wish to thank her for not merely scanning this document, but carefully interacting with it and posing extremely helpful questions, noticing discrepancies, and offering solid suggestions. Barbara Porter has also assisted me with kind advice, especially during the last weeks of this process. v Almost the entirety of this project was written while I was living in Florida. I wish to acknowledge the magnificent librarians at Florida State University and the Jacksonville Public Library in San Marco. It is due to the resourcefulness of ILL staff that I was able to acquire numerous important publications. I can only wonder what they thought of the weird, wonderful, and truly esoteric titles they were requested to locate. A special thanks also to Grant Frame and Ann Guinan at the University of Pennsylvania. Grant Frame was kind enough to place at my disposal his unfinished Kassite manuscript, which filled numerous gaps in the published scholarship. During the past few years, Ann Guinan and I have engaged in helpful and enlightening conversations. During these, she has imparted excellent advice and wisdom. These acts are mere indications of their genuine generosity as a scholars and friends. Finally, it is impossible to survive graduate school without a strong support network. I here declare the unsurpassed quality of the Brandeis community. Outside of my own department, my friendships with Jim Bensinger in the Physics department and John Burt in the English department have sustained me. Inside my own department, I was lucky enough to arrive at Brandeis with an excellent group of students. Most particularly, I give my deepest respect and thanks to Sarah Shectman and Hilary Lipka. By their examples and through their support, I have grown as both a person and a scholar. And of course, I thank my family for their unflagging belief in me. It has been a long slog, but neither my father, Adam, nor my sister, Lilo, ever doubted I would finish.
vi
ABSTRACT
The Function of Itar in the Assyrian Royal Inscriptions: A Contextual Analysis of the Actions Attributed to Itar in the Inscriptions of Ititi through almaneser III
A dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts
by Ilona Zsolnay
This study investigates the functions of the Mesopotamian goddess Itar in pre- Sargonid Assyrian Royal inscriptions from the reigns of Ititi through almaneser III in an effort to better comprehend how the goddess Itar came to be the preeminent deity of the late Neo-Assyrian kings. The derived goal is to ascertain whether these functions changed over time and to establish whether any apparent variations were due to the adoption of particular manifestations of the goddess (thus linking innovations/functions to specific hypostases of the goddess), the result of broader theological movements, or merely the result of changes to the literary form of an inscription. Finally, the study asks: can Itars functions inform us as to her position in the theology present in the inscriptions, and if so, what was that position? In order to discern and trace the development of the functions of the various manifestations of Itar, this study will examine all significant references to Itar in the corpus. Because the titulary, action unit, concluding formula, and invocation each serve a distinct purpose within an Assyrian royal inscription, this study is divided by these vii literary units. The results of this study confirm that the central function of Itar in the corpus is either to ordain or assist in the acquisition and maintenance of an Assyrian rulers sovereignty; however, if Itar was ever a deity native to Aur, the texts do not reveal this status. Instead, under the designations B!let Ninua Sovereign of Nineveh and b!let qabli u t"h"zi Sovereign of Combat and Battle she was connected, not to southern Mesopotamia as some would argue, but to the north, northeast, and northwest of Aur. The study also determines that Itar's rise in power can be linked directly to the rise in stature of Aur (as it became Assyria) and her kings. Following the conclusion of this study, are a series of appendices. Each presents an historical survey of each of the designations for Itar which are present in the invocation units of the inscriptions.
viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements iv Abstract vi Abbreviations xi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 The Goal of This Study 1 1.2 Composite Treatments 2 1.3 Individual Treatments 4 1.4 Goal 13 1.5 The Corpus 14 1.6 Methodology 18 1.7 Organization 19 1.8 Materials 22
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUDING FORMULA 87 4.1 Diagram and Purpose 87 4.2 Address to a Future Prince 88 4.2.1 Attestations 98 4.2.2 Catalog 98 4.2.3 Analysis 101 4.2.4 Conclusion 106 4.3 Maledictions 107 4.3.1 Executive Maledictions 109 4.3.1.1 Attestations 109 4.3.1.2 Catalog 115 ix 4.3.1.3 Analysis and Summation 116 4.3.2 Martial Maledictions 118 4.3.2.1 kakkau (u kakk# umm"n"t#u) liber 119 4.3.2.1.1 Catalog 119 4.3.2.1.2 Analysis 120 4.3.2.1.3 Summation 128 4.3.2.2 abikti m"t#u likun and ina pani nakr#u ay-izziz 130 4.3.2.2.1 Catalog 131 4.3.2.2.2 Analysis 131 4.3.2.2.3 Summation 136 4.3.2.3 ana q"t nakr#u lumell#u, lin!r qur"d#u, lu$mi zikr$ssu sinnis"ni, and mut$ssu ana rihti likun 137 4.3.2.3.1 Catalog 137 4.3.2.3.2 Analysis 138 4.3.2.3.3 Summation 141 4.3.2.4 Conclusion to the Martial Maledictory analysis 143 4.3.3 Conclusion to the Entire Maledictory Anlysis 145
CHAPTER FIVE: INVOCATION 147 5.1 Diagram and Purpose 147 5.2 Attestations 155 5.2.1 Tiglath-pileser I 155 5.2.1.1 Invocation 155 5.2.1.2 Analysis 156 5.2.1.3 Summation 158 5.2.2 Adad-n!r!r" II and Tiglath-pileser II 158 5.2.2.1 Invocation 158 5.2.2.2 Analysis 160 5.2.2.3 Summation 164 5.2.3 Aur-na!irpal II 165 5.2.3.1 Invocation A 165 5.2.3.1.1 Analysis 166 5.2.3.2 Invocation B 167 5.2.3.3 Summation 168 5.2.4 almaneser III 168 5.2.4.1 Invocation A and B 168 5.2.4.1.1 Analysis 169 5.2.4.1.2 Summation 170 5.2.4.2 Invocation C and D 171 5.2.4.2.1 Analysis 172 5.2.4.2.2 Summation 173 5.2.5 Short Invocations 174 5.3 Conclusion to the Entire Invocation Analysis 175 CHAPTER SIX: CATALOG OF REFERENCES 179
x CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSION 201
APPENDICES Appendix A: B!let-t"h"zi and B!let qabli u t"h"zi 217 Appendix B: B!let am u er!eti 248 Appendix C: Aaritti il"ni and B!let il"ni a am u er!eti 272 Appendix D: B!let t! and muarrihat qabl"te 277 Appendix E: Aaritti am u er!eti and a para! qard$ti uklulat 290 Appendix F: a m!lultaa tuqumtu 295 BIBLIOGRAPHY 299
xi
Abbreviations
A tablets in the collections of the Oriental Institute AA Archivum Anatolicum ABRT J. Craig, Assyrian and Babylonian Religious Texts I/II AfO Archiv fr Orientforschung AHw von Soden, Akkadisches Handwrterbuch ARI Grayson, Assyrian Royal Inscriptions ARM Archives royales de Mari ARMT Archives royales de Mari, traduction AASOR Annual of the American School(s) of Oriental Research ARRIM Annual Review of the Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia Project AS Assyriological Studies ASJ Acta Sumerologica AUAM tablets in the collections of the Andrews University Archaeological Museum BAR British Archaeological Reports BA Beitrge zur Assyriologie BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research BBS L.W. King, Babylonian Boundary Stones BM Museum siglum of the British Museum CAD The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly CBS Museum siglum of the University Museum in Philadelphia CCT Cuneiform Texts from Cappadocian Tablets in the British Museum COS Hallo and K. Lawson Younger, The Context of Scripture CH Code of Hammurabi CT Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum EARI Early Assyrian Royal Inscriptions. This designation refers to the corpora of Assyrian royal inscriptions used in this study (Ititi through almaneser III). This designation only appears in this study. ELA Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta ePSD The Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary: http://psd.museum.upenn.edu/ ETCSL Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature: http://www-etcsl.orient.ox.ac.uk ETN The Epic of Tukulti-Ninurta FAOS Freiburger Altorientalische Studien HR History of Religions HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual IAK E. Ebeling, B. Meissner, E. F. Weidner, Die Inschriften der xii altassyrischen Knige IG in. nin . gur 4 . ra JANES Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JCS Journal of Cuneiform Studies JESHO Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies JQR Jewish Quarterly Review K Museum siglum of the British Museum in London (Kuyunjik) Kt Inventory numbers of Kltepe texts (Ankara Kltepe Tabletleri) KAR Ebeling, Keilschrifttexte aus Assur religisen Inhalts I/II LIH King, The Letters and Inscriptions of Hammurabi LKA Ebeling, Literarische Keilschrifttexte aus Assur LDSU The Lamentation of the Destruction over Sumer and Ur MAOG Mitteilungen der altorientalischen Gesellschaft MANE Monographs on the Ancient Near East MARI Mari: Annales de recherches interdisciplinaires MSKH Brinkman, Materials and Studies for Kassite History NABU Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brves et Utilitaires NIN NIN: Journal of Gender Studies in Antiquity NMS nin. me. ar. ra OLP Orientalia Lovaniensia periodica Or Orientalia PAPS Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society RA Revue d'assyriologie et d'archologie orientale RIMA The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia, Assyrian Periods RIMB The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia, Babylonian periods RIME The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia, Early Periods SANE Sources of the Ancient Near East SARI Sumerian and Akkadian Royal Inscriptions SMS Syro-Mesopotamian Studies STH Sjberg, The Collection of the Sumerian Temple Hymns TAPS Transactions of the American Philosophical Society TCL Textes cuniformes, Muses du Louvre TuM NF Texte und Materialien der Frau Professor Hilprecht Collection , Neue Folge UF Ugarit-Forschungen Uk. Uruk VS Vorderasiatische Schriftdenkmler der (Kniglichen) Museen zu Berlin VT Vetus Testamentum WO Die Welt des Orients. Wissenschaftliche Beitrge zur Kunde des Morgenlandes WVDOG Wissenschaftliche Verffentlichungen der Deutschen Orient- Gesellschaft xiii WZKM Wiener Zeitschrift fr die Kunde des Morgenlandes YBC Yale Oriental Series, Babylonian Texts YOS Yale Oriental Series, Babylonian Texts ZA Zeitschrift fr Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Goal of this Study
The central purpose of this study is to determine which functions the Mesopotamian goddess Itar serves in Assyrian royal inscriptions which date prior to the late Neo-Assyrian period (NA). The derived goal is to ascertain whether these functions changed over time and to establish whether any apparent variations were due to the adoption of particular manifestations of the goddess (thus linking innovations/functions to specific hypostases of the goddess), the result of broader theological movements, or merely the result of changes to the literary form of an inscription. Finally, the study asks: can Itars functions inform us as to her position in the theology present in the inscriptions, and if so, what was that position?
Problematica Determining the character and societal/religious function of the goddess Itar has been a particularly tricky endeavor for scholars of Mesopotamian religion. Although in the mid-nineteenth century, when Assyriology had yet to become even a fledging discipline, Itar was considered merely one of a multitude of deities worshipped by the 2 Mesopotamians. As greater archaeological discoveries were made in the ancient Near East and cuneiform texts were more accurately translated, it was quickly realized that Itar was no minor god. Appearing as a major character in texts from every genre of cuneiform literature, she is the central character in a series of love-songs; she is invoked in incantations, rituals, and hymns; she appears in the great epics: Descent of Itar to the Netherworld, Epic of Gilgame, Etana, and in the various legends of the Early Dynastic (ED) kings; she is mentioned in proverbial wisdom collections and lamentations; and she appears in the royal inscriptions of almost every major Mesopotamian ruler.
1.2 Composite Treatments In the main, Itar has been understood as an integral part of that aspect of Mesopotamian religion that has been thought to ensure the fecundity of the land; thus, she was deemed early on to be a mother-goddess. 1 This characterization was fueled by the romantic nineteenth-century theory of the hieros gamos, or sacred marriage, a sex- rite in which Itar, it was argued, took a central role. 2 Through the hieros gamos Itars
1 The theory of a mother goddess was first developed by classicists and then later applied to Itar. See Eduard Gerhard in ber das Metroon zu Athen und ber die Gttermutter der griechischen Mythologie (Berlin: Druckerei der Kniglichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1851); Jacob Johannes Bachofen, Das Mutterrecht: Eine Untersuchung ber die Gynaikokratie der alten Welt nach ihrer religisen und rechtlichen Natur (Basel: Benno Schwabe, 1862); John F. McLennan, Primitive Marriage: An Inquiry into the Origin of the Form of Capture in Marriage Ceremonies (Edinburgh: A. and C. Black, 1865); Jane Ellen Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion (Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1903); and James George Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Osiris: Studies in the History of Oriental Religion (London: Macmillan, 1907). For a critique of this hypothesis see Jo Ann Hackett, Can a Sexist Model Liberate Us? Ancient Near Eastern Fertility Goddesses, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 5 (1989): 6576. 2 See n. 1, but also, Samuel N. Kramer, Cuneiform Studies and the History of Literature: The Sumerian Sacred Marriage Texts, PAPS 107 (1980): 485-527 [502]; idem, The Sacred Marriage Rite: Aspects of 3 fertility became manifest, making king and country productive and prosperous. By the early twentieth-century, nationalist and religious sensibilities took hold of the Western imagination and the sex-rite in which Itar was said to be a part was alternatively dismissed by Christians, who saw her as the forerunner to the Virgin Mary, and amplified by others who wished to tie Itar to a licentious ancient pagan populace. 3 During the mid-twentieth century, the mother-goddess hypothesis was applied by psychoanalysts, such as Carl Jung and his protge Eric Neumann, to the theory of archetypes. Itar became, alternatively, a nurturing and caring figure and a feared and sexually ferocious man-eater. 4 These psychoanalytical conclusions, and those propounded by the earlier Victorians, were later re-contextualized by Second Wave feminists who read Itars connection to sex and fertility as a sign of empowerment: Itars role as a mother-
Faith, Myth, and Ritual in Ancient Sumer. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1969. 3 It was Hugo Radau, Sumerian Hymns and Prayers to God Dumu-Zi, or, Babylonian Lenten Songs: From the Temple Library of Nippur (Mnchen: R. Merkel, 1913) and Stephen Langdon, Tammuz and Ishtar: A Monograph upon Babylonian Religion and Theology, Containing Extensive Extracts from the Tammuz Liturgies and All of the Arbela Oracles (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1914), who position the earliest form of Itar as a (pre-)Christian figure. Using a Christological approach toward the material, Radau interprets songs devoted to Itar as liturgies and envisages an entire festival season dedicated to the goddess and her fianc, Dumuzi. Radau divides these texts into two categories: those in which the maidens of Itar mourn or bewail the absent or dead Dumuzi, and those which celebrate Dumuzis resurrection or wedding. Radau sees these as the fore-runners to the Christian season of Lent when Jesus is reunited with the pneuma and posits that, in this scenario, Dumuzi is Jesus, the lamb of god, while An is God, and Itar is the bride. The church (Itar), the bride of the lamb, mourns over the death of her bridegroom, Christ. Langdon not only connects Itar and Dumuzi with the Catholic Madonna and Child, but also equates the eating of cakes offered to Itar with the Christian ritual of the Eucharist. 4 See Eric Neumann, The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype, trans. by Ralph Manheim (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1972). 4 goddess gave feminist scholars hope that patriarchy had not always been a constant. 5
Beginning in the 1980s, when Third Wave feminism and literary and post-structuralist criticisms came to the fore, Itar began to be re-imagined as a principle or concept which served societal agendas. 6
1.3 Individual Treatments Part of the difficultly in ascertaining the true function of Itar in Mesopotamian religion is that the goddess herself seems to have had a multitude of manifestations. Not only is she seemingly omnipresent in cuneiform literature, but she is frequently designated in texts by different regional, descriptive, and political titles. Furthermore, in cuneiform texts, while the name Itar may be written syllabically (e.g., i-tr), in the
5 Three of the cornerstone texts for this movement are: Merlin Stone, When God Was a Woman (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1976); Riane Eisler, The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987); and, Marija Gimbutas, The Language of the Goddess: Unearthing the Hidden Symbols of Western Civilization (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1989). For a discussion on the phenomenon of neo-paganism as a result of Second Wave feminism, see the works of Cynthia Eller, including Divine Objectification: The Representation of Goddesses and Women in Feminist Spirituality, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 16 (2000): 2344; The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory: Why an Invented Past Wont Give Women a Future (Boston: Beacon Press, 2000); and, Living in the Lap of the Goddess: The Feminist Spirituality Movement in America (New York: Crossroad, 1993). 6 See particularly Mary K. Wakeman, Feminist Revision of the Matriarchal Hypothesis, Anima 7 (1981): 83-96; Tikva Frymer-Kensky, Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer, BAR 10 (1984): 62-64; eadem, Lolita-Inanna, NIN 1 (2000): 91-93, and Zainab Bahrani, The Whore of Babylon: Truly All Woman and of Infinite Variety, NIN 1 (2000): 95-105, who argue that Itars function was to validate patriarchal Sumerian society. See also, H. L. J. Vanstiphout, Inanna-Ishtar as a Figure of Controversy, in Struggles of Gods: Papers of the Groningen Work Group for the Study of the History of Religions, ed. Hans G. Kippenberg (Berlin: Mouton Publishers, 1984), 225-37, and Rivkah Harris, Inanna-Ishtar as Paradox and a Coincidence of Opposites, HR 30 (1991): 261-78, who contend that Itar functioned as a chaotic deity who provided balance within the cosmos. 5 majority of instances the name Itar is signified by M. This is also the logogram for the Sumerian goddess Inana. These variables have lead scholars to ask: Is the Inanna/Itar of Mesopotamia a single goddess, a conflation of several goddesses, or separate goddesses under a single name? 7
By the late nineteenth century, scholars began to notice a linguistic similarity between the names of the goddesses Astarte, Ashtoreth, and Itar. They also began to realize that the Mesopotamians themselves accepted multiple, seemingly independent, Itars; e.g., the Assyrians seemed to consider Itar of Arbela a deity separate from Itar of Nineveh. It was an early Semiticist, George A. Barton, who first attempted to delineate these various Itars from one another in order to illuminate connections between attributed characteristics and the cities or regions with which the different manifestation were associated. 8 In his study, Barton systematically attempts to discern the history behind the different characteristics of the Itars of Nineveh, Arbela, and Uruk, as well as those of the West Semitic lands (Astarte, Ashtoreth, and others). In order to accomplish this he divides all known texts according to which Itar they referred. In texts which used only the name Itar sans location, he concludes that the Itar was of the town in which the inscription was found or of the main city of the ruler mentioned in the inscription. After
7 Most recently articulated by Tzvi Abusch, Ishtar, in Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, ed. Karl van der Toorn (Leiden: Brill, 1999), 848-855 [849]. In this short yet comprehensive article, Abusch provides a philological discussion of the name of Itar (Inana) and considers her various characteristics as depicted in Mesopotamian literature. Absuch concludes that it is likely that Itar is a composite deity formed through the unification of several similar regional goddesses. Taking a somewhat Frazerian approach, he proposes that her complex personality arises not from this fusion; rather, he suggests that she was originally a deity who ruled over the seemingly paradoxical realms of life and death. 8 This work appeared in three consecutive articles in Hebraica: George A. Barton, The Semitic Itar Cult, Hebraica 9 (1893): 131-65; The Semitic Itar Cult (Continued), Hebraica 10 (1893): 1-74; Notes, Hebraica 10 (1894): 202-7. 6 dividing the Itars, he determines what characteristics they displayed. In all, sixteen Itars were isolated and analyzed. Barton additionally concludes that the names Astarte, Ashtoreth, and Itar were etymologically the same and that, contrary to the popular belief of the time, Itar was a Semitic name. Barton also argues that the apparent multiple aspects of Itars character, including what he called the virginal and the lascivious, developed according to the region in which she was worshipped; thus, he bases his division of the characteristics of the various Itars, to a large extent, on perceived ethnicity. Itar of Uruk, who was in Bartons estimation originally polyandrous, was, together with her son Dumuzi, a chief fertility deity of the oasis. According to Barton, in regions where society had advanced, and as a monarchy arose, a Semitic matriarchate (represented by Itar of Uruk) gave way to a patriarchate. The originally independent mother-goddess (Itar) became a wife. Martial features exhibited by the goddess were attributed to regions where war, foreign influence, and advanced civilization had arrived (e.g., because she had special relations with the people of Nineveh, and because Assyria was a warring nation, Itar helped Aur, her husband, on campaigns). Because Barton observes that Itar could be referred to as a variety of different celestial entities: Venus (in Babylonia), the Moon (in Phoenicia), the Sun and Venus (in Arabia), or the rising Sun (in Sabaea), he concludes that she did not originate as a heavenly body. He contends that this was a later development; depending on whom she married, she took the form of his obvious planetary mate. Although many of Bartons more fanciful theories (e.g., polyandry), are, thankfully, not to be found in modern scholarship, the work done by Barton continues to be one of the few comprehensive examinations of this type. More recent attempts at 7 delineation have tended to have a more narrow focus. For example, in an article devoted to the cultic calendar at Babylon, W. G. Lambert examines Itar of Babylon in various cultic texts. 9 Contrary to previous scholarship, Lambert concludes that Itar functioned in this city as a goddess of love and should therefore be considered the concubine of the tutelary deity of Babylon, Marduk. Serious research into Itars manifestation at Nineveh began in the early 1950s. This includes a series of studies by Maurice Vieyra in which he examines Hittite-Hurrian texts which invoke this specific manifestation of the goddess. 10 These texts contain mainly rituals for festivals; however, some describe incantations to acquire the help of Itar of Nineveh during illness or in times of strife. Vieyras treatments uncover a function for the goddess seemingly unrelated to that of southern Itar. This Itar, argues Vieyra, was equated with the Hurrian-Hittite goddess, auka. Unfortunately, like Inana and Itar, the name of auka can be signified by the logogram M. Furthermore, also similar to the case of Itar, there seem to have existed multiple regional manifestations of auka. Thus, differentiating Itar of Ninevehs (aukas) characteristics from other Itars becomes still more complicated. It was Ilse Wegner who first performed an extensive and detailed analysis of auka/ Itar of Nineveh. 11 Wegners objective was simpler than was that of Barton. Unlike the nineteenth century scholar, she does not attempt to discover all representations of Itar throughout the greater ancient Near East. Instead, she catalogs only references to either
9 W. G. Lambert, The Cult Itar of Babylon, in Le Temple et le Culte. Compte Rendu de la Vingtime Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale (Leiden: Brill, 1975), 104-6. 10 Maurice Vieyra, Itar de Ninive, RA 51 (1957): 83-102 and its continuation in RA 51 (1957): 130-38 [55]; see also, Le Nathi de Ninive, RA 69 (1975): 55-58. 11 Ilse Wegner, Gestalt und Kult der Itar-awuka in Kleinasien (Kevelaer: Butzon und Bercker, 1981). 8 auka or Itar of Nineveh in Hittite, Akkadian, Sumerian, and Hurrian texts. The investigations of Wegner were synthesized and contextualized by Volkert Haas. 12 Contending that it was the Sargonic kings who first brought southern Inana/Itar to the Hurrian city of Nineveh, Haas argues that after the demise of the Sargonic dynasty, the native Hurrians were able to more comprehensively establish their own traditions in the region. As a result, the characteristics of Itar of Nineveh, which he believes had previously been Akkadian, became Hurrian; thus, many of the gods, demons, and animals with which she became associated were originally Hurrian. A testament of this actuality is, according to Haas, the enlargement of her shrine at Nineveh to incorporate Teub, her Hurrian brother. At this point in his argument, Haas discussion becomes heavily dependant on the work of Wegner. He establishes the spread of the worship of the goddess by listing the multiple cities in which there were temples, not merely to Itar of Nineveh, but to auka, her more appropriate Hurrian name. As the Hurrian state grew into an empire, ultimately covering the lands between Hatti and southern Mesopotamia, the Hurrians brought their worship of the goddess with them. Haas concludes that it is in the rituals revealed by Vieyra that the true healing nature of the goddess is apparent. A third attempt at presenting and synthesizing the information on auka/ Itar of Nineveh was undertaken by Gary Beckman. 13 Beckmans study attempts to chronicle the earliest attestations of the goddess in Sumerian texts. He highlights that the first appearance of the name auka is in an offering list from Drehem and dates to the reign of the second king of the Ur III dynasty, ulgi. Contrary to Haas, Beckman contends that
12 Volkert Haas, Remarks on the Hurrian Istar-Sawuska of Nineveh in the Second Millennium B.C. Sumer 35 (1979): 397-401. 13 Gary Beckman, Itar of Nineveh Reconsidered, JCS 50 (1998): 1-10. 9 auka may have been a deity taken over and renamed by the Sargonic kings when they captured the city. Beckman also notes that auka is never mentioned in Sargonic texts. He comes to this conclusion even though am"-Adad I reports in his inscriptions that he repaired the temple of Itar of Nineveh and Hammurabi claims to have made the rites of Itar of Nineveh glorious in the Emama of Nineveh. Beckman further observes that the name auka occurs in theophoric names from Cappadocia and that there was a temple to auka in the Hurrian city of Nuzi. Each of these regions traditionally contained large Hurrian populations. In his discussion, Beckman also considers Itar of Ninevehs role as the chief deity of Turatta, the Hurrian-Mittani king of the mid-fourteenth century. It is in the texts of this king that, Beckman argues, Itar of Nineveh appears as a deity of healing. In a letter sent by the Egyptian king Amenophis III to Turatta, the pharaoh requests that Itar of Nineveh be sent to Egypt. In his return letter, Turatta emphasizes that Itar is not the deity of the Egyptians, but that she was treated well upon her last visit, and that he wishes for her speedy return. Like Haas, Beckman suggests that the reason for her departure was to cure an illness of the pharaoh. He offers further support for this theory by way of a hymn presented to Itar of Nineveh in order to cure the Assyrian king Aurnasirpal I of an unnamed illness and, of the multiple rituals treated by Vieyra. Most recently, at the forty-ninth RAI held in London, both Lambert 14 and Barbara Porter once again approached the question of Itar of Nineveh. 15 This time, however, each scholar was less interested in her Hurrian manifestation(s) and more concerned with
14 W. G. Lambert, Itar of Nineveh, Iraq 66 (2004): 35-39. 15 Barbara N. Porter, Ishtar of Nineveh and her Collaborator, Ishtar of Arbela, in the Reign of Assurbanipal, Iraq 66 (2004): 41-45. 10 examining whether Itars manifestation at Nineveh could be differentiated from another hypostasis of the goddess, Itar of Arbela. Acknowledging that there were, in fact, three major Assyrian Itar cults: Itar of Aur, Itar of Nineveh, and Itar of Arbela, Lambert addresses the question of Itar of Nineveh/ auka, head deity of the Hurrian pantheon. Because of what he considers to be a lack of evidence, Lambert disagrees with the conclusions that Itar of Nineveh was either a healing deity or a Venus deity. Lambert then chronicles various attestations for Itar of Nineveh: in an inscription of am"-Adad, in Hammurabis Code, in a cache of prayers originally written during the time of Aur- na!irpal II, in an inscription of almaneser III, and, finally, in three texts of Aur-ban"pal. It is only from one of the Aur-ban"pal texts (a ritual) that Lambert determines any conclusions can be drawn regarding the characteristics of Itar of Nineveh as opposed to Itar of Arbela. Unfortunately, in the presentation Lambert in fact does not define any characteristics particular to one goddess or the other. He instead concludes that the Assyrian kings merely used Itar of Nineveh for their own benefit. 16
In her investigation, Porter also treats Itar of Nineveh in NA texts from the reign of Aur-ban"pal. Upon examining a hymn for Aur-ban"pal, in which the king thanks both Itar of Nineveh and Itar of Arbela for creating him and for bringing him phenomenal success, Porter notices that the goddesses were not treated as one deity. Instead, each is considered a separate deity, each with her own characteristics. 17 Porter observes that, while both goddesses helped the king militarily, Itar of Nineveh was cited as his birth-mother, while Itar of Arbela was credited with having formed him. This differentiation, according to Porter, is also apparent in two additional Aur-ban"pal texts.
16 Lambert, Itar of Nineveh, 39. 17 K 1290. 11 In one, Itar of Nineveh is the goddess who is said to have suckled the king, while in the second, Itar of Arbela is the deity from whom ecstatic prophets declare they have received divine messages. 18 Porter continues her discussion by listing various attestations within the royal inscriptions and treaties of Aur-ban"pal which list the two deities separately. Finally, Porter notes that, in addition to Itar of Arbela and Itar of Nineveh, Itar sans distinction or unmodified Itar is also listed with these goddesses. These observations bring Porter to her final point: In Aurbanipals time, special Itars such as Itar of Nineveh and Itar of Arbela, as well as an unmodified Itar, were understood to coexist as separate and somewhat different beings. When we talk about Itar, we must distinguish between Itar of Nineveh, Itar of Arbela, Itars qualified in other ways, and Itars with no qualifying epithet. 19
Porter ends by suggesting that, in future studies devoted to Itar, scholars should pay particular attention to which Itar the ancient writer had in mind when encountering unmodified Itar. 20
Gebhard Selz considers the work of a multitude of scholars when he treats five of the most important deities in the Syro-Mesopotamian region. 21 Using mainly linguistic arguments, rather than geographic attestations, Selz concludes that there were once only four independent deities: Inana, Itar, In(n)in(a) (whom he equates with Annun"tum), and Anat. Inana, he contends, was a Sumerian deity, while Itar, In(n)in(a), and Anat were Akkadian (East Semitic) deities. Selz regards Inana as primarily a deity of Uruk who secured the fecundity of the land through the hieros gamos. Selz also argues
18 K 1285 and K 883, No. 7. 19 Porter, Ishtar of Nineveh, 44. 20 Ibid., 43. 21 Gebhard Selz, Five Divine Ladies, NIN 1 (2000): 29-59. 12 that Inana was a Venus deity. 22 Itar, he contends, was an Akkadian pre-Sargonic deity of war; however, he believes this martial aspect stems from an instinct of maternal protectiveness. When violent, Itar acts much like a lioness with her cubs. Selz also considers and accepts the scholarly consensus that Itar was a composite Venus deity who was originally two separate deities. One of these was a male deity named Atar, who represented Venus as the morning star. The other was a female deity named Atart/ Attart, who represented Venus as the evening star. These foundations lead Selz to conclude that a fusion of Inana and Itar occurred primarily because they were both originally Venus deities, not because of any political motivation. After considering these two deities, Selz moves on to the trickiest topic: he attempts to ascertain the origins and relationships among the deities Innin, Annun"tum, and Anat. Agreeing with the theories of I. J. Gelb, Selz considers the name In(n)in(a) to be the designation of an independent Old Akkadian deity. 23 Disagreeing with Gelb, he does not believe the original reading of the name to have been Inana. Instead, Selz agrees with Lambert, who suggests that the name should be accepted as a variant form of the name Anuna. 24 All three names derive, he argues, from the verb an"num skirmish; thus, this goddess should be understood as the (deified) Battle/Skirmish 25 Because the name of the deity Anat begins with an ayin, not, an aleph, as in the case of the former deities,
22 The very name i nana was likely comprised of the elements (n) i n sovereign and heaven an( a), see Selz, Five Divine Ladies. On the interpretation of Inanas name, meaning lady of the date clusters, see Jacobsen, Treasures of Darkness, 135-143. 23 Cf., I. J. Gelb, The Name of the Goddess Innin, JNES 19 (1960): 72-79. 24 Annun"tum is a further version of this name. See, W. G. Lambert, A Babylonian Prayer to Anuna, in DUMU-E2-DUB-BA-A: Studies in Honor of ke W. Sjberg, eds. Hermann Behrens, et al. (Philadelphia: University Museum, 1989), 321-36. 25 Selz, Five Divine Ladies, 35. 13 she must be considered an independent goddess, unrelated to Anuna (In(n)in(a)/ Annun"tum). Selz further argues that, though Anat can have the epithet, Queen of Heaven, she was never considered a Venus goddess. Instead, she originally functioned as a martial deity because her name likely derives from the Arabic anwa(t) force or violence. Selz also adds that, while Inana was originally a Sumerian goddess, both Innin/Annun"tum and Anat were brought to the area by Amorite tribes. 26
1.4 Goal As recognized by Barton, Lambert, Porter, and a multitude of other scholars, Itar was the patron deity of the late Neo-Assyrian rulers, Sargon, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Aur-ban"pal; however, it is unclear why her status was so elevated. In the royal inscriptions of earlier kings, Itars presence is erratic. While Aur, the great tutelary deity of the city of Aur, is almost without fail a segment of an Assyrian rulers titulary, Itar serves in this capacity only sporadically. Though Ninurta and Nergal are consistently reported to have aided kings on hunts, accounts for Itars actions are less obvious. Furthermore, though repeatedly invoked to bless future rulers, Itar is referred to by multiple designations (e.g., Itar, Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi, or Itar of Nineveh). The same is true for the maledictions. The curses entreated of Itar may be constant within a given period and vary between periods. Finally, when invoked, her designations are more variable than those of any other god.
26 This theory, which was first put forth by Julius Lewy, is elaborated on by Karin Gdecken. Gdecken contends that it was specifically during the OB period that two rulers from the Amorite tribes of Amn!num, Sn-k!id and Anam promoted the cult of Annun"tum at Sippar in Babylon (Bemerkungen zur Gttin Annunitum, UF 5 [1973]: 141-63). 14 Although previous investigations have made solid progress toward understanding the function of Itar through the separation and study of one manifestation of the goddess from another, much work still needs to be done. The goal of this study is to provide an additional piece of the puzzle. It will investigate the function of Itar in pre-Sargonid Assyrian Royal inscriptions in an effort to understand how the goddess Itar became the preeminent deity of the late Neo-Assyrian kings. Respecting the work of previous scholars, the study will treat differentiated Itars as separate manifestations of the goddess. Keeping Porters suggestion in mind, it will also attempt to ascertain which Itar is meant when an ancient scribe wrote only the unmodified name of Itar. In this manner, it is hoped that a more clear division of the various Itars will bring into focus her seemingly irregular presence in early royal inscriptions and thereby shed light on her future presence.
1.5 The Corpus The genre of royal inscriptions is unique, for, though the Assyrian royal court also produced law codes, chronicles, letters, and prophecies, this genre comprises the largest collection of examples. This is, in part, because royal inscriptions were written throughout the duration of the empire, from its humble beginnings to its final demise; thus, royal inscriptions provide an exceptionally comprehensive chronological record of their literary, political, and theological development. Although inscriptions can be written from either a first- or third-person perspective, the texts, which were produced by the scribes of the palace, identify kings as their creators. A cursory perusal of the inscriptions may leave one with the impression that they are merely rote, blustering pieces of 15 propaganda; however, a closer inspection of the corpus provides an awareness of deep- rooted traditions and the evolution of a genre. Seemingly conservative in their development, as the inscriptions evolved over more than a millennium, they became great rhetorical masterpieces, so extensive that they could cover the walls of palaces and temples. Although determining them to be filled with imperialism of the frankest sort and [reciting] cruelties of a horrible character, Albert Olmstead referred to the later inscriptions as the finest literary achievement of the Assyrians and asserted that they displayed flashes of genius. 27 A. Leo Oppenheim, too, found great merit in the literary nature of these inscriptions, perceiving parts of them to be even more poetic than hymns. 28
In his often-referenced article, Assyria and Babylonia, A. Kirk Grayson defines four categories of royal inscriptions: Letters to the God, Labels, Dedicatory Inscriptions (also referred to as Votive inscriptions), and Commemorative Inscriptions. 29
The category with the fewest representations is Letters to the God, appearing mostly during the NA period. Grayson, citing Oppenheims earlier work on the texts, notes that this type of inscription was most likely recited at ceremonial events to celebrate the successful conclusion of [a] campaign. 30 The category whose inscriptions provide us with the least amount of information is Labels. Labels were simply designators of the
27 Albert Ten Eyck Olmstead, History of Assyria (New York: C. Scribners Sons, 1923), 623. 28 A. Leo Oppenheim, Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964), 254. 29 A. Kirk Grayson, Assyria and Babylonia, Orientalia 49 (1980): 140-194. For the purposes of this study, a royal inscription is only an inscription attributed to a ruler. Inscriptions contracted for other members of the royal family, army commanders or state officials are not. 30 Grayson, Assyria and Babylonia, 157. 16 ownership of objects that belonged to the king, such as seals or weapons. Labels could also be found on palace bricks, as the palace was inherently a possession of the king. Another category of inscription from which only handfuls of information may be gleaned is the Dedicatory Inscriptions. These generally terse inscriptions are found on smaller dedicated items (e.g., mace heads, altars, and building items of a temple [door hinges]). Since they were offered to the god(s) they were intrinsically cultic in nature. The final category, Commemorative Inscriptions, is the category most central to this study. As the name suggests, these inscriptions were meant to commemorate the achievements of the king. They could become quite long and detailed; thus, they provide the greatest amount of information. Grayson further divides the Commemorative Inscriptions category into three sub- categories: Labels, Annals, and Display Texts. Commemorative Labels are almost indistinguishable from the larger Label category. The major difference between the two groups is that Commemorative Labels are found on structural parts of buildings (e.g., bricks) and include a brief bit of information about the construction of the project from which the commemorative object came, and may contain the epithet builder of The generally-accepted distinction between the categories Annals and Display Texts depends upon the arrangement of the information included in the inscriptions. Both Annals and Display Texts include information concerning the actions performed by a ruler during his reign, but the Annals are considered to have a chronological order while the information contained within Display Texts is arranged geographically and in summary form. A further difference between the two sub-categories, Annals and Display Texts, is that the Annals were prominently displayed on rock faces and conspicuously-placed stelae. 17 Display Texts could be displayed, but, contrary to their name, could also be buried. When buried, it was generally under the foundation of a building. In her work on the inscriptions of almaneser III, Tammi Joy Schneider further divides the category of Display Texts into two more groupings: those which have construction as their primary focus, and those for which construction projects are simply one of several topics. 31
Grayson takes note of these different manifestations, but considers the two merely different forms of the same category. This study demonstrates that, within each type of royal inscription, one or more of four distinct literary units can be discerned. While all royal inscriptions regardless of their category contain a titulary, they may also have one or more of the following: an action unit, a concluding formula, and/or an invocation. 32 Although an action unit may be incorporated into inscriptions of the Letters to the God type, this unit is most obviously delineated in inscriptions falling into the Commemorative category, which may include all four literary units. While the earliest royal inscriptions contain only titulary and action units, concluding formulae and invocations could gradually be added to inscriptions of the Commemorative and Letters to the God type. As the form of the inscriptions
31 Tammi Joy Schneider, A New Analysis of the Royal Annals of almaneser III (Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1991), 40-41. 32 This unit has been regarded in several different ways. For example, unlike Grayson, who does not single out this section as a cohesive literary unit (as he does with the titulary), Hayim Tadmor refers to it as the narrative section of an inscription (The Inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III, King of Assyria: A Critical Edition, with Introductions, Translations, and Commentary [Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1994], 21). When the unit appears in an Annals type inscription, Schneider refers to it broadly as the reasons for campaigning (Schneider, A New Analysis,57). Finally, when appearing in Display texts, Eric D. Morrison refers to this section, when it records construction work on a temple or palace, simply as the Construction report (A Form-Critical Study of Assyrian Royal Inscriptions Containing Building Texts [Ph.D. diss., Toronto University, 1998], 86. 18 developed, each unit became more clearly delineated, thus epigraphically indicating that each served a specific purpose. Each of these literary units had its own particular format, content, and purpose. Though the style for each unit was essentially formulaic, each section evolved over time, growing in both size and content, becoming less highly structured and more creative and personal to each king. By examining the development of each literary unit independently, a better understanding of the method through which the overall purpose of each unit is achieved, the development of these methods, and the ideological shifts which can occur within them can be reached. As Mario Liverani notes, [a]ll a [Mesopotamian] scribe can do normally to show his literary talent is to devise a new combination of the usual time- honored, ideologically dictated verbs and nouns; 33 thus, in order to understand any differences between the units, each modification must be considered against this formulaic background.
1.6 Methodology In order to discern and trace the development of the function of the various manifestations of Itar, this study will examine all significant references to Itar in the corpus. Although, in the early inscriptions of the Assyrian kings, the titles, epithets and phrases associated with Itar appear rote and unchanging, careful examination proves otherwise. As noted by Raphael Kutscher in his treatment of the Sumerian lament, Oh Angry Sea, Epithets demonstrate literary style and gauge the development of
33 Mario Liverani, The Deeds of Ancient Mesopotamian Kings, in Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, ed. Jack M. Sasson (New York: Scribner, 1995), 2353-66. 19 Mesopotamian religion. 34 This observation is borne out by an examination of Itars designations in the Assyrian royal inscriptions. With each great empire, they display new connotations. No epithet is used in connection with Itar uniformly; on a linguistic level, they demonstrate morpho-syntactic changes; on a form-critical level, they appear in different sections of the inscriptions, and on an interpretive level, they display innovative changes to her character. Within the inscriptions can be seen an adherence to tradition, while at the same time that tradition is mutated to conform to the ideologies of the period; thus, Itar as Sovereign of the Campaign becomes Sovereign of Frenzy. To understand Itars function in the Assyrian royal inscriptions is to understand the development of a regional city-state into an imperial one. During the period of vassalage, Itars character in the inscriptions seems to have been influenced by regional overlords. During periods of independence, as the rulers of Aur strove for greater and greater domination, the desire and need to be associated with a deity with the ability to grant them that authority increased. At these times, the characteristics of Itar resemble an Itar far different from those previously attested.
1.7 Organization Because the titulary, action unit, concluding formula, and invocation each serve a distinct purpose within an Assyrian royal inscription, this study is divided by these literary units. Chapter Two investigates Itars function in the titularies of the corpus. The
34 Raphael Kutscher, Oh Angry Sea (a-ab-ba hu-luh-ha): The History of a Sumerian Congregational Lament (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1975), 44. 20 purpose of the titulary unit is to identify the subject of an inscription. In addition to stating his throne name and genealogy, the titulary unit also contains a list of the various additional designations claimed by each ruler of Aur. Four rulers of Aur took a designation compounded with the name of Itar (e.g., nar"m Itar). The goal of this chapter is to determine the implicit meaning of epithets compounded with the name of Itar Presented in Chapter Three is Itars function in the action units of the inscriptions. In this unit, the subject of an inscription listed his accomplishments. In general, the accomplishments recorded in the unit are pious acts, city construction, martial campaigns and victories, and hunting activities. Though it was not done consistently, at various points in the unit the actions of a particular god, or gods, are also recorded. With a focus on the phrases: ina qib#t and ina tukulti, the goal of this chapter is to determine which actions Itar is said to be capable of performing and whether there was a correlation between the actions attributed to her, the particular manifestation she is reported to have acted under (e.g., b!let qabli u t"h"zi), the particular deities by whom she was accompanied, and the territory connected to her actions. The purpose of Chapter Four is to determine Itars function in the concluding formula. In the concluding formula, a future ruler is urged to perform certain traditional respectful actions to the inscription and the object upon which a text is located. This future ruler is compelled to perform these actions through a series of blessings and curses. In the unit, various gods are invoked to enact these blessings and curses. The goal of this chapter is to discover which blessings and curses Itar is invoked to enact and to determine whether there is a correlation between: each blessing or curse, the particular 21 manifestation under which she was invoked, the particular deities by whom she was accompanied, and the territory connected to her actions. Finally, Chapter Five investigates Itars function in the invocation of the inscriptions. In the invocation unit of an inscription, a list of gods is invoked by the subject of the inscription. Following the name of each deity are two to three designations which define the spheres over which that deity had jurisdiction. The chapter treats the invocation units found in the inscriptions of five kings: Tiglath-pileser I, Adad-n!r!r" II, Tiglath-pileser II, Aur-na!irpal II, and almaneser III. The goal of this chapter is to discern the function of Itar not only through her received designations, but also by determining the significance of her position in the register and by considering the deities with whom she is listed. Chapter Six contains a brief catalog of all references to Itar in the inscriptions investigated by reign. These references are given in transliteration and are accompanied by a brief list of facts: the type of inscription, and the unit of the text within which the reference appears, the object upon which the text was found and its likely provenance, the number of exemplars of the inscription, and any additional exceptional information. Following the Conclusion of this investigation (Chapter Seven), are a series of appendices. Each presents an historical survey of each of the designations for Itar which are present in the invocation units of the inscriptions: Appendix A: B!let-t"h"zi and B!let qabli u t"h"zi Appendix C: Aaritti il"ni and B!let il"ni a am u er!eti Appendix D: B!let t! and muarrihat qabl"te Appendix E: Aaritti am u er!eti and a para! qard$ti uklulat Appendix F: a m!lultaa tuqumtu Because of its importance, a survey and study of the history of the designation b!let am 22 u er!eti is also provided in Appendix B.
1.8 Materials This project relies heavily on the Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia (RIM) series edited by Albert Grayson, Grant Frame, and Douglas Frayne. In these volumes, the editors have meticulously collected the Royal Inscriptions of the Mesopotamian kings from the ED to the Neo-Babylonian (NB) period. They have also provided transliterations of single texts and detailed scores for any collated text presented. Since this study addresses Itars function in the inscriptions of over fifty rulers, without their work, a study of this nature would not be possible. Additionally, although the overall purpose of this study is to examine Itars function in one corpus, it has been necessary, at times, to cite texts from other regions and/or genres. Unfortunately, on occasion, when chronicling the usages of a particular title, epithet, or phrase, this study will make use of material which cannot be dated with any certainty. This is particularly the case when dealing with the Sumerian materials which, though many times written down in the Old Babylonian (OB) period, may reflect older tales and/or themes. In these instances, theological theme or philologic presentation (usages of certain terms or ordering of exact phrases) will trump perceived dating (e.g., innin. ag 4 . gur 4 . ra, though perhaps written by Enheduanna, is treated as an OB text). Unless otherwise noted, all Akkadian translations and normalizations are my own and all dates given are B.C.E. Dates for the reigns of the various kings follow the common chronology provided by Amlie Kuhrt in The Ancient Near East c. 3000-330 BC (New York: Routledge, 1997).
Chapter 2: TITULARY
2.1 Diagram and Purpose The chief purpose of the royal titulary is to identify the reigning monarch in relation to previous rulers, neighboring peoples and nations, and gods; thus, it essentially establishes and legitimates his position in the cosmos. 35 Appearing as either the first or
35 For general studies on royal titulary see: William H. Hallo, Early Mesopotamian Royal Titles: A Philologic and Historical Analysis (New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1957), and M. J. Seux, pithtes royales akkadiennes et sumriennes (Paris: Letouzey et Ane, 1967); Pinhas Artzi and Abraham Malamat, The Great King: A Preeminent Royal Title in Cuneiform Sources and the Bible in The Tablet and the Scroll: Near Eastern Studies in Honor of William W. Hallo, eds. Mark E. Cohen, Daniel C. Snell, and David B. Weisberg (Bethesda: CDL Press, 1993), 28-38. For studies specifically devoted to Assyrian royal titulary see: M. J. Seux, Remarques sur le titre royal Assyrien iakki Aur, RA 59 (1965): 1-18; idem, Les titres royaux ar kiati et ar kibr"t arbai, RA 59 (1965): 101-109; J. A. Brinkman, A Political History of Post-Kassite Babylonia 1158-722 B.C. (Roma: Pontificium Institutum Biblicam, 1968), Appendix D; Mario Liverani, Critique of Variants and the Titulary of Sennacherib, in Assyrian Royal Inscriptions: New Horizons in Literary, Ideological, and Historical Analysis: Papers of Symposium Held in Cetona (Siena), June 26-28, 1980, ed. F. M. Fales (Roma: Istituto per lOriente Centro per le antichit e la storia dellarte del vicino Oriente, 1981), 225-257; P. Garelli, Linfluence de am-Addu sur les titulatures royals assyriennes in De la Babylonie la Syrie, en passant par Mari: Mlanges offerts Monsieur J.-R. Kupper l'occasion de son 70e anniversaire, ed. . Tunca (Lige: Universit de Lige, 1990), 97-102; and, Barbara Cifola, Analysis of Variants in the Assyrian Royal Titulary from the Origins to 24 the second literary unit of an inscription, it is easy to recognize the titulary. As a rule, it begins with the throne-name of the king followed by his patronymic (a short genealogy) and a series of designations. The genealogies tend to be short, going back no further than four generationsalthough listing three generations is standard. These genealogies serve the purpose of identifying the sovereign specifically in relation to the previous rulers of Aur. The succeeding designations define the ruler vis--vis different gods and the state of his power relative to neighboring lands. 36 Originating as a small unit, the most basic Assyrian royal titulary contains only the uniquely Assyrian designation ik Aur Governor of Aur. This simple title and the genealogy provide a basic understanding of the position of the subject in the Mesopotamian political sphere. Further designations were added as the subjects position shifted. Depending on the political strength of the city of Aur and of its ruler, these designations could varythroughout the inscriptions as a whole and even within the inscriptions of a single reign. 37
Tiglath-Pileser III (Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale, 1995). See also, Riekele Borger and Wolfgang Schramm, Einleitung in die assyrischen Knigsinschriften (Leiden: Brill, 1961), for their comments on the variants in Assyrian royal titulary, passim. 36 Both Hallo, Titles, and Seux, pithtes, contend that there is little difference between titles and epithets, particularly in later (late MA and NA) royal inscriptions. In his study, Hallo concludes that, a royal title or epithet is any noun or nominal phrase other than the personal name or the patronymic which identifies the ruler (Royal Titles, 2). Seux, although conceding that in the earliest Sumerian and Akkadian inscriptions there were, in fact, proper titles, ultimately decides that although scholars have wanted to categorize the titulary epithets, it is not possible. Seux instead contends that all qualifiers of the king should be understood as epithets (12-14). Since there is, at this point, not enough study on the matter to form a confident conclusion, for the purposes of this study, the terms will be used, essentially, interchangeably. 37 Cifola, Analysis of Variants, 145: the number of epithets, too, increases proportionately according to successful politico-military achievements, which also affect the typology of the epithets which are chosen to celebrate those deeds, most of which belong to the military category, expressing both triumph over the 25 In her analysis of the variants present in Assyrian royal titulary, Barbara Cifola establishes that the succeeding designations which were added to the titulary can be divided into essentially two categories: religious and secular. 38 The latter she defines as those titles which convey the military triumphs, heroism, and valor of the king. The former she defines as those designations which convey the piety of the king and/or the devotion of the gods to the king. 39 For Cifola, secular titles are those which plainly state executive control or military subjugation, while religious titles are those which inform the reader (listener) of the kings interaction with the divine sphere. 40 According to this scheme, it is into this latter category that all references to Itar fall; however, this would be too hasty a conclusion. In the whole of EARI, Itar is present in the titulary of only four kings; furthermore, there is an inconsistency to these appearances. Because of this irregularity, it must be assumed that her presence in the titulary is due to particular transitory historical circumstances. The following analysis investigates what those circumstances were and concludes that the designations in EARI which contain the name Itar, though seemingly religious, are likely not pious but secular titles. Like the designation ik Aur Governor of Aur, the epithets compounded with the name of Itar should be regarded as executive titles; thus, Itars implicit function in the titulary is to bestow kingship. Since this type of title does not, directly or obviously, state this function, the following
enemy and the physical valor of the king. See also Liverani, Critique of Variants, for a detailed study on the variations of the titulary of Sennacherib. 38 Cifola, Analysis of Variants, 4. 39 Ibid. 40 Similar divisions can be found in Seux, pithtes, 18-27; cf. also, Liverani, Critique of Variants, 223, and Tadmor, The Inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser III, 15. 26 discussion employs circumstantial evidence to arrive at this conclusion.
2.2 Attestations The only Old Assyrian ruler to take an epithet compounded with the name Itar in his titulary is Ilu-umma (c. 19 th century). In the two extant inscriptions for this king (A.0.32.1 and 2), Ilu-umma adds the designation nar"m Aur u Itar Beloved of Aur and Itar to the expected standard Aurite title ik Aur Governor of Aur: Ilu-umma iiak (NSI) Aur KI nar"m d Aur u Itar ( d INANA) [m"r a]lim-ahum iiak (NSI) Aur KI 41
Ilu-umma, Governor of Aur, Beloved of Aur and Itar, [son of a]lim-ahum, Governor of Aur
Each text was inscribed on various bricks found at the Itar temple at Aur, the . me Temple of the me and both record construction work done to this temple; however, in A.0.32.2 the king adds the additional information that he has provided a free-trade zone between the north and the south. 42
It is not until the reign of am"-Adad I (1814-1782) that Itar reappears in the titulary of a ruler of Aur. Compared to the paucity of inscriptions which remain from the reign of Ilu-umma, a veritable deluge exists for am"-Adad. Unlike the inscriptions of most early rulers of the city-state, am"-Adads inscriptions come from various locations under the kings control and so demonstrate great variety. As noted by Cifola, am"-Adads titularies are neither homogeneous nor consistent in the arrangement of
41 RIM A.0.32.1: 1-9 and also, A.0.32.1: 1-10. 42 RIM A.0.32.1: 14 addur"r 15 Akkad 16 ikun He established free-trade for the Akkadians. See Larsen, City- State, 63-80, for a discussion of the Akkadian term addur"rum. 27 titles and epithets. 43 Many of the new designations demonstrate Sumerian and Babylonian influence and, depending in which city the inscription was meant to reside, different gods are present. Though Itar appears in different literary units in most of this kings inscriptions, she is present in only one form of his titulary. The titulary unit of a text inscribed on various stone cylinders discovered at Nineveh reads: am#-Adad dannum ar (LUGAL) kiatim (KI) akin d Enlil iiak (NSI) d Aur nar"m Itar ( d INANA) 44
am"-Adad, Strong, King of Everything, Chosen of Enlil, Governor of Aur, Beloved of Itar
The first titles the king takes are the adjectival title dannum Strong and the universalistic title ar kiatim King of Everything. The last designation the king takes is nar"m Itar. This is preceded by two additional epithets compounded with a DN: the southern-influenced title akin Enlil Chosen of Enlil and the expected ik Aur Governor of Aur. The contents of the inscription record am"-Adads capture of the land of Nurrugu, the region to the north of Nineveh. 45 am"-Adad further declares that he rebuilt the . me. nu Temple of the me which do not Leave. This temple was apparently in the vicinity of the . ma. ma, a temple whose name has not been confidently translated. 46
43 Cifola, Analysis of Variants, 4. 44 RIM A.0.39.2: i 1-6. 45 Joan Westenholz, The Old Akkadian Presence in Nineveh: Fact or Fiction in Nineveh: Papers of the XLIXe Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, London, 711 July 2003, ed. Dominique Collon and A. R. George (London: British School of Archaeology, 2005), 7-18 [13 n. 82]. 46 There is a record for an . ma for Ulma"tum (a manifestation of Itar at Akkade) in the city of 28 Only a smattering of Assyrian royal inscriptions date to the centuries directly following the reign of am"-Adad. As such, this is the period considered by many to be the dark age of Assyrian history. During this time, the city-state was likely a vassal of the Mitanni Empire (an empire which ultimately extended from the surrounds of Nineveh until Alalakh in northern Syria and Karkami in southern Anatolia), since it had been conquered by the Hurrian ruler autatar (c. 1430). Native rulers were still allowed to govern Aur independently, but it is likely that they wielded no international power. This situation changed dramatically under the reigns of Er"ba-Adad (1392-1366) and his son Aur-uballi" I (1365-1245). Though Itar does not appear in the titularies of either of these kings, their titularies do demonstrate an attempt to assert broader legitimacy. During the reigns of Arik-d#n-ili (1319-1308), Adad-n!r!r" I (1307-1275), almaneser I (1274-1245), and Tukult"-Ninurta I (1245-1208), the great era in the development of the Assyrian empire begun by Er"ba-Adad reached its apex. Throughout this period, all of the literary units which can make up a royal inscription underwent significant alterations. The titulary was no exception; genealogies became further removed from the throne-name of the king and rulers began to accumulate more titles. These new designations were placed in apposition to the name of the king as may be seen in this example from the titulary of Arik-d#n-ili: Arik-d!n-ili arru (LUGAL) dannu ar (LUGAL) m"t (KUR) d Aur b"ni b!t () ama (! d UTU") ay"ki (.AN.NA) !#ri ana $m! (UD.ME) b""i m"r (DUMU) Enlil- n"r"r# ar (LUGAL) m"t (KUR) d Aur m"r (DUMU) Aur-uballi" ar (LUGAL) m"t
Malgium in an inscription of the ruler Takil-ilissu (Andrew George, House Most High: The Temples of Ancient Mesopotamia [Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1993], 121 No. 740). The name of the Ninevite temple has also been written, . mes. mes. There is a record for an . mes Temple of the Warrior for Lil, the son of B#let-il" (ibid., 126 no. 802). In general, temples containing the term mes are dedicated to Nergal. See also, Brigitte Menzel, Assyrische Tempel (Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1981), 116-118. 29 (KUR) d A!u"rma
Arik-d#n-ili, Strong King, King of the land of Aur, Builder of the Temple of !ama"the exalted temple, for everlasting days, son of Enlil-n!r!r", King of the land of Aur, son of Aur-uballi", King of the land of A!u"r 47
From this period on, the titulary unit would increasingly be filled with titles or epithets of ever-increasing significance. Although renovations on the Itar temple at Nineveh are recorded in the inscriptions of Aur-uballi" and almaneser I, in none of these inscriptions do the kings take a title compounded with the name Itar. The absence of this type of title from the inscriptions of almaneser is particularly interesting. In his Ninevite inscription (A.0.77.17), almaneser claims to have discovered the . ma. ma inscription of am"- Adad (A.0.39.2). As mentioned above, A.0.39.2 contains the title nar"m Itar. If royal designations which contain the name of a deity were taken as solely religious titles, then one might expect almanesers titulary to mirror am"-Adads and include this designation. Adding to this conundrum is the presence of the title migir Itar Favored of Itar in the standard inscription of almaneser. This inscription was inscribed on a stone slab and a series of clay tablets discovered at Aur. The beginning of this titulary reads: almaneser akni 48 Enlil ( d BAD) ik (ID) d Aur ellu akkanak (GR.ARAD) il"ni (DINGIR.ME) rub (NUN) migir Itar ( d INANA)
almaneser, Chosen of Enlil, Governor of Aur, Cultically Pure Superintendent of the Gods, Prince, Favorite of Itar 49
47 RIM A.0.75.1: 1-13. 48 RIM A.0.77.1 and A.0.77.16: 1 -ak-ni. 49 RIM A.0.77.1: 1-2 and A.0.77.16: 1-2. 30 Here, almaneser takes the designation migir Itar Favorite of Itar. This is preceded by another three epithets compounded with divine names: akni Enlil, ik Aur, and akkanak il"ni Superintendent of the Gods. Just after this, the king proclaims that Aur, after choosing him to rule, granted him the scepter, weapon, and staff. The king further declares victories over eight lands and describes the heavy destruction he brought upon Arinu, the holy city of the Hittite Sun goddess. So defeated are the Hittites, that almaneser conscripts the Hittite army to conquer Taidu, the western capital of the Hurrian king attuara. Only the stone slab exemplar of almanesers standard inscription records construction work performed on various temples. These were at: Tarbi!u (a city devoted to Nergal), Talmuu and Arbail (two cities devoted to Itar), and Kahat and Isani (two cities devoted to Adad). In the majority of Tukult"-Ninurta Is inscriptions, the ruler does not take epithets compounded with divine names in his titulary. He instead refers to himself by the grand political titles ar kiati, King of Everything, ar m"t Aur, King of Assyria, and arru dannu, Strong King. When the king does take epithets compounded with divine names, the designations vary, at times substantially. In two inscriptions (his standard Aur inscription and another smaller one), the king takes the epithet: migir Anu u Enlil. He also states in the same inscriptions that Aur, together with the great gods, called (nab) his name. In these texts, the king emphasizes his piety, but also recalls in detail his many martial conquests. Tukult"-Ninurta I takes an epithet compounded with the name of Itar in the titulary units of only four inscriptions. Two of these are dedicatory and record reconstruction work on the Itar complex at Aur: 31 Tukult#-Ninurta ar (MAN) kiati (KI) arru (MAN) dannu ar (MAN) m"t (KUR) Aur ni#t Aur ik (ID) Aur r!' (SIPA) k#nu namad Itar ( d INANA) muekni m"t (KUR) Qut adi p"! gimri m"r (A) almaneser ik (ID) Aur m"r (A) Adad- n"r"r# ik (ID) Aurma 50
Tukult"-Ninurta, King of Everything, Strong King, King of Aur, Recognized by Aur, Governor of Aur, Faithful Shepherd, Beloved of Itar, subduer of the land of the Qut in their entirety, son of almaneser, Governor of Aur, son of Adad-n!r!r", Governor of Aur
In this form of his titulary, the king again takes the simple, yet extravagant, title ar kiati and the additional titles ar m"t Aur and arru dannu. He further refers to himself as the r!' k#nu Faithful Shepherd and takes several epithets compounded with a DN: ni#t Aur Recognized by Aur, ik Aur Governor of Aur, and namad Itar Beloved of Itar. Finally, he proclaims to be the muekni m"t Qut adi p"! gimri subduer of the land of the Qut in their entirety. In each of these inscriptions, the kings only detailed accomplishment is the renovation of the temple to Itar (and D"n"tu) at Aur. Itar is not the only deity of whom Tukult"-Ninurta I claims to be the beloved. Once Tukult"-Ninurta gained hegemony over the greater Mesopotamian region, his titulary altered dramatically. In his later titulary located in inscriptions from K!r-Tukult"- Ninurta, the king takes numerous epithets compounded with a DN: Tukult#-Ninurta ar (MAN) kiati (KI) arru (MAN) dannu ar (MAN) m"t (KUR) d Aur ar (MAN) m"t (KUR) umer u Akkad ar (MAN) kibr"t erbetti (4-i) ni#t d Aur u d ama an"ku rub (NUN-) n"du arru (MAN) n# !n! (IGI.ME) d Enlil a ina ulum ibir#u irte aburri m"ssu (KUR-su) iippu r!t nib#t d Ani a ina m!zez qarr"d$t#u uekniu rub (NUN-e) kal arr"ni (MAN.ME) r!' k#nu m!ri libbi d Ea a eli (UGU) kibr"t erbetta (4-ta) iltakkanu um"t#u (MU.ME-u) ina l#ti ang (SANGA-) !#ru namad Sn ( d 30) a ina m!er ha""#u (GI.GIDRU-u) ult!eru ni! (UN.ME) u dadm# ur"nu qardu lipit q"t Adad ( d IKUR) a ina pal (BALA.ME) arr$t#u (MAN-ti-u) ude nuhu hegalli zikaru dannu migir d Ninurta a ina l#t ki$t#u ulai"u gimir kibr"ti (UB.ME-ti) l! ekdu namad Itar
50 RIM A.0.78.11: 1-10 and A.0.78.14: 1-6. 32 ( d INANA) a bilat (GUN) m"t"ti (KUR.KUR) !# ami ( d UTU-i) u alam ami ( d UTU- i) imdahharu 51
Tukult"-Ninurta, King of Everything, Strong King, King of the land of Aur, King of the lands of Sumer and Akkade, King of the Four Regions, Recognized by Aur and ama, I, Pious Prince, KingSelect of Enlil, who shepherded with his protective staff, who keeps his land pastoral, Primary One, Called by Anu, the one who with his fierce valor subdued princes (and) all kings, Faithful Shepherd, Cultivated by Ea, who has established in victory his names over the four regions, Exalted Priest, Beloved of Sn, who, with his just scepter, governed fairly communities and regions, Valiant Hero, the Divine Handiwork of Adad, who, during the regnal years of his sovereignty made plenteous produce abundant, Strong Male, Favorite of Ninurta, who controlled all quarters with his strong might, Expert, Fierce, Beloved of Itar, who regularly received tribute from the eastern and western lands
Once again, Tukult"-Ninurta takes the designations ar kiati, ar m"t Aur, and arru dannu. He adds to these two additional regional titles: ar m"t umer u Akkad King of Sumer and Akkade and ar kibr"t erbetti King of the Four Regions. The list of epithets compounded with a DN is impressive, as are the additional epithets which follow them: A. ni#t Aur u ama Recognized by Aur and ama
B. n# !n! Enlil a ina ulum ibir#u irte aburri m"ssu iippu Select of Enlil, who shepherded with his protective staff, who keeps his land pastoral
C. r!t nib#t Ani a ina m!zez qarr"d$t#u uekniu rub kal arr"ni Primary One, Called by Anu, the one who with his fierce valor subdued princes (and) all kings
D. r!' k#nu m!ri libbi Ea a eli kibr"t erbetta iltakkanu um"t#u ina l#ti Faithful Shepherd, Cultivated by Ea, who has established in victory his names over the four regions
E. ang !#ru namad Sn a ina m!er ha""#u ult!eru ni! u dadm# Exalted Priest, Beloved of Sn, who, with his just scepter, governed fairly communities and regions
51 RIM A.0.78.23 1-25 and perhaps A.0.78.24. 33
F. ur"nu qardu lipit q"t Adad a ina pale arr$t#u ude nuhu hegalli Valiant Hero, the Divine Handiwork of Adad, who, during the regnal years of his sovereignty, made plenteous produce abundant
G. zikaru dannu migir Ninurta a ina l#t ki$t#u ulai"u gimir kibr"ti Strong Male, Favorite of Ninurta, who controlled all quarters with his strong might
H. l! ekdu namad Itar a bilat m"t"ti !# ami u alam ami imdahharu Expert, Fierce, Beloved of Itar, who regularly received tribute from the eastern and western lands
In this inscription, Tukult"-Ninurta claims to be the Beloved (namad) of Sn and the Favored (migir) of Ninurta, in addition to being the Beloved (namad) of Itar. 52
It is noticeable that the list of gods in the titulary in A.0.78.23 is not the same as the one located in the action unit of a text which explicitly describes the erection of a great cultic center at K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta (A.0.78.22). In A.0.78.22, Tukult"-Ninurta declares that he has created a new temple complex, yet the gods housed in it are not listed as: Aur, ama, Enlil, Anu, Ea, Adad, Sn, Ninurta, and Itar, but as: Aur, Adad, ama, Ninurta, Nusku, Nergal, the Sibitti, and Itar. Missing from list of chapels are those to the gods Anu, Ea, and Sn. These gods were listed in the titulary of A.0.78.23. Added to the list of chapels are those to the gods Nusku, Nergal, and the Sibitti. The action unit of A.0.78.23 (the text which contains the extensive titulary), only briefly mentions the erection of the cultic center; it does not explicit list temples. It only records the kings claims to have subjugated a vast array of peoples and territories: from Mehru in the west, to Syria in the east, Nairi in the north-east, ubaru in the north, and Kardunia in the south.
52 In a broken stone tablet discovered at Aur Tukult"-Ninurta also claims to be the namad Aur (RIM A.0.78.38). 34 The kind of extensive listing of epithets compounded with a DN in A.0.78.23 is unusual in EARI. It is extant in only one additional inscription of Tukult"-Ninurta. In yet another text from K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta (A.0.78.24), the very fragmentary titulary seems to have read much like that in A.0.78.23, except that the king does not take the title namad Itar. Instead, he refers to himself as the bibil libbi ()
Itar ( d INANA) b!let (NIN) il"ni (DINGIR.ME) am (AN-e) u er!eti (KI-ti) Chosen by the Heart of Itar, Sovereign of the Gods of Heaven and Earth. 53 The remainder of the inscription reads much like that above. By the late MA period, the titulary became stylistically excessive to the point of hyperbole. As observed by Peter Machinist, this aggrandizement culminates in the titularies of the late MA and NA kings: One may note that until the thirteenth century certain restraints, deriving from the OA period, governed the language used to describe the status of the king vis--vis the gods: he was no god himself, simply the governor of Enlil (akin d illil), the viceroy of Aur (iiak/ik d Aur), or at most the beloved (nar"mu) or favorite (migru) of a deity. In the thirteenth century, however, these restraints began to loosen under the impact of the new military successes and Babylonian influence. The monarch began to be talked about in more exalted, even divine terms, though in the end the inherited restraints prevented a complete identification of the king with the divine realm. 54
As the power of the kings increased, so too did the grandeur of their titles. This sort of extravagance is certainly attested in the inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser I (1115-1077), Aur-d!n II (934-912), and the kings who succeed him; however, nowhere is this embellishment more apparent than in the titulary of Aur-na!irpal II (883-859). As excerpted from A.0.101.1:
53 RIM A.0.78.24: 10b-11. 54 Peter Machinist, Provincial Governance in Middle Assyria and Some New Texts from Yale, Assur 3 (1982): 65-101 [73 n. 15]. 35 arru (MAN) dannu ar (MAN) kiati () ar (MAN) l" an"n ar (MAN) kullat kibrat erbetta (4-ta) amu kiat ni# (UN.ME) ni#t Enlil ( d BAD) u Ninurta ( d MA) nar"m d Ani u d Dag"n ka$ il"ni (DINGIR.ME) rabti (GAL.ME) ahtu nar"m libb#ka (-ka) rub (NUN-) migir Enlil ( d BAD) a angssu (SANGA-u) eli (UGU) il$t#ka (DINGIR-ti-ka) rab#ti i"#b$ma tuaridu palu (BALA-)ina malk# a kibr"t erbetta (4-ta) "ninu l" # (TUK-) r! ( L SIPA) tabr"te la "diru tuqumti (GI.LAL) ed gapu a m"hira l" # (TUK-u) 55
Strong King, King of Everything, King Without Rival, King of All Four Regions, Divine Sun of All the People, Recognized by Enlil and Ninurta, Beloved of Anu and Dag!n, Mighty Weapon of the Great Gods, Pious one, Beloved of your Heart, Prince, Favorite of Enlilwhose priesthood is pleasing to your great divinity, whose reign you firmly established who has no rival among the kings of the four regions, Shepherd of Humanity, Fearless in the Mle, Over-powering Wave which has no opponent
The empire of the kings of Aur, now Assyria, became so great that the older, more formulaic, titles no longer sufficed to explain their majesty. Now, a more epic style was needed. As can be seen in this titulary of Aur-na!irpal, the scribes utilized multiple traditional and non-traditional designations to describe the king, thus creating a more poetic depiction of him. And, although the king continues to take epithets compounded with a DN, Itar is no longer one of the gods mentioned.
2.3 Catalog Ilu-umma: Beloved of Aur and Itar A.0.32.1 na-ram d a-r d INANA A.0.32.2 na-ram d a-r d INANA
ami-Adad I: Beloved of Itar A.0.39.2 na-ra-am d INANA
almaneser I: Favored of Itar A.0.77.1 mi-gir d INANA A.0.77.16 mi-gir d INANA Tukult!-Ninurta I: Beloved of Itar A.0.78.11 na-mad d INANA
55 RIM A.0.101.1 col. i 9c-14 36 A.0.78.14 na-mad d INANA A.0.78.23 na-mad d INANA
and Chosen by the Heart Itar, Sovereign of the Gods of Heaven and Earth A.0.78.24 bi-bl d INANA NIN DINGIR.ME AN-e u KI-ti
2.4 Analysis As can be observed from the catalog, all occurrences of the name Itar in EARI titularies lie within epithets compounded with a DN. According to William H. Hallo, this type of designation united the king with the gods. 56 Because some of the terms used to express this relationship indicate affection, earlier scholars incorrectly assumed that the epithets signified a sexual love when used in connection to Itar, but this is decidedly not the case. 57 In actuality, the designation is part of a Sumerian tradition which, as Hallo has noted, was used to demonstrate a kings unique bond with the primary god of the city over which he ruled: Once enthroned, the king was the beneficiary of the special, favored relationship to the gods, whether this relationship was formalized as the friend (ku. li), servant (arrad 2 ), shepherd (sipa) or even husband (dam) of the god, or left generalized as the beloved or favorite of the god. 58
56 Hallo, Titles, 132. 57 As Westenholz has demonstrated, there is no relationship between the gender of the king who claims an epithet compounded with a DN and that of the god within it (King by Love of InannaAn Image of Female Empowerment? NIN 1 [2000]: 75-89 [80-81]). Westenholz specifically references the inscriptions of the early rulers of Laga. In these inscriptions, the male god Ningirsu is said to have loved the male king Eanatum, and the female deity Bau is said to have loved Uruinimgina (80). Westenholz further contends that Entemena fashioned a statue of himself and named it Entemena Whom Enlil loves and that Lugalkiginnedudu refers to Enlil as his beloved king and to Inana as his lady, without adding beloved. Finally, she notes that the last Sargonic king, Sar-kali-arri, called himself the beloved son of Enlil (81). 58 Hallo, Titles, 137. In order to emphasize this connection, Hallo explains, each king would modify the term of endearment or familial connection to show uniqueness: each king morphed the expression a bit so 37
Hallo further suggests that, unlike other epithets compounded with a DN, the particular title nar"m DN began to function more accurately as an obligatory royal title during the OB period. This was most noticeably the fact during the dynasties of Enunna and Yamhad, to whose members it was applied consistently, rarely altered, passed down from king to king, and generally appears in even the shortest inscriptions. 59
The epithet Beloved of DN is evidenced in early Sumerian inscriptions. As early as the ED period, the ruler of Laga, Eanatum, claims to be the ki.g [= nar"m] dumu. zi Beloved of Dumuzi. Much later, It$r-ama (c. 2138) of Kisurra (a city- state just north of Fara) takes the title Beloved (ki. g = nar"m) of ama and Annun"tum. 60 The first Akkadian attestation of the designation is in an inscription discovered at Susa. In that inscription, the Ur III ruler, $-Sn, refers to himself as the nar"m Enlil. 61 It is just after the reign of this king, during the early OB period, that nar"m DN (and the similar migir DN favorite of DN) begin to be attested more frequently. 62
During the reign of the last king of Isin, $-il"ya (c.1995), the title nar"m DN begins to appear in royal inscriptions from Enunna. Claiming the title son of Tipak and King of the Land of Warm, $-il"ya further designates himself the nar"m Tipak and nar"m B!lat-Taraban u B!lat uhnir. 63 After the reign of $-il"ya, independent
that it was his aloneswitching out spouse for shepherd or prince. 59 Hallo, Titles, 130. 60 RIM E4.7.1.1: 7-8. 61 RIM E3.1.4.10: 1-3. 62 In their inscriptions, the Isin kings continually refer to themselves as chosen by Itar, or spouse of Itar, as in the cases of Lipit-Itar and later Isin kings. 63 Hallo, Titles, 138. This phenomenon begins to occur during the reign of $-il"ya; however, after Enunna gains independence from the Ur, the titles iiak DN and nar"m DN are also attested in the titulary of 38 native rulers governed Enunna. At this time, mortal rulers no longer claimed to be king of Enunna. Instead, Tipak, the tutelary god of the city, is proclaimed king. The mortal ruler was merely referred to as the governor (iiakku) of the land. Similarly, it is also during this period that at D#r, a city at times under the sway of Enunna, rulers took the title migir Itaran u nar"m Itar ( d INANA). 64 Furthermore, in inscriptions discovered at K", a city somewhat south of Enunna, the independent ruler Ad$ni-iar"m takes the epithet nar"m Itar ( d INANA) u migir Zababa. 65 In each of these instances, (at least one of) the name(s) of the god in the compounded epithet is the patron deity of the city-state. Tipak was the patron god of Enunna, Itar!n was the patron god of D#r, and Zababa was the patron god of K". This development is analogous to the events at Aur, when the demise of the Ur III period ushered in a period of independent rule in various cities. In his now classic article concerning the origins of Mesopotamian kingship, Thorkild Jacobsen theorizes that, after a politically democratic period, an ambitious imperially-minded king arose. 66 Originally, Jacobsen contends, Sumerian city-states were run by a council of free male citizens referred to as elders. These elders were the
N$r-ahum (see RIM E3/2.3.1.2000-3). 64 Nidnua: RIM E4.12.1.1:3-4; Ilum-muttabbil: RIM E4.12.2.1:3-6 and E4.12.2.2:10-13; and, later governors of the city. 65 RIM E4.8.1.1: 3-4. All three of these male tutelary deities: Tipak, Itar!n (Anu), and Zababa possess similar qualities. Though the Sumerian deity Ninazu was originally the patron deity of Enunna, Tipak replaces him at some point during the Old Akkadian period (F. A. M Wiggermann, Transtigridian Snake Gods, in Sumerian Gods and their Representations, eds. Finkel, I. L., and M. J. Geller [Groningen: STYX, 1997], 33-55 [37]). Perhaps originally a weather-god, when conflated with Ninazu, Tipak took on chthonic ophidian characteristics. Ninazu was also the son of the netherworld deity Erekigal and thought to have healing powers (snakes venom?). This Tipak/Ninazu deity eventually developed into a war deity similar to Ninurta, and became Enlil and Ninlils son (ibid., 34-5). 66 Thorkild Jacobsen, Primitive Democracy in Ancient Mesopotamia, JNES 2 (1943): 159-72. 39 decision-makers of all aspects of legislation, including war. According to Jacobsens theory, during a time of strife, this council would elect a general (lugal ) to lead an army whose purpose was to quell disturbances. Perhaps not unsurprisingly, the lugal, he contends, became more and more interested in power and ultimately refused to step down even after the enemy had been vanquished. This did not mean that the assembly no longer had a place in the society, it only meant that their importance had lessened while the position of the lugal became more comparable to that of a king, ultimately leading to this general becoming an absolute monarch. Once in the position of such authority, the king became the chief executive, judge, and jury. 67 Eventually, Jacobsen concludes, the lugal also assumed prime authority over the religious concerns of the city and its temple complex. At his most powerful point, the king might even fancy himself a god, as in the case of Nar!m-Sn and the kings of the Ur III state. 68
Although ruled at times by a Sumerian over-lord, archaeological and textual evidence from the city of Aur suggest that it was a hub of commercial activity during the latter half of the 3 rd millennium, mainly run by powerful mercantile families, not a king. Like the early periods in southern Mesopotamia, at Aur, during this period, two governmental bodies co-existed and, at least during the Old Assyrian period, there was an attempt at equilibrium between them. 69 One of these bodies was the assembly, or "lu
67 Ibid., 159. 68 For further discussion on the phenomenon of divine kingship see Nicole Brisch, ed., Religion and Power: Divine Kingship in the Ancient World and Beyond (Oriental Institute of the Chicago: University of Chicago, 2008). 69 Mogens T. Larsen, The Old Assyrian City-State and its Colonies (Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag, 1976), 220 ff. Because this is one of the few treatments of this material, most of the following discussion comes directly from his work. 40 city, which was comprised of male citizens of the city of Aur who were also the heads of influential families. 70 As a component of their duty, the "lu would adjudicate lawsuits and vote on other issues of import concerning the well-being of the city. 71
The second governmental body was that of the iiakku governor. Originating as a southern title, the designation iiakku (Sumerian: nsi ) initially signified an official of a mortal king who ruled in that kings stead (e.g., governor). The first governors of this type at Aurthose connected to outside dynasties (e.g., Ur III)take the title iiakku; however, [b]y the time of the late Sargonic period, and during the Ur III and early Babylonian periods, [iiakku] was the title of the [independent] ruler or governor of many of the cities of Sumer and Akkade. 72 This included Aur, for by these periods, [iiakku] now meant simply titular head of a city and its dependent territories and was applied whenever tradition associated no other title with the city. 73
According to Mogens Larsen, the post of an independent iiakku was hereditary and of both a secular and religious nature. He was the: 1. chief priest, the divinely appointed steward, who was the link between the city and god 2. head of royal lineage- apex of kinship structure 3. leader and executive of city-assembly 74
As the chief priest the iiakku was the god Aurs partner. He held the position of chairperson of the assembly and, as such, was responsible for proper judicial procedure. 75
70 For a further discussion of the "lu, see Jacobsen, Primitive Democracy, 160, n. 12. 71 Larsen, Old Assyrian City-State, 162. 72 Hallo, Titles, 45. 73 For a discussion on the development of the meaning of the term nsi , see Hallo, Titles, 34-48. See also Larsen, Old Assyrian City-State, 111-121. 74 Larsen, Old Assyrian City-State, 111-121. 41 The iiakku managed the divine estate and acted as the intermediary between Aur and the people of the city. He was expected to placate the god and to ensure the well-being of the people by asking for their protection. 76 This special relationship can also be observed in the close proximity of the palace to the temple at Aur and by the repeated rationale for religious building projects: for my life, that of the iiakku, and the life of my city. In the earliest extant Assyrian royal titulary, #ilulu, an independent ruler of Aur, claims the title iiakku: Aur KI arrum (LUGAL) #ilulu iiak (NSI) Aur KI m!r (DUMU) Daikiki n"gir (NIMGIR) "l (URU) Aur KI77
Aur is King; #ilulu, Governor of Aur, son of Daikiki, herald of the "lu of Aur
As in the Enunna examples, in the titulary of #ilulu, the mortal ruler #ilulu is not proclaimed king; instead, Aur is. #ilulu is merely the iiakku governor. It should be noted, however, that, unlike the Enunna examples, in #ilulus titulary the name Aur is not preceded by the determinative for god ( d ); rather, it is followed by the determinative from land ( KI ). It has been suggested that during this early period in the history of Aur, the land of Aur was considered divine. 78
In the titulary of alim-ahum, an Old Assyrian ruler who succeeded #ilulu, there seems to be a distinction between Aur-the god and Aur-the land: alim-ahum iiak (NSI) Aur KI m"r (DUMU) Puzur-Aur iiak (NSI) Aur KI d Aur b!tam () !rissuma 79
75 Ibid. 76 Ibid., 119. 77 RIM A.0.27.1: 1-6. 78 See W. G. Lambert, The God Aur, Iraq 45 (1983): 82-86. 79 RIM A.0.31.1: 8. 42 alim-ahum, Governor of Aur, son of Puzur-Aur, Governor of Aur: Aur requested of him a temple
In his titulary, alim-ahum maintains the official territorial title iiak Aur KI Governor of Aur-the land (Aur KI ), but specifies that it is Aur-the god ( d a-r) who speaks to him regarding the construction of a new temple. This same distinction is evident in the titulary of his son Ilu-umma, which reads: Ilu-umma iiak (NSI) Aur KI nar"m d Aur u Itar ( d INANA) [m"r a]lim-ahum iiak (NSI) Aur KI 80
Ilu-umma, Governor of Aur, Beloved of Aur and Itar, [son of a]lim-ahum, Governor of Aur
In his titulary, Ilu-umma takes the designation iiak Aur KI , but also adds the designation nar"m d Aur u d Itar Beloved of Aur-the god and Itar. This designation is of the dual-type, i.e., he is the beloved of both Aur and Itar. As was seen in the Enunna, D#r, and Ki examples, when two deities are present in an epithet compounded with (a) DN, one of these is generally Itar. It would seem then that the Ilu-umma title is reflective of a regional tradition. In her analysis of Ilu-ummas titulary, Cifola contends that the presence of Itar in the titulary is related to the temple building activity recorded in the inscription; however, she also, tentatively suggests that: There may be deeper levels of meaning to this title. In addition to its more superficial meaning, it may also connote the kings legitimacy, through emphasizing the divine protection to the king. 81
In his titulary, Ilu-umma claims to be the governor (iiak) of Aur-the land. Perhaps, in order to demonstrate the endorsement of that position by Aur-the god, Ilu-umma
80 RIM A.0.32.1: 1-9 and A.0.32.1: 1-10. 81 Cifola, Variants, 10. 43 takes the title beloved (nar"m) of Aur-the god. Because Ilu-umma claims that he was able to establish a free-trade zone between Aur and city-states to the south and east of Aur, it may be that when taking the title nar"m Itar, he is claiming that Itar both approves of and ordains his rule in that region. 82 Since all of the epithets compounded with two divine names contain the name of Itar, it may be that, while the city god (in this case, Aur) held executive jurisdiction over his particular city, Itar held regional jurisdiction. There may be further evidence for this conclusion in a dedicatory inscription of Tukult"-Ninurta I (A.0.78.15). This inscription was discovered in the Itar temple complex at Aur. On it, the scribe inscribed b!t d d#n#te Temple of D"n"tu over the name B#let-Akkad Sovereign of the Akkadians. 83 The text further records that this temple had been originally created by Ilu-umma. If the record is correct, it may be that the shrine created by Ilu-umma was to B#let-Akkad; thus, B#let-Akkad may be the deity who lies behind the name Itar in the title nar"m Aur u Itar. This again concurs with the evidence from Enunna, for Akkade lay within the same territorial region.
82 See n. 42. Furthermore, Ilu-umma is believed to have at least made incursions into the transtigridian and southern territories (Larsen, City-State, 63-80); cf. the previously held belief of E. F. Weidner, Iluumas Zug nach Babylonien ZA 43 (1936): 114-123, that Ilu-umma had not merely trade in mind, but imperial ambitions. Larsen counters these theories, arguing that there is not the least trace of an Assyrian advance in any part in the south (City-State, 75). Whether Ilu-umma had imperial ambitions is not as important as the region over which he claims to have allowed trade. Although agreeing with Weidner, Dietz Otto Edzard contends that three of the cities mentioned in the Ilu-umma inscription lay in the transtigridian region: D#r, Kismar, and Awal (Die Zweite Zwischenzeit Babyloniens. Wiesbaden, Otto Harrassowitz, 1957), 90 n. 443. 83 RIMA I, 260. 44 Unlike Ilu-umma, am"-Adad I is considered a usurper king. 84 Considered part of the of the Amorite invasion, am"-Adad vied for Mesopotamian territories with other Amorite rulers: Yahdun-L"m of Mari (1810-1795), Hammurabi of Babylon (1792- 1750), Yar"m-L"m of Alalakh (1781-1765), and Rim-Sn of Larsa (1822-1763). Aur was but one city-state over which he held dominion. In her analysis of am"-Adads expansion, Joan Westenholz determines that the king began his rule at Ekall!tum, a city- state which likely lay on the Tigris just south of Aur. 85 His territorial expansion gradually continued northwards, eventually encompassing Aur. Shortly thereafter, the king traveled west to take Mari. At this stage in his reign, am"-Adad established the Northern town of ubat-Enlil as his political center, while setting one of his sons on the throne of Mari (Yasmah-Addu) and one of them on the throne of Ekall!tum (Ime- Dag!n). Westenholz deduces that it took until his 53 rd year to conquer Nineveh and its surrounding lands. 86 With each new area of acquisition, am"-Adad altered his titulary, taking not only ever-greater titles, but also new designations compounded with a DN. The Aur-titulary of am"-Adad displays several marked differences from those located on inscriptions discovered at Nineveh and Mari. His Aur titulary reads: am#-Adad ar (LUGAL) kiatim (KI) b"ni b#t () d Aur mutemki m"tim bir#t Idiglat (D.IDIGNA) u Purattim (D.BURANUN.NA) ina qib#t d Aur r"im#u a Anim (AN) u d Enlil ina arr"ni (LUGAL.ME) "lik$t mahra umu ana rabtim ibb 87
am"-Adad, King of Everything, builder of the temple of Aur, pacifier of the land between the Tigris and Euphrates, by the command of Aur who loves him, whose name Anu and Enlil called for greatness among kings who went before.
84 This opinion was held by the Assyrians themselves. See for example the inscription of Puzur-Sn, RIM A.0.40.1001. 85 Westenholz, Old Akkadian Presence, 13. 86 Ibid., 12-14. 87 RIM A.0.39.1: 1-17. 45 In his Aur titulary, am"-Adad does not take any epithet compounded with a divine name; he instead takes only the universalistic title ar kiatim. He does, however, declare that he is the one a Anim u Enlil ina arr"ni "lik$t mahra umu ana rabtim ibb whose name Anu and Enlil called for greatness among kings who went before. And, while not taking the title Beloved of Aur, he does declare that Aur
r"im#u Aur loves him. It may be inferred that, because of this love, he was commanded to become (and subsequently became) the pacifier of the land between the Tigris and Euphrates. am"-Adads Mari titularies begin:
am#-Adad ar (LUGAL) kiatim (KI) akin d Enlil p"lih d Dag"n iiak (NSI) d Aur 88
am"-Adad, King of Everything, Chosen of Enlil, Worshipper of Dag!n, and Governor of Aur
And:
[am]#-[Adad] arrum (!LUGAL") da[nnum] akin d [Enlil(?)] iiak (NSI) d A[ur]
nar"m Dag["n] mutemki m"tim bir#t Idiglat (D.IDIGNA) u Purattim (D.BURANUN.NA) rub [Mar]i KI ar (LUGAL) Eka[ll"ti]m KI akin x [...] x x 89
[am]"-[Adad], Stro[ng] !King", Chosen of Enlil(?), Governor of A[ur],
Beloved of Dag[!n] pacifier of the land between the Tigris and Euphrates, Prince of [Mar]i, King of Eka[ll!]tu, Governor of x [...] x x
In the first Mari example (A.0.39.8), the king claims the universalistic title and three titles compounded with a DN: akin Enlil, p"lih Dag"n, and iiak Aur. In none of these three titles does am"-Adad claim to be loved by a god, nor does he does not claim to be the pacifier of the land between the Tigris and Euphrates. In the second Mari example
88 RIM A.0.39.8: 1-9. 89 RIM A.0.39.7: 1-11 46 (A.0.39.7), am"-Adad takes the title nar"m Dag"n and claims to be the pacifier of the land between the Tigris and Euphrates. He further claims the titles: Prince of Mari and King of Ekall!tum. Dag!n may have been the patron deity of Ekall!tum, and, while not the patron deity of the city of Mari, he was the tutelary deity of the territories surrounding Mari. Implied by the title nar"m Dag"n, as opposed to pal#h Dag"n (in the first example, A.0.39.8), may be am"-Adads control of both Ekall!tum and Mari at the behest of Dag!n. Early records from north-west Syria more explicitly record gods bestowing territories upon rulers because they approve of them. During the later OB period, in the era of the Amorite Yamhad dynasty, the kings of Alalakh took the title nar"m d IKUR. Normally, the logogram d IKUR is assumed to represent the tutelary deity of Yamhad, Adad; however, since Alalakh was traditionally a Hurrian city, the logogram d IKUR could represent a conflation of Adad with the Hurrian weather deity, Teub. In any case, since both Adad and Teub were weather deities, in each example the compounded epithet is nar"m weather-god. This title also occurs at Terqa, a city-state which also lay within the Habur triangle. The divine patron of Terqa was Dag!n. In inscriptions from this city, the ruler Iar-L"m took the title nar"m Ilaba u Dag"n. 90
Both Ilaba and Dag!n are also thought to have had weather-god qualities. It is difficult to determine whether the presence of two similar deities in this title represents conflation, or perhaps the first god, Ilaba, is the great regional weather-god, while Dag!n is, in this case, the local tutelary god of Terqa. Since the rulers of Terqa also claimed to be the king of the region of Khana and the iiak Dag"n, it is tempting to associate Ilaba
90 RIM E4.23.8: 4-5. See also Iggid-L"m: RIM E4.23.8: 4-5. 47 with regional rule (kingship of all of Khana) and Dag!n with the more local rule. This conclusion is further bolstered by a servants seal inscription which was discovered at Terqa. In the text, the author writes that he is the servant of Katiliau (the mortal ruler) and Ilaba (the divine ruler); 91 however, in a much earlier inscription, Sargon of Akkade states that Dag!n gave him the lands of Ebla, in northern Syria. 92 This suggests that Dag!n held executive jurisdiction over the area which encompassed Mari, Ekall!tum, Terqa, and Ebla. Yahdun-L"m (who ruled Mari just prior to am"-Adad) states in his royal inscriptions: arr$t# ibbi [Dag!n] proclaimed my kingship. 93 This kingship is later recorded to have been removed by the god Adad and given (nad"nu) to am"-Adad. In a prophetic text ascribed to the reign of Yahdun-L"ms son Zimri-L"m (1775-1761), Adad informs the king (through the prophet Nur-Sn) that he gave (nad"nu) rule to his father Yahdun-L"m. 94 Adad explains that Yahdun-L"m was able to obtain and sustain this rule
91 RIM E4.23.4.2001. 92 RIM E2.1.1.11. 93 RIM E4.6.8.1: 9-10. 94 A. 1968 as presented by Martti Nissinen in Prophets and Prophecy in the Ancient Near East (Atlanta: SBL Publications, 2003). The information from the god was passed to the king via a trtu. In regular contexts, a trtu is simply a message or report; however, when the message comes from a divine source it refers to an oracular message, generally arrived at through extispicy (see CAD T, 357; cf. also, Martti Nissinen and Simo Parpola, References to Prophecy in Neo-Assyrian Sources [Helsinki: Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, 1998], 20). Maria de Jong Ellis classifies prophecies into two categories: oracular reports and literary predictive texts (Observations on Mesopotamian Oracles and Prophetic Texts: Literary and Histriographical Considerations, JCS 41 [1989]: 127-186). This latter set is explanatory in nature. In this set, though written as if happening in the future, previous oracular messages are meditated upon to explain why an action, which had already occurred, took place. The former set, those of the oracular reports, are verbal messages. According to Nissinen, these messages are transmitted through a recipient, generally, but not always, a woman. The receiver who goes into a frenzied state was referred to as a mahh, while the 48 through his (Adads) mighty weapons (kakk). Unfortunately, the god continues, Yahdun-L"m failed to worship him properly. Because of this offense, he then gave (nad"nu) rule to am"-Adad. am"-Adad then places rule of Mari into the hands of his son Yasmah-Addu. Eventually, Zimri-L"m was able to wrest that rule away from Yasmah-Addu, but the letter breaks off just as one would expect to discover the reason that Yasmah-Addus rule was revoked. 95 A second letter from this same king gives some indication. 96 Adad, once again speaking to Zimri-L"m through the prophet Nur-Sn, explains that he expects Zimri-L"m to worship him properly. Should he do this, Zimri- L"m will be given (nad"nu), a greater reign. Therefore, he will be able to conquer more lands. Ultimately though, it is not Adad who presents the kingship to Zimri-L"m; rather this is done by Itar. On a wall relief which was painted just behind the throne of Zimri- L"m, Itar is depicted standing on her lions bestowing on the king the insignia of sovereignty. am"-Adads Nineveh titulary displays a similar phenomenon in his Aur and Mari titularies. As mentioned above, in his Ninevite inscription (A.0.39.2), am"-Adad takes the title nar"m Itar in his titulary. In the text, the ruler also presents himself as a
prophet who simply shouted was a raggimu. It was also possible that a receiver might obtain a message while in a dream state, and they were then designated as abru and ailu people. Although the oldest mention of a prophet dates to the Ur III period, prophetic messages are extant in only two locations for the OB period, at Mari and Enunna. In the Mari collection, which dates from after the fall of am"-Adad I, messages frequently address the key matters of kingship: war and religious activity. 95 For discussion of this concept (and this text specifically) see Abraham Malamat, Deity Revokes Kingship: Towards Intellectual Reasoning in Mari and in the Bible, in Intellectual Life of the Ancient Near East: Papers Presented at the 43rd Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Prague, July 1-5, 1996, edited by Jiri Prosecky. Prague: Oriental Institute, 1998), 231-236. 96 A. 1121 + A. 2731 as presented by Nissinen in Prophets and Prophecy. 49 capable and pious adherent of Itar. He states that he has rebuilt a temple for the goddess which had fallen into disrepair. After this declaration, am"-Adad announces that he has followed the proper procedures. He has not been disrespectful to the previous worshippers of the goddess. The text records that he placed his inscription next to that of the much earlier Sargonic king, Man-it$u (whom am"-Adad credits with having been the first to erect the temple). Although not in the titulary unit of the inscription, in this text, am"-Adad also declares that Itar gave him his kingship because he followed these procedures: nar Man-it#u !u temm!"n#u !u(?)"[na]!akki"ruma [ana makan#]unuma [l" ut!r$]un$ti [nar]!ya"[u temm!n#ya] x [...] ana i[di nar]u u te[mm!]n#u lu a!ku"n ana at!ti" Itar [ d INANA] b!lt# palm eddem lu irukam 97
The stelae of Man-itu and clay inscriptions I swear I did not alter but returned them [to their places]. I placed [my stelae and clay inscriptions] ... beside his st[elae] and clay [inscrip]tions. Therefore, [Itar], my Sovereign, has given me a term of rule which is ever-renewing.
am"-Adad credits Itar as the grantor of his kingship a second time in the maledictory section of the same inscription. Just after a list of prescriptions and proscriptions for a future ruler, am"-Adad implores Itar to arr$ssu u palu l#"eruma ana anm liddin remove his [the enemy kings] arr$tum and his pal and give them to another. 98
In both examples, am"-Adad refers to his rule as a pal; however, only in the first example is pal modified by the adjective edde. The term pal, like nsi, is a Sumerian designation (bala) adopted into Akkadian. In Sumerian, it is used to designate a reign, term of office, or revolt and has the core meaning to rotate or to turn
97 RIM A.0.39.2: col. ii 21-iii 10, as given in RIM. 98 RIM A.0.39.2 iii 21-25. 50 over; thus, it has a transitive quality and implies a sense of impermanency. 99 In practice, it could be applied to many legislative positions in Sumerian society; however, it came to be associated specifically with kingship. 100 Originally, the bala of a king was for an indeterminate yet finite period of time. When the term was adopted into the Akkadian language, it came to represent only a single year of a kings reign. Ultimately, this changed once again and pal came to mean the entire reign itself. 101 It would seem that, by employing the term pal in his inscription, am"-Adad was carrying on the earliest Southern tradition of a traveling kingship; however, because he modifies pal with the adjective edde ever-renewing, the transitory quality is tempered. The concept of an ever-renewing kingship seems to reflect an intermediary stage in the notion of kingship. The type of reign Itar gives (nad"nu) am"-Adad I is fleeting; thus, the king must continue to be worthy of its dispensation upon him. In the inscriptions of Hammurabi, whose reign coincides with that of am"-Adad, Hammurabi declares that he has been given an ever-lasting kingship. In the second example, am"-Adad implores Itar to transfer the rule of a non-compliant future ruler to another. Here, the words used to denote rule are pal and arr$tu. Like pal, the term arr$tu designates rule; however, unlike pal it is an abstract noun meaning either kingship or the reign as a whole. 102
Since pal is not modified in this instance, it may be that it refers to a single year in the reign (arr$tu) of the king. 103
99 ePSD bal a [TURN].
100 Jacobsen, Primitive Democracy, 170 n. 66. 101 Ibid. 102 CAD 2 , 122. 103 Schneider, A New Analysis, 68-79. 51 If, in the titulary of am"-Adad, the title nar"m Itar indicates that Itar granted am"-Adad rule over the regions of Nineveh, it would seem that the title migir Itar in the inscriptions of almaneser I indicates that Itar granted almaneser rule over the same region. Although made a vassal by Adad-n!r!r" I, it was not until the reign of almaneser I that true victory over Hanigalbat was achieved. Only almaneser captured attuara and the capital city of the Hurrian state, Taidu. 104 As mentioned in the Introduction, Itar of Nineveh, during the MA period, was not only the patron deity of Nineveh (and its surrounding territories), but the chief deity of the Hurrians; thus, it is possible that almaneser was unable to take the title migir Itar until he had complete control over the land of Hanigalbat through the conquering of Taidu. It is specifically in the inscriptions found at Nineveh that almaneser claims that Itar aided him in conquering the lands surrounding Nineveh, ubaru, Lullumu, Qut, and Mu!rithe same region over which am"-Adad claimed jurisdiction and which had once been in the control of the Mitanni kings. 105
Itar is connected to kingship in two versions of Tukult"-Ninurta Is standard inscription from Aur (A.0.78.1 and A.0.78.5). In the maledictory section of both texts, Itar is called the n"bt palya one who called my (Tukult"-Ninurtas) pal. 106 Unlike the concluding formula of the Ninevite inscription of am"-Adad (A.0.39.2), these
104 Adad-n!r!r" claims multiple military victories over this king; however, it is likely that he did not officially rule his lands (RIM A.76.3:21-26). Cf. Amir Harrak, Assyria and Hanigalbat: A Historical Reconstruction of Bilateral Relations (New York: Olms, 1987): 132ff; and also, Machinist, Provincial Governance, 470. 105 These are lands likely in the transtigridian region, cities which lay to the east and north of Assyria. See LKA 63: 23-30, presented in, Victor Hurowitz and Joan Westenholz, LKA 63: A Heroic Poem in Celebration of Tiglath-pileser I's Musru-Qumanu Campaign, JCS 42 (1990): 1-49. 106 RIM A.0.78.1: col. vi. 11-12 and A.0.78.1: 120-121. 52 Aurite Tukult"-Ninurta texts record no construction work done to any temple of Itar; thus, no religious act is performed in the name of the goddess. Furthermore, in neither text (A.078.1 and A.0.78.5) does Tukult"-Ninurta take the title Beloved of Itar or refer to Itar of Nineveh. Instead, in the earlier version of his standard inscription (A.0.78.1), Itar is designated as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi, while in the later version the goddess receives no additional epithet. An Itar designated as the b!let t"h"zi is mentioned in a single inscription of am"-Adad (from Aur); however, in that inscription (A.0.39.2), she is not said to bestow kingshipnor, in that inscription, does am"-Adad take the title nar"m Itar. This makes for a confusing situation. As becomes immediately apparent, the verb of bestowal in the Tukult"-Ninurta inscriptions differs from that of ami-Adad; furthermore, it has very different connotations. In each of the Tukult"-Ninurta examples, Itar is said to be the n"bt. This feminine singular participle derives from the verb nab, meaning to name, designate, or invoke; 107 thus, Itar is the one who calls. Tallqvist translates this line Verkndigerin der Regierungsjahre meines Knigtums; 108 thus, he reads in it perhaps a divinatory dimension, for he translates pal as the first year of his reign. It is also possible that he reads into the line an astronomical dimension. Itar, as Venus, positioned high in the sky, proclaims his reign. The majority of the examples in which a king proclaims that his rule was called (nab) seem to support the former explanation. As mentioned above Dag!n proclaims the reign of Yahdun-L"m. Perhaps not surprisingly, in the inscriptions of Takil-ilissu, the ruler of Malgium (a city located near Enunna), several gods are crediting with decreeing this kings rule. In two additional inscriptions,
107 CAD N 2 , 32. 108 Tallqvist, Gtterepitheta, 134. 53 Ea and Damkina call his rule and in a second inscription Anu and Ulma"tum call his name. 109 In this latter inscription, the king also declares that Annun"tum loves his reign. In prophetic texts discovered at Enunna, there is also an alternative tradition present. In these texts, the goddess Kit"tum, through an unnamed person, tells Ibalpiel, the king of Enunna: ina milki a il# ina ip"i a Anim m"tum ana b!lim nadnatkum 110
On the advice of the gods and by the command of Anu, the country is given you to rule.
The verb is once again nad"nu, but it is not one god alone who is cited as granting kingship. Similar to the model presented by Jacobsen, the gods as a whole choose upon whom they will bestow (nad"nu) kingship. At no point in the inscription does the goddess Kit"tum explain why rule is bestowed upon the king; she only asserts that his reign will be expanded, and that she will strengthen the foundations of his throne. A subtle distinction between the two phrases called my kingship, indicated by the verb nab, and gave my kingship, indicated by the verb nad"nu, may be present in an inscription of the son of Hammurabi, Samsu-iluna. In an inscription from Sippar, Samsu-iluna declares: inu An (AN) Enlil arr"ni a am (AN) u er!eti (KI) Marduk ( d AMAR.UTU) m"rim (DUMU) r!tm a Ea had ippals$uma b!l$t kibr"t arbaim iddin$um in Anunnaki umam !#ram ibbi$u 111
(It was) when Anum and Enlil, the Sovereigns of Heaven and Earth, joyously looked at Marduk, first-born son of Ea, that they gave him rule over the four regions, when the Anunnaki called his exalted name.
109 RIM E4.11.2.1: 5-8 and E4.11.2.2: 24-25. 110 FLP 1674 9-13, as presented by Nissinen in Prophets and Prophecy. 111 RIM E4.3.7.5: 1-5. 54 As can be seen, Marduk is said to give (nad"nu) rule, while the Anunnaku (as a group) call (nab) it. The tradition of nab continues into the Kassite period. In the inscription of Agum-kakrime, a possible early Kassite king (c. 1595), the ruler declares that he was the nib#t called one of Anu, Enlil, Ea, Marduk, Sn, and ama; thus, nab becomes an element in the kings titulary as an epithet compounded with a divine name. 112
As was noted in the introduction to this chapter rule was hereditarily passed on at Aur; thus, the tradition of a divine call to rule is likely not native to Aur. The first evidence for a call to rule in EARI (after that of the usurper king am"-Adad), is in the inscriptions of almaneser I. In the standard inscription of this king (A.0.77.1), almaneser states that Aur faithfully chose [him] to rule the black-headed people (the Sumerians). In order that he might do this properly, almaneser is given (nad"nu) the typical southern accoutrements of power: the scepter, weapons, and a staff. It should be noted that almaneser is justifying his rule over regions lying outside of Aur, in the South. Further down in the same text, almaneser proclaims that he is the faithful shepherd whose name Anu and Enlil have called (nab). He does this just before the text records his reconstruction of the Ehursagkurkurra at Aur. In the titulary unit of the earlier version of the standard inscription of Tukult"- Ninurta (A.0.78.1), Tukult"-Ninurta makes a similar claim, but this time the land of Aur is emphasized: Anu Enlil Ea il"ni rabti ana ut!ur m"t Aur b!l$ssu ibb Anu, Enlil, (and) Ea, the Great Gods, called his rule in order to govern fairly the land of Aur. 113
When Tukult"-Ninurta credits Itar, b!let qabli u t"h"zi, with the calling of his reign, it may be that she is decreeing his reign, not over Nineveh, but over both the eastern and
112 MSKH 1 p. 97, No. Db. 3.1 ex. 1 and 2. 113 RIM A.0.78.1: 3-5. 55 western Hurrian lands. Evidence for this conclusion may lie in the great titulary of Tukult"-Ninurta from K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta. As detailed above, once Tukult"-Ninurta gained hegemony over the greater Mesopotamian region, his titulary altered dramatically. In these later titularies, though specific designations are not given for each deity as they are in future invocation units, after the name of each deity, several actions performed by Tukult"-Ninurta are listed. It may be that the actions of Tukult"-Ninurta are specifically designed to please the gods after whom they are listed (i.e., after the name of Sn [the god of the scepter], Tukult"-Ninurta proudly declares that he is the one who ina meer ulteeru ni! u dadm# with his just scepter, governed fairly communities and regions). 114 If this is the case, after the name of Itar, Tukult"-Ninurta reports that he is a bilat m"t"te !# ami u alam ami imdahharu the one who regularly received the tribute of the eastern and western landsthe lands previously held by the Hurrians. 115
The final attestation for Itar in the titulary unit in EARI is in an inscription of Tukult"-Ninurta discovered on a stone tablet at K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta. The titulary reads much like the extended titulary, except that the king does not take the title namad Itar, but, instead, refers to himself as the bibil libbi () Itar ( d INANA) Chosen by the Heart of Itara title taken by the kings of Isin. In the Tukult"-Ninurta titulary, Itar is designated as the b!let (NIN) a il"ni (DINGIR.ME) am (AN-e) u er!eti (KI-ti) Sovereign of the Gods of Heaven and Earth. 116
114 RIM A.0.78.23: 15-16. 115 RIM A.0.78.23: 22-24. 116 RIM A.0.78.24: 10b-11. 56 2.5 Conclusion
From this analysis of the attestations for Itar in EARI titulary and their contextualizations, it may be concluded that Itars function in this unit was to ordain a kings rule over certain regions. This role is implied by those epithets compounded with the name of Itar. As with the title nar"m Dag"n, the titles nar"m Itar, migir Itar, and namad Itar should be understood as similar to the title ik Auruntil the middle of the reign of Tukult"-Ninurta I (with the creation of K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta). Behind these titles lies a tradition which stipulates that the total subjugation of a land occur only at the behest of that god who holds executive control over that region. Ergo, if a king successfully conquers that territory he must be approved of by that god. Once subjugation occurred, that ruler may take the title nar"m DN (or the like). The title nar"m DN (or the like) means not simply Beloved of DN, but Elected by DN to rule over his/her territory. The analysis presented here also suggests that behind the title nar"m Itar is not one, but several different manifestations of the goddess. Itar held executive authority over multiple lands, but under different hypostases. In the titles nar"m Itar, migir Itar, and namad Itar, the name of the goddess is always signified by the logogram d INANA. Generally, in these titles, the logogram is read as Itar (as has been done throughout this study). This is perhaps a faulty practice. When taken by Ilu-umma, d INANA may represent the manifestation of Itar called B#let-Akkad. Under this manifestation then, Itar gave executive authority to Ilu-umma over Akkade. When the title is taken by am"-Adad, the logogram d INANA likely represents the manifestation of Itar called B#let-Ninua, Sovereign of Nineveh. Different manifestations of the goddess are 57 credited in the inscriptions of the MA kings, almaneser I and Tukult"-Ninurta I. almaneser declares that he is the migir d INANA and Tukult"-Ninurta claims the title namad d INANA (and namad D#n#te) in his earlier inscriptions. In each case, behind the logogram is an Itar who holds executive jurisdiction over the entirety of Hanigalbat. She is the one a bilat m"t"ti !# ami u alam ami imdahharu who regularly received the tribute of the eastern and western lands. It may even be that this Itar is the b!let qabli u t"h"zi. Finally, after conquering Babylon, during the creation of K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta, Tukult"-Ninurta takes the title bibil libbi d INANA b!let il"ni am u er!eti Chosen by the Heart of Itar, Sovereign of the Gods of Heaven and Earth. In this title, the manifestation of Itar is so great as to be the ultimate sovereign. Implied by this position is executive power over the whole of the ancient Near East.
Chapter 3: ACTION UNIT
3.1 Diagram and Purpose
If the titulary unit of an inscription implies certain actions of the gods (e.g., the designation nar"m Itar implicitly states that Itar approves of and therefore ordains the kings rule over certain territories), the action unit of an inscription explicitly recounts them. Although the bulk of this unit records the various accomplishments of the king (e.g., receiving kingship, military and hunting campaigns, secular and pious construction activities, and occasionally, accomplishments regarding trade or other anomalous, yet important, acts), this unit also contains a record of actions performed by a deity during a kings reign. In the main, gods are said to grant sovereignty, to appreciate a kings priesthood, or to command the king to go to war, hunt, or build sanctuaries. Gods are also said to aid a king in battles or during a hunt. Because it is likely that the action unit acts to validate the titles assumed by a king in the titulary, each action recorded for a god must serve this same function; thus, when Ninurta accompanies a king on a hunt, he, in effect, legitimates that kings activity. Though not consistently attested in the action unit of an 59 inscription, Itars primary function is a martial one. She commands kings to war, declares the subjugation of enemies, and even leads the troops into battle. A record of the accomplishments of an Assyrian ruler is present in even the earliest inscriptions. As with the titulary, this action unit was a place for a king to legitimate himself and justify his right to reign; however, unlike the titulary, the accomplishments of a king are expounded upon in a narrative style. Mario Liverani suggests that this unit demonstrates what is recorded in the titulary, thereby elucidating and confirming the identifiers within it. 117 For this reason, Liverani contends that it should be read in conjunction with the titulary, perhaps even as an extension to it. 118 To a degree, the historical development of the inscriptions corroborates this conclusion. Within Commemorative Labels and Dedicatory inscriptions, the achievements of the king were not placed in a discrete literary unit. This combined titulary/action unit is fairly straightforward, dry and formulaic. 119 It typically begins with a short titulary, followed by the name of the object which was being dedicated, constructed, or modified. If the inscription records reconstruction work, it might also contain a short history of past work done to that structure. This combined unit can also contain two ana clauses: one which addresses the deity to whom it was dedicated (e.g., ana Itar) and one which contains a short prayer on behalf of the ruler dedicating the object (e.g., ana bal""#u for his life). 120
In a dedicatory inscription of Ilu-umma, the integral connection between the
117 Liverani, The Deeds of Ancient Mesopotamian Kings, 2350. 118 Ibid. 119 Exceptions to this would be a unique inscription tentatively assigned to am"-Adad I (RIM A.0.39.1001) and an enlightening and contentious inscription of Puzur-Sn (RIM A.0.40.1001). 120 Grayson, Assyria and Babylonia, 157. 60 action unit and the titulary can most clearly be seen: 1 Ilu-umma 2 iiak (NSI) 3 Aur KI
4 nar"m 5d Aur 6 u Itar ( d INANA) 7 [m!r a]lim-ahum 8 iiak (NSI) 9 Aur KI
10 ana d Itar ( d INANA) 11 b!lat#ya (NIN.A.NI) 12 ana bal"!#u 13 b#tam () #pu 14 addur"r 15 Akkad 16 ikun 121
Ilu-umma, Governor of Aur, Beloved of Aur and Itar, [son of a]lim-ahum, Governor of Aur, built a temple for Itar, my sovereign, for his life. He established free-trade for the Akkadians.
In this unit, lines 1-9 comprise the titulary. In this instance, this is the name of the king plus his primary title (1-3), an additional designation (4-6), and his genealogy (7-8). Lines 10-16 contain the action unit: the first ana-clause (a dedication), a second ana- clause (a prayer), and an additional achievement (free-trade). Grayson diagrams this type of inscription: royal name, dedication to deity, name of object dedicated, and verb of dedication. It remained in use until the MA period. 122
In slightly longer inscriptions, the achievements of the king were separated out from the titulary, thus forming their own unit. In these inscriptions, following the genealogy of the titulary, the subject (rulers name + title/epithets) is restated at the beginning of each action unit. As can be seen in this Commemorative inscription of Ilu- umma, following the titulary, the subject is restated: Ilu-umma iiak (NSI) Aur KI nar"m d Aur u Itar ( d INANA) m"r (DUMU) alim-ahum iiak (NSI) Aur KI alim-ahum iiak (NSI) Aur KI m"r (DUMU) Puzur-Aur iiak (NSI) Aur KI
Ilu-umma iiak (NSI) Aur KI ana Itar ( d INANA) b!lat#ya (NIN.A.NI) ana bal"!#u b#tam () #pu 123
Ilu-umma, Governor of Aur, Beloved of Aur and Itar, son of alim-ahum, Governor of Aur, alim-ahum, Governor of Aur, son of Puzur-Aur, Governor of Aur
121 RIM A.0.32.1: 1-16. 122 Grayson, Assyria and Babylonia, 157. 123 RIM A.0.32.2: 1-22. 61 Ilu-umma, Governor of Aur, built a temple for Itar, my sovereign, for his life.
At this point in the history of the development of the inscriptions, the two ana-clauses (dedication and prayer) are retained in the unit which contained the achievements. The beginning of the action unit could also be announced by either topicalizing the object being built, repaired, or dedicated; thus, the new section can start with b!tu temple, or some smaller, more specific, object, or by topicalizing the name of the deity to whom the object was dedicated. It could also be announced with the second type of ana-clause (the prayer): Puzur-A!ur" iiak (NSI) d Au!r" m!r (DUMU) d Aur-n"!r""!r#" iiak (NSI) d A$ur% ana bal"!#!u" u al"m "l#u d$rum (BD) a mul"lim en"hma uddi u sikkat# akun 124
Puzur-Aur, Governor of Aur, son of Aur-n!r!r", Governor of A[ur]: For his life and the well being of his city: the wall of the Step Gatethe one which had become dilapidatedI restored and deposited my clay cone.
In this inscription, following the titulary is an example of the ana-clause that can typically announce the beginning of the action unit. Perhaps because the early rulers of Aur reigned over an inherently commerce- driven city-state, reports of construction projects or dedicated items, with the occasional aside concerning trade issues, are primarily recorded in the action unit of these earlier inscriptions. In an interesting proposition, in his unpublished dissertation, Eric D. Morrison argues that these project reports may have had their origin in governmental planning sessions. Because many of the inscriptions containing construction reports were found in the foundations of the buildings mentioned in the inscriptions, the actual construction could not have been finished before the placement of the tablet within it.
124 RIM A.0.61.1:1-10. 62 This leads Morrison to the conclusion that the reports arose out of the minutes of construction planning sessions. 125 If this is the true Sitz im Leben of this type of Display Text, it should then receive its own designation in Graysons chart. Temporal elements were introduced to announce the transition between the titulary and action units during the reigns of Erium (1934-1900) and Adad-n!r!r" I. During the reign of Erium, the adverb en$ma when was added. During the reign of Adad-n!r!r" I the element um!uma at that time was added. 126 These elements made for a smoother transition between the two sections because they both introduce the material while still indicating a break in theme, as may be seen in this inscription of Adad-n!r!r": Adad-n"r"r# ar (LUGAL) kiati (KI) arru (LUGAL) dannu ar (LUGAL) m"t (KUR) Aur m"r (DUMU) Arik-d!n-ili ar (LUGAL) m"t (KUR) Aur m"r (DUMU) Enlil- n"r"r# ar (LUGAL) m"t (KUR) Aurma en$ma attuar[a] ar (LUGAL) m"t (KUR) Han[ig]albat itt#ya ikkiruma z"e[r]$ti ![p]uu ina qib[#t] [A]ur b!l#ya (E[N]-ia) "lik r!![#ya] u il"ni (DINGIR.ME) rabti (GAL.ME) m"lik damiq[t]#ya a!bass$ma ana "l#ya (URU-ia) Aur ublau utamm#$ma ana m"t#u (KUR-u) umeiru attiamma adi bal"u t"martau ina qereb "l#ya (URU-ia) Aur lu amdahar 127
Adad-n!r!r", King of the Everything, Strong King, King of the land of Aur, son of Arik-d#n-ili, King of the land of Aur, son of Enlil-n!r!r", King of Aur. When attuara, King of the land of Hanigalbat, rebelled against me and committed hostilities, by the command of Aur, my sovereignwho travels as my ally, and the great godswho counsel in my favor, I seized him and brought him to my city Aur. I made him take an oath and then released him to his land. Annually, while he lived, I received his tribute within my city, Aur.
Although the use of these temporal elements seems to indicate an attempt at general
125 Morrison, A Form-Critical Study, 181-186. This proposal also gives weight to the suggestion made by Schneider that Display texts primarily concerned with building projects should be understood as a category separate from those which contain other information. If the form of the Construction-Display text has roots in a setting separate from that of the Annals, then perhaps we should consider placing these texts in a distinct category. 126 For further discussion of the development of this break, see Morrison, A Form-Critical Study, 142. 127 RIM A.0.76.3: 1-14. 63 chronology, the information presented in the section is still inherently non- chronological and non-historical because it is vague and imprecise. 128
During the MA period, after Aur threw off the Mitannian yoke, annexing the very lands they had previously ruled, large contextual changes occurred to the action unit. New subjects were added and an almost complete shift in presentation took place in an effort to effect the impression of an heroic and pious king. In order to highlight this heroism and piety, descriptions of military accomplishments were added to the unit during the reign of Adad-n!r!r" I. 129 These insertions most likely had their origins as chronicles written by scribes, perhaps present at the side of the king in battle. 130 The reports were then skillfully incorporated into the action units of the inscriptions. Because the information inserted into the inscriptions had its origins in this mostly factual setting, a tension begins to be seen in the unit. 131
128 Hayim Tadmor, History and Ideology in the Assyrian Royal Inscriptions, in Assyrian Royal Inscriptions, 14-33 [18]. 129 Military activities are also recorded in a royal inscription of Arik-d#n-ili (RIM A.0.75.8), but, according to Grayson, [t]he preserved portions suggest that the text is a chronicle rather than a royal inscription (RIMA I, 128). Although Grayson chooses to designate it as a royal inscription, because both the end and beginning of the text are broken, we will here be conservative and treat it as a chronicle. 130 A. Kirk Grayson, Assyrian Royal Inscriptions: Literary Characteristics, in Assyrian Royal Inscriptions: New Horizons, 42-43. 131 This tension arises out of the desire to include accurate accounts instead of solely aggrandizing heroic depictions of the kings achievements. A solution is ultimately arrived at in the new sub-category of the Commemorative type, called Annals. In Annals, the topic of the kings great piety is further emphasized and the topic of his hunting prowess is introduced; furthermore, the relationship between the king and the gods is redefined in these texts. No longer depicted as a mere employee of the gods, he is depicted as having an almost god-like stature, yet his piety is still emphasized. Finally, the two ana clauses are shifted in Commemorative inscriptions from the action unit to different literary units, perhaps in an effort to focus on the kings triumphs. 64 The seemingly more specific phrases ina urru kuss arrut#ya ina mahr palya at the beginning of my reign, during my first pal were introduced during the reign of Tukult"-Ninurta. Tadmor argues that, although temporal phrases such as this one and the ones noted above appear chronological, they are not. 132 The phrases were designed to make it appear as if all great events performed by the king were achieved during his first term (pal) as ruler. Tadmor asserts that this is part of the well-known tradition of depicting the king as heroic. Already used during the Akkade period, the addition of the temporal phrase gives the impression that the entirety of the kings greatest achievements occurred in a single year. 133 In the case of the Assyrian kings, this was during their ascension year. The king, during his first year on the throne, needed either to fight many successful battles or to undertake great building projects. Since these two achievements could usually not be performed within the kings first year, the scribes attempted to make it appear that this was the case, and the depiction of the kings reign became front-loaded. Though these temporal formulae were attempts at marrying true chronology with the desire to present the king in an heroic and pious light, Tadmor contends that they ultimately fail to do both. 134 A solution to this dilemma was arrived at during the reign of Tiglath-pileser I. During this reign, the two presentation styleschronological and heroicwere successfully blended. The solution was to place a minor titulary or laudatory segment at the beginning of each newly introduced event and to date the event according to the pal in which it took place. In later inscriptions, the events are be dated by the name of the l#mu governor of that year. Finally, during the reign of
132 Tadmor, History and Ideology, 18. 133 Ibid., 19-20. 134 Ibid., 17. 65 Sennacherib, a further innovation, listing by girru campaign was introduced. This retained the epic feeling of the narrative, while providing a more accurate chronology.
3.2 Attestations The uniquely close relationship between the mortal ruler and the divine sovereign of the land of Aur is implied in the inscriptions of the Old Assyrian kings. In an inscription of Erium, the ruler declares the god Aurs confidence in him when he proclaims that it is with Aur standing (izzama id#u) at his side that he set aside land for the god. 135 In an inscription of Ik$num, the son of Erium, Ik$num declares that Aur is his helper (muttabbil#u). The earliest explicit record in an action unit of such an act performed by Itar is located in a very fragmentary inscription which may be attributed to either Enlil-n!r!r" I (1329-1320) or to his son, Adad-n!r!r" I: 136
Lacuna 1) [...] xxx [...] 2) [...] X-X URU(?) al(?)-[...] 3) [... it]-ta(?)-[kir(?)] x GI [...] 4) [... e(?)]-nu-ma x [...] 5) [...] x an-[na-a(?)]-tu i-na [...] 6) [ ina q-bi-i]t ama ( d UTU) Adad ( d IKUR) Itar ([ d INANA]) 7) [...]x i-x (x)-ti [...] 8) [... z]i-ma URU al-x-[...] 9) [... m ku-r]i-gal-zu LUGAL [m"t kardunia ...] 10) [... abik]-ta-u a-k[u-un ...] 11) [... ina a-n]u(?)-[ut(?)]-te-u [...]
[he] rebelled ... [by the command] of the gods ama, Adad, and [Itar ... he attacked and the city Al...[... Kur]igalzu, king of [Kardunia ...] I brought about
135 RIM A.0.33.1: 8-9. 136 RIM A.74.1001. The king to whom this fragment should be ascribed is of some debate (RIMA I, 199). Both Enlil-n!r!r" I and Adad-n!r!r" I fought against the Kassite king mentioned in the inscription, Kurigalzu. Ebeling dated the inscription to the reign of Enlil-n!r!r" I as do both ARI and RIM; I continue this. For a discussion see ARI I, 52. 66 his [defeat ... a] second time 137
This text was inscribed on a stone tablet and found near the Adad temple at Aur. In it, the Assyrian king is commanded (ina qib#t) to war by a trio of gods: ama, Adad, and Itar. Unfortunately, it is entirely unclear with whom and where the king is fighting, though it does seem to have some connection to the Kassite king Kurigalzu. It is likely that Itar is again listed with ama and Adad in the earlier of the two standard introductions for the inscriptions of Adad-n!r!r" I. Unlike in the Enlil-n!r!r" inscription, in this text, the king is not commanded to war; rather, the gods are recorded to have forced the submission of his enemies: arru (LUGAL) a naphar (U.NGIN) malk# u rub d Anu Aur ama ( d UTU) Adad ( d IKUR) u Itar ( d i 8 -tr) ana !p!u uekni$ 138
The king, at whose feet, all rulers and princes, Anu, Aur, ama, Adad, and Itar subjugated
Similar to the Enlil-n!r!r" inscription, this text records skirmishes between an Assyrian ruler and the Kassites. The circumstances surrounding this skirmish are unclear. It can not be determined whether Babylon was attacked, whether the action was merely defensive, or if the Assyrian and Kassite kings were vying for outside territories. The inscription also records battles with the Qut, Lullumu, and ubaru, and the trampling of various cities within Hurrian territory (Hanigalbat): Taidu, Kahat, Kaiieri, and Harran. As mentioned in the previous chapter, the Qut, Lullumu, and ubaru are all tribes which were located in the vicinity of Ninevehto the northeast, east, and southeast
137 As transliterated and translated in RIM A.0.74.2. 138 RIM A.0.76.1: 15b-17. 67 of the city. Taidu, Kahat, Kaiieri, and Harran were located in the Habur triangle (north Syria and south-Turkey)to the north and west of Aur. 139
In his revised standard introduction (A.0.76.3), Adad-n!r!r" I does not declare that the gods forced the submission of enemy kings; rather, he states that it is with the assistance of the gods that he is able to defeat his enemies: [ina] kakk! (GI.TUKUL.ME) dann$ti a d Aur b!l!ya (EN-ia) ina tukulti a d Anim d Enlil u d Ea Sn ( d 30) ama ( d UTU) Adad ( d IKUR) Itar ( d i 8 -tr) u Nergal ( d U.GUR) kaka il"ni (DINGIR.ME) rab$ti b!l!ya (EN.ME-ia) 140
With the powerful weapons of Aur, My Sovereign, (and) with the support of Anu, Enlil, and Ea, Sn, ama, Adad, Itar, and Nergal, the most violent of the fearsome gods, my Sovereigns
The enemies, in this case, are the kings of Hanigalbat: attuara and his son, Uasaatta. The armies which Adad-n!r!r" conquers are those listed in his earlier standard introduction (except for the Kassites). The register of gods, however, is different and somewhat peculiar in that it does not match any proper god-list, nor does it follow the previous list located in the first version of the standard introduction. While Anu, Aur, ama, Adad, and Itar are still present, Enlil, Ea, Sn, and Nergal are added to the roster. Only one additional inscription of Adad-n!r!r" I reports the deeds of a deity in an action unit. In this fragmentary inscription, a deity is said to lead the kings army: 9) i-na e-mu-q dan-na-t[i...] 10) !ina" ka-ak-ki da-an-nu-t[i...] 11) !a"li-kat pa-ni-[ia]
With the great strength [] with the mighty weapons [which Itar my mistress] who travels before me [had given me] 141
139 The Lullumu (or Lullubu), are a people closely associated with, if not equal to, the Qut (Gutium). Both are tribes which likely lived to the southeast of Aur in and around the Zagros Mountains. During the MA period, frequent skirmishes with this group are reported (Hurrowitz and Westenholz, LKA, 28-31). 140 RIM A.0.76.3: 22-26. 68 Though there is a lacuna where the subject of the crucial phrase should be, the remaining text contains the feminine participle "likat. This strongly suggests that Itar is meant; thus, according to this inscription, Itar not only led the battle, she also gave the king a mighty weapon with which he fought. Further down, the inscription records that the battle is against the Lullumu. In the inscriptions of almaneser I, it is again against the tribes surrounding Nineveh that the king claims aid from Itar. In a dedicatory inscription discovered at Nineveh, the king declares that he is: a ina tukulti Itar ( d i 8 -tr) b!lt#$ (NIN-u) e["li(?) kull]at n"kir#u in"ruma dabd z"er#u ina qereb t"h"zi iltakkan[uma(?)...]-gi-u-nu sakl$te ana !p (GR) d i 8 -tr b!lt#u ([N]IN-u) uekni[] 142
The one who, with the support of Itar, his sovereign, slew br[avely(?) a]ll of his enemies, established the defeat of his opponents in the midst of battle, and subjugated their barbarous [sheikhs(?)] at the feet of the Itar, his sovereign
The barbarous sheikhs are later identified as the Qut, Lullumu, and ubaru. Added to this list is another related tribe, the Mu!ri. Similarly, Tukult"-Ninurta I also claims to have subdued these regions. This time, however, the ruler claims to have, himself, muekni made the land bow. Located in two very different inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta I (one from Aur and one from K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta), are two, almost identical passages, in which Itar is again recorded as aiding the king in battle: ina GI tukulti a d Aur Enlil ( d BAD) u d ama il"ni (DINGIR.ME) rabti (GAL.ME) b!l#ya (EN.ME-ia) ina r!!$ti a Itar ( d i 8 -tr) b!lat (NIN-at) am &AN-!e")
141 RIM A.0.76.1001: 9-12. 142 RIM A.0.77.17: 4-6. 69 er!eti (KI-ti) ina pani umm"n[#]ya illik$ itti katiliau ar (MAN) m"t (KUR) Kardunia ana ep! tuqm"ti asniq abiktu umm"n"t!u akun 143
With the support of Aur, Enlil, and ama, the great gods, my lords, (and) with the aid of Itar, Sovereign of Heaven (and) the Earththey who travel before my armyI approached Katiliau, King of the land of Kardunia, to perform mles. I established a defeat of his troops.
This time, it is Itar, designated as b!let am u er!eti Sovereign of Heaven and Earth, who is reported to aid the king. This passage records that it is with the support (ina tukulti) of the gods Aur, Enlil, and ama and with the aid (ina r!!$ti) of Itar that Tukult"- Ninurta goes to war. The difference in the phrases ina tukulti and ina r!!$ti is of little import, as they are, essentially, synonymous. What is significant is that Itar is separated from the main contingency of gods by these different phrases. It is also of note that all of the gods lead the battle, not merely Itar. Slightly different versions of this passage are also located in at least two more inscriptions discovered at K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta (A.0.78.24 and A.0.78.25); however, in these versions no god is recorded to have assisted the king in his victory. 144
The inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta also record Itars request for a new temple. On a large stone block, which was discovered in the Itar temple at Aur, the king recalls: ina um!uma ina urr arr$t#ya (LUGAL-ti-ia) Itar ( d INANA) b!lt# (NIN) b#ta () an a el mahr ayak#a (.AN.NA-) quudu !riannima b!tu () lab#ru (TIL) ubat Itar ( d INANA) b!lt#ya (NIN-ia) a ina pana b!tu () !d!n ig"r (I.) ilt!n ana rim#t Itar ( d INANA) kunnuma u b#tu () ah$ru ina pan#u l" epu 145
At that time, at the beginning of my sovereignty, Itar, my Sovereign, requested from me another templeone that would be holier than her present temple. The old temple, the dwelling of Itar, my Sovereign, that one previously was founded
143 Cited here: RIM A.0.78.5: 48-57. RIM A.0.78.23: 56-68 has d INANA NIN AN KI for Itar b!lat (NIN -at) am (AN-e) er!eti (KI-ti). 144 Finally, this battle is also recorded in vivid detail in the Epic of Tukult#-Ninurta. 145 RIM A.0.78.11: 82-86. 70 as a one-room temple for Itar and the ah$ru temple had not yet been built
The block itself was one of the more exciting discoveries at Aur. It was discovered with two gold tablets, two silver tablets, and five lead tablets. Because of the quality of the endeavor, it is safe to say that the dedication and the erection of the temple were of great importance. Other than these final lines, the same text was inscribed on each of the metal tablets and on a stone block. The text shared by all examples includes a typical titulary for Tukult"-Ninurta I, followed by an action unit which records the erection of a new temple to Itar-Aur"tum. The concluding formula is typical. It includes prescriptions and proscriptions for a later ruler. It is only on the stone block, written after the concluding formulae, that the request for the building is found. No action is reported for Itar in the inscriptions of the kings which follow Tukult"-Ninurta I until the reign of Adad-n!r!r" II. In the Annals of Adad-n!r!r" II, Itar once again leads the Assyrian army: !ina qib#t" Aur b!li (EN) rab (GAL) b!l!ya (EN-ia) !u" d !Itar (i 8 -tr)" b!let qabli (MURUB 4 ) !u t"h"zi (M)" "likat pan"t umm"n"t#ya (RIN.HI.A.ME-ia) rap"ti (DAGAL.ME) 146
By the command of Aur, Great Sovereign, My Sovereign, and Itar, Sovereign of Combat and Battle, who travels before my vast troops
In this inscription, the king declares that Itar, designated as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi Sovereign of Combat and Battle, is the "likat pan"t umm"n"t#ya one who travels before my vast troops. She is reported to perform this role during only one campaign, the kings fifth attack on Hanigalbat. It is only in after this attack that the king states he has attained victory.
146 RIM A.0.99.2: 97. 71 Itar is not reported to lead the troops in the Annals of Aur-na!irpal II (A.0.101.1 and A.0.101.17); rather, the Urigallu is in front: ina GI tukulti Aur b!li (EN) rab (GAL) b!l#ya (EN-ia) u Urigalli ( d RI.GAL) "lik (DU) p"n#ya (IGI-ia) 147
With the support of Aur, Great Sovereign, my sovereign, and the Urigalli which travels before me
The Urigallu was, according to Grayson, the symbol of the martial god Nergal. 148 Itar is, however, part of a contingency of gods who lead the army in an inscription engraved on the Kurkh Monument. According to the king: Aur Adad ( d IKUR) Sn ( d 30) u ama Itar ( d INANA) il"ni (DINGIR.ME) rabti (GAL.ME) "lik$t p"ni (IGI) umm"n"t!ya (RIN.HI.A.ME-a) 149
Aur, Adad, Sn and ama, (and) Itar, the Great Gods who travel before my troops.
Although not leading the battle array, in the Annals of Aur-na!irpal II, Itar does seem to be in charge of war. At the beginning of the action unit, the king declares: ina bibl"t libb#ya (-ia) u tiri! q"t#ya (U-ia) Itar ( d INANA) b!ltu (GAAN) r"imat (GA) angt#ya (SANGA-ti-ia) lu tamgurannimma ep! qabli (MURUB 4 ) u t"h"zi (M) libbaa (-a) ublama 150
Because of my heartfelt offerings and my prayers, Itar, the sovereign who loves my priesthood, approved me and decided to make combat and battle.
In the same text, Itar, designated as the Sovereign of Nineveh, together with Aur, instructs Aur-na!irpal to depart on a campaign from Nineveh: ina qib#t Aur d Itar ( d INANA) il"ni (DINGIR.ME) rabti (GAL.ME) b!l#ya
147 RIM A.0.101.1: col. ii 25b-26a. The Urigallu is also recorded as leading the way in RIM A.0.101.1: col. ii 50b and in the duplicate inscription: RIM A.0.101.17. 148 RIMA II, n. 48, 134. 149 RIM A.0.101.19: 1-4 . 150 RIM A.0.101.1: 37b-38b, and A.0.101.1: 17 col. i 46b-49a. 72 (EN.ME-ia) itu (TA) "l (URU) Ninua attumu 151
By the command of Aur (and) Itar, the Great Gods, my sovereigns, I moved out from the city of Nineveh
This time the lands the king battles are specifically to the north of the city: Mount Nipur, Atkun, Uhu, Pilazithe lands of the Nairi (to the north of Nineveh [Urar"u]). 152
Itar is also recorded to support the king martially in the action units of two texts discovered at Nineveh (A.0.101.56 and A.0.101.66). In each text, Aur-na!irpal II declares that he is the king who campaigns: ina GI tukulti Aur Adad ( d IKUR) Itar ( d INANA) Ninurta ( d MA) il"ni (DINGIR.ME) r!!$u 153
With the support of Aur, Adad, Itar, (and) Ninurta, the gods, his allies
The list of campaigns after this statement is extensive. It includes the entirety of Syria, Hatti, Zamua, and Nairi; thus, it would seem that the region which the gods enable the king to conquer is the northern territories. By the middle of the reign of almaneser III, the great heroic king of Assyria began to lose his stature. Factions opposed to the king rose up and rebellions broke out in the annexed lands (e.g., Urar"u). Additionally, officials such as military commanders and l#mu became more influential. These officials became so powerful that they themselves began to have their own inscriptions made which recorded their own mighty feats. Schneider argues that this indicates a diminishing of the kings power and that it is most
151 RIM A.0.101.1: col. i 70, and A.0.101.1: 17: col. i (there is a lacuna where the text would be expected). 152 Karlheinz Kessler, ubria, Urartu and Aur: Topographical Questions around the Tigris Sources, Studies on the Annals of Ashurnasirpal II, ed. Mario Liverani (Rome: University of Rome, 1992), 55-67. 153 RIM A.0.101.56: 7 and A.0.101.66: 4b. 73 noticeable in the inscriptions of almaneser from the second half of his reign. 154 Gone from these inscriptions is the mighty prose of the majestic king with his god-like prowess and divine helpers. The action units in the inscriptions from the end of almaneser IIIs reign read more like chronicles, dry in their depiction of events.
3.3 Catalog Enlil-n"r"r! I A.74.1001 [ ina q-bi-i]t d UTU d IKUR [ d itar]
By the command of ama, Adad, and Itar
Adad-n"r"r! I A.0.76.1 155 LUGAL U.NGIN ma-al-ki ru-be-e a-ur d UTU d IKUR d i 8 -tr a-na e-pi-u -e-ek-ni-u
The king, at whose feet, all rulers and princes, Anu, Aur, ama, Adad, and Itar subjugated
A.0.76.3 156 i-na tu-kl-ti d a-nim d en-ll d -a d 30 d UTU d IKUR d i 8 -tr d U.GUR ka- a-ka-a DINGIR.ME ra-a-bu-ti EN.ME-ia
With the support of Aur, My Sovereign, (and) with the assistance of Anu, Enlil, and Ea, Sn, ama, Adad, Itar, and Nergal, the most violent of the fearsome gods, my Sovereigns
A.76.1001 i-na e-mu-q da-an-na-t[i...] [i-na] ka-ak-ki da-an-nu-t[i...] [a]-li-ka-at pa-ni-[ia] i-na KUR lu-ul-lu-ma-a [a(?) gipi/hissat(?)] li-ib-bi-ia [...] a ka-a-di [...]a ku-un-nu- i
almaneser I A.0.77.17 a i-na tu-kl-ti ! d "i 8 -tr NIN-u e["-li-i(?) kl-l]a-at na-ki-ri-u i-na-ru- ma db-du za-e-ri-u i-na q-reb ta-ha-zi il-ta-ka-n[u-ma(?)...]-gi-u-nu sa-ak-lu-te a-na GR d i 8 -tr [N]IN-u -e-ek-ni-i[]
The one who, with the support of Itar, his sovereign, slew br[avely(?) a]ll of his enemies,
154 Schneider, A New Analysis, 76 ff. 155 Also, RIM A.0.76.7, A.0.76.8, A.0.76.13, A.0.76.16, A.0.76.19, A.0.76.20, A.0.76.21. 156 Also, RIM A.0.76.4, A.0.76.5, A.0.76.6, and A.0.76.22. 74 established the defeat of his opponents in the midst of battle, and subjugated their barbarous [sheikhs(?)] at the feet of the Itar, his sovereign
Tukult!-Ninurta I A.0.78.5 ina gi tukul-ti d a-ur d BAD d -ma DINGIR.ME GAL.ME EN.ME-ia i- na re-!u-ti d i 8 -tr NIN-at AN-e KI-ti i-na pa-ni um-ma-ni-ia il-li-ku
With the support of Aur, Enlil, and ama, the great gods, my lords, (and) with the aid of Itar, Sovereign of Heaven (and) the Earththey who travel before my army
A.0.78.23 i-na gi tukul-ti d a-ur d BAD d -ma DINGIR.ME GAL.ME EN.ME-ia i-na re-!u-ti d INANA NIN AN KI i-na pa-ni um-ma-na-te-ia il-li-ku
With the support of Aur, Enlil, and ama, the great gods, my lords, (and) with the aid of Itar, Sovereign of Heaven (and) the Earththey who travel before my army
A.0.78.11 d INANA NIN -na-a el mah-ri-i .AN.NA- qu-u-du i-ri--ni-ma Itar, my Sovereign, requested from me another templeone that would be holier than her present temple.
Adad-n"r"r! II A.0.99.2 !ina qib#t" a-ur EN GAL EN-ia ! " d !i 8 -tr" be-lit MURUB 4 ! M" a- lik-at pa-na-at RIN.HI.A.ME-ia DAGAL.ME
By the command by Aur, Great Sovereign, My Sovereign, and Itar, Sovereign of Combat and Battle, who travels before my vast troops
Aurna! !! !irpal II A.0.101.1 ina bi-ib-lat -ia u ti-ri-i U-ia d INANA GAAN GA SANGA-ti-ia lu tam- gu-ra-ni-ma e-pe MURUB 4 u M -a ub-la-ma
Because of my heartfelt offerings and my prayers, Itar, the sovereign who loves my priesthood, accepted me and decided to make combat and battle.
A.0.101.17 ina bi-ib-lat -ia u ti-ri-i! U-ia d INANA GAAN GA SANGA-ti-ia lu tam- gu-ra-ni-ma e-pe MURUB 4 u M -a ub-la-ma
Because of my heartfelt offerings and my prayers, Itar, the sovereign who loves my priesthood, accepted me and decided to make combat battle.
A.0.101.1 ina q-bit a-ur d INANA DINGIR.ME GAL.ME EN.ME-ia TA URU ni-nu-a at-tu-mu
By the command of Aur and Itar, the Great Gods, my sovereigns, I moved out from the city of Nineveh
75 A.0.101.17 [ina q-bit a-ur d INANA DINGIR.ME GAL.ME EN.ME-ia TA URU ni-nu-a at-tu-mu]
By the command of Aur and Itar, the Great Gods, my sovereigns, I moved out from the city of Nineveh
A.0.101.19 a-ur d IKUR d 30 u d -ma d INANA DINGIR.ME GAL.ME a-li-ku-ut IGI RIN.HI.A.ME-a
Aur, Adad, Sn and ama, (and) Itar, the Great Gods who go before my troops.
A.0.101.56 [e"lu qardu ] ina GI TUKUL-ti a-ur d IKUR d INANA d MA !DINGIR".ME re-!i-u DU.DU-ku-ma
He is the heroic warrior who perpetually campaigns with the support of Aur, Adad, Itar, (and) Ninurta, the gods, his allies.
A.0.101.66 e"-lu qar-du a ina GI TUKUL-ti a-ur d IKUR d !INANA(?)" d MA DINGIR.ME GAL.ME EN.ME- it-tal-la-ku-ma
He is the heroic warrior who perpetually campaigns with the support of Aur, Adad, Itar, (and) Ninurta, the Great Gods, his sovereigns.
3.4 Analysis Itar performs actions in the action unit of the inscriptions of six kings in EARI. All reigned during either the early MA or early NA periods. During the early MA period, Itars actions are recorded in the action units of the inscriptions of Enlil-n!r!r" I, Adad- n!r!r" I, almaneser I, and Tukult"-Ninurta I. In inscriptions dating to the early NA period, she is mentioned in the inscriptions of Adad-n!r!r" II and Aur-na!irpal II. From the above survey of the attestations, two different types of actions may be differentiated for Itar: she commands the king (to war and to build a temple) and she supports the king on the battlefield. Thus, her ultimate function in the action unit is to aid and legitimate the king in warfare and to approve of certain forms of temple construction. From the above survey, it can also be determined that Itar performs these actions in different 76 manifestations and in relation to different lands. It is the purpose of the following discussion to determine if correlations between certain manifestations of Itar, certain actions attributed to her, and the lands to which she is connected can be ascertained.
3.4.1 Divine Commands The phrase ina qib#t DN (or the equivalent ina siqir DN) by the command of the god is a somewhat common phrase [which expresses] divine sanction. 157 In Assyrian royal inscriptions, this divine approval is most frequently attested after the reign Tiglath- pileser I. Before this time, it was employed only sporadically. Though it can indicate a variety of concerns, this divine authorization generally pertains to military matters. This is certainly the case for the attestations which have Itar as the source of the approval. In his investigation into the reasons for the use of the phrase ina qib#t before acts of war, Bustenay Oded determines seven reasons why a king proclaims that he was commanded: 1. only the gods have the legitimate right to declare war 2. as the patrons of all treaties, the king was the executor of any sentence proclaimed by them 3. because the war is sanctioned by the gods, it is given a religious dimension, it becomes holy 4. the king is not only the executor of the sentence of the gods, but the very weapon with which that sentence is carried out 5. the king is responsible to the godsnot the people 6. by proclaiming that he has been divinely commanded, the king emphasizes his intimacy with the divine sphere 7. if he has been divinely commanded, he is assured of divine support on the battlefield 158
Oded concludes that use of the phrase ina qib#t DN was a method by which the king
157 Bustenay Oded, War and Peace and Empire: Justifications for War in Assyrian Royal Inscriptions (Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag: Wiesbaden, 1992), 9. 158 Ibid., 10-26. 77 justified his various acts; however, he further notes that it is also an expression of the principle of divine control over international relations. 159
In the main, Aur is the lone god who oversees international affairs in EARI; thus, he is the god who most often commands the king to war. As the tutelary deity of the Assyrian kings, his authority over the martial activities of a king is expected. Deviations from this norm are indicative of special circumstances. In the fragmentary inscription of Enlil-n!r!r" I, Itar (sans designation), together with ama and Adad, orders the king to war with a city whose name is illegible. 160 When paired, ama and Adad are generally assumed to function as deities of divination. This duo is first attested as controlling extispicy (in addition to their more expected roles as the god of the Sun and the god of weather, respectively) during the OB period. 161 The first attestation in EARI of the phrase ina qib#t DN likely connotes an extispicy and occurs in an inscription ascribed to the OB king am"-Adad I (A.0.39.1001). In the inscription, the king declares that he was commanded by Enlil (ina qib#t) to attack Arrapha, a traditionally Hurrian city lying just east of Aur and just north of Nuzi. Later in the text, after his capture of this city, am"- Adad states that he made a sacrifice to ama and Adad. Unfortunately, the text is broken where a reason for this sacrifice would perhaps have been given. This sacrifice may indicate that, though the two gods were not said to command the king, they conveyed the
159 Ibid., 26. 160 RIM A.0.74.2. 161 W. G. Lambert, Babylonian Oracle Questions (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2007), 1-10. According to Lambert, the divine sovereigns of the tam#tu, extispicy, were ama and Adad. Adad in this role is generally referred to as the b!l b#ri, Sovereign of the (liver) Inspection, while ama is b!l d#ni, Sovereign of the Verdict. According to Lambert, this role should not be confused with ama other role as the day"n am u er!eti, Judge of Heaven and Earth, which, Lambert contends, alluded to ordinary matters of justice. 78 command of Enlil to him. 162
During the OB period at Sippar, Itar is also connected to the divinatory gods ama and Adad under the guise of the deity Ihara. Ihara is typically designated as the b!let b#ri Sovereign of the Extispicy. 163 One may even go so far as to suggest that, since Adad and Ihara bear the same title Sovereign of the Extispicy, they would have performed an interchangeable role. The worship of Ihara at Aur is recorded in an inscription of Adad-n!r!r" (A.0.76.15), in which the king declares that he renovated a room for Ihara in the large Itar complex. This king also seems to connect Itar to ama and Adad in the earlier of his two standard introductions (A.0.76.1). In this text, the king states that Anu, Aur, ama, Adad, and Itar caused Hurrian tribes to be subjugated to him. Generally, in early EARI, Adad is listed with Anu. Here, Anu is listed before Aur, while Adad is listed between ama and Itar. It is possible, then, that, though not specified as such, in the inscriptions of Enlil-n!r!r" I and Adad-n!r!r" I behind the name Itar lays Ihara, the goddess of oracles. In the remaining three texts in which Itar commands the king to war, Hanigalbat and the Ninevite region are the objects of the attack. In the Annals of Adad-n!r!r" II, Itar, designated as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi, is said to both lead the army of Adad-n!r!r" II, and to command the king to war (together with Aur). This campaign was against Hanigalbat. Although Adad-n!r!r" records several campaigns against this land, this is the only time
162 Unfortunately, the usage of extispicy is notoriously difficult to ascertain from the vague language found in the royal inscriptions. See, Beate Pongratz-Leisten, Herrschaftswissen in Mesopotamien: Formen der Kommunikation zwischen Gott und Knig in 2. und 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr (Helsinki: Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus, 1999). 163 Meyers, ama, 137-138. Meyers also notes that Ihara was brought to Sippar from Mari with Dag!n (who in turn was equated with Enlil). 79 Itar is mentioned in relation to them. It is also only after this campaign that the king claims total victory over the region and the acquisition of tribute. No god is reported to have ordered the king to wage war for the first four attempts against Hanigalbat. It may be inferred then that it is because Aur and Itar (specifically Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi) aided his campaign, and because Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi led his troops, that the king was finally victorious. In an identical passage in two Annals of Aur-na!irpal II, Itar commands the king to campaign from the city-state of Nineveh. Because the goddess is referred as a Great God in partnership with Aur, it may be assumed that Itar of Nineveh is the manifestation who performs this action. 164
3.4.2 Martial Support Itar is said to provide support (tukultu or r!!$tu) to the campaigns of the MA kings Adad-n!r!r" I, almaneser I, and Tukult"-Ninurta I. The phrase ina tukulti (or ina r!!$ti)) is not attested in EARI until the inscriptions of Adad-n!r!r" I and it, too, rarely occurs until the inscription of Tiglath-pileser I. As with ina qib#t, it is attested in the later version of Adad-n!r!r"s introduction and in only a single inscription of almaneser. It also occurs in several inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta, including his standard inscription. It has been proposed that unlike ina qib#t DN, which signifies a direct command imparted to the king by a god, the phrases ina tukulti DN and ina r!!$ti DN indicate the presence of a divine retinue which accompanies the king onto the battlefield.
164 As will be demonstrated, by the NA period, this particular manifestation of Itar (Itar of Nineveh) becomes referred to as Great God. This designation also comes to be applied to Aur during this period. 80 In his investigation of the presence of gods on campaigns, Thomas W. Mann refers to this accompaniment as the divine vanguard motif. 165 According to Mann, the divine vanguard motif is a visual depiction of the king flanked by certain gods as he marches to war. The motif is best illustrated in literary texts, particularly from Babylon. 166 In Assyrian texts, examples of the motif are most vibrant in the epics of the Assyrian kings. In EARI, they may be present, but are less detailed, energetic, and vibrant. The simple explanation for this is that the royal inscriptions tend to be formulaic in nature. Mann concludes that in Assyrian royal inscriptions, the divine vanguard motif is suggested by four different formulae: (l) general references to divine help (usually tukultu); (2) references to the god(s) standing at the side of (idu) the king; (3) expressions of the god(s) going before [especially ina mahri and ina p!n(i)] the king; (4) images of the terrifying splendor (melammu) and fearsomeness (puluhtu) of the gods or their armament employed by the king. 167
Victor Hurowitz and Joan Westenholz suggest that the background for the motif may be the practice of bringing divine standards onto the battlefield. They cite as an example the bronze lightning bolts (birqu) said to have been set up by Hunusa in the Annals of Tiglath-pileser I. They suggest that, because Adad was a major partner to the king, Adads standard, the birqu lightning rod, was placed on the battlefield during times of
165 Thomas W. Mann, Divine Presence and Guidance in Israelite Traditions the Typology of Exaltation, (Ph.D. diss., Yale University, 1975). For further discussion on divine standards in battle see, Westenholz and Hurrowitz, LKA 63, 34ff; see also, Sa-Moon Kang, Divine War in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East (Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1989). 166 Hurowitz and Westenholz, LKA 63, 30-35. 167 As listed in Mann, Divine Presence, 93. 81 war. A further example is found in the OB legend Nar"m-Sn and the Lord of Apial. In this text, the emblems of Annun"tum and i-labba are said accompany the king in battle. 168
Although not treated by Mann in his analysis, occasionally the battle stations for Itar, Adad, and Nergal (who is, at times replaced by/equated with Nusku, Erra, or Ninurta) are reported in texts. In the fragmentary inscription of Adad-n!r!r" (A.0.76.1001), Itar is likely the deity who leads the battle against the Lullumu; thus, her station is at the head of the battle. She is also recorded as leading the battle in the inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta I (A.0.78.1 and A.0.78.5) and Adad-n!r!r" II (A.0.99.2). In Sumerian examples of the motif, Itar is regularly said to head the battle. In the hymn ulgi X, Itar declares in [the campaign] I will be the one who goes before you. 169
When Itar is said to attack the mountain Ebih in the Sumerian poem nin. me. ar. ra, it is said that in the van of battle (igi. m) everything is struck down by you (Itar). 170 In this same text, Adad is said to be at her side. 171 Itar also leads the battle in Hittite texts. In the Apology of Hattuili, Itar directs the king to warfare. In the introduction to the Apology, Hattuili III (c. 1267-1240) eloquently describes how, because Itar approved of him, the goddess not only instructed him to take military action, but marched before him in certain battles. 172
168 Joan Westenholz, Legends of the Kings of Akkade (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1997), 180-181. 169 ulgi X 28-30, as presented in Jacob Klein, Three ulgi Hymns, 124-66. 170 ni n. me. ar. ra 26 in edited by Annette Zgoll in Der Rechtsfall der En-hedu-Ana im Lied nin-me-ara. Mnster: Ugarit-Verlag, 1997. 171 Ibid. 172 Hallo and K. Lawson Younger, The Context of Scripture (Leiden, Brill: 2002), No. 1.77hereafter, COS. 82 Itar may also lead the battle in the second version of the standard inscription of Adad-n!r!r" I (A.0.78.3). As noted above, in this text, the king states that he was victorious in battle because of the powerful weapons of Aur, and the tukulti a
Anim Enlil u Ea Sn ama Adad Itar u Nergal support of Anu, Enlil, and Ea, Sn, ama, Adad, Itar, and Nergal. This list of the gods is peculiar. It does not match any proper god-list, nor does it follow the previous list located in the first version of the standard introduction. In the first version, the list was: Anu, Aur, Enlil, ama, Adad, and Itar. Using the scribes placement of the conjunction and (u) as a guide, the list of gods in A.0.78.3 can be divided in the following manner: Anu, Enlil, and Ea; Sn and ama; and Adad, Itar, and Nergal. Particularly striking is the placement of Itar in the list. When gods are listed in EARI, as a general rule, Itar is always listed in the final position. It is the jarring position of Itar that gives a hint as to how it should be read. If understood as the first fully extant example of the divine vanguard motif in EARI, then Itar was indeed considered to be leader of Adad-n!r!r"s army. If Adad, Itar, and Nergal are a trio, the list follows the convention which placed Adad to Itars left and Nergal to her right. It is a visual representation of the divine vanguard formation. As viewed from the vantage point of the king and the successive battle ranks, the order is as follows: Adad (left) Itar (center)Nergal (right). These battle stations for Adad and Nergal are also attested in the Epic tradition. A piece of the unpublished Epic of Zimri-Lim from Mari reports that when the king marches into battle: illak Addum ina um!l#u Erra d"pinum-ma ina imn#u 173
173 Epic of Zimri-Lim 141-142, as presented by Martti Nissinen in Prophets and Prophecy. 83 Adad goes at his left side, Erra (Nergal), the ferocious one, at his right side
In the Epic of Tiglath-pileser, during the great battle recorded in that text, Nusku (who is here substituted for Nergal), is said to be imnuu on (the kings) right and Adad, is said to be um!luu on his left: ina mahr#$ma (IGI--ma) d Enlil (BE) ana tuqmate ireddu d Itar (U-DAR) b!let t! dekssu ana qabli (MURUB 4 ) [t]amehma d Ninurta (MA) aarid (SAG) il"ni (DINGIR.ME) panuu imnuu d Nusku (ENADA) kullat ay"b# iaggi um!luu nakr! (KR.ME) irahhi! d Addu 174
In front of him (Tiglath-Pileser), Enlil leads him into war. Itar, Lady of Turmoil, stirs him to battle. Ninurta, foremost of the gods, takes (position) at his fore. On his right, Nusku massacres all the enemies. On his left, Addu devastates the foes
Although Aur and Ninurta are said to lead this battle, they do not appear to be alone at the head of vanguard. In the text, Itar, though not said to be specifically at the fore of the army, is listed between the two gods who are said to be at the front. Finally, in the inscriptions of Aur-b#l-kala the king declares that: Ninurta (replacing Nergal) "lik imn#ya travels at my right hand and Adad "lik um!l#ya travels at my left. 175
3.4.3 Request Finally, in the entire corpus of Assyrian royal inscriptions treated in this study, only three requests made by gods are reported: two are made by the god Aur, one of which occurs in the inscriptions of alim-ahum, while the other occurs in the inscriptions
174 LKA 63 rev. 6-8 as presented in Hurowitz and Westenholz, LKA 63hereafter, LKA 63. 175 RIM A.0.89.5:3-4 and A.0.89.2 9-10. Each passage is in a very fragmentary state. 84 of Tukult"-Ninurta I; 176 and one which is made by Itar, also located in the inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta. 177 In all three inscriptions, new structures are requested. In the alim- ahum inscription, Aur requests a temple (this is presumed to be the first temple dedicated to Aur in the city): alim-ahum iiak (NSI) Aur KI m"r (DUMU) Puzur-Aur iiak (NSI) Aur KI d Aur b!ta () !rissuma b!t () bu-x-mi(?) ana mutima !pu u Ekal (.GAL) x- Dag"n k$mu i!"r#u x x x x b!t () hub$ri u ab$s#u ana bal""#(u) u bal"" a[l#]u (erasure) ana Aur Lacuna 178
alim-ahum, Governor of Aur, son of Puzur-Aur, Governor of Aur: Aur requested of him a temple (and) he built for eternity the temple bu-x-mi(?) and the palace of... (-)Dag!nits shrine, its temple area, ... its house of beer vats and storage area for (his) life and the life of his city (erasure)for Aur. Lacuna
In a series of inscriptions which report the construction of the new city, K!r-Tukult"- Ninurta, it is Aur who not only requests, but also orders Tukult"-Ninurta to erect the city as a new place of worship for the god. Grayson surmises that the addition of the request was intended as a revised replacement for part of the report on the construction of the temple. 179 Morrison, who has analyzed the inscription in some depth, agrees with this assessment, adding that the tablets which do not contain the additional lines were found buried in the foundations of the temple, while the stone block was situated outside of it. 180 This is a different situation from that in the inscription of alim-ahum and the series of Tukult"-Ninurta. In each of these inscriptions, Aurs request is located in the body of the text. What is similar is the
176 RIM A.0.78.22-25. 177 RIM A.0.78.11. 178 RIM A.0.31.1:24 179 Grayson, RIMA, 255. 180 Morrison, A Form-Critical Study, 168. 85 choice of the verb er!um to ask, request, desire. 181 This verb is the typical verb used to express a gods wishes. It is generally employed in connection with a god when the god requests something not for him- or herself, but rather for a plaintiff. In his work on Assyrian royal inscriptions which contain reports of building construction, Morrison notes that, even in Sumerian inscriptions, it is rare to find a blatant request by a god for a new temple. 182
3.5 Conclusion In the action units of EARI, three different Itars may be delineated, each with different company, territorial reign, and responsibilities. As the b!let qabli u t"h"zi Itar seems to have martial jurisdiction over the land of Hanigalbat. She leads the kings army and her divine company is Aur, Adad, and Ninurta; furthermore, she provides weapons to the king. As the b!let am u er!eti, Itar both commands (qib#t), and provides aid to (r!!$tu), the king during his battle with the Kassites. In this capacity, she acts independently; however, she is accompanied by Aur, Enlil, ama, and Adad. With these gods she leads the kings army (ina pani umm"n[#]ya illiku). Finally, as the Sovereign of Nineveh, Itar acts similarly to Itar as b!let am u er!eti. She commands the king to war (qib#t), and supports him (tukultu) in victory. In these achievements, she acts alone, or together with Aur. She further has the ability to make combat and battle (ep! qabli u t"h"zi). She does this independently. The territories over which she
181 CAD E, 281. 182 Morrison, A Form-Critical Study, 192. Morrison contends that a divine request for a temple may be found in only six other (Sumerian) royal inscriptions (ascribed to only three different rulers). Morrison further argues that it is only in the Assyrian examples that the gods intention is made explicit by stating that a god requested (er!um) the work, while the rest are vague and contain no account of a request. 86 commands are the surrounds of Nineveh, perhaps as far north as Urar"u. This leads to the conclusion that there is a correlation between a particular designation of Itar and the areas she commands or aids the kings in acquiring. In her varying guises as a martial deity, Itar is portrayed as a major force behind the throne; the king attains and expands his empire with her assistance. She is central to the ability of these kings to rule and maintain their supremacy. In the main, these actions are performed in connection to the conquest of lands which lie in traditionally Hurrian territory; however, in certain instances, these actions are performed against the Kassites. In the inscriptions of Adad-n!r!r" I and II, and Aur-na!irpal II, Itar is connected to Hanigalbat (north Syria and south-western Turkey). Itar acts in connection to the tribes surrounding Nineveh (the Qut, Lullumu, and ubaru) in the inscriptions of Adad-n!r!r" I and almaneser I. Similarly, in the inscriptions of Aur-na!irpal II, she is connected to Nairi. Finally, Itar, acts in relation to the Kassites in the inscriptions of Enlil-n!r!r" I, Adad-n!r!r", and Tukult"-Ninurta I.
Chapter 4: CONCLUDING FORMULA
4.1 Diagram and Purpose The concluding formula is an optional literary unit located at the end of an inscription, after the action unit, when the author ceases narrating the kings past achievements and in some way looks to the future. 183 In most cases, this future is bleak, for the primary purpose of the unit is to affect the behavior of a future ruler towards the inscription and the object inscribed. Since there was a very real threat of vandalism to such objects, this paranoia was not unwarranted. Inscriptions were routinely defaced, reused, or simply dismissed. Alternatively, kings yearned to have their stelae attended to; thus, the fear was not only of mutilation, but also of a general lack of respect towards the object and, hence, the king. In concluding formulae, rulers routinely request to have their inscriptions returned to their original locations if moved and that various oblations be undertaken in honor of the king. In an effort to compel and dissuade the future ruler,
183 Cheryl Meltzer, Concluding Formulae in Ancient Mesopotamian Royal Inscriptions: The Assyrian Sources, (Ph.D. diss., Toronto University, 1984), 51. 88 various gods are called upon either to aid the future king during his reign or, more frequently, to inflict various forms of devastation upon him. Rarely, a second blessing was placed on the object for the king whose inscription it was. The purpose of this blessing was to ensure the well-being of this king, his family, and the city during his actual lifetime. In her extensive survey of concluding formula, Cheryl Meltzer, demonstrates that the majority of concluding formula can be divided into three segments: an address to a future prince (with or without blessing), a maledictory section, and (rarely) a benedictory formula. 184 The address to a future prince (AFP) contains the instructions for a future ruler who happened upon the inscription (and the object upon which it was inscribed). After this list of instructions, this initial segment generally concludes with a short benedictory element. The succeeding maledictory section contains various punitive actions which the gods are invoked to perform upon non-complaint future rulers; however, very occasionally, this maledictory section can also contain invocations for positive actions for the benefit of a compliant future ruler. According to Meltzer, the benedictory formula begins to appear sporadically in inscriptions during the early NA period. In this segment, the blessings for the reigning king are requested.
4.2 Address to a Future Prince The AFP contains a list of future actions it would behoove a succeeding ruler to follow. 185 As Meltzer defines it, the AFP regularly begins with a temporal element (e.g., en$ma) and closes with the short benedictory element: DN ikrib!u iemme DN will
184 Meltzer, Concluding Formulae, 141-145 . 185 Morrison, A Form-Critical Study, 215-220. 89 hear his ikribu. Meltzer diagrams the segment into five elements: temporal element (en$ma), mention of the future prince (rub ark clause), conditions (an"hu clause), actions the future prince must take (tru clause), and the benediction (am clause). 186
Four of these segments are present in the following example from the inscriptions of am"-Adad: in$ma b#tum () innahuma mamman ina arr# (LUGAL.ME) m"r#ya a b#tam () uddau temm!n#ya u narya amnam () lipu niq#am liqq#ma ana ariunu lit!run$ti
When the temple becomes dilapidated: whoever among the kings, my sons whoever may renovate the templemay he anoint my clay inscriptions and my stelae with oil; may he perform a sacrifice; (and) may he return them to their places.
This passage can be broken down as such:
temporal element (en!ma):
in$ma When
conditions (an"hu clause):
b#tum () innahuma the temple becomes dilapidated:
mention of the future prince (rub ark clause):
mamman ina arr# (LUGAL.ME) m"r#ya a b#tam () uddau
whoever among the kings, my sonswhoever may renovate the temple
actions the future prince must take (tru clause):
temm!n#ya u narya amnam () lipu niq#am liqq#ma ana ariunu
May he anoint my clay inscriptions and my stelae with oil; may he perform a sacrifice; (and) may he return them to their places.
The fifth segment, the am clause, is not present in the am"-Adad inscription. It is not
186 Meltzer, Concluding Formulae, 187. 90 attested in until the inscriptions of Puzur-Aur III (16 th cent.). Always placed after the instructive section, the am clause is attested in two versions, one short and one extended: short benediction (am clause): Aur u Adad ikrib!u Aur and Adad will hear his ikribu 187
extended benediction (am clause): ! d INANA" b!let "l nin<> !ik"rib!u iemme ina t"h"z# a arr"ni ara taqr!ubte am"mar libb!u luss$u 188
Since there is neither the conjunction u nor a coordinating ma at the end ikrib!u, it is uncertain if the syntax of the extended blessing should be translated: Itar, Sovereign of the city of Nineveh, will hear his ikribu. May she, in battles between kings on the battlefield, cause him to attain his hearts desire
Or: Itar, Sovereign of the city of Nineveh, will hear his ikribu and then may she, in battles between kings on the battlefield, cause him to attain his hearts desire
Thus, it is unclear if victory in battle is contingent upon the hearing of an ikribu or if the ikribu is entirely separate. It is also not obvious if the hearing of the ikribu is contingent upon the future rulers construction efforts (or dedication), upon his compliance with the instructions listed in the tru clause, or, perhaps, both. After the reign of Puzur-Aur, the short benediction is consistently invoked in EARI. The extended benediction is not attested before the reign of Tukult"-Ninurta II.
187 RIM A.0.61.1: 11-15. 188 RIM A.0.101.56: 17c-18b. 91 4.2.1 Attestations Only a few EARI contain a am clause until the reign of Aur-uballi" I. 189 In all of these early instances the subjects of the benediction are the gods Aur and Adad and, in each case, the action unit records work done on secular city structures (i.e., a wall, not a temple). 190 In the inscriptions of Aur-uballi", the strict use of the am clause only in connection with Aur and Adad appears to loosen. In an inscription which reports the renovation of the palace in the New City, the god B!l-arri (EN.LUGAL) is added to the gods Aur and Adad. 191 It is also in an inscription of this king that Itar, designated as Itar-kudnittu ( d INANA kud-ni-it-tum), is added to the names of Aur and Adad. Unlike the previous examples, in this text, the renovation of the Itar temple at Aur is mentioned. 192
It is not until the inscriptions of Arik-d#n-ili that the am clause contains no mention of either Aur or Adad. 193 In a dedicatory inscription to ama, the deity of justice, Arik-d#n-ili reports that the high-place (presumably in Aur) where decisions concerning the land had once taken place had become over-run by unauthorized shrines; thus, the ruler demolishes the shrines and reinstates the worship of ama. In the ATF, only ama is the subject of the am clause. This seems to set a precedent, for it is only
189 Enlil-n!!ir I texts RIM A.0.62.1001 & 1002 and Puzur-Aur III texts RIM A.0.61.1 RIM A.0.61.2 include am clauses. 190 RIM A.0.62.1001 and 1002; RIM A.0.69.1; and, RIM A.0.74.1. Construction of the New Palace: RIM A.0.73.1 and 2. 191 RIM A.0.73.1. 192 RIM A.0.73.4. 193 RIM A.0.75.1. 92 in inscriptions relating to new temple construction to a specific deity (or to a set of deities) that a gods name is invoked in the AFP without mention of Aur or Adad. 194
Until the reign of Tiglath-pileser I, all inscriptions in which Itar is the subject of the am clause record construction work on specific Itar sanctuaries. Reconstruction work on the Itar temple is recorded in two Ninevite examples from the inscriptions of almaneser I. 195 The same situation exists in the inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta I. All five of this kings inscriptions which have Itar as the subject of the am clause refer to construction work on chapels dedicated to various incarnations of Itar. The chapels are all at Aur. The short benediction is evident in four of these texts; however, the specific manifestation of Itar is different in each am clause. In one, it is Itar (whose name is written with the logogram d INANA), in a second it is Itar (this time with her name written syllabically), and, in a third, it is D"n"tu; 196 however, in a fourth dedicatory inscription recording work done to the D"n"tu chapel, it is the god Aur who is the subject of the short benediction. 197 Finally, no benediction is present in a text which records work done to the sanctuary of d Nu-na-i-tu. 198
Only two of the inscriptions ascribed to Aur-r#a-ii I record construction work performed on the Itar temple at Nineveh. 199 In one of these, Itar, now designated as the b!ltu rab#tu Great Sovereign, is the subject of the short benediction. She is also the
194 RIM A.0.78.18 which reports the renovation of the temple to Sn and ama; RIM A.0.78.23 which reports the building of the temples to multiple gods at K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta. 195 RIM A.0.77.17 and A.0.77.18. 196 RIM A.0.78.11, A.0.78.13, and A.0.78.14, respectively. 197 RIM A.0.78.16. 198 RIM A.0.78.17. 199 RIM A.0.86.1 and A.0.86.2. 93 subject in the second; however, she has no further specific designation attributed to her (e.g., b!ltu rab#tu). In two inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser I, it is again Itar of Nineveh, this time together with the god Aur, who is implored to approve of the ikribu of a future prince; 200 however, the inscriptions report on renovations to the kings palace in addition to Itars temple at Nineveh. It is also possible that, in a third inscription of Tiglath- Pileser I, Itar performs a benediction since it deals specifically with reconstruction work on her temple at Nineveh. Unfortunately, there is a lacuna where the phrase would be located. 201 All of the great gods are mentioned in an inscription of Aur-d!n II, which reports on construction of the Craftsmans gate at Aur. 202
The tradition of pairing Itar of Nineveh with Aur continues in the inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta II. In a fragmentary tablet found at Aur, Aur, who is designated as the b!lu rab great god, and Itar of Nineveh are the subjects of the am clause. 203
The action unit of this inscription does not record work done at Nineveh or work on any Itar temple. Instead, the inscription records work done on a wall at Baltil, the oldest quarter in the city of Aur. Added to the brief benedictory element is the first attestation of a longer benedictory element. The blessing is a simple one. In it, in order to cause martial success for a future ruler the king invokes Aur and Itar of Nineveh: ina t"h"z# a arr"ni aar taqr$bte ammar libb#u lu am!u may they, in battles between kings on the battlefield, cause him to attain his hearts desire. This blessing is the first of several extended benedictions of which Itar is consistently the subject. Since it is the
200 RIM A.0.87.10 and 11 201 RIM A.0.87.12 202 RIM A.0.98.3 203 RIM A.0.100.2 94 first, it will hereafter be referred to as A. Finally, in two additional inscriptions attributed to Tukult"-Ninurta II which were discovered at Aur, it is once again Aur and Adad who are the subjects of the simple am clause. 204 These texts record work done on a wall at Aur. After the reign of Tukult"-Ninurta II, neither the short nor the longer benedictory element is attested consistently in inscriptions. Grayson concludes that it is likely that the practice of including the phrase went out of fashion. 205 Of the seven inscriptions of Aur-na!irpal II which do contain either the shorter or longer am clause, Itar is either the lone subject or one of the subjects in six. 206 Two of these inscriptions were discovered at Nineveh (A.101.40 and A.0.101.56). The remaining three were discovered at Kalhu (A.0.101.26; A.0.101.28; A.0.101.32; and, A.0.101.38). In each of the Ninevite texts, Aur-na!irpal II claims not only to have performed military victories, but also to have done extensive work on the Itar temple in Nineveh. In A.0.101.56, which is located on multiple cones, Itar, as b!let Ninua, is the lone subject of the am clause. As in the previous example of Tiglath-pileser II (also discovered at Nineveh), both a short and a long benedictory element are present: ! d INANA" b!let "l (URU) nin<> !ik"rib!u iemme ina t"h"z# (M) a arr"ni (MAN.ME-ni) ara taqr!ubte am"mar libb!u luss$u 207
Itar, Sovereign of the city of Nineveh, will hear his ikribu. May she, in battles between kings on the battlefield, cause him to attain his hearts desire
204 RIM A.0.100.3 and 5. 205 Grayson comments briefly on this phenomenon by noting that he can find no reason for the departure from the norm (RIMA III, 257). 206 In a single inscription discovered at Imgur-Enlil, Aur, together with the god Mamu, are invoked in the benediction (RIM A.0.101.50). 207 RIM A.0.101.56: 17c-18b. 95 The second example, A.0.101.40, is considered the standard Ninevite inscription. It was engraved on multiple stone reliefs and records construction work specific to Nineveh, particularly on the Itar temple. In this inscription, both Aur and Itar are invoked in the ATF: Aur Itar ( d INANA) [il$ rabtu r]"im$t arr$t#ya (MAN-ti-ia) b!l$ssu (EN-su) ina naphar m"t"ti (KUR.KUR.ME) luarb ina l#ti [ki$ti u m!tell$ti l]irtadd[]u bilti (GUN) kibr"t erbette (4-ti) ana iq#u [lu]at!lim$ma nuh" [u] !"u"hdu hegallu ana m"t#u (KUR-u) lukinn$ 208
Aur (and) Itar, [the Great Gods] who love my sovereignty: may they cause his dominion to increase in all the lands; may they continually lead him in victory, [might, and excellence]; may they allot tribute from the four regions as his portion; (and) may they establish prosperity, luxury, and abundance in his land.
Unlike A.0.101.40, both Aur and Itar are invoked in A.0.101.56; however, this time there is no short benediction. Instead, the gods are invoked to perform four separate blessings: B. ina naphar m"t"ti luarb May they cause his dominion to increase in all the lands
C. ina l#ti ki$ti u m!tell$ti lirtaddu May they continually lead him in victory, might, and excellence
D. bilti kibr"t erbette ana iq#u luat lim$ma May they allot tribute from the four regions as his portion
E. nuhu "uhdu hegallu ana m"t#u lukinn$ May they establish prosperity, luxury, and abundance in his land
Of these four blessings, only the fourth (E) has additional attestations in EARI. It should also be noted that both deities are referred to as il$ rabtu Great Gods. Itar is the subject of a am clause in four Kalhu inscriptions from the reign of Aur-na!irpal II (A.0.101.26 A.0.101.28; A.0.101.32; and A.0.101.38). A.0.101.26 is
208 RIM A.0.101.40: 38b-41. 96 extremely simple. Aur, designated as the b!lu rab Great God, and Itar, designated as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi, are said to hear the ikribu of a future prince. The inscription does not detail the construction of any specific temple to Itar. It records only the details of military battles and the erection of multiple royal palaces. In addition to being written on stone tablets found at Kalhu, this text was inscribed on tablets discovered at Imgur- Enlil and K!r-almaneser. A.0.101.38 records the construction of a temple to the b!let d Kidmurri. In the inscription, only Aur is designated as the b!lu rab Great God. Itar ( d INANA) is designated as the b!lat kidmuri Sovereign of the Divine Kidmurri, and ama, designated as the day"n am (AN-e) u er!eti Judge of the Universe: Aur b!lu (EN) rab (GAL-) d ama day"n (DI.KU 5 ) am (AN-e) u er!ete (KI-te) Itar ( d INANA) b!lat (NIN-at) kidmuri ( d kid 9 -mu-ri) ikrib!u iemmu $m!u (UD.ME-) lurrik$ ina t"h"zi (M) a arr"ni (MAN.ME-ni) aar taqrubte ammar libb#u (-) lu am!u nuhu (H.NUN) "uhudu u hegallu (H.GL) ina m"t#u (KUR-) lukinn$ 209
Aur, Great Sovereign, ama, Judge of Heaven and Earth, (and) Itar, Sovereign of the Divine Kidmurru, will hear his ikribu. May they lengthen his days; may they, in battles between kings on the battlefield, cause him to attain his hearts desire; (and), may they establish prosperity, luxury, and abundance in his land.
As in the case of the blessing found on the standard inscription from Nineveh (A.0.101.40), the gods are invoked to perform additional blessings: F. $m!u lurrik$ May they lengthen his days
A. ina t"h"zi a arr"ni aar taqrubte ammar libb#u lu am!u in battles between kings on the battlefield, cause him to attain his hearts desire.
B. nuhu "uhudu u hegallu ina m"t#u lukinn$ (and) may they establish prosperity, luxury, and abundance in his land
209 RIM A.0.101.38: 34-38. 97 Two of these blessings were invoked in previous inscriptions (A and B), while the third $m!u lurrik$ May they lengthen his days (F) is attested in EARI only here. The two final examples from the inscriptions of Aur-na!irpal II in which Itar is the subject of a benedictory element appear on the obverse and reverse of a great lion statue which stood outside of the arrat-Niphi temple at Kalhu. In the benedictory section of the text inscribed on the obverse of the lion, A.0.101.28, Itar is again designated b!let qabli u t"h"zi and accompanied by Aur, who is again referred to as b!lu rab Great God: Aur b!lu (EN) rab (GAL-) rub (NUN-) Itar b!let ( d !INANA GAAN") qabli (MURUB 4 ) u [t"h"zi] a arr"ni (MAN.ME-ni) aar taqrubte ammar [libb!u lu] am!u 210
May Aur, Great Sovereign, the Prince (Ninurta?), and Itar, Sovereign of Combat and Battle, in battles between kings on the battlefield, cause him to attain his hearts desire.
In the text located on the back of the lion, A.0.101.32, Aur, Ninurta, and Itar "ib u"tu who dwells in this temple are the subjects: Aur b!lu (EN) rab (GAL-) Ninurta ( d MA) u Itar ( d INANA) "ib ekurru (.KUR) u"tu nuhu (H.NUN) "uhudu u hegallu (H.GL) ina m"t#u (KUR-) lukinn$ ni!u (UN.ME[-]) alti tallakuma (DU.DU-ku-ma) ina gimir m"t"ti (KUR.KUR.ME) ina t"h"zi (M) a arr"ni (MAN.ME-ni) aar (KI) taqrubte ammar libb#u (-) uam!u 211
May Aur, Great Sovereign, Ninurta, and Itar, who dwells in this temple, establish prosperity, luxury, and abundance in his land. You will stride victoriously (amongst) his peoples of all the lands. In battles between kings on the battlefield, they will cause him to attain his hearts desire.
210 RIM A.0.101.28: 68b-69. 211 RIM A.0.101.32: 17b-18a. 98 Since the temple is dedicated to Itar as the arrat-Niphi, this must be who is meant by Itar "ib u"tu. (Perhaps the engravers did not know to whom the temple would ultimately be dedicated!) The inscriptions of almaneser III which date to an earlier period in his reign have few mentions of the gods in general; neither do they contain a prescriptive blessing. When the am clause reappears it is, not surprisingly, mainly found on dedicatory inscriptions. What is interesting is that the inscriptions of almaneser III hearken back to the earlier style. When attested, the subjects of the blessing are, more often than not, a combination of two or more of the gods Aur, Anu, or Adad. 212 Only twice is Itar mentioned. In an inscription which details the construction of the wall and the gate of Aur, Aur, Adad, and Itar of Aur are the subjects of the am clause (A.0.102.43) and, finally, in an inscription which records work done on the Tabira gate at Aur, Itar is the subject together with Aur, Adad, Sin, ama, and Nergal (A.0.102.46).
4.2.1 Attestations Rather obviously, Itars function in the AFP is to grant the ikribu of a future ruler who follows the instructions laid out for him and, in inscriptions which date to the early NA period, to grant blessing to the future ruler.
4.2.2 Catalog From the evidence collected, it may be determined that Itar is the subject of the shorter version of the am clause in the inscriptions of eight rulers of Aur:
212 Cf. RIM A.0.102.25, A.0.102.27, A.0.102.39, A.0.102.41-44, and A.0.102.46. 99 Aur-ubali" "" " I A.0.73.4 d a-ur d IKUR d INANA kud-ni-it-tum ik-ri-bi-u i-a-am-m-
almaneser I A.0.77.17 i 8 -tr ik-ri-b[i]-u i-e-[m]e A.0.77.18 [ d INANN]A !ik-ri"-be-u [i]-e-me
Tukult!-Ninurta I A.0.78.11 d INANA ik-ri-be- i-e-me A.0.78.13 d i 8 -tr ik-ri-be- i-e-me A.0.78.14 d di-ni-tu ik-ri-be-u i-e-me A.0.78.16 d di-ni-tu ik-ri-be-u i-e-em-me A.0.78.17 d nu-na-i-tu ik-ri-be-u i-e-me
Aur r#a-ii I A.0.86.1 d i-tar NIN GAL-tu D-[ iemme] A.0.86.2 d i 8 -tr !D"-[u iemme]
Tiglath-pileser I A.0.87.10 d a-ur EN GAL- d i 8 -tr NIN-at URU ni-nu-a ik-ri-be-u i-e-mu-!" A.0.87.11 [aur b!lu rab]-!" d INANA be-lat U[RU ninua ikrib!u iemm]
Aur-d"n II A.0.98.3 a-ur d IKUR d 30 d UTU d i-tar DINGIR.ME GAL-te ik-ri-bi-u i-e-mu-
Aur-na! !! !irpal II A.0.101.26 a-ur EN GAL- d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M D i-em-me
almaneser III A.0.102.43 a-ur [ d ]IKUR DINGIR.ME GAL.ME d INANA -u-ri-[tu] ik-ri-bi-[u] i-- me-!"
A.0.102.46 a-ur d IKUR d 30 d -ma d i-tar d U.GUR DINGIR.ME GAL.ME ik-ri-bi- u i-e-me-
Itar is the subject of both the am clause and an extended benediction in the inscriptions of only two rulers: Tukult!-Ninurta II A.0.100.2 [aur b!lu rab u itar be-l]at URU ni-na-a ik-[rib!u iemm ina t"h"z# a MAN.M]E-ni a-ar tq-ru-[ubte ammar libb#u lu am-!]a(?)-[u(?)]
May Aur, Great Sovereign and Itar, the Sovereign of Nineveh, listen to his ikribu. May they, in battles between kings on the battlefield, cause him to attain his hearts desire 100 Aur-na! !! !irpal II
A.0.101.38 a-ur EN GAL- d -ma DI.KU 5 AN-e u KI-te d INANA NIN-at d kid 9 -mu-ri ik- ri-bi- i-e-mu- UD.ME- lu-ri-ku ina M a MAN.ME-ni a-ar tq-ru-ub-te am-mar - lu -am-!u- H.NUN "u-hu-du u H.GL ina KUR- lu-kn-nu
Aur, Great Sovereign, ama, Judge of Heaven and Earth, (and) Itar, Sovereign of the Divine Kidmurru, will hear his ikribu. May they lengthen his days; may they, in battles between kings on the battlefield, cause him to attain his hearts desire; (and), may they establish prosperity, luxury, and abundance in his land.
A.0.101.56 ! d INANA" b!let "l (URU) nin<> !ik"rib!u iemme ina t"h"z# (M) a arr"ni (MAN.ME-ni) ara taqr!ubte am"mar libb!u luss$u 213
Itar, Sovereign of the city of Nineveh, will hear his ikribu. May she, in battles between kings on the battlefield, cause him to attain his hearts desire.
Itar is the subject of only an extended benediction, without a am clause, only in the inscriptions Aur-na!irpal II: Aur-na! !! !irpal II A.0.101.28 a-ur EN GAL- NUN- d !INANA GAAN" MURUB 4 u M [t"h"z#]- MAN.ME-ni a-ar tq-ru-ub-te am-mar [libb!u ]-am-!u-
May Aur, Great Sovereign, the Prince (Ninurta?), and Itar, Sovereign of Combat and Battle, in battles between kings on the battlefield, cause him to attain his hearts desire.
A.0.101.32 a-ur EN.GAL- d MA u d INANA a-ib .KUR -a-t H.NUN "u-hu-du H.GL ina KUR- lu-kn-nu UN.ME[-] al-ti DU.DU-ku-ma ina gi-mir KUR.KUR.ME ina M a MAN.ME-ni KI tq-ru-ub-te am-mar - -am-!u-
May Aur, Great Sovereign, Ninurta, and Itar, who dwells in this temple, establish prosperity, luxury, and abundance in his land. You will stride victoriously (amongst) his peoples of all lands. In battles between kings on the battlefield, they will cause him to attain his hearts desire.
A.0.101.40 a-ur d INANA [il$ rabtu r]a-i-mu-ut MAN-ti-ia EN-su ina nap-har KUR.KUR.ME lu-ar-bu- ina li-ti [ki$ti u m!tell$ti l]i-ir-ta-du-[]u GUN kib-rat 4-ti a- na i-qi-u [lu]-at-[li-mu-ma nu-uh]-[u] ["u]-uh-du h-gl-lu ana KUR-u lu-kn-nu
Aur (and) Itar, [the Great Gods] who love my sovereignty: may they cause his dominion to increase in all the lands; may they continually lead him in victory, [might,
213 RIM A.0.101.56: 17c-18b. 101 and excellence]; may they allot tribute from the four regions as his portion; (and) may they establish prosperity, luxury, and abundance in his land.
4.2.3 Analysis
Over the years, there has been much discussion devoted to the meaning of the term ikribu in texts from Mesopotamia. CAD translates this noun as benediction or blessing. 214 In his extensive treatment of the term, Benno Landsberger does not progress much further, also concluding that the ikribu was a simple blessing or benediction which could be invoked for anyone. 215 Albert Goetze, disagreeing with these suggestions, argues instead that the diviner, or b"ru, refers to ikrib$ in connection with every ritual act he performsall of which end with an extispicy; 216 thus, he connects the term to a specified profession. Leo Oppenheim first connected the ikribu to the gods of the night by translating the term simply as Prayer of the Night. 217
Agreeing with both Goetze and Oppenheim that there was a connection between an ikribu and divination, Erica Reiner contends that an ikribu was a special designation of prayer, and that it is probably also in order to secure reliable oracular answers that the prayers designated in their subscripts as ikribu were composed. 218 These prayers, she continues, would have been performed by a diviner and addressed specifically to the gods of the night. She also notes that extispicies to Itar (in her manifestation as Ninsiana),
214 CAD I, 62 ff. AHw does not translate the term with any more nuance calling it, Gebet, Weihung, or Segen, although 1a does read Opferschau (AHw, 369). 215 Benno Landsberger, Das gute Wort, MAOG 4 (1929): 294-321. 216 Goetze, An Old Babylonian Prayer of the Divination, JCS 22 (1968): 25-29. 217 Leo Oppenheim, A New Prayer to the Gods of the Night, Biblica 12 (1959): 282-301. 218 Erica Reiner, Astral Magic in Babylonia (Philadelphia: The American Phiological Soceity, 1995), 73. 102 also are titled ikribu in their subscripts. 219
M. J. Seux sums up the discussion efficiently: Ce mot dsigne des formules, parfois trs courtes, de salutation, dhomage ou de bndiction, sans lment pnitentiel ni conjuratoire, accompagnes ou non dune demande et accompagnant ou non une offrande (il peut aussi designer loffrande votive elle-mme). Dans le cas prcis de lextispicine, il dsigne des <prires daccompagnement> ou <prires ddicatoires> des diffrentes offrandes et de lanimal sacrificier. 220
Thus, we come full circle: an ikribu can be a simple prayer or, if accompanied by an offering, it can be a vow, or if accompanied by an extispicy, it can be indicative of an omen. Unfortunately, the cases of ikrib$ which occur in EARI are not overtly connected with extispicy; however, there does seem to be a connection between: the presence of the am clause (or extended benediction) in an inscription, the subject of the clause (the god), and the temple/city for which that inscription was destined. In his treatment of old Assyrian religion, Hans Hirsch determines that a variety of shipments labeled ikrib$ were received in the name of several different deities at Aur during the Old Assyrian period. 221 The majority of these ikrib$ are designated for the god Aur; however, ikrib$ are also attested for Itar, B#lum, Ila-br!t (Ninubar/ Papsukkal, vizier to Itar), arru-m!tim, ama, and, possibly Ninkarrak. 222 Hirsch further notes that,
219 Stephen Langdon, A Fragment of a Series of Ritualistic Prayers to Astral Deities in the Ceremonies of Divination," RA 12 (1915): 189-210. 220 M. J. Seux, Hymnes et Prires aux Dieux de Babylonie et dAssyrie (Paris: ditions du Cerf, 1976), 22. 221 Hans Hirsch, Untersuchungen zur assyrischen Religion (Graz: Archiv Fr Orientforschung, 1961), 59- 64. 222 Hirsch also notes that there are no ikrib$ specifically designated for the god Adad. This forces him to the conclusion that, either this fact is merely a reality of chance, or that the god did not receive such items. Certainly, it is interesting that the name Adad ( d IKUR) is not present; however, it may be that the god Adad lays behind the names B#lum and arru-m!tim (though it is, perhaps more likely that these names are 103 when mentioned in letters, ikrib$ are usually made from metals such as gold and silver. 223
Basing his conclusion on the work of Hirsch, M. T. Larsen suggests that ikrib$ in Assyrian royal inscriptions designate temple investments. 224 Hirsch himself merely assumes that the offerings were given for general protection purposes, he offers no more precise, reason for the appearance of the phrase DN ikrib#u iemme in royal inscriptions, calling them stereotypical. 225
The earliest attestation of a am clause in a royal inscription is in a dedicatory inscription of am"-Adad. 226 This inscription, however, was discovered at Mari and pertains to activities at that city. The text records the dedication of a throne (rather than a monetary sum) to its tutelary god, It$r-M#r. 227 In the inscription, am"-Adad thanks It$r- M#r for hearing (am) his tasliti prayer and his ikribu through this provision. The verb used to indicate that action is kar"bu, the verb from which ikribu is ultimately derived. Kar"bu is a general term of dedication meaning to invoke a blessing, or to make a gesture of adoration. 228 It is clear from the dedication that the tasliti and ikribu of am"- Adad were directed at obtaining rule over the city of Mari and its surrounding territory. It is also clear that am"-Adad gave the throne to It$r-M#r only after (en$ma) his tasliti and ikribu were heard. It is unclear whether am"-Adad vowed or promised the throne to
representative of the god Dag!n). 223 CCT 4, 2a 3 even specifies that the ikrib$ is to be made into a Sonnenscheibe for the god Aur. 224 M. T. Larsen, Old Assyrian City-State, 149. 225 Hans Hirsch, Untersuchungen, 59 n 312. 226 RIM A.0.39.5 227 W. G. Lambert, The Pantheon of Mari, MARI 4 (1985): 525-39 [534-35]. 228 CAD K, 193. 104 It$r-M#r before the god gave him rule over the region, or if am"-Adad expressed his gratitude with the throne afterwards. More often in texts found at Mari, Itar, who was not the patron deity of Mari, is connected with ikrib$; these texts, however, come from the reign of the son of am"- Adad I, Yasmah-Addu. Similar phrasing to that found in the am"-Adad inscription is used in a dedicatory inscription written on behalf of Yasmah-Addu by the priestess, Izamu. This priestess thanks Itar (E 4 -tr) for hearing (am) her ikribu by dedicating a statue to her. 229 Unfortunately, the priestess does not say what her ikribu entailed; however, she does state that it is only after (en$ma) Itar heard the ikribu that the priestess dedicated the statue. In yet another example from Mari, Yasmah-Addu, himself, dedicates two bags of silver to the goddess, but the text does not indicate the circumstance of the dedication. 230 Yasmah-Addu begins by addressing Itar as the one who listens to my ikribu (!met ikrib#). He continues by declaring that he made a dedication (kar"bu) to Itar and concludes by stating that he made an offering. All three examples mention the dedication of an object to the same god who is said to hear their ikrib$. In the case of the inscription of am"-Adad I, It$r-M#r gives him what he presumably did not have: rule over Mari. In the cases of the inscriptions of the priestess, Izamu, and of Yasmah-Addu, whose ikrib$ are directed to Itar, no information is given which suggests what was received. It should, however, be recalled that in an inscription from Mari, Yasmah-Addu is referred to as the ik Dag"n and Itar and in a seal impression, also discovered in the city, he is called the nar"m Itar. If, as was suggested in Chapter One, these titles designate regional rule, Yasmah-Addus ikribu
229 RIM E4.6.4. 230 RIM E4.6.2. 105 to Itar, may be similar to that of his father. He may be offering thanks for his sovereignty over not merely Mari, but of the entire region surrounding Mari. Interestingly, Zimr"-Lim, the successor and deposer of Yasmah-Addu, does not seem to have continued this tradition, nor does it seem to have been a convention employed by the preceding generals of Mari, the akkanakkus. When an ikribu is mentioned in EARI, it always appears at the end of the text in the concluding formula as part of the am clause. Unfortunately, many of the inscriptions of Aurite rulers which date between the administrations of am"-Adad and Aur-uballi" are in very fragmentary condition; thus, many are missing their conclusions. This makes it difficult to ascertain which rulers used the am clause, ikrib!u iemme, in their inscriptions; therefore, as with the Mari examples, any speculations as to the significance and background of the phrase are extremely tenuous. Earlier attestations of this brief benediction seem to occur only in inscriptions whose contents pertain specifically to city construction projects directed by a ruler. The gods who perform the benediction in these instances are always Aur and Adad. Later, when inscriptions begin to report on other construction activities, such as temple renovations, additional deities may be added to the duo. This may be seen in the case of the construction of a new chapel to Itar-kud-ni-it-tum. In this inscription, the name of that goddess was added to those of Aur and Adad. In EARI, when a deity other than Aur or Adad is present in those inscriptions which come from the city of Aur, it is always in relation to a new chapel or temple built to the deity. In inscriptions which originate at Nineveh this is not the case. In those inscriptions, Itar is always the subject of the am clause (with the occasional addition of Aur). 106 A similar pattern exists for inscriptions originating at Kalhu; however, the situation is more complicated. In two inscriptions from Kalhu, Itar, designated as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi (together with Aur) is the deity invoked in the extended benedictory section: in the inscription which records renovations to the palace and in the inscription which records construction work on the Itar temple. In two further inscriptions, Itar is designated differently. In one, she is designated in the benediction as the b!let d Kidmurri Sovereign of the Divine Kidmurri (together with Aur and ama). This inscription records work on the temple for Itar b!let d Kidmurri at Kalhu. In the second, Itar is invoked in two different benediction sections. Once she is designated as the arrat-Niphi, and in the second, she is the Itar "ib ekurru u"tu the Itar who dwells in this temple (arrat-Niphi). In this second benediction, she is listed together with Aur and Ninurta. This second inscription records work on the arrat-Niphi temple.
4.2.4 Conclusion
It may be concluded that, in the ATF section of concluding formulae in EARI, only tutelary deities perform benedictions (short or extended). For most deities this tutelary status pertains only to his/her direct temple. In this capacity Itar is tutelary goddess of sanctuaries devoted to: Itar, Itar ( d INANA), D"n"tu, d nu-na-i-tu, and Itar ( d INANA) kud-ni-it-tum at Aur; Itar b!let Ninua at Nineveh; and, Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi, arrat-Niphi, and Itar ( d INANA) b!lat d kid 9 -mu-ri at Kalhu. When not a deity in reference to his/her temple, the tutelary status of a deity extends to the city or region; thus, although Aur is the primary patron deity of Aur, Aur and Adad together are the tutelary deities of Aur during certain periods. During the time of Aur-d!n II, Itar- 107 Aur"tum, together with Aur, Adad, Sn, ama, seem to all be patron deities of Aur. 231 This change may reflect Aurs much greater status as tutelary deity of greater Assyria. At Nineveh, Itar as the b!let Ninua Sovereign of Nineveh is the patron deity not only of her temple, but also of greater Nineveh; however, since she is invoked with Aur in certain standard inscriptions from Aur, she and Aur may both have become the tutelary deities of greater Assyria. At Kalhu, there are multiple temples devoted to multiple manifestations of Itar; however, it is in her manifestation as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi that she is the patron deity of that city during the reign of Aurna!irpal II and almaneser III. It is difficult to determine if Ninurta, too, is a patron deity of Kalhu. Although it is well-known that Ninurta has a preeminent status in the city, he is not consistently invoked in the am clauses, as Aur is at Aur, Itar b!let Ninua is at Nineveh, and Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi is at Kalhu.
4.3 Maledictions The maledictory section of the concluding formula always follows the AFP; and, while the AFP contains the positive incentive for the future ruler (the benedictions), should that inducement not prove effective, the maledictory segment of the concluding formula contains a negative incentive: a temm!n#ya u narya amnam () l" ipaau niq#am l" inaqqma ana ar#unu l" utarruun$ti -lu(*)-ma narya unakkaruma um# uassakuma umu ia""aru ina eperim iqebbiru ana m inadd arram (LUGAL) ti ama ( d UTU) Enlil Adad ( d IKUR) u arru-m"tim pir#u lilqut$ !a"na pan arrim (LUGAL) [m"]hir#u $ u umm"n"t$u ay-iprik$ Nergal ina kak"im iittau u iitti m"t#u lirtaddi Itar ( d INANA) b!let t"h"zim kakkau ( GI TUKUL-u) u kakk# ( GI TUKUL) umm"n"t#u
231 During the reign of almaneser III, Nergal is added to this list. 108 libir Sn ( d ZUEN) il (DINGIR) r!#ya l$ r"bi! lemutt#u ana d"ri"tim 232
Who(ever) does not anoint my clay inscriptions and my stelea with oil, perform a sacrifice, (or) return them to their places, (but) instead alters my stelea, scratches- out my name and inscribes his name, buries (them) in the earth, (or) hurls (them) into the water: Regarding that king: may ama, Enlil, Adad, and arru-m!tim take away his children; before a king who opposes him, may he and his army not resist; may Nergal, violently, confiscate his assets and the assets of his country; may Itar, Sovereign of Battle, break his weapon and the weapons of his army; may Sn, god of my administration, be a malevolent bailiff to him for an eternity.
Meltzer defines two elements in this segment of the unit: a description of the person being cursed (participial phrase or a a clause) and the curses themselves: 233
description of the person being cursed (participial phrase or a a clause): a temm!n#ya u narya amnam l" ipaau niq#am l" inaqqma ana ar#unu l" utarruun$ti -lu(*)-ma narya unakkaruma um# uassakuma umu ia""aru ina eperim iqebbiru ana m inadd
Who(ever) does not anoint my clay inscriptions and my stelea with oil, perform a sacrifice, (or) return them to their places, (but) instead alters my stelea, scratches- out my name and inscribes his name, buries (them) in the earth, (or) hurls (them) into the water:
the curses:
arram ti ama Enlil Adad ( d IKUR) u arru-m"tim pir#u lilqut$ !a"na pan arrim [m"]hir#u $ u umm"n"t$u ay-iprik$ Nergal ina kak"im iittau u iitti m"t#u lirtaddi Itar b!let t"h"zim kakkau u kakk# umm"n"t#u libir Sn il r!#ya l$ r"bi! lemutt#u ana d"ri"tim 234
Regarding that king: may ama, Enlil, Adad, and arru-m!tim take away his children; before a king who opposes him, may he and his army not resist; may Nergal, violently, confiscate his assets and the assets of his country; may Itar, Sovereign of Battle, break his weapon and the weapons of his army; may Sn, god of my administration, be a malevolent bailiff to him for an eternity.
232 RIM A.0.39.1: 99-135. 233 Meltzer, Concluding Formulae, 207. 234 RIM A.0.39.1: 99-135. 109 In his detailed study on ancient Near Eastern curses, Stanley Gevirtz determines three major types: fertility (human and agricultural), sovereignty (governmental and military), and salubrity (physical and spiritual). Each of these types is present in the maledictions of EARI and each has a deity generally associated with it. Under the rubric of fertility, it is normally Aur who is invoked to pluck the seed of a king, while it is Adad who is invoked to cause agricultural chaos (e.g., raining down lightning, or withholding rain). The category of sovereignty is more specifically defined by Gevirtz: As a category of themes in Mesopotamian imprecations "Sovereignty" has reference to two aspects of kingship; retention of governmental authority and success in military enterprise. Curses upon the former involve the offender's symbols of office, his realm and his reign; those upon the latter, the destruction of his weapons, the defeat of him and his forces, and the capture of his person. 235
Itar is invoked in both sub-categories: retention of governmental authority and success in military action. The final type of curse, salubrity, is the rarest, being attested only sporadically in EARI. Only in a handful of inscriptions are the gods requested to cause bodily harm through an evil curse or, in one instance, snakebite.
4.3.1 Executive Maledictions 4.3.1.1 Attestations As with the first attestation of Itar granting sovereignty, it is in am"-Adads Nineveh text that we first find Itar invoked to remove it. 236 Like am"-Adads verb choice to designate the giving of kingship (nad"nu), the verb used to remove it (e"!ru) is deceptively simple. The verb e"!ru, meaning simply to take away does not suggest a
235 Stanley Gevirtz, Curse Motifs in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East, (Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 1959), 140. 236 RIM A.0.39.2: col. iv 21-35. 110 method by which kingship is removed; however, the circumstance in which it is employed in outside texts provides insight. In the maledictory sections of Hammurabis royal inscriptions, e"!ru refers to the process by which the god Sn is to remove the crown and throne from a non-compliant future ruler. Sn, in this case, is also referred to as the one whose oracular decisions (tr!tu) prevail among the gods; thus, as kingship is given by a decision of the gods, the removal of it is as well. Sn, in this case, had ultimate jurisdiction. In am"-Adads Aur inscription (A.0.39.1), Sn is the il r!#ya, literally, the god of his head (crown). 237 This is also the epithet by which Sn is designated in the invocation units of later Assyrian kings. Normally, it would be expected that Aur would be the god implored to remove sovereignty; however, in this Ninevite inscription, neither Sn nor Aur are invoked. Instead, Itar of Nineveh is invoked. Use of the verb e"!ru in the am"-Adad inscription indicates that Itar of Nineveh has ultimate jurisdiction over the region of Nineveh. No other extant inscription of am"-Adad includes an executive malediction. There are few extant maledictory sections in royal inscriptions ascribed to kings who ruled between the reigns of am"-Adad and Arik-d#n-ili. Of the few which are attested, none contains an executive malediction. When this type of curse reappears in two texts of Arik-d#n-ili (both of which record the erection of the new ama temple at Aur), Arik-d#n-ili implores ama to remove (sak"pu) the kingship of a non-compliant future ruler. Unlike the verb e"!ru, the verb sak"pu means to thrust, push away, or overturn. Unlike e"!ru which indicates an oracular confiscation, sak"pu is used in texts
237 RIM A.0.39.1: 114-135. 111 which refer to the driving-back of an enemy, or a warding-off of evil. 238 In the epilogue of the Code of Hammurabi, ama is implored to revoke (sak"pu) kingship, but also to provide inauspicious omens. As was seen in the above ATF section, worship of ama was implemented at Aur by Arik-d#n-ili. It is possible that ama was the patron deity of this particular ruler; thus, ama is invoked in the executive malediction. As the god of justice, either ama would have the power to revoke a verdict for kingship or, more likely, would have the ability to keep kingship just out of the reach of an improper ruler to ward off an undesirable usurper. The executive malediction is again present in the inscriptions of Adad-n!r!r" I. The curse does not appear in the standard conclusion of this kings inscriptions, but it does appear in a simple maledictory section repeated in many of this kings inscriptions. In these inscriptions, Aur is invoked to remove kingship: arr$ssu u palu liskip may he revoke [a non-compliant future rulers] kingship and his pal. Aur is also invoked to perform this curse in the majority of almaneser Is inscriptions; however, in the standard inscription of this king, a second, similar curse is added. In this inscription (A.0.77.1), Aur, along with the Igigu and the Annunaku, is invoked to cause: arru b!l lemutt#u kussu l#"eruma a king who is his enemy to take away his throne. Like the am"-Adad curse which invoked Itar of Nineveh, the verb denoting the action is e"eru. Thus, as in the Hammurabi and am"-Adad examples, the almaneser example may indicate the presence of, if not a full divine council, then a judgment passed down through an oracle. Once again, there is no consistency in the inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta I. As
238 CAD S, 72. 112 discussed above, in the standard inscription of this king, Aur is said to give (nad"nu) the scepter of kingship to him; however, in no inscription is the verb e"!ru employed to signify the removal of sovereignty. In several inscriptions, Aur (and once, ama and Sn) is invoked to revoke (sak"pu) the reign of a future king; however, sak"pu is not the verb employed consistently to indicate this action in the inscriptions of this king. In his standard inscription A.0.78.1 (and in its later edition, A.0.78.5), Aur, together with Adad, is invoked to cause a king who is his enemy take away his throne. The verb in these instances is not the expected sak"pu, but ek!mu. The verb ek!mu means simply to take away or to remove; 239 thus, it is not dissimilar to e"!ru. Furthermore, its employment in extispicy records and legal texts suggests once again a divine judicial situation is indicated. In each of Tukult"-Ninurtas inscriptions which record work done to the Itar complex at Aur, Itar, or the goddess D"n"tu, is invoked in the curse arr$ssu ligi may she eradicate his kingship. 240 The verb ag"u to slay in battle, to strike down, to murder, or to slaughter 241 is not an action one might ordinarily associate with an executive decision. It is generally used to designate a victory on the battlefield, or to invoke gods to take military action against an enemy on the battlefield. It is also used to designate actions taken by demons, storms, plagues, and murderers. The change in verb may indicate a change in attitude towards the goddess during this specific period in the reign of Tukult"-Ninurta. Itar does not function in an executive capacity in the
239 CAD E, 64. 240 RIM A.0.78.13: d i 8 -tr arr$ssu (LUGAL-su) ligi, while A.0.78.16 d di-ni-tu b!lt# arr$ssu (MAN-su) ligi. It is unclear if any distinction was meant by the scribes use of LUGAL versus MAN. 241 CAD 1 , 66. 113 malediction, but in a martial, highly violent, one. This new dimension to the goddess may be connected to the presence of the goddess D"n"tu in the inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta. After the reign of Tukult"-Ninurta I, the standard verb designating the removal of kingship, sak"pu, reappears in the inscriptions of Aur-r#a-ii I, am"-Adad IV, and Aur-na!irpal II. Itar, too, reappears as the subject of the executive malediction in a Ninevite dedicatory text of Aur-r#a-ii I (A.0.86.1). In the maledictory section of the text, Itar, designated as the b!ltu rab#tu Great Sovereign is invoked in the curse: arr$ssu u palu liskip it!n $ma l" bal"ssu liqbi may she revoke his kingship and his rule and declare that his life be not one more day. 242 That the Itar mentioned in this section is the Sovereign of Nineveh is implied not only by the ultimate location of the inscription, but also because, as noted above, this is the first attestation of Itar as the b!ltu rab#tu. This new designation for the goddess may indicate that Itar of Nineveh as the b!ltu rab#tu was now, officially, perceived as the counterpart to Aur, the b!lu rab. In addition to being implored to remove the sovereignty of an enemy king, in A.0.86.1, Itar is invoked to it!n $ma l" bal"ssu liqbi declare that his life be not one more day. 243 The only two additional attestations for this curse (that I was able to discover) are in an OB dedication to Nergal at Kutha by Hammurabi and a much later text inscribed on a kudurru during the reign of the Kassite king Nazi-Marutta (1307- 1282). In the Hammurabi text, Nergal alone is implored, while in the Kassite text, An and Itar (Sovereign of the Eanna) are invoked. 244
Only one of the final three attestations for Itar being invoked in an executive
242 RIM A.0.86.1: 13b-15. 243 Ibid. 244 MSKH 1 p. 265-6, No. U.2.20. 114 curse (in the maledictory section of EARI) was discovered at Nineveh (A.0101.56); the remaining two were discovered at Kalhu (A.0.101.50 and A.0.101.50). All three examples are from inscriptions ascribed to Aurna!irpal II. 245 As expected, in the Ninevite inscription Itar is designated as the Great Sovereign:
Itar ( d INANA) b!ltu (NIN) rab#tu (GAL-tu) [ina ku]ssu (GI.GU.ZA-) l#kemuu ina pan nakr!u (IGI KR.ME-) kami lu!ibu 246
May Itar, Great Sovereign, remove his throne (and) may she force him to dwell before his enemy in bondage
As is also expected, in the two inscriptions from Kalhu, Itar is referred to as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi. In a text inscribed on stone tablets discovered at Imgur-Enlil, a city just outside of Kalhu, the malediction reads: Itar ( d INANA) b!lat (MURUB 4 ) u t"h"zi (M) kakkau l$ tuabbir kussu (GI.A.TI-) l$ t!kemu 247
May Itar, Sovereign of Combat and Battle, break his weapon and remove his throne.
And in the final example, which appears in a text inscribed on the reverse of the lion at Kalhu: Ninurta ( d MA) b!l (EN) meh u aggate Itar ( d INANA) !b!"lat (MURUB 4 ) u t"h"zi (M) arrassu (MAN-su) [lis]kip$ kussu (GI.A.TI-) m"t#u (KAR-) ina pan (IGI) nakr!u (L.KR.ME-) kami lu!ib$u sunqu bub$tu u nebratu ina m"t#u (KUR-) [lu]kinn$ um$ (MU-) z!ru (NUMUN-) ina ina m"t#u (KUR-) luhalliq$ (ZH) 248
245 It is possible that Itar is also entreated to remove sovereignty in a fragmentary inscription of am"- Adad IV, which was found at Nineveh. The remaining portion reads: RIM A.0.91.3: 5 [arr$ssu li]s-ki- pu MU-u NUMUN-[u]. If Itar is meant, this would be the first attestation in which she is entreated to destroy the name and the seed of a future disloyal king. 246 RIM A.0.101.56: 19. 247 RIM A.0.101.50: 42-44a. 248 RIM A.0.101.32: 19b-21. 115 Ninurta, Sovereign of Storm and Carnage, (and) Itar, Sovereign of Combat and Battle: may they overthrow his sovereignty, his throne, (and) his land; may they force him dwell before his enemy in bondage; may they establish in his land, hunger, pestilence, devastation; (and), may they perish his name, his offspring, from the land.
Since it is Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi who is invoked in both of these Kalhu inscriptions, it is possible that Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi held executive jurisdiction over sovereignty at Kalhu. The verb of removal is sak"pu, the verb consistently used with Itar of Nineveh at Nineveh and Aur at Aur. The verb is not ag"u, which connotes a violent removal of kingship. As in the case of the benedictions, it is difficult to establish whether Ninurta also held this executive power at Kalhu. Ninurta is only invoked in one of the inscriptions and when he is, as can be seen, it is together with Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi.
4.3.1.2 Catalog Itar appears as a deity who removes kingship in the concluding formula of five kings: am!-Adad I A.0.39.2 d INANA NIN ni-nu-wa-a!KI" ar-ru-us-s pa-la-!u" li-"e 4 -!er"-u-ma !a-na" [a-ni]-i-[im] [liddi]-i[n]
May Itar, Sovereign of Nineveh remove his sovereignty and his rule and give them to another
Tukult!-Ninurta I A.0.78.13 d i 8 -tr NIN-ti LUGAL-su li-gi GI TUKUL-u li-bir mu-tu-su ana ri-hu-ti li-ku-un a-na U KR.ME-u lu-mel-li-u
My Itar, my Sovereign, eradicate his kingship; may she break his weapon; (and), may she cause his potency to pour-out
A.0.78.16 d di-ni-tu NIN-ti MAN-su li-gi GI TUKUL-u li-be-er mu-tu-su a-na ri-hu-ti li-ku-un a-na U KR.ME-u lu-me-li-u
116 May D"n"tu, my Sovereign, eradicate his kingship; may she break his weapon; (and), may she cause his potency to pour-out
Aur-r#a-ii I A.0.86.1 d i-tar NIN GAL-tu LUGAL-su BALA- [li-is-k]ip 1-en u 4 -ma NU TI-su [liqbi]
May Itar, Great Sovereign, revoke his kingship and his rule and declare that his life be not one more day
Aurna! !! !irpal II A.0.101.32 d MA EN me-hi -ga-a-te d INANA [be]-lat MURUB 4 u M MAN-su [lis]-ki- pu GI.A.TI- KAR- ina IGI L.KR.ME- ka-mi lu-e-ib-u su-un-qu bu-bu-tu ni- ib-ra-tu ina KUR- [lu]-ki-nu MU- NUMUN- ina KUR- lu ZH-
Ninurta, Sovereign of Storm and Carnage, (and) Itar, Sovereign of Combat and Battle: may they overthrow his sovereignty, his throne, (and) his land; may they force him dwell before his enemy in bondage; may they establish in his land, hunger, pestilence, devastation; (and), may they perish his name, his offspring, from the land.
A.0.101.50 d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M GI TUKUL.ME- lu- tu--bir GI.A.TI- lu te-kim-
May Itar, Sovereign of Combat and Battle, break his weapons and remove his throne.
A.0.101.56 d INANA NIN GAL-tu [ina GI].GU.ZA- li-ke-mu- ina IGI KR.ME- ka-mi lu-e-ib-u May Itar, Great Sovereign, remove his throne (and) may she force him to dwell before his enemy in bondage
4.3.1.3 Analysis and Summation As can be seen from this list, the attestations for executive maledictions form a pattern not dissimilar to those attestations for the benedictions. The malediction is invoked of tutelary deities only (tutelary deities of either temples or cities or regions). Normally, the deity invoked is Aur (once with Adad and the il"ni am u er!eti in Tukult"-Ninurta Is standard Aur inscription and once with the Igigu and Annunaku in almaneser Is standard inscription). Other tutelary deities may be also be invoked. ama is invoked by Arik-d#n-ili in the same inscription which records the construction 117 of a sanctuary to him at Aur. The curse is invoked of ama together with Sn in an inscription of Tukult"-Ninurta which records renovations done to the Sn and ama temple. In inscriptions from K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta, Aur, Enlil, and ama are invoked. Itar is invoked as the tutelary deity of a city in three executive maledictions. am"-Adad I invokes Itar b!let Ninua in his Ninevite inscription. Aur-r#a-ii I and Aurna!irpal II do this as well. In the standard Ninevite inscription of Aur-r#a-ii I, Itar is requested to remove kingship, but also to declare that his life be not one more day. In the inscription of Aurna!irpal II, another curse is also invoked. This time curse is ina pan nakr!u kami lu!ibu force him to dwell before his enemy in bondage. It may be recalled that this is precisely the action that almaneser I claims Itar took in his standard inscription. The case is similar at Kalhu and at the neighboring Imgur-Enlil. In the two attestations of the executive malediction, which were discovered in these cities, Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi is invoked. Both are inscriptions of Aurna!irpal II. In the inscription from Imgur-Enlil, Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi is invoked. She is also invoked to kakkau liber break [the enemy kings] weapons. This curse will be discussed below. In the inscription from Kalhu, Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi is invoked with a very violent form of Ninurta, the b!l meh u aggate Sovereign of Storm and Carnage. Together these two gods are invoked not only to remove sovereignty, but also to: make the enemy king dwell in bondage before his enemies, establish hunger, pestilence, and devastation in his land, and perish his name, his offspring, from the land. Although Itar is invoked to perform the first of this series of curses (may they make the enemy king to dwell before his enemy in bondage) in a previous text, the additional curses: may they establish in his land, hunger, pestilence, devastation and may they perish his name, his offspring, from 118 the land are far more suitable for the b!l meh u aggate to perform. Finally, a notation must be made regarding the designations for Itar in the inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta. In each case, Itar does not seem to represent a city, but rather, seems to be invoked as the patron of the specific temple in which she resides (again similar to the situation regarding the benedictions).
4.3.2 Attestations for Martial Maledictions While there is but one executive action Itar is invoked to perform in the concluding formula of EARI, there are seven martial actions: A. kakkau (u kakk# umm"n"t#u) liber May DN break his weapons (and the weapons of his army). B. abikti m"t#u likunu May DN establish a defeat upon his land C. ina pani nakr#u ay-izziz May he not stand firm before his enemy D. ana q"t nakr#u lumell#u May DN place him into the hand of his enemy E. lin!r qur"d#u May DN slay his soldiers F. lu$mi zikr$ssu sinnis"ni May DN transform his masculinity in the same manner as a sinnis"nu. G. mut$ssu ana rihti likun May DN cause his potency to pour-out
Unlike executive maledictions, these seven curses are, in the main, particular to Itar in EARI. Because these maledictions are specific to Itar, a different approach to the material will be taken. Each malediction will be dealt with in turn. In each of these individual discussions, after listing the various attestations for the discussed curse in EARI, a list of attestations for the curse outside of the corpus is given. 249 The purpose of providing additional attestations is to substantiate whether there were particular curses in
249 This list will contain only those attestations which date prior to, or are concurrent with, the EARI attestations. 119 which Itar was traditionally invoked, or if Itar is connected to such curses only in EARI.
4.3.2.1 kakkau (u kakk# umm"n"t#u) liber May DN break his weapons (and the weapons of his army.)
Itar is invoked to break or smash the weapons of a future king in EARI in the inscriptions of am"-Adad I, Tukult"-Ninurta I, and Aurna!irpal II. The curse appears in two forms, either a shorter or a longer version. The longer version, kakkau u kakk# umm"n"t#u libir May DN break his weapons and the weapons of his army, is attested only once, in an inscription of am"-Adad I. The shorter version of the curse, kakkau liber May DN break his weapons, appears in four inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta and in a single inscription of Aur-na!irpal II. Finally, the subject of this curse is not consistent. Though always a manifestation of Itar, she is designated differently in each inscription. In the am"-Adad example, she is designated as the b!let t"h"zi, while in the Aur-na!irpal inscription she is referred to as b!let qabli u t"h"zi. In the Tukult"-Ninurta examples, she is twice referred to simply as Itar (her name once written syllabically and once expressed logographically by d M
[ d INANA]). In the two remaining Tukult"-Ninurta examples, the goddess D"n"tu is invoked. The name D"n"tu is written syllabically in each instance.
4.3.2.1.1 Catalog am!-Adad I A.0.39.1 d INANA be-le-et ta-ha-zi-im GI.TUKUL-u GI.TUKUL um-ma-na-ti-u li-i-bi-ir
Tukult!-Ninurta I A.0.78.11 d INANA NIN GI.TUKUL- li-be-er A.0.78.13 d i 8 -tr NIN-ti GI.TUKUL-u li-be-er 120 A.0.78.14 d di-ni-tu NIN GI.TUKUL-u li-be-er A.0.78.16 d di-ni-tu NIN-ti GI.TUKUL-u li-be-er
Aur-na! !! !irpal II A.0.101.50 d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M GI.TUKUL.ME- hu- tu--bir
4.3.2.1.2 Analysis The earliest attestation of a god being invoked to break weapons appears in the Old Akkadian inscriptions of Sargon. In the concluding formula of two texts of this king (written on a Sammeltafel discovered at Nineveh) Enlil is invoked: Enlil umu (MU-%u) lisahu (HA+) kakkau (GI.TUKUL-%u) libir 250
May Enlil eradicate his name and break his weapon As can be seen, the verb indicating the action to smash or to break is eb!ru, while the term used for the weapon is the generic kakku. This malediction is not attested in the inscriptions of any succeeding Sargonic rulers, nor does it occur in the inscriptions of the Ur III or Isin kings. In the inscription of am"-Adad I, the curse appears in his great Aur inscription: ama ( d UTU) Enlil Adad ( d IKUR) u arru-m"tim pir#u lilqut$ !a"na pan arrim (LUGAL) [m"]hir#u $ u umm"n"t$u ay-iprik$ Nergal ina kak"im iittau u iitti m"t#u lirtaddi Itar ( d INANA) b!let t"h"zim kakkau ( GI TUKUL-u) u kakki ( GI TUKUL) umm"n"t#u libir Sn ( d ZUEN) il (DINGIR) r!#ya l$ r"bi! lemutt#u ana d"ri"tim 251
May ama, Enlil, Adad, and arru-m!tim take away his children; before a king who opposes him, may he and his army not resist; may Nergal, violently, confiscate his assets and the assets of his country; may Itar, Sovereign of Battle, break his weapon and the weapons of his army; may Sn, god of my administration, be a malevolent bailiff to him for an eternity.
250 RIM E2.1.1.6: 45-49 and RIM E2.1.1.6: 30-34. Although written on a Sammeltafel, the body of each text celebrates Sargons defeat of Uruk. 251 RIM A.0.39.1: 114-135. 121 This concluding formula can be divided into two segments: A: ama Enlil Adad u arru-m"tim pir#u lilqut$ [a]na p"n arrim [m"]hir#u $ u umm"n"t$u ay-iprik$
May ama, Enlil, Adad, and arru-m!tim take away his children; before a king who opposes him, may he and his army not resist
And B:
Nergal ina kak"im iittau u iitti m"t#u lirtaddi Itar ( d INANA) b!let t"h"zim kakkau u kakki umm"n"t#u libir n il (DINGIR) r!#ya lu r"bi! lemutt#u ana d"riatim
May Nergal, violently, confiscate his assets and the assets of his country; may Itar, Sovereign of Battle, break his weapon and the weapons of his army; (and), may Sn, god of my administration, be a malevolent bailiff to him for an eternity.
Segment A contains a single invocation to the set of gods, ama, Enlil, Adad, and Dag!n. The invocation requests that they destroy a future kings lineage. This segment also contains the dividing, somewhat generic, curse [a]na p"n arrim (LUGAL) [ma]hir#u u u umm"n"t$u ay-iprik$ before a king who opposes him, may he and his army not resist. Segment B contains a different set of gods: Nergal, Itar, and Sn. In B, Nergal, who leads the group, is invoked to ina kak"im iittau u iittim m"t#u lirtaddi violently, confiscate his assets and the assets of his country. Itar, designated as the b!let t"h"zim, is invoked to kakkau u kakka umm"n"t#u libir break his weapon and the weapons of his army. Sn, functioning as the personal god of am"-Adad (il r!#ya) is invoked to be lu r"bi! lemutt#u ana dariatim a malevolent bailiff to him for an eternity. The appearance of these three gods together in this maledictory section is reminiscent of the list of gods at the end of an OB extispicy prayer of Rim-Sn of Larsa. In that prayer, Anu, designated as the abi am Father of Heaven, Sn, designated as the arri agm Sovereign of the Crown, Nergal, designated as the b!l kakkim, the 122 Sovereign of the Weapon, and Itar, designated as the b!let t"h"zim, are invoked to witness an extispicy ritual performed by the king. 252 In an inscription of the OB ruler of Simurrum, Iddin-Sn, Adad is designated as the b!l kakki in the maledictory section. In this same inscription, Itar is called the b!let t"h"zi. The connection and perhaps interchangeability of Itar, designated as the b!let t"h"zi, and implored as a god who may break weapons, and as a god titled the b!l kakki is noteworthy. In addition to the inscription of am"-Adad I, the malediction to break weapons appears in the inscriptions of three further OB Amorite rulers: Yahdun-L"m of Mari, Hammurabi of Babylon, and Y!rim-L"m of Alalakh. In the royal inscription of Yar"m- L"m, Itar and the goddess Hepat are requested to break weapons: Adad ina kakki a q"t#u lihbussu Hepet Etar ukurrau libir Etar ana q"ti mukaid#u limall#u Etar assinnim par"am ina birk#u litebbi 253
May Adad smash him with the weapon which is in his hand; may Hepat and Etar break his spear; may Etar place him into the hand of his pursuers; may Etar, (as with) an assinnu, cause potency to flow out from his loins.
There are several important observations which can be made concerning this maledictory section. Once again, the verb employed is eb!ru; however, the weapon is not a generic weapon (kakku), but a ukurru spear or lance. The subjects of the curse are also different from those mentioned in the Sargon inscription. It is Itar and the Hurrian goddess Hepat who are invoked, rather than merely Enlil. Itar is further invoked to
252 YBC 5023 60-66. 253 RIM E4.34.1.1: 16-20. For a detailed anlysis of this passage see Ilona Zsolnay, Itar, Goddess of War, Pacifier of Kings: An Analysis of Itars Martial Role in the Maledictory Sections of the Assyrian Royal Inscriptions, in Language and City Administration in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 53rd Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Moscow and St. Petersburg, July 23-28, 2007, ed. Leonid Kogan, et al. [Forthcoming]. 123 render the ruler impotenta curse which reappears in the inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta and will be discussed below. In the epilogue to the Code of Hammurabi, Itar functions as one of several maledictory deities. In this text, Itar is invoked in a multitude of cursesseveral of which appear in EARI. One of these curses is: aar t"h"zim (M) u qablim (EN.EN) kakkau libir on the field of Battle and Combat, may [Itar] break his weapon. As in the previous examples of this malediction, the verb connoting the action is eb!ru, while the weapon is the kakku. In the epilogue, the god Zababa is invoked to perform the same action. When Zababa is invoked, the verb indicating the action is once again eb!ru and the weapon is once again a kakku; however, battle is designated by the term tamh"ru instead of the term t"h"zu or the term qablu. Of further note is that Zababa and Itar are connected in the epilogue. Itar, designated as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi, is listed after Zababa (who is designated as the qarr"dun rabium m"rum r!tm a Ekur Great Warrior, the firstborn son of the Ekur temple [i.e., son of Enlil and the equivalent of Ninurta]), and before the god Nergal (who is designated as the dannum ina il# Mighty One among the Gods). 254
Both the longer and shorter forms of the curse are attested in the maledictory units of texts ascribed to Yahdun-L"m: ama
( d UTU) kakk#u u kakk# umm"n#u libir 255
May ama break his weapon and the weapons of his army And: Nergal b!l kakkim kakkau libir 256
254 CH l 81-li 39. 255 RIM E4.6.8.1: 64 256 RIM E4.6.8.2:144-145. 124 May Nergal, Sovereign of the Weapon, break his weapon
As with the above examples, the verb connoting the action is eb!ru while the weapon is a kakku. Though Itar is not the subject of either malediction, Nergal is titled Sovereign of the Weapon. This is similar to the example above. In a Middle Babylonian fragment from tablet VI of the Epic of Gilgame discovered at Emar, Itar is said to be the breaker of weapons. In the fragment, Gilgame chastises the goddess: Col. i 28 [ l ]
You loved the [] Sutean, your house you [] to a tent, you broke his [weapons on the field of] battle, [you] keep driving (him?) onward []
According to Andrew George, this passage is only attested in this version of the Epic and so, he suggests, it may have been tailored for western tastes; 258 thus, it may have originated in and be particular to the region. As a nomadic people, the Sutean home land ranged between Emar in northern Syria to Mari in eastern Syria. George interprets Gilgame condemnation of Itar as the reason for this itinerant lifestyle: because the goddess breaks the weapons of the Suteans, they are defeated in battle, thus they are doomed to a nomadic existence, roaming from place to place. Itar is again loosely connected to the Suteans in the biography of Idrimi (an OB ruler of Alalakh) and in the much later Erra Epic. In the biography, Idrimi declares that he is the servant of the gods
257 Epic of Gilgame VI col. i 28 31 as presented in Andrew George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic. Introduction, Critical Edition, and Cuneiform Texts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003). The library from which the fragment comes dates more specifically to the thirteenth or early twelfth century and the dialect is Middle Babylonian with hints of Assyrian (327). 258 George, Gilgamesh, 32. 125 Adad, Hepat, and Itar. Idrimi also states that he was ousted from his royal city by the Hurrian king Barattarna and was forced to dwell with the Suteans. It may be assumed that his gods (Adad, Hepat, and Itar) did not protect him (otherwise how else could he be ousted?). In the Erra Epic, the Suteans are said to be so revolted by Itar that they attack her sanctuary at Uruk. In an early bi-lingual kudurru text dating to the reign of the Kassite king Burna- Buria II (1359-1333), Ninurta (= Utaulu) is invoked to perform various maledictions implored of Itar in the epilogue of the Code of Hammurabi and in EARI: 259
Utaulu ( d MIN) 260 b!lu m"ru r!t a Enlil
( d MIN) 261 b!l kakki kak dann$t#u ay- idd#ssu aar qabli u t"h"zi kakkau libir likmi birk#u u birki qur"d#u nakr#u el#u lizziz u kimt#u ana q"t nakr#u limall$u 262
May Utaulu, the Lord, the eldest son of the god Enlil, Sovereign of Weapon not give him the weapon of his power. On the field of combat and battle, may he break his weapon, may he bind his knees and the knees of his warriors, may his enemy stand over him, (and) may they place him (and) that kin of his into the hand of this enemy
In this inscription, Ninurta is conflated with two deities who are associated with Itar. He is equated with Nergal through the designation b!l kakkim Sovereign of the Weapon and with Zababa through the designation m"ru r!t a Enlil Eldest son of Enlil. 263
Ninurta is invoked to perform the curse on three further Kassite kudurrus. A
259 Cf. RIM A.101.3. In this long hymn to Ninurta, the god is also referred to as: d ut-u 19 -lu. 260 MSKH 1 pp. 141-2, No. J.5.1 41
d UD. u 1 8 . l u. 261 MSKH 1 pp. 141-2, No. J.5.1 41 d en. l l . l . ke 4 . 262 MSKH 1 pp. 141-2, No. J.5.1. See also, Seux, pithtes, and J. A. Brinkman, Texts and Fragments, JCS 37 (1985): 249-252. 263 Since Ninurta was the original eldest son of Enlil, it may be more appropriate to say that Zababa was equated with Ninurta (see the epilogue of the Code of Hammurabi, in which Zababa is also called the eldest son of Enlil, though not titled b!l kakki). 126 kudurru of the Kassite king Meli-ipak (1186-1172) lists Ninurta just after Annun"tum and before Ninkarrak. He is invoked to ina t"h"zi (M) [kakka]u libir. 264 In a kudurru, which likely dates to the reign of Enlil-nadin-apli, a son of Nebuchadnezzar I (1104- 1101), Ninurta is listed after Gula and before Marduk and Ninmah. 265 Ninurta is designated as Sovereign of the kudurru and invoked to kakk! aar t"h"zi (M) [libir]. 266 In yet another text inscribed on a kudurru, this time attributed to Marduk- nadin-ahhe, brother of Nebuchadnezzar I (1100-1083), Nergal, designated as b!l till u qa"ti Sovereign of Arrows and Bows, is invoked to kakkau libir: Nergal b!l (EN) till u qa"ti kakkau liebbir Zaba[ba] ar (LUGAL) t"h"zi ina t"h"zi q"ssu (U-su) la i!abbat 267
May Nergal, the Sovereign of Arrows and Bows, break his weapons! May Zababa, the Sovereign of Battle, during the battle not grasp his hand!
It may also be noted that, as in the Code of Hammurabi, Nergal, in this example, is in the company of Zababawho is designated by a title generally reserved for Itar, Sovereign of Battle (t"h"zu). In the Code of Hammurabi, Zababa is called the Sovereign of Combat (tamharu). Thus, it would appear that Zababa assumes Itars place, for in the above inscription Itar does not function as a war deity at all. Instead, she is designated as the b!let am u er!eti and is listed with Sn and ama as a celestial god. Other than the example of am"-Adad, the malediction to break weapons does not appear in EARI until the reign of Tukult"-Ninurta I. In the inscriptions of this king, the
264 BBS No. 4 iii 16 265 BBS 76 n 1. 266 BBS No. 11 iv 2 267 BBS No. 8 iv 21-23. 127 malediction is attested four times in very similar maledictory sections. 268 In each section, Itar (or her counterpart D"n"tu) is invoked to break (eb!ru) the weapon (kakku) of a future ruler. Because the curses are accompanied by two more significant maledictions, their context will be discussed more fully below; however, it will be noted here that, in the Epic of Tukult#-Ninurta, it is not Itar who is said to break weapons on the battlefield, but Ninurta; thus, there continues to be a deep connection between the gods Itar, Zababa, Nergal, and Ninurta. Perhaps in response to the Kassite kudurru tradition of invoking Ninurta or Nergal to break weapons, Itars connection to this malediction is removed with the erection of Kar-Tukult"-Ninurta. In inscriptions from Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta, Aur is invoked to break weapons once, while in a second inscription, the trio of gods who are invoked: Aur, Enlil, and ama. This switch in subject is also apparent in the inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser I. In the inscriptions of this king, Anu and Adad are invoked in the curse. 269 After the reign of Tiglath-Pileser I, the curse is no longer attested in EARI until its final occurrence in a single inscription of Aur-na!irpal II. This inscription, written on two stone tablets, was discovered at Imgur-Enlil. 270 The curse itself reads much like the previous ones. After Aur and the god Mamu are invoked in the benediction, Itar, designated as the qabli u t"h"zi, is the only god invoked in the malediction: a nar (NA 4 .NA.R.A) emmaruma ann m#na iqabb Itar ( d INANA) b!lat qabli (MURUB 4 ) u t"h"zi (M) kakkau l$ tuabbir kussu (GI.A.TI-) l$ t!kimu 271
268 RIM A.0.78.11, A.0.78.13, A.0.78.14, and A.0.78.16. 269 RIM A.0.87.1 80-88. 270 RIMA II, 319-321. 271 RIM A.0.101.50: 42-44a. 128 The one who looks upon (this) stelae and says, what is this?: may Itar, Sovereign of Combat and Battle, break his weapon and remove his throne
The inscription itself is dedicated to the building of the temple to the deity, Mamu, and the depositing of a statue of the god in his temple.
4.3.2.1.3 Summation References to a god breaking weapons are not as common as might be expected. When the attestations are charted, a very specific picture begins to emerge: Old Akkadian Ruler Region God Ethnicity Sargon --- Enlil Akkadian
Old-Babylonian Attestations Ruler Region God Ethnicity am"-Adad I Aur Itar, Sovereign of Battle Amorite Yar"m-L"m Alalakh Hepat and Itar Amorite Yahdun-L"m Mari ama Nergal Sovereign of Weapon Amorite Hammurabi Babylon (Ki) Itar, Sovereign of Battle and Combat Zababa, Great Warrior Amorite OB Emar Gilgame Emar Itar Sutean?
Middle Assyrian-Neo-Assyrian Attestations Ruler Region God Burna-Buria II Babylon Ninurta, Sovereign of the Weapon TN I Aur Itar D"n"tu K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta Aur Aur, Enlil, and ama Tiglath-Pilser I Aur Anu and Adad Meli-ipak Babylon Ninurta Marduk-nadin-ahhe Babylon Nergal, Sovereign of the Weapon Enlil-nadin-apli Babylon Ninurta, Sovereign of the kudurru Aur-na!irpal II Kalhu (Imgur-Enlil) Itar, Sovereign of Combat and Battle
129 From these attestations, it may be determined that the tradition that a god may break (eb!ru) a weapon (normally kakku) originated in Syria (perhaps amongst the Suteans). As can be seen, during the OB period, the curse May DN break his weapon is attested in the inscriptions of four Amorite rulers: Yahdun-L"m, am"-Adad, Yar"m-L"m, and Hammurabi. Three of these rulers reigned over territories which now lie in modern Syria. Hammurabi, though ruling from Babylon, controlled Ki, a region which has been argued to have deep connections with the ancient Syrian states of Ebla and Mari. Finally, it is the presence of the activity in the Epic of Gilgame which is most telling. Only the edition of the Epic from the Syrian state of the Emar contains a passage which states that a god broke the weapons of a Sutean army. During the MA and NA periods, the tradition reappears in the inscriptions of the Kassite and Assyrian kings. Since these kings ruled from Babylon and Aur, respectively, and were not Amorites, it is interesting that they should carry on the seemingly Syrian tradition. The only previous rulers of Southern Mesopotamia to follow the tradition were Sargon and Hammurabi. Although Enlil, Aur, Anu, and Adad are invoked to break weapons once each (and ama twice), the two gods most associated with the action break weapons are Itar and a male deity designated as the Sovereign of the Weapon. The proper name of this male deity oscillates between Nergal, Ninurta, and Zababa. Each of these deities, Itar and the Sovereign of the Weapon, is invoked six times (once together). When Itar is invoked, she is once designated by the title b!let t"h"zi Sovereign of Battle and twice by the title b!let qabli u t"h"zi Sovereign of Combat and Battle. She is never designated as the b!let qabli Sovereign of Combat. As is discussed in Appendix A, the 130 title b!let qabli u t"h"zi likely represents the unification of two separate deities, an Itar b!let t"h"zi and an independent deity called B#let-Qabli. The attestation for Itar b!let t"h"zi being invoked may represent a period before this unification; thus, it may be possible to tie this action (breaking weapons) specifically to this manifestation. If this is true, then, when Itar is invoked sans title, it may be that Itar b!let t"h"zi lies behind the unmodified name of Itar in reference to this action. Furthermore, since, in most circumstances Itar is accompanied in the curse by either Hepat or D"n"tu, it may be that they represent B#lat-Qabli; thus, Hepat and D"n"tu are the same deity.
4.3.2.2 abikti m"t#u likun May DN establish a defeat upon his land and ina pani nakr#u ay-izziz May DN not stand firm before his enemy
In almost every one of Adad-n!r!r" Is inscriptions, Itar is invoked in the maledictions: abikti m"t#u likun May DN establish a defeat upon his land and ina pani nakr#u ay-izziz May DN not stand firm before his enemy. As has been mentioned previously, the reason for this is because most of the inscriptions of this king share a standard introduction and a standard conclusion. These two curses only appear in one inscription ascribed to almaneser I, and only in two texts ascribed to Tukult"-Ninurta I.
131 4.3.2.2.1 Catalog
Adad-n"r"r! I A.0.76.2 d i 8 -tr be-el-ti a-bi-ik-ti KUR-u li-i-ku-un i-na pa-ni na-ak-ri-u ia iz-zi-iz 272
A.0.76.4 [ d i 8 ]-tr GAAN a-bi-ik-ti [m"t#u] li-[i-ku]-un i-na pa-n[i nakr#u] ia iz-zi- [i]z A.0.76.11 d i 8 -tr be-el-ti a-bi-ik-ti KUR-u [li-i]-ku-u[n] Lacuna A.0.76.14 d i 8 -tr GAAN a-bi-ik-ti KUR-u A.0.76.15 d i 8 -tr be-el-ti a-bi-ik-ti KUR-u i-na pa-ni na-ak-ri-u ia iz-zi-iz
almaneser I A.0.77.6 d i 8 -tr NIN a-be-ek-te KUR-u li-i-ku-un i-na pa-ni na-ak-ri-u ia iz-zi-iz
Tukult!-Ninurta I A.0.78.1 [abikti] [m"t#u] li-ku-un-u i-na pa-[ni nakr#u] ia i-zi-iz A.0.78.5 a-bi-ik-tu KUR-u li-ku-un i-na pa-ni KR.ME- ia iz-zi-iz
Unlike the malediction kakkau (u kakk# umm"n"t#u) liber, the curses abikti m"t#u likun and ina pani nakr#u ay-izziz do not seem to be attested outside of EARI.
4.3.2.2.2 Analysis Itar is first invoked in the maledictions abikti m"t#u likun and ina pani nakr#u ay-izziz in EARI in multiple inscriptions of Adad-n!r!r" I. Because the curses are located in a generic conclusion section, no specific connections may be made between their presence in an inscription and the rest of the text contained within it; however, certain minor observations may be made. The entire standard Adad-n!r!r" concluding formula reads: Aur ilu !#ru "ib Ehursagkurkurra Anu Enlil Ea u Ninmah il"ni (DINGIR.ME) rabti (GAL.ME) Igigu a am Anunnaku a er!eti ina naphar#unu ezzi likkelm$uma erreta maruta aggi l#rur$ umu (MU-u) z!ru (NUMUN-u) ellassu u kimtau ina m"ti luhalliq$ naspuh m"t#u hal"q ni!u u kudurr#u ina punu (KA-iunu) kabti l$!mma
272 RIM A.0.76.5, A.0.76.6, A.0.76.7, A.0.76.8, A.0.76.10, A.0.76.13, A.0.76.16, 0.76.19, A.0.76.20, A.0.76.22, and A.0.76.24. 132 Adad ( d IKUR) ina rihi! lemutti lirhissu ab$bu imhullu sahmatu t! aam$tu suqqu bub$tu arurtu huahhu ina m"t#u lu kay"n m"ssu ab$bi luba# ana tilli u karme lut!r Itar ( d i 8 -tr) b!lt# abikti m"t#u likun ina p"ni nakr#u ay-izziz Adad ( d IKUR) ina beriq lemmuti m"ssu (KUR-su) libriq ana m"tssu (KUR-su) huahha liddi 273
May Aur, Exalted God, dweller of Ehursagkurkurra, Anu, Enlil, Ea, and Ninmah, the Great Gods, the Igigi of Heaven, the Anunnaki of the Earth: may they all glare at him with disfavor, may they curse him furiously with a terrible curse, may they perish his name, his offspring, his clan, and his people from the land. May they cause to occur, through their honorable proclamation, the dispersal of his land, the perishing of his people and his heirs. May Adad devastate him with a dreadful devastation: may deluge, imhullu-wind, chaos, confusion, tornado, hunger, pestilence, drought, (and) starvation be permanent in his land. May he cause (this) to pass over his land like a deluge and turn (it) into hills of ruin. May Itar, my Sovereign, establish a defeat upon his land: may he not stand firm before his enemy. May Adad strike his land with malevolent lightning (and) may he afflict his land with starvation.
As in the case of the maledictory section of am"-Adads Aur text (A.0.39.1), this, too, can be divided into two segments: A:
Aur ilu !#ru "ib Ehursagkurkurra Anu Enlil Ea u Ninmah il"ni rabti Igigu a am Anunnaku a er!eti ina naphar#unu ezzi likkelm$uma erreta maruta aggi l#rur$ umu z!ru ellassu u kimtau ina m"ti luhalliq$ naspuh m"t#u hal"q ni!u u kudurr#u ina punu (KA-iunu) kabti l$!mma
May Aur, Exalted God, dweller of Ehursagkurkurra, Anu, Enlil, Ea, and Ninmah, the great gods, the Igigi of Heaven, the Anunnaki of the Earth: may they all glare at him with disfavor, may they curse him furiously with a terrible curse, may they perish his name, his offspring, his clan, and his people from the land. May they cause to occur, through their honorable proclamation, the dispersal of his land, the perishing of his people and his heirs.
And B:
Adad ina rihi! lemutti lirhissu ab$bu imhullu sahmatu t! aam$tu suqqu bub$tu arurtu huahhu ina m"t#u lu kay"n m"ssu ab$bi luba# ana tilli u karme lut!r Itar b!lt# abikti m"t#u likun ina p"ni nakr#u ay-izziz Adad ina beriq lemmuti m"ssu libriq ana m"ssu huahha liddi
May Adad devastate him with a dreadful devastation: may deluge, imhullu-wind, chaos, confusion, tornado, hunger, pestilence, drought, (and) starvation be
273 RIM A.0.76.2: 48-62 133 permanent in his land. May he cause (this) to pass over his land like a deluge and turn (it) into hills of ruin. May Itar, my Sovereign, establish a defeat upon his land: may he not stand firm before his enemy. May Adad strike his land with malevolent lightning (and) may he afflict his land with starvation.
Segment A is extremely southern in style. It invokes the gods Anu, Enlil, Ea, and Ninmah, the great gods as a whole, the Igigu (specified as the gods of Heaven), and finally, the Anunnaku (specified as the gods of the Earth). These gods, who are presented as if in a council, are called upon to glare at [the future disloyal king] angrily, inflict upon him in their wrath an evil curse, destroy his name, his seed, his clan, and his kin from the land, and decree the dispersal of his land, the destruction of his people and his heirs. Segment B specifically addresses the gods Adad and Itar. If these gods were part of the decision-making process of the council, they are buried under the collective Great Gods. They are not specifically mentioned as part of the voting procedure. Instead, Adad and Itar are presented as the bailiffs of the gods of the council. They carry out the great curse invoked by the gods in segment A. They bring about the devastation of both the land and the king. The inscriptions of almaneser I contain a variety of different concluding formula. An almost identical version of segment A is present in two editions of the standard inscription of almaneser (A.0.77.1 and A.0.77.16); however, segment B is replaced by a single executive curse in which Aur is invoked. The majority of inscriptions from the reign of almaneser contain a much shortened form of segment A, in which only Aur is invoked; however, Adad is present in the maledictory section of three inscriptions of this king and Itar appears in one. When Itar is invoked as a maledictory deity, it is only in an inscription which records work on the b!t d Itar Aur#te the chapel of Assyrian Itar (A.0.77.6). The goddess is invoked with Aur and Adad. In the maledictory section, 134 Aur functions as an executive maledictory deity, while Adad is once again in charge of agricultural destruction. It should be emphasized that the text in which Itar appears as a maledictory deity is not from Nineveh; rather, in the two almaneser inscriptions discovered at Nineveh, only Aur and Adad are invoked in the maledictory section (A.0.77.17 and A.0.77.18). Although invoked as a maledictory deity in several inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta I, it is only in the two versions of his standard inscription (both discovered at Aur) that Itar is implored to abikti m"t#u likun and ina pani nakr#u ay-izziz. Furthermore, in neither is she listed with Adad. After the AFP, the section reads: [Aur u Adad il"ni a] am (AN) er!eti (KI) [iid kuss arr$t#u(?) l]issuh$ Lacuna(?) [...] !lu" TU[R ...] x sun[qa bub$t]a u huahh[a ana x nakr!u (KR].ME-) ukinnu[u arru b!l lemutt#]!u" kuss[u] (GI.GU.ZA-u) [l#kemu ana ni]!li !r!u!IGI".ME- m"ssu (KUR-su) lipur [... i]a u! perh# [... ni]! (UN.ME) mu"!ti 274
May [Aur and Adad, the Gods of] Heaven (and) the Earth, rip out [the foundations of the throne of his sovereignty (?)] Lacuna(?) x x x x May they establish, from his enemies, terror, atrocities, (and) devastation. May a king [who is] his [enemy] take away [his] throne (and) under his very eyes rule his land. [... May ...] not go out. His offspring [... the] people
This is followed by: Itar [INANA] b!lat [NIN-la-at] qabli [MURUB 4 ] u t"h"zi [n"]bt palya (B[AL]A.ME-ia) lu$mi zikr$ssu sinnis"ni mut$ssu ana rihti likun abikti m"t#u likunu ina p"ni nakir#u ay-izziz x xx [...] lin!r qur"d#u [lu-ub]-bu ana q"t (U) n"kr#u (KR.ME-u) lumell#u 275
[Itar], Sovereign of Combat and Battle, [the one who] called my pal: may she transform his masculinity in the same manner as a sinnis"nu; may she cause his potency to pour-out; may she establish a defeat of his land; may he not stand
274 RIM A.0.78.1 col. iii 32-vi 8. 275 RIM A.0.78.1 col. vi 9-22. 135 before his enemy; may she ... slay ....his soldiers; (and,) may she place him into the hand of his enemies.
Again, the first section reads like segment A of the Adad-n!r!r" maledictory section; however, this time Adad is paired with Aur and so is divided away from Itar. This separation is also evident in the second version of the standard inscription:
Aur u Adad ( d IKUR) il"ni (DINGIR.ME) a am (AN-e) u er!eti (KI-ti) arr$ssu (LUGAL-su) ligi$ umu (MU-u) z!ru (NUMUN-u) ina m"ti (KUR) luhalliq$ arru (LUGAL) b!l (EN) lemutt#u kuu (GI.GU.ZA-su) l#kemu ana ni"li !r!u (IGI.ME-su) m"ssu (KUR-su) lipur Itar ( d i 8 -tr) b!lt# (NIN) n"bt pal (BALA.ME) arr$t#ya (MAN-ti-ia) abikti m"t#u (KUR-u) likun ina p"ni nakr!u (KR.ME-) ay-izziz ana q"t (U) nakr!u (KR.ME-) lumell#u 276
Aur and Adad, the Gods of Heaven (and) Earth: may they extinguish his sovereignty; may they perish his name (and) his offspring, from the land. May a king who is his enemy take away his throne (and) under his very eyes rule his land. May Itar, my Sovereignwho called the pal of my sovereignty, establish a defeat upon his land: may he not stand firm before his enemy (and) may she place him into the hand of his enemies.
These are the last attestations of the curses abikti m"t#u likunu May DN establish a defeat upon his land and ina pani nakriu ay-izziz May DN not stand firm before his enemy in EARI in which Itar is invoked. In fact, as happens to the curse, kakkau (u kakk# umm"n"t#u) liber may DN break his weapons (and the weapons of his army), in the inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta discovered at K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta and in the later inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser I, Itar is replaced by Aur, Anu, and Adad. After these examples, the curses are no longer attested.
276 RIM A.0.78.5: 111-126. 136 4.3.2.2.3 Summation From this brief discussion of the attestations for the curses abikti m"t#u likun and ina pani nakr#u ay-izziz, it may be deduced that, at least during the reign of Adad- n!r!r" I, Itar functioned as a maledictory deity together with Adad. Since specific deities are generally only invoked to perform specific curses in EARI, the absence of the curses abikti m"t#u likun and ina pani nakr#u ay-izziz in the majority of concluding formula from the inscriptions of almaneser is likely due to the near exclusivity of the god Aur as the maledictory deity. Furthermore, since it is only in an inscription (of this king) which recorded renovations of the Assyrian Itar temple at Aur which invokes the goddess (with Adad), it may be possible to conclude that the manifestation of Itar who is invoked to perform these curses is Itar Aur"tum. During the reign of Tukult"-Ninurta I, Adad became seemingly synonymous with Aur; thus, Itar began to function independently. When this split took place, the curses normally invoked of Itar were reallocated to Aur, Adad, and Anu. This tradition continued into the inscription of Tiglath-Pileser I, after whose reign, the curses are no longer used.
137 4.3.2.3 ana q"t nakr#u lumell#u May DN place him into the hand of his enemy lin$r qur"d#u May DN slay his soldiers lu!mi zikr!ssu sinnis"ni May DN transform his masculinity in the same manner as a sinnis"nu mut!ssu ana rihti likun May DN cause his potency to pour-out
In EARI, these four maledictions are entreated only of Itar and are attested only in inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta; 277 however, the context of the attestations is not consistent.
4.3.2.3.1 Catalog
Tukult!-Ninurta A.0.78.1 [zik-r]u-su si-ni-sa-n [mut$ssu] !a-na" ri-hu-ti [liku]-un [abikti] [m"t#u] li- ku-un-u i-na pa-[ni nakr#u] ia i-zi-iz x xx [...] li-ner qu-ra-!di"-[u] lu-ub"bu ana U KR.!ME-" lu-me-li-
A.0.78.5 a-bi-ik-tu KUR-u li-ku-un i-na pa-ni KR.ME- ia iz-zi-iz a-na U KR.ME-u lu--me-li-u
A.0.78.11 GI TUKUL- li-be-er a-na U KR.ME- lu-mel-li-
A.0.78.13 LUGAL-su li-gi GI TUKUL-u li-bir mu-tu-su ana ri-hu-ti li-ku-un a-na U KR.ME-u lu-mel-li-u
A.0.78.14 GI TUKUL-u li-be-er a-na U KR.ME-u lu-me-li-u
A.0.78.16 MAN-su li-gi GI TUKUL-u li-be-er mu-tu-su a-na ri-hu-ti li-ku-un a-na U KR.ME-ulu-me-li-u
277 The one exception to this is ana q"t nakr#u lumell#u, which occurs in a text ascribed to am"-Adad and was inscribed on multiple fragments of stone cylinders found at Nineveh. In the text, it is ama (designated as the day"nu rab am u er!eti Great Judge of Heaven and Earth) who is implored to hand over [the disloyal future ruler] to a king who is his enemy as one who gives up a murderer RIM A.0.39.2: 94-126. This curse appears in his Ninevite text in which Itar is invoked to remove the sovereignty of a future ruler. 138 4.3.2.3.2 Analysis As can be deduced from the catalog, out of the four maledictions, Itar is the only god consistently invoked to perform the curse ana q"t nakr#u lumell#u may DN place him into the hand of his enemy. The curse which appears the least frequently in EARI is lin!r qur"d#u may DN slay his soldiers. This curse is attested only in maledictory section of the earlier standard inscription of Tukult"-Ninurta from Aur (A.0.78.1). The remaining two curses, lu$mi zikr$ssu sinnis"ni may DN transform his masculinity in the same manner as a sinnis"nu and mut$ssu ana rihti likun may DN cause his potency to pour-out, are attested together only in the same earlier standard inscription (A.0.78.1). Finally, mut$ssu ana rihti likun may DN cause his potency to pour-out is used without the former curse in two additional texts (A.0.78.13 and A.0.78.16). Of the four curses, ana q"t nakr#u lumell#u has the most attestations outside of EARI, while lin!r qur"d#u has the second most. The curses lu$mi zikr$ssu sinnis"ni and mut$ssu ana rihti likun have only one attestation outside of EARI. The malediction ana q"t nakr#u lumell#u has multiple OB attestations outside of EARI. In a Sumerian dedicatory inscription to Zababa found at Ur, the Larsa ruler Warad- Sn (1890-1878) thanks Zababa for answering his prayer. Zababa, who is referred to as the Sovereign of the Favorable Omen, does this by delivering his enemies into [Warad- Sns] hands. 278 In a slightly later Sumerian inscription, also discovered at Ur, the brother of Warad-Sn, Rim-Sn, declares that he has built the . e. bar. zi . da Temple of Reliable Decisions for the goddess Ninsiana (a manifestation of Itar). He does this
278 RIM E4, 247-248. 139 because she has delivered all of his enemies into his hands. 279
Itar is also invoked in the OB inscription of the ruler Yar"m-L"m which was discussed above. In that inscription, Itar is invoked ana q"t# mukaid#u limall#u to place [an enemy king] into the hand of his pursuers. 280 In yet another text attributed to an Amorite king, a manifestation of Itar is asked to perform this same service. A prophecy from Mari, which was delivered to Zimri-Lim, records that, in the temple of Annun"tum, a servant girl of Dag!n-Malik went into a trance and delivered this message: umm"mi Zimr#-Lim u umma atta mitanni an"ku el#ka ahabbu! nakr#ka ana q"t#ka umalla
Zimri-Lim: Even though you are neglectful about me, I will massacre on your behalf. Your enemy I will deliver up into your hand. 281
The servant girl speaking for Annun"tum states that the goddess would perform two of the actions normally recorded as maledictions: delivering up the enemy, but also, slaying for the king. Itar as the b!let t"h"zi u qabli is invoked to perform both curses in the epilogue to the Code of Hammurabi. It will be recalled that this manifestation of Itar is listed together with Zababa in the epilogue. These activities are also attributed to Itar and Zababa in a bi-lingual inscription of Samsu-iluna (1749-1712). 282 Together these gods are referred to as the q"rd$tim ina Igigi Heroes of the Igigu. The text, which was inscribed on several cylinder seals found at Ki, records the god Enlil speaking to Itar and Zababa regarding Samsu-iluna:
279 RIM E4.2.14.18. 280 RIM E4.34.1.1: 16-20 281 ARM 26 214: 8-14, as presented by Martti Nissinen in Prophets and Prophecy. 282 RIM E4.3.7.7: 4-5. 140 lu n$ru naw"rum attan$ma ittakunu damiqtum lib#umma ay"b#u naera z"ir#u ana q"t#u mulliama (mulliama)
Be his illumination. May you bestow a good omen on him: kill his enemies (and) deliver into his hands his foes. 283
In the same inscription, Itar and Zababa respond to Samsu-iluna: in imn#ka nillak z"ir#ka ninaar ay"b#ka ana q"t#ka numalla
We will go at your right side, kill your enemies, (and) place your foes into your hands. 284
The inscription then states that Samsu-iluna went out and killed his enemies. In Babylon, this curse continued to be used in association with Itar. From the Kassite period, it is attested on a kudurru of the king Meli-ipak (1186-1172). In the maledictory section of the kudurru, Itar, designated as the b!let m"t"ti, is invoked to aar kakki u t"h"zi ana kakk# n"kir# limn$ deliver [the enemy king] to the weapons of the enemy of the battlefield. 285
Finally, it should be recalled that during the early NA period, the blessing ina t"h"z# a arr"ni aar taqr$bte ammar libb#u lu am!u may they, in battles between kings on the battlefield, cause him to attain his hearts desire begins to be attested in Assyrian royal inscriptions. It may be then that the blessing aar kakki u t"h"zi ana kakk# n"kir# limn$ deliver him to the weapons of the enemy of the battlefield is merely the reversal of this curse. To cause the attainment of the hearts desire of the king is to slaughter the enemy, rather than any more compassionate outcome.
283 RIM E4.3.7.7: 36b-42. 284 RIM E4.3.7.7: 71-75 285 BBS. No. 3 vi 18-20. 141 Unlike the curses ana q"t nakr#u lumell#u may DN place him into the hand of his enemy and lin!r qur"d#u may DN slay his soldiers, the curses lu$mi zikr$ssu sinnis"ni may DN transform his masculinity in the same manner as a sinnis"nu, and mut$ssu ana rihti likun may DN cause his potency to pour-out have only one possible similar attestation before their use in the inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta. This is once again in the maledictory section of the Alalakh inscription of Yar"m-L"m. In this maledictory section, Itar is invoked to cause potency to flow from the loins of the enemy king. The only other attestation of this curse is from the much later Monument A of Esarhaddon. 286 This monument was discovered just north of Alalakh, in the Neo-Hittite city of Samael. In the inscription, Itar is invoked as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi.
4.3.2.3.3 Summation In sum, the varied attestations of the maledictions discussed in section 4.3.2.3 include the following: ana q"t nakr#u lumell#u May DN place him into the hand of his enemy lin!r qur"d#u May DN slay his soldiers lu$mi zikr$ssu sinnis"ni May DN transform his masculinity in the same manner as a sinnis"nu mut$ssu ana rihti likun May DN cause his potency to pour-out
Like the previously discussed curses, these four curses are particular to Itar in EARI, seem to have a distinct origin, and seem to be connected to distinct manifestations of the goddess.
286 IAK MnmA d Itr b!let qabli u t"h"zi zik-ru-su sin-ni-a-ni lu--lik-ma. 142 The distribution of ana q"t nakr#u lumell#u (Place) and lin!r qur"d#u (Slay) is: King God invoked Origin of Inscription Place Slay Warad-Sn Zababa Larsa / Ur YES --- Rim-Sn Ninsiana Larsa/ Ur YES --- Yar"m-L"m Itar Alalakh YES --- Zimri-L"m Annun"tum Mari YES YES Hammurabi Itar b!let t"h"zi u qabli Ki YES YES Samsu-iluna Itar and Zababa Ki YES YES Tukult"-Ninurta Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi Itar Itar Din"tu Din"tu Aur YES YES --- --- --- --- Meli-ipak Itar b!let m"t"t# Babylon YES ---
The subject of the action: to place an enemy into the hands of a king (with the option of also murdering them) is consistent. In all but two attestations, it is Itar (or a manifestation of Itar). In the two exceptions, the god Zababa is invoked once, while in the second Zababa and Itar are invoked. It can further be noted that the majority of attestations can be dated to the OB period and that they, like the curse may DN break weapons occur in the inscriptions of Amorite kings. The designation given to Itar in each attestation is different. In four examples, she is merely called Itar, while in two, she is called D"n"tu. Once she is referred to as Ninsiana, once as Annun"tum, once as Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi, and finally, she is designated once as b!let m"t"t#. It is tempting to conclude that these various designations and manifestations for Itar are, in fact, a singular manifestation of Itar. It is also tempting to suggest that, due to Itars association with Zababa in the curses, this manifestation of Itar originates at Ki. This is because Itar and Zababa were both patron 143 deities of Ki; 287 however, this would perhaps be too hasty a conclusion. The curse is also invoked in inscriptions from Mari, Alalakh, Aur, and Babylon (once). It should further be noted that, other than the examples in which Itar is called b!let qabli u t"h"zi, both Itar and Zababa are repeatedly associated with omens. It is difficult to form any conclusions from the attestations of the remaining two curses: lu$mi zikr$ssu sinnis"ni May DN transform his masculinity in the same manner as a sinnis"nu mut$ssu ana rihti likun May DN cause his potency to pour-out
The distribution of these curses is: King God Origin of Inscription Yar"m-L"m Itar Alalakh Tukult"-Ninurta I Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi Itar Itar D"n"tu D"n"tu Aur Esarhaddon Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi Samael
From this distribution, it may, with great trepidation, be observed that the curses originate in the region of Alalakh, perhaps with the Hurrians.
4.3.2.4 Conclusion to the Martial Maledictory Analysis Perhaps unexpectedly, Itar is attested as a martial-maledictory deity in EARI in the inscriptions of only five kings: am"-Adad I, Adad-n!r!r" I, almaneser I, Tukult"- Ninurta I, and Aur-na!irpal II. Perhaps also surprising, the specific curses for which Itar is the subject are not consistent between reigns. There are only seven clear martial
287 It may also be that, during the Kassite period, b!let m"t"t# was a designation for Itar at Ki. 144 actions Itar is requested to perform in the concluding formulae of EARI. Of this list, kakkau (u kakk# umm"n"t#u) liber appears in inscriptions from the reigns of am"- Adad, Tukult"-Ninurta, and Aur-na!irpal. The curses abikti m"t#u likunu and ina pani nakr#u ay-izziz are only attested in the inscriptions of Adad-n!r!r", almaneser, Tukult"-Ninurta. The remaining three curses, lu$mi zikr$ssu sinnis"ni, mut$ssu ana rihti likun, and ana q"t nakr#u lumell#u, are only attested in the inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta. The inconsistency of the application of the various curses suggests that different traditions were followed between reigns, e.g., when called up to perform the curses abikti m"t#u likunu and ina pani nakr#u ay-izziz in the inscriptions of Adad-n!r!r" and almaneser, Itar is designated by no special title. It is also only in these attestations that Itar is paired with Adad as a maledictory deity. The situation is very different when Itar is implored to kakkau (u kakk# umm"n"t!u) liber. When this curse is requested of the goddess, she is twice referred to as the b!let (qabli u) t"h"zionce listed in the maledictory section with the gods Sn and Nergal. In all remaining attestations of this curse, Itar is the sole maledictory deity listed. Finally, the curses ana q"t nakr#u lumell#u, lu$mi zikr$ssu sinnis"ni and mut$ssu ana rihti likun are not only attested in the inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta, but are likely attributable to Itar as b!let qabli u t"h"zi. Each of these martial maledictions, like the curses invoked to remove an enemy kings sovereignty, is aimed at reversing or preventing the actions which Assyrian rulers proudly claim they perform. Itar functions as a martial maledictory goddess in the inscriptions of five kings:
am!-Adad I A.0.39.1 d INANA be-le-et ta-ha-zi-im GI.TUKUL-u GI.TUKUL um-ma-na-ti-u li-i-bi-ir 145 Adad-n"r"r! I A.0.76.2 d i 8 -tr be-el-ti a-bi-ik-ti KUR-u li-i-ku-un i-na pa-ni na-ak-ri-u ia iz-zi-iz 288
A.0.76.4 [ d i 8 ]-tr GAAN a-bi-ik-ti [m"t#u] li-[i-ku]-un i-na pa-n[i nakr#u] ia iz-zi- [i]z A.0.76.11 d i 8 -tr be-el-ti a-bi-ik-ti KUR-u [li-i]-ku-u[n] Lacuna A.0.76.14 d i 8 -tr GAAN a-bi-ik-ti KUR-u A.0.76.15 d i 8 -tr be-el-ti a-bi-ik-ti KUR-u i-na pa-ni na-ak-ri-u ia iz-zi-iz
almaneser I A.0.77.6 d i 8 -tr NIN a-be-ek-te KUR-u li-i-ku-un i-na pa-ni na-ak-ri-u ia iz-zi-iz
Tukult!-Ninurta A.0.78.1 [zik-r]u-su si-ni-sa-n [mut$ssu] !a-na" ri-hu-ti [liku]-un [abikti] [m"t#u] li- ku-un-u i-na pa-[ni nakr#u] ia i-zi-iz x xx [...] li-ner qu-ra-!di"-[u] lu-ub"bu ana U KR.!ME-" lu-me-li- A.0.78.5 a-bi-ik-tu KUR-u li-ku-un i-na pa-ni KR.ME- ia iz-zi-iz a-na U KR.ME-u lu--me-li-u A.0.78.11 GI TUKUL- li-be-er a-na U KR.ME- lu-mel-li- A.0.78.13 LUGAL-su li-gi GI TUKUL-u li-bir mu-tu-su ana ri-hu-ti li-ku-un a-na U KR.ME-u lu-mel-li-u A.0.78.14 GI TUKUL-u li-be-er a-na U KR.ME-u lu-me-li-u A.0.78.16 MAN-su li-gi GI TUKUL-u li-be-er mu-tu-su a-na ri-hu-ti li-ku-un a-na U KR.ME-ulu-me-li-u
Aur-na! !! !irpal II A.0.101.50 d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M GI.TUKUL.ME- hu- tu--bir
4.3.3 Conclusion to the Entire Maledictory Analysis Perhaps more than any other unit in EARI, the concluding formula aids in our understanding of the function of a god for the Assyrian royal court. From the analysis of the attestations for the invocation of a god to bless an Assyrian kings sovereignty, and from the curse to remove that sovereignty it can be determined which deity holds direct executive power over which region. The results are enlightening. While each deity has executive jurisdiction over their own temple, only a very specific few hold that same authority over cities and regions paramount to Assyrian kings. Not surprisingly, the
288 RIM A.0.76.5, A.0.76.6, A.0.76.7, A.0.76.8, A.0.76.10, A.0.76.13, A.0.76.16, A.0.76.19, A.0.76.20.A, A.0.76.22, and A.0.76.24. 146 attestations inform us that Aur has jurisdiction over Aur, and later, over greater Assyria. Also not surprising, Itar holds jurisdiction over Nineveh. Similar to Aur, this manifestation of Itar also comes to have executive jurisdiction over greater Assyria. What is unanticipated is that Itar, designated as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi, acts as the primary executive over the city and region of Kalhu. A city founded by almaneser I, but truly inhabited by Aurna!irpal II and his father almaneser III, one would expect the primary tutelary deity to be Ninurta. The case of the martial maledictions is different from that of the executive. These maledictions indicate functions specific to each god. The functions particular gods are invoked to perform in this section are not, in general, shared. While the specific manifestation of Itar, b!let Ninua, had executive jurisdiction over Nineveh, Itar, designated as Itar Aur#tum seems to have none of this power. She, together with Adad (before he became the equivalent of Aur during the reign of Tukult"-Ninurta), may have functioned merely functioned as bailiffs for Aur and the council of the gods. At the behest of other deities, Itar Aur#tum ensured a martial defeat was brought down upon the enemy king. She made sure he did not stand firm before an attacking army. This, too, may have been the original function of Itar b!let t"h"zi. Originally, this manifestation of Itar broke the weapon of enemy kings; however, when combined with B#let-qabli, the new conjoined Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi was a ferocious martial force. So powerful, in the inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta, she performs the actions of both Itar Aur#tum and Itar b!let t"h"zi: slays an enemy outright, destroy his potency, and simply hands him over to an enemy.
Chapter 5: INVOCATION
5.1 Diagram and Purpose An invocation unit is first attested in EARI in the Annals of Tiglath-pileser I. 289
There were, according to Graysons schematic, two types of Annals: annalistic accounts including one military campaign and annalistic accounts including multiple campaigns. 290
The former only existed during the NA period and were inscribed upon objects in prominent and highly visible places, usually rock faces or stelae. The latter are found from the MA period on, and were inscribed on a variety of objects in well-known places or on foundations. The multiple-campaign type can take one of three forms: those with an invocation, those with no invocation, and a third, rare, form that begins with a dedication to the deity and is followed by a titulary and an annalistic narration. 291 In earlier
289 Schneider, A New Analysis, 145. 290 Grayson, Assyria and Babylonia, 151-52. 291 Ibid. According to Grayson, this is a very rare form used only by am"-Adad V (RIM A.0.103.1) and Aurban"pal (Daniel David Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia [New York: Greenwood Press, 1968], 713-126). Although RIM A.0.103.1 is annalistic, it begins with ana followed by a list of epithets for only one god, Ninurta; however, it is probable that this text was actually meant to be seen by all of the gods. RIM A.0.103.1 is dedicated to Ninurta and was found at Kalhu, but the same text was inscribed on various other objects and dedicated to different deities. Grayson posits that, since a 148 inscriptions, although an invocation could be used in a multiple-campaign version of the Annals, it does not always appear in these types of inscriptions; however, when the king wished to display a particular campaign prominently, he always invoked a deity or deities. The invocation is consistently placed just before the titulary, and so begins the inscription in which it is contained. This is fitting because it is likely that it served, as its modern name suggests, as an invocation or address to the gods. Generally, starting with the deity, Aur, an invocation would list the names of only the great gods of Assyria/Mesopotamia and certain epithets. In a few cases, a smaller number of these gods were addressed, and in rare cases, only a single god. The designations listed for the gods were very much like those listed for the king in his titulary. They identify the god according to his or her prowess, physical characteristics, and/or the realm over which he/she presided. As with a royal titulary, the epithets succeeding a gods name were not consistent. Why the gods were invoked is a curious question, the answer to which hinges, to some extent, on the question of audience. If the gods were, in fact, thought to read the material which followed, then the invocation would call their attention to it; thus, the remainder of an inscription could be viewed as a type of rsum or performance report (of the king). If, on the other hand, the inscriptions are understood as a declaration of a kings dominion and status as the chosen ruler of the godsand as one who could, in fact, invoke the godsthen the invocation may serve to instill awe in the mortal community.
second copy of this text was found at Nineveh, it could have had Itar as its audience (because Itar would have been the goddess of Nineveh). Additionally, [t]here are also two fragments of stone stelae from Aur, listed as RIM A.0.103.2 and 3, which duplicate portions of this text. These were, no doubt, dedicated to yet other deities (RIMA III, 180 ff.). It is possible that this annalistic account, which would normally have addressed all of the gods in an invocation unit, separated the gods, thus giving each their own copy of the document. 149 At this time, there is not adequate evidence to settle this ongoing dabate. The invocation itself can appear in several different forms. As an inscription of Tiglath-pileser, demonstrates, it can be quite long: Aur b!lu (EN) rab (GAL) mut!ir kiat il"ni (DINGIR.ME) n"din ha""i ( GI GIDRU) u ag muk#n arr$ti (MAN-ti) Enlil ar (MAN) gimir Anunnaki abu il"ni (DINGIR.ME) b!l (EN) m"t"ti (KUR.KUR) Sn ( d 30) eru b!l (EN) ag "q makurri ( d M.GUR 8 ) ama
( d UTU) day"n (DI.KUD) am (AN) er!eti (KI-ti) h"i" !alp"t ay"b# muebru !!ni Adad ( d IKUR) ur"nu r"hi! kibr"t n"kir# (KR.ME) ad (KUR.ME) ti"m"ti (AB.ME-ti) Ninurta qardu "gi lemni u ay"bi muem! mal libbi Itar ( d INANA) aaritti (SAG-ti) il"ni (DINGIR.ME) b!let t! muarrihat qabl"te (MURUB 4 .ME-te) il"ni (DINGIR.ME) rabti (GAL.ME) muttabbilut am (AN-e) er!eti (KI-ti) a t#b$unu tuquntu (GI.LAL) u amu muerb$ arr$t Tiglath-pileser ( mGI tukul-ti-IBILA--r-ra) rub (NUN) nar"m bibil libb#kun
Aur, Great Sovereign, who governs all the gods, who bestows the scepter and crown, who anchors sovereignty; Enlil, Sovereign of all the Anunnaku, father of the gods, Sovereign of the Lands; Sn, Wise One, Sovereign of the Crown, Steward of the Boat; ama, Judge of Heaven (and) the Earth, Watchman of the Iniquity of Enemies, who exposes the wicked. Adad, Conqueror, who devastates enemy regions, mountains, (and) seas; Ninurta, Champion, Slayer of the Malevolent and the Enemy, who causes the attainment of a full heart; Itar, Preeminent among the Gods, Sovereign of Frenzy, who Quickens Combats; Great Gods, Managers of Heaven (and) the Earth, whose attack means conflict and strife, who make great the sovereignty of Tiglath-pileser, Prince, Beloved, your select one 292
This format of invocation can be divided into two sections. The first section lists the deities addressed: Aur b!lu (EN) rab (GAL) mut!ir kiat il"ni (DINGIR.ME) n"din ha""i ( GI GIDRU) u ag muk#n arr$ti (MAN-ti) Enlil ar (MAN) gimir Anunnaki abu il"ni (DINGIR.ME) b!l (EN) m"t"ti (KUR.KUR) Sn ( d 30) eru b!l (EN) ag "q makurri ( d M.GUR 8 ) ama
( d UTU) day"n (DI.KUD) am (AN) er!eti (KI-ti) h"i" !alp"t ay"b# muebru !!ni Adad ( d IKUR) ur"nu r"hi! kibr"t n"kir# (KR.ME) ad (KUR.ME) ti"m"ti (AB.ME-ti) Ninurta qardu "gi lemni u ay"bi muem! mal libbi Itar ( d INANA) aaritti (SAG-ti) il"ni (DINGIR.ME) b!let t! muarrihat qabl"te (MURUB 4 .ME-te)
292 RIM A.0.87.1 col. i 1-20. 150 Aur, Great Sovereign, who governs all the gods, who bestows the scepter and crown, who preserves sovereignty; Enlil, Sovereign of all the Anunnaku, father of the gods, Sovereign of the Lands; Sn, Wise One, Sovereign of the Crown, Steward of the Boat; ama, Judge of Heaven (and) the Earth, Watchman of the Iniquity of Enemies, who exposes the wicked. Adad, Conqueror, who devastates enemy regions, mountains, (and) seas; Ninurta, Champion, Slayer of the Malevolent and the Enemy, who causes the attainment of a full heart; Itar, Preeminent among the Gods, Sovereign of Frenzy, who Quickens Combats;
The second part is an artful transition between the invocation and the following titulary unit. Its form is a cross between a titulary of the deities and one of the king:
il"ni (DINGIR.ME) rabti (GAL.ME) muttabbil$t am (AN-e) er!eti (KI-ti) a t#b$unu tuquntu (GI.LAL) u amu muerb$ arr$t Tiglath-pileser ( mGI tukul-ti- IBILA--r-ra) rub (NUN) nar"m bibil libb#kun
Great Gods, Managers of Heaven (and) the Earth, whose attack means conflict and strife, who make great the sovereignty of Tiglath-pileser, Prince, Beloved, your select one 293
This second half is an optional transition between the individual treatment of each god and the individual treatment of the king within his titulary. In this cleverly-designed portion of the text, the gods are addressed as a unit. Together they are the muttabbil$t am er!eti Managers of Heaven (and) the Earth, and, although they still hold pride of place as the subject of the unit, it is Tiglath-pileser who is the main focus of the text; thus there is an intermediary stage between the titulary of the gods and the titulary of the king. Comparing this invocation to the much shorter version found in an inscription of almaneser III: Aur Sn ( d 30) ama Adad ( d IKUR) Itar ( d INANA) il"ni (DINGIR.ME) rabti (GAL.ME) r"im$t arr$t#ya (MAN-ti-ia) muarb um#ya (MU-ia)
Aur, Sn, ama, Adad, (and) Itar: the Great Gods who love my sovereignty (and) who cause my name to be grand. 294
293 RIM A.0.87.1 col. i 1-20. 294 RIM A.0.102.21: 1-4a. 151 As with the longer version, the list of gods begins the section: Aur, Sn, ama, Adad, and Itar. This is then followed by the transitional statement il"ni rabti r"im$t arr$t#ya the Great Gods who love my sovereignty. The invocation can also appear as a prayer to a deity which can come before the titulary. This type of invocation is comparatively rare, occurring only on stone objects during the early NA period and seems to have its origins in the first type of ana-clause (dedicatory) as originally seen in the action unit of Dedicatory and Commemorative inscriptions. Identifying this invocation unit is simple, since it is always at the beginning of an inscription and has a very obvious format: it begins with the preposition ana followed by the name of the deity being addressed. As can be seen by these two examples, the gods listed are different in each invocation. This indicates that, as there was no custom requiring particular epithets for the gods, there was also no fixed tradition which stipulated which gods needed to be invoked. Although not all gods are present in each above the above invocations, the positions of the gods are constant. In her unpublished dissertation investigating the inscription of almaneser III, Tammi Joy Schneider suggests that, while various gods may or may not be included in an invocation list, when they are present they are always in the same sequential position (e.g., Enlil always follows Anu in an invocation). 295 This leads Schneider to conclude that the ordering of the gods must be canonical, thus finding its origins in the god-lists of southern Mesopotamia. Schneider argues that the scribes of Tiglath-pileser I would have been aware of these god-lists, particularly the great god-list An = Anum, because there is evidence that it was brought to Assyria during the MA
295 Schneider, A New Analysis, 254, Table 2. 152 periodperhaps by the scribe Kidin-Sn. 296 She concludes that the invocation is, in fact, an old Mesopotamian tradition incorporated into a new literary form. 297
Although an intriguing suggestion, this contention is difficult to support. Any canonical god-list need not have passed into Assyrian tradition only during the reign of Tiglath-Pileser I. This could have happened during any one of the many instances of contact between north and south. More importantly, neither the sequential listing of the gods, nor the epithets which follow a gods name, matches all of those located in the invocations. An = Anum is a highly technical god-list from the Kassite period, whose roots may extend as far back as the Fara period in Sumer. Written on seven tablets, the list attempts to correlate the names of hundreds of regional divinities to most of the great gods of southern Mesopotamia: Anu, Enlil (Ninurta), Ninhursag, Ea (Marduk), Sn, ama, Adad, and Itar. 298 As can be seen in the chart A below, at no point do the names align (nor do they align with the MA god-list An = Anu a am!li [also Chart A]). Though
296 Ibid., 46-48. Schneider refers to W. G. Lambert, The Historical Development of the Mesopotamian Pantheon: A Study in the Sophisticated Polytheism, in Unity and Diversity: Essays in History, Literature, and Religion of the Ancient Near East, eds. Hans Goedike and J. J. M. Roberts (Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1976), 192-200, when she explains that these lists were originally southern scholarly inventions designed to compile information about the deities, particularly the various names by which they were known. Usually these southern lists had two columns, one which listed the common name for the deity, and the other in which could be placed the name of the deity in another language, a more obscure name, or the name of a direct relative (spouse or offspring). Anu: Anum, which dates to 1300- 1100 B.C. E., is a multiple tablet text and the most well-known of these lists. 297 Schneider, A New Analysis, 47. 298 Richard L. Litke, A Reconstruction of the Assyro-Babylonian God-lists, An = Anum and An = Anum am!li (New Haven: Yale Babylonian Collection, 1998), xii-xxhereafter, Litke. 153 certain gods seem to be consistently grouped together (e.g., Aur, Anu, Enlil, and Ea), not every group is, in fact, consistent in order. 299
Chart A: A= Anum Anu Enlil Sn ama Adad Ninurta Nergal Itar Nisaba + Anu a A Anu Enlil Ea Sn ama Adad Itar + TP I Aur Enlil Sn ama Adad Ninurta Itar AN II LACUNA Sn ama Marduk Ninurta Nergal Nusku Ninlil Itar TP II Aur Anu Enlil Ea Sn Adad ama Marduk Ninurta Nergal Nusku Ninlil Itar AII: A Aur Anu Enlil Ea Sn Adad ama Marduk Ninurta Nergal Nusku Ninlil Itar AII: B Aur Anu Ea Enlil Sn Marduk Adad ama Ninurta Nusku Ninlil Nergal Itar III: A Aur Anu Enlil Ea Sn ama Itar III: B Aur Anu Enlil Ea Sn ama Ninurta Itar III: C Aur Anu Enlil Ea Adad Sn Marduk Ninurta Itar III: D Aur Anu Enlil Ea Sn Adad ama Marduk Ninurta Nergal Nusku Ninlil Itar
This inconsistency was noted by Hurowitz and Westenholz in their treatment of the Epic of Tiglath-Pileser. As can seen from chart B below, the ordering of the gods in the invocations found in EARI is also not demonstrative of those found in the vanguard lists of the two great Assyrian epics: the Epic of Tukult#-Ninurta and the Epic of Tiglath- pileser. Finally, it has also been proposed that the positions of gods in invocations demonstrate a hierarchical ordering, i.e., the god listed first in the list functions as the most important deity in the pantheon, while the god listed last, is the least important. This theory is also faulty. Though Aur is listed first in every invocation, Itar is listed last. It
299 Legend for the following charts: Anu a A = An = Anu a am!li; TP I = Tiglath-Pileser II; AN II = Adad-n!r!r" II; TP II = Tiglath-Pileser II; AII: A = Adad-n!r!r" II invocation A; AII: B = Adad-n!r!r" II invocation B; III: A = almaneser III invocation A; III: B = almaneser III invocation B; III: C = almaneser III invocation C; III: D = almaneser III invocation D; TN E = Epic of Tukult#-Ninurta; and TP E = Epic of Tiglath-Pileser. + indicates a further listing of gods. 154 is inconceivable that Itar, one of the great deities of the Assyrian empire, was considered a lesser deity than Nusku, who may appear two deities before her in certain invocations. 300 Instead, the ordering of the gods must be approached differently. Most important in understanding the function of the gods within an invocation is not whether a god leads or follows; rather, it is in whose direct company that god is found and which epithets accompany the name of that god. Chart B: TN E Aur Enlil Anu Sin Adad ama Ninurta Itar TP E Aur Enlil Itar Ninurta Nusku Adad Aur TP I Aur Enlil Sn ama Adad Ninurta Itar AN II LACUNA Sn ama Marduk Ninurta Nergal Nusku Ninlil Itar TP II Aur Anu Enlil Ea Sn Adad ama Marduk Ninurta Nergal Nusku Ninlil Itar AII: A Aur Anu Enlil Ea Sn Adad ama Marduk Ninurta Nergal Nusku Ninlil Itar AII: B Aur Anu Ea Enlil Sn Marduk Adad ama Ninurta Nusku Ninlil Nergal Itar III: A Aur Anu Enlil Ea Sn ama Itar III: B Aur Anu Enlil Ea Sn ama Ninurta Itar III: C Aur Anu Enlil Ea Adad Sn Marduk Ninurta Itar III: D Aur Anu Enlil Ea Sn Adad ama Marduk Ninurta Nergal Nusku Ninlil Itar
300 Hurowitz and Westenholz also question this presupposition when they attempt to discover the hierarchy of gods present in LKA 63. In their examination of the recitation of the gods present in the divine vanguard, Hurowitz and Westenholz observe that the god Aur is mentioned first, but also last. This brings them to conclude that His appearance ... may be seen as a crescendo: the most important god was to be named last (Hurowitz and Westenholz, LKA 63, 38). 155 5.2 Attestations
5.2.1 Tiglath-pileser I 5.2.1.1 Invocation Four editions of Tiglath-pilesers Annals are extant, yet only two of these contain an invocation. 301 The earlier of these two editions was inscribed on several octagonal prisms which were discovered mainly at Aur. The later version was written on multiple tablets, all of which were discovered at Nineveh. Although each version of the Annals differs slightly with regards to its construction section (the Aur text focusing on construction work done at Aur, while the Ninevite version reporting on construction work done at that city), an identical invocation unit is extant in both editions. Aur b!lu rab mut!ir kiat il"ni n"din ha""i u ag muk#n arr$ti Enlil ar gimir Anunnaki abu il"ni b!l m"t"ti Sn eru b!l ag "q makurri
ama
day"n am er!eti h"i" !alp"t ay"b# muebru !!ni Adad ur"nu r"hi! kibr"t n"kir# ad ti"m"ti Ninurta qardu "gi lemni u ay"bi muem! mal libbi Itar aaritti il"ni b!let t! muarrihat qabl"te 302
Aur, Great Sovereign, who governs all the gods, who bestows the scepter and crown, who anchors sovereignty Enlil, Sovereign of all the Anunnaku, Father of the Gods, Sovereign of the Lands Sn, Wise one, Sovereign of the Crown, Steward of the Boat (Gibbous Moon) ama, Judge of Heaven (and) Earth, Watchman of the Iniquity of Enemies, who exposes the wicked Adad, Conqueror, who devastates enemy regions, mountains, (and) seas Ninurta, Champion, Slayer of the Malevolent and the Enemy, who causes the attainment of a full heart Itar, Preeminent among the Gods, Sovereign of Frenzy, who Quickens Combats
301 The additional versions were likely written later. Each of these versions begins only with a titulary. 302 RIM A.0.87.1: col i. 1-27 and A.0.87.2: 1-6. 156 5.2.1.2 Analysis As is to be expected, the invocation located in the Annals of Tiglath-pileser begins by invoking the patron deity of Aur, and, as noted above, ends by invoking Itar. Furthermore, it may be noted that each god mentioned receives two or three titles which extol (thereby indicating) their particular realms of influence and authority. The order of the gods is dependent on association. Aur and Enlil are executive deities, Sn and ama are celestial wisdom gods, and Adad, Ninurta, and Itar are martial. The first pair of deities listed, Aur and Enlil, either were equated with one another at Aur or were so closely aligned that they shared the same temple. The designations attributed to Aur highlight his role as head of the divine council. As mut!ir kiat il"ni the one who governs all the gods, Aur is the deity who regulates and orders the gods; as il"ni n"din ha""i u ag the one who bestows the scepter and crown, he is also the god who gives the insignia of mortal sovereignty to a king; and muk#n arr$ti anchors sovereignty, he, in addition to bestowing sovereignty, is the very foundation of that sovereignty. The god Enlil is listed just after Aur, and is, to some extent, equated with him in that he, too, is a sovereign of gods. Enlil is called the ar gimir Anunnaki Sovereign of all the Anunnaku, the abu il"ni Father of the Gods, and the b!l m"t"ti Sovereign of the Lands. All three are typical Sumerian titles which may also be used to refer to Anu, a god not present in the invocation of the Tiglath-pileser Annals. 303
303 Anu was the father of Adad and so shared a temple with Adad at Aur. The absence of Anu in the invocation is perplexing but may be explained. As the father of Adad, Anu was at times equated with Dag!n, who was, in turn equated with Enlil. It may be that this early invocation expresses that combination. All three gods, Anu, Dag!n, and Enlil, may have been subsumed into the name Enlil. 157 After Enlil, the two gods who share a temple at Aur, Sn and ama, are paired as celestial wisdom deities. Sn, the god of the moon, is the eru Wise One, who waxes as the b!l ag Sovereign (and symbol) of the Royal-Crown, and wanes as the "q makurri Steward of the Boat (gibbous moon). ama, the god of the Sun, is the day"n am er!eti Judge of Heaven and Earth, and the h"i" !alp"t ay"b# Watchman of the Iniquity of Enemies who muebru !!ni exposes the wicked. After these two sets of gods, Adad, Ninurta, and Itar are invoked. Unlike Aur and Enlil and Sn and ama, these three deities do not share a temple. The three gods are, instead, associated with one another through warfare. As has been seen by their representations in both the action unit and concluding formula, Adad, Ninurta, and Itar may again be listed together according to the divine battle-formation. In this invocation, the storm god Adad is not invoked for his power to produce abundant crops, but rather for his ability to obliterate. He is the ur"nu Conqueror, who r"hi! kibr"t n"kir# ad ti"m"ti devastates enemy regions, mountains, (and) seas. As the qardu Champion and the "gi lemni u ay"bi Slayer of the Malevolent and the Enemy, Ninurta, the son of Enlil, is also referred to as a vanquisher. Like Adad, he is invoked for his destructive powers. Furthermore, in this invocation, Ninurta is on some level being equated with Nergal, the deity with whom the title "gi lemni u ay"bi is normally associated. Ninurtas ability to be muem! mal libbi the one who causes the attainment of a full heart is a quality invoked periodically in the concluding formula of later kings of both Ninurta and Itar. Its presence here foretells things to come. Finally, as the b!let t! muarrihat qabl"te Sovereign of Frenzy, who quickens combats Itar, too, performs in a martial capacity; however, while Adad destroys the lands, and Ninurta slays the 158 warriors, Itar incites the actual battle.
5.2.1.3 Summation Though listed last, like Aur, Itar is also a supreme deity in the invocation of Tiglath-Pileser I. She is the aaritti il"ni Preeminent among the Gods. Contrary to Aur, she is the b!let t! muarrihat qabl"te Sovereign of Frenzy, who Quickens Combats. In this invocation, Itar is designated as a god who may sustain mortal rulers, such as Aur. By bringing about anarchy and rebellion as the b!let t! and by quickening battle, Itar is also in control of sovereignty. Should the goddess decide against a certain king, she may topple his regime; thus, in the invocation, Aur and Itar compliment each other. Both are powerful and both are intimately connected to the bestowal and retention of kingship. Listed last, Itar actually balances Aur, who is listed first. Listed together with the war gods, Itar may again be imagined as flanked by Adad and Ninurta when marching into battle.
5.2.2 Adad-n"r"r# II and Tiglath-pileser II
5.2.2.1 Invocation
An invocation unit is extant in the Annals of the two early NA kings: Adad-n!r!r" II and Tiglath-pileser II. In the inscriptions of Adad-n!r!r" II, there is but one version of his Annalsfound on various tablets at Aur. On the other hand, there are several extant versions of the Annals of Tiglath-pileser I. All of these versions were discovered at Aur and all contain an identical invocation. Excepting a lacuna at the beginning of the 159 invocation of the Annals of Adad-n!r!r" II, the invocation units which appear in all the Annals of these kings are extremely similar to one another: [Aur... Sn...] b!l namr#r# ama
day"n am u er!eti mumaer gimri Marduk apkal il"ni b!l tr!ti Ninurta qarr"d Igigi u Annunaki Nergal gitm"lu ar tamh"ri Nusku n"i ha""i elliti ilu mult"lu Ninlil h#rti Enlil ummi il"ni rabti Itar aaritti am u er!eti a para! qard$ti uklulat 304
Sn Sovereign of illumination ama, Judge of Heaven and Earth, who rules all Marduk, Sage of the Gods, Sovereign of Oracles Ninurta, Warrior of the Igigu and the Annunaku Nergal, the finest, Sovereign of Battle Nusku, Carrier of the Holy Scepter, Prudent God Ninlil, Spouse of Enlil, Mother of the Great Gods Itar, Preeminent in Heaven and Earth, who wears the insignia of heroism
Compared with the invocation Tiglath-pileser II:
Aur ar gimrat il"ni rabti Anu ar Igigi u Annunaki b!l m"t"ti Enlil !#ru abu il"ni Ea ar aps muimmu #m"ti Sn ar ag b!l namr#r# Adad geru $turu b!l hegalli ama
day"n am u er!eti mumaer gimri Marduk apkal il"ni b!l tr!ti Ninurta qarr"d Igigi u Annunaki Nergal gitm"lu ar tamh"ri Nusku n"i ha""i elliti ilu mult"lu Ninlil h#rti Enlil ummi il"ni rabti Itar aaritti am u er!eti a para! qard$ti uklulat 305
Aur, Sovereign of all the Great Gods Anu, Sovereign of the Igigu and the Anunnaku, Sovereign of the Lands Enlil, August, Father of the Gods Ea, Sovereign of the Aps, who pronounces the lots
304 RIM A.0.99.2: 1-4. 305 RIM A.0.100.1: 1-13. 160 Sn, Sovereign of the crown, Sovereign of Illumination Adad, the Supremely Strong, Sovereign of the Yield ama, Judge of Heaven and Earth, who rules all Marduk, Sage of the Gods, Sovereign of Oracles Ninurta, Warrior of the Igigu and the Anunnaku Nergal, the finest, Sovereign of Battle Nusku, Carrier of the Holy Scepter, Prudent God Ninlil, Spouse Enlil, Mother of the Great Gods Itar, Preeminent in Heaven and Earth, who wears the insignia of heroism
5.2.2.2 Analysis
While continuing some of the traditions apparent in the invocation unit present in the Annals of Tiglath-pileser I, the invocation units of Adad-n!r!r" II and Tiglath-pileser II demonstrate innovations as well. Different deities are added to these invocations and the designations of certain other deities are altered; however, immediate observations can be made regarding both invocations: 1. Anu and Ea are added to the list of high-gods 2. ama is separated from Sn by Adad 3. Marduk is inserted after ama together with the gods: Ninurta, Nergal, Nusku, and Ninlil 4. as with the invocation unit present in the Annals of Tiglath-pileser I, both begin with Aur and end with Itar
The initial gods and their epithets have been completely revised in this version of the invocation. Aur is no longer designated as the b!lu rab mut!ir kiat il"ni n"din ha""i u ag muk#n arr$ti, as he is in the Tiglath-pileser invocation. Instead, he receives a title originally found with Enlil, ar gimrat il"ni rabti Sovereign of all the Great Gods. Certainly, this is a powerful title, but it lacks the resonance of the previous designation. Anu and Enlil remain combined. Enlil continues to be called abu il"ni, a designation more appropriate to Anu, but this time, instead of Enlil, who, in the invocation of Tiglath-pileser I, was referred to as ar gimir Anunnaki, it is Anu who is 161 designated ar Igigi u Annunaki. Additionally, b!l m"t"ti, the typical Sumerian designation for either Anu or Enlil (and the designation of Enlil in the Tiglath-pileser text), works as a pivot here. 306 On the tablet, the scribe is careful to begin each line with the name of a different god. After the name of the god, the designations are added. In the case of Enlil, the line begins not with his name, but with the epithet, thereby connecting the two gods: 2 Anu ar Igigi u Annunaki 3 b!l m"t"ti Enlil 2 Anu, Sovereign of the Igigi and the Anunnak, 3 Sovereign of the Lands, Enlil
Added to this trio of gods are two more deities who are designated as arru Sovereign: Ea, ar aps Sovereign of the Aps, and Sn, ar ag b!l namr#r# Sovereign of the Crown, Sovereign of Illumination. If the first two/three gods preside over the pantheon, Sn and ama are the keepers of the hidden knowledge. Sn, who was previously paired in the invocation unit of Tiglath-pileser I with his Aurite companion, ama, is now listed after Ea, the god of wisdom. It is difficult to ascertain whether Ea and Sn are to be understood as a pair or are to be connected to the previous set of gods, Aur, Anu, and Enlil. The latter possibility is suggested simply because they are titled as arru. The former possibility may be meant, for the designations of both of these deities also connect them with the secret knowledge of the gods. Ea, in his watery home, the Apsu, is muimmu #m"ti the one who pronounces the lots (fates), while Sn, in his manifestation as the full moon, is the b!l namr#r# Sovereign of Illumination, i.e., the one who illuminates
306 RIM E1.14.20.1. 162 secrets. 307
The god Adad is listed after Ea and Sn only in the Tiglath-pileser II invocation unit. He is curiously absent from the invocation of the Adad-n!r!r" II invocation unit. It is possible that his absence from the invocation reflects the theft of his statue from Assyria by Marduk-nadin-Ahhe, the brother of Nebuchadnezzar I. According to Assyrian sources, this Babylonian king stole both Adad and his wife ala during the reign of Tiglath-pileser I. It may be that the god was quickly returned; thus, Adad reappears in the invocation. It is noteworthy that, in the invocation unit of Tiglath-pileser II, Adad is not primarily designated as a deity of war (geru $turu supremely strong), but as a deity of agricultural production b!l hegalli Sovereign of the Yield. This title is common for his southern Mesopotamian manifestation. It is also interesting that Adad is not paired in the invocation unit with ama as divinatory deities; instead, Marduk fills that position. Unlike in the Tiglath-pileser invocation, in the Adad-n!r!r" II and Tiglath-pileser II invocations, ama is listed with Marduk. ama is labeled as he was in the earlier invocation, but the addition of Marduk demonstrates the Babylonian theology which connects Marduk to ama in order to elevate the god. 308 Marduk, alternatively listed as the son of ama or the son of Ea in southern texts, is in this invocation the apkal il"ni b!l tr!ti Sage of the Gods, Sovereign of Oracles. This role ties him to ama as a deity in control of disbursement of the secrets of the gods. 309
307 For role this of ama see J. F. Healey, The Sun Deity and the Underworld Mesopotamia and Ugarit, in Death in Mesopotamia: Papers Read at the XXVIe Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, ed. Bendt Alster (Copehagen: Akademisk Forlag, 1980), 239-242. 308 Lambert, The Historical Development of the Mesopotamian Pantheon, 193. 309 For a recent study on the ancient Near Eastern concept of hidden knowledge, see Alan Lenzi, Secrecy 163 Both invocations also include the additional deities Ninurta, Nergal, Nusku, and Ninlil; these deities are included in between ama and Itar. Unlike the Tiglath-pileser invocation, Ninurta is not listed with Adad, but rather with the Earth deities Nergal and Nuskudeities with whom he can occasionally be equated. In these invocations, Ninurta and Nergal are designated as lords of war. Ninurta is the qarr"d Igigi u Annunaki Warrior of the Igigu and the Anunnaku, while Nergal is the gitm"lu ar tamh"ri Finest, and the Sovereign of battlea title which is found with Zababa in the epilogue of the Code of Hammurabi. Nusku, as the n"i ha""i elliti Carrier of the Holy Scepter and the ilu mult"lu prudent god is also connected to these gods, for Nusku is a god of the Earth and an attendant deity. A related combination of gods is represented on a kudurru attributed to the reign of Marduk-n!din-ahhe: d Nergal b!l (EN) till u qa"ti kakkau liebbir d Zaba[ba] ar (LUGAL) t"h"zi ina t"h"zi q"ssu (U-su) l" i!abbat d Papsukkal sukkalli il"ni rabti "lik kitri(?) il"ni ahh#u b"bu liparriki 310
May Nergal, Sovereign of Arrows and Bows, break his weapon; may Zababa, Sovereign of Battle, during the battle not grasp his hand; may Papsukkal, Minister of the Great Gods, who travels in the auxiliaries of the gods, his brothers, bar his gate!
Finally, the focus must turn to the goddesses Ninlil and Itar. Like Itar, who is listed last in the Tiglath-pileser I invocation and thereby balancing Aur, Ninlil is listed second to last; thus, she compliments Enlil (or more precisely the Enlil/Anu hybrid deity). Referred to as the h#rti Enlil Spouse of Enlil, Ninlil is also designated the ummi il"ni rabti mother of the great gods. This designation is the counterpart to Enlil/Anu in his
and the Gods: Secret Knowledge in Ancient Mesopotamia and Biblical Israel (Helsinki: Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, 2008). 310 BBS No. 8 iv 21-27. 164 role as abu il"ni Father of the Gods. Again, Itars placement at the end of the list seems ironic, for she is once again titled by a superlative, aaredu. She is not, however, the b!let t! Sovereign of Frenzy to Aurs muk#n arr$ti who anchors sovereignty. While Aur is the ar gimrat il"ni rabti and Anu is the ar d Igigi u d Annunaki d b!l m"t"ti, Itar is the aaritti am u er!eti a para! qard$ti uklulat Preeminent in Heaven and Earth who wears the insignia of heroism. While Aur, Enlil, and Anu may preside over the gods and Ninurta and Nergal may act as warriors, Itar rises even higher. As aarittu, Itar functions at a level superior even to these sovereigns and as the one who wears the insignia of heroism. In this supreme position she is also in control of the troops.
5.2.2.3 Summation Five sets of deities may be discerned in this invocation. Aur, Anu, and Enlil are equated as the gods who preside over the pantheon, while Ea and Sn are the two gods in charge of all divine knowledge. Adad, who is simply the god of the harvest, separates the keepers of knowledge from those who judge and share that knowledge: ama and Marduk. After this set, the martial deities Ninurta, Nergal, and Nusku are listed; however, their compatriot Itar is separated from them by Ninlil, the wife of Enlil. This separation is likely due to two reasons. First, the four gods, Ninurta, Nergal, Nusku, and Ninlil are considered part of Enlils entourage, thus they are frequently listed together. As a member of this family, Ninlil must also be included in this section. Additionally, listed second to last and as the mother of the gods, Ninlil balances Enlil, who is listed second and is the father of the gods. Finally, Itar is once again positioned last. Her placement at 165 the end of the list may continue to reflect her function as a stabilizing force. As both aaritti am u er!eti and para! qard$ti uklulat, Itar may be envisioned as being so dynamic that she balances the weight of the majestic three: Aur, Anu, and Enlil.
5.2.3 Aur-na! !! !irpal II
Two different invocations are attested in the inscriptions of Aur-na!irpal II. For clarity these will be referred to as A and B. Invocation A is attested on only the great Nimrud monolith, which was located at Kalhu in front of the Ninurta temple. 311 This invocation unit has much in common with those found in the Adad-n!r!r" II and Tiglath- pileser II inscriptions:
5.2.3.1 Invocation A
Aur b!lu rab ar gimrat il"ni rabti Anu geru r!t mu#m #m"ti Ea ar aps b!l n!meqi has#su Sn eru b!l ag aq namr#r# Marduk apkal il# b!l tr!ti Adad geru kakai il"ni!iru Ninurta qardu qarr"di il"ni muamqit lemn$te Nusku n"i ha""i elliti ilu mult"lu Ninlil h#rti Enlil ummi il"ni rabti Nergal gitm"lu ar tamh"ri Enlil !#ru abu il"ni b"n kal"ma ama
day"n am u er!eti mumaer gimri Itar aaritti am u er!eti a para! qard$ti uklulat 312
Aur, Great Sovereign, Sovereign of all the Great Gods Anu, Preeminently Strong, who pronounces the lots Ea, Sovereign of the Aps, Sovereign of wisdom, the Knowledgeable One Sn, Wise one, Sovereign of the Crown, risen? of illumination
311 RIMA II, 237. 312 RIM A.0.101.17: 1-10. 166 Marduk, Sage of the Gods, Sovereign of Oracles Adad, Strong, Overpowering among the Gods, August Ninurta, Hero, Warrior of the Gods, Slayer of the Malevolent Nusku, Carrier of the Holy Scepter, Prudent God Ninlil, Spouse Enlil, Mother of the Great Gods Nergal, the Finest, Sovereign of Battle Enlil, August, Father of the Gods, Designer of all ama, Judge of Heaven and Earth, who rules all Itar, Preeminent in Heaven and Earth, who wears the insignia of heroism
5.2.3.1.1 Analysis
Some minor observations are in evidence. As with the invocations found in the Adad-n!r!r" II and Tiglath-pileser II inscriptions, the gods Ninurta, Nergal, Nusku, and Ninlil are once again listed together. In addition to this, they each receive the exact same epithets as in the previous invocations. Again, Itar is found in the last position and receives the designations aaritti am u er!eti and a para! qard$ti uklulat. The greatest difference between the invocations found in the Adad-n!r!r" II and Tiglath- pileser II inscriptions and this one seems to be in the ordering of the gods; however, this is likely scribal error. As in the invocations found in the Adad-n!r!r" II and Tiglath-pileser II inscriptions, Aur and Anu are listed together. Aur again is designated as the ar gimrat il"ni rabti and is given his typical Assyrian title, b!lu rab. Anu, on the other hand, is designated by titles more reminiscent of Adad and Ea. He is geru r!t mu#m #m"ti Preeminently Strong, who pronounces the lots. During the reign of Tiglath- pileser I, Anu shared a temple with Adad, who, in this invocation, is also referred to as geru. It is possible that the scribe understood both deities as divinatory. Possibly using geru as a Wiederaufnahme in between these two deities, the scribe listed the other divinatory gods: Ea, Sn, and
Marduk. In his attempt to be clever, he inadvertently left out 167 the gods Enlil and ama. If Itar must always be listed last, then these forgotten gods could only have been inserted just before the goddess name. Invocation B is attested on a stone stele located outside of the city of Babil in southeastern Turkey. Unlike invocation A, invocation B follows the invocations found in the inscriptions of Adad-n!r!r" II and Tiglath-pileser II almost exactly:
5.2.3.2 Invocation B
Aur b!lu rab ar gimrat il"ni rabti Anu ar Igigi u Anunnaki b!l m"t"ti Enlil !#ru abu il"ni b"n kullati Ea ar aps b!l n!meqi has#si Sn eru ar ag aq namr#r# Adad geru $turu b!l hegalli ama
day"n am u er!eti mumaer gimri Marduk apkal b!l tr!ti Ninurta qarr"d Igigi u d Anunnaki Nergal gitm"lu ar tamh"ri Nusku n"i ha""i elli ilu mult"lu Ninlil h#rti Enlil ummi il"ni rabti Itar aaritti am u er!eti a para! qard$ti uklulat 313
Aur, Great Sovereign, Sovereign of all the Great Gods Anu, Sovereign of the Igigu and the Anunnaku, Sovereign of the lands Enlil, August, Father of the Gods, Designer of All Ea, Sovereign of the Aps, Sovereign of Wisdom, the Knowledgeable One Sn, Wise one, Sovereign of the Crown, Steward of Illumination Adad, the Supremely Strong, Sovereign of the Yield ama, Judge of Heaven and Earth, who rules all Marduk, Sage of the gods, Sovereign of Oracles Ninurta, Warrior of the Igigu and the Anunnaku Nergal, the Finest, Sovereign of Battle Nusku, Carrier of the Holy Scepter, Prudent God Ninlil, Spouse Enlil, Mother of the Great Gods Itar, Preeminent in Heaven and Earth, who wears the insignia of heroism
313 RIM A.0.101.20: 1-13a. 168 5.2.3.3 Summation
Though each of the different versions of the invocations which appear in the inscriptions of Aur-na!irpal IIs has minor differences between them, they are essentially the same as those appearing in the inscriptions of Adad-n!r!r" II and Tiglath- Pileser II.
5.2.4 almaneser III Four different invocations are attested in the inscriptions of almaneser III. Conveniently, the Annals of this king may be dated, so the invocations can be examined in chronological order. For clarity the four invocations will be referred to as A, B, C, and D. The two invocations found on the earliest versions of this kings Annals, A and B:
5.2.4.1 Invocation A and B
A: Aur b!lu rab ar gimrat il"ni rabti Anu ar Igigi u Anunnaki b!l m"t"ti Enlil abu il"ni mu#m #m"ti mu!!ir u!urat am er!eti Ea eru ar aps b"n nikl"ti Sn nannar am er!eti ilu etellu ama
day"n kibr"tu mut!ir ten!te Itar b!lat qabli u t"h"zi a m!lultaa tuqumtu
Aur, Great Sovereign, Sovereign of all the Great Gods Anu, Sovereign of the Igigu and the Anunnaku, Sovereign of the Lands Enlil, Father of the Gods, who pronounces the lots, Planner of Heaven and Earth Ea, Sovereign of the Aps, Designer of Skills Sn, Luminary 314 of Heaven and Earth, lordly god ama, Judge of the Regions, who leads aright humanity Itar, Sovereign of Combat and Battle, whose game is fighting 315
314 This epithet is used of Itar and of Sn only and is found regarding Sn in the Epic of Tukult#-Ninurta. 315 RIM A.0.102.2: col. i 1-3a, A.0.102.3: col. i 1-3a, and A.0.102.4: 1-9 (this text is very fragmentary).
169 B:
Aur b!lu rab ar gimrat il"ni rabti Anu ar Igigi u Anunnaki b!l m"t"ti Enlil !#ru abu il"ni b"n kal"ma Ea ar aps b!l n!meqi has#su Sn ar ag aq namr#r# ama
day"n am u er!eti aq b!l gimri Ninurta dandannu geru aarid il"ni itarhu Itar b!lat qabli u t"h"zi a m!lultaa tuqumtu 316
Aur, Great Sovereign, Sovereign of all the Great Gods Anu, Sovereign of the Igigu and the Anunnaku, Sovereign of the Lands Enlil, Father of the Gods Designer of All Ea, Sovereign of the Aps, Sovereign of Wisdom, the Knowledgeable One Sn, Sovereign of the Crown, Steward of Illumination ama, Judge of Heaven (and) the Earth, Steward of All Ninurta, Powerful, Strong, Preeminent among the Gods, Magnificent Itar, Sovereign of Combat and Battle, whose game is fighting
5.2.4.1.1 Analysis
The most noticeable difference between invocations A and B of this king and the invocations previously discussed, is the absence of the deities Marduk, Nergal, Nusku, and Ninlil. Additionally surprising is the absence of Ninurta from invocation A and the presence of Ninurta in B. In these two invocations, Aur is designated as the b!lu rab ar gimrat il"ni rabti Great Sovereign, Sovereign of all the Great Gods and Anu is the ar Igigi u anunnaki b!l m"t"ti Sovereign of the Igigu and the Anunnaku, Sovereign of the Lands. Enlil, however, is the abu il"ni Father of the Gods in each, but only the mu#m #m"ti mu!!ir u!urat am er!eti the one who pronounces the lots, Planner of Heaven and Earth in invocation A, while he is the b"n kal"ma Designer of all in invocation B. Curiously, in invocation A, a similar title is given to Ea, who is the b"n
316 RIM A.0.102.6: col. i 1-7. 170 nikl"ti Designer of Skills. The god Sn is designated by very different titles in each invocation. In A he is the am er!eti ilu etellu Luminary of Heaven and Earth, Lordly god, while in B he is the more expected ar ag aq namr#r# Sovereign of the Crown, Steward of Illumination. ama also receives very different titles. In A, he is the day"n kibr"tu mut!ir ten!te Judge of the Regions, who leads aright humanity, while in B he is the more expected am u er!eti aq b!l gimri Judge of heaven (and) underworld, Steward of all. Also interesting is that Itar follows these two gods in A, while in B she follows Ninurta. In each example she is no longer the b!let am u er!eti; she is not the supreme deity. Instead, she is, as she is designated in invocations A and B, the b!lat qabli u t"h"zi a m!lultaa tuqumtu Sovereign of Combat and Battle, whose game is fighting. Finally, Ninurta, though not present in A, is designated as the dandannu geru aarid il"ni itarhu Powerful, Strong, Preeminent among the Gods, Magnificent. The title geru is one generally reserved for Adad in the invocation units and the designation aarid il"ni was used to refer to Itar in the inscription of Tiglath-Pileser I.
5.2.4.1.2 Summation
The organization of A may represent cosmic organization. Even though she is given martial designation, Itar (Venus) is listed in A with Sn (the moon) and ama (the Sun). It may be that these three gods work as a celestial set. Sn is the god who lights the world, while ama sees and judges the regions. Itar, as the god of war, who corrects inequities. In B, Sn and ama may still perform these roles; however, Itar is joined by Ninurta as a deity who rights wrongs through battle. 171 5.2.4.2 Invocation C and D
The final invocation units to be discussed are almaneser III C and D. Invocation D follows the norm to a certain extent. It occurs in the Annals of the king which were inscribed on the Black Obelisk discovered at Kalhu: D:
Aur b!lu rab ar gimrat il"ni rabti Anu ar Igigi u Anunnaki b!l m"t"ti Enlil !#ru abu il"ni b"n kal"ma Ea ar aps mu#m #m"ti Sn eru ar ag aq namr#r# Adad geru $turu b!l hegalli ama
Igigi u Anunnaki ilu dandannu Nergal gitm"lu ar tamh"ri Nusku n"i ha""i elliti ilu mult"lu Ninlil h#rti Enlil ummi il"ni rabti Itar aaritti am u er!eti a para! qard$ti uklulat 317
Aur, great Sovereign, Sovereign of all the great gods Anu, Sovereign of the Igigu and the Anunnaku, sovereign of the lands Enlil, august, father of the gods, designer of all Ea, Sovereign of the Aps, who pronounces the lots Sn, wise one, sovereign of the crown, steward of illumination Adad, the supremely strong, sovereign of the yield ama, judge of heaven (and) underworld, who rules all Marduk, sage of the gods, lord of oracles Ninurta, warrior of the Igigu and the Anunnaku, powerful god Nergal, finest one, Sovereign of battle Nusku, carrier of the holy scepter, prudent god Ninlil, spouse of the god Enlil, mother of the great gods Itar, Preeminent in Heaven and Earth, who wears the insignia of heroism
317 RIM A.0.102.14: 1-13 and A.0.102.15: 1-13. 172 C:
Aur b!lu rab Anum ilu !#ru Enlil urbu gitm"lu Adad gugal am u er!eti Ninurta aarid il"ni b!l qabli u t"h"zi Itar aaritti am u er!eti Ea ar aps b!l n!meqi has#su Sn ar ag b!l namr#r# Marduk apkal il"ni b!l tr!ti 318
Aur, Great Sovereign Anu, August God Enlil, Most Exquisite Adad, Canal-inspector of Heaven and Earth Ninurta, Preeminent among the gods, Sovereign of Combat and Battle Itar, Preeminent in Heaven and the Underworld, Sovereign of Combat and Battle Ea, Sovereign of the Aps, Sovereign of Wisdom, the Knowledgeable One Sn, Sovereign of the Crown, Sovereign of Illumination Marduk, Sage of the Gods, Lord of Oracles
5.2.4.2.1 Analysis
The only major divergence between invocation D and the invocations in the Adad-n!r!r" II and Tiglath-pileser II Annals is the addition of the epithet ilu dandannu powerful god to Ninurtas set of designations. This designation is found only here and in almanesers invocation B. Unlike invocation D, invocation C is somewhat peculiar. This invocation seems to be a much-abbreviated form of the norm, as if it should instead appear as one half of the maledictory unit on a kudurru. The functions of the gods can be best understood if divided into three sets, each comprised of three gods. In the first section of the invocation, Aur, Anu, and Enlil are simply the most majestic of the gods. Aur is b!lu rab Great Sovereign, Anu is simply the ilu !#ru
318 RIM A.0.102.10: col. i 1-5. 173 August God, and finally, Enlil is urbu gitm"lu Most Exquisite. None of these gods receives an active title. The next set of gods contains the trio Adad, Ninurta, and Itar. Adad is, for the first time in an invocation, designated as the gugal am u er!eti Canal- inspector of Heaven and Eartha common southern title for the god. Ninurta follows Adad and he, too, is not designated as expected. Ninurta receives two titles previously attested for Itar. The first is the supreme title aarid il"ni Preeminent among the Gods, while the second is the male version of the standard martial title for Itar, b!l qabli u t"h"zi Sovereign of Combat and Battle. It was recognized that in almaneser B, Ninurta is also referred to as aarid il"ni; however, he was not called b!l qabli u t"h"zi. Itar, listed last in the trio, is the aaritti am u er!eti Preeminent in Heaven and Earth. Once again, she is designated by the most exalted title. Finally, Ea, Sn, and Marduk, are listed together as a trio. They are the lords of the secret knowledge of the gods. Ea is designated as the ar aps b!l n!meqi has#su Sovereign of the Aps, Sovereign of Wisdom, Knowledgeable One, while Sn is the ar ag b!l namr#r# Sovereign of the Crown, Sovereign of Illumination, and, lastly, Marduk is the apkal il"ni b!l tr!ti Sage of the Gods, Lord of Oracles. These three are the keepers of cosmic knowledge.
5.2.4.2.2 Summation
The invocations of almaneser III display great variation. D almost mirrors the previous invocations, but A, B, and C are quite different. A seems to demonstrate a celestial manifestation of Itar, since she is grouped with ama and Sn. Though a unit, each of these gods performs a different function. Sn is the light of the universe. ama 174 provides the wisdom to lead humanity on the correct path. Itar is the troublemaker. As the god of war, she is said to enjoy fighting. Invocations B and C both carry on and alter this tradition. In B, Itar is designated by the same epithets as in A; however, this time she is partnered with Ninurta. Since this duo, Itar and Ninurta, are preceded by Sn and ama, it is unclear if she is still associated with the two gods. It is tempting to interpret the four deities as a set. Sn, ama, and Itar continue to be celestial deities who seemingly rise and set. If Ninurtas presence just before Itar indicates that he is her partner, this invocation not only reflects their status at Kalhu. Since the two gods share the same title in invocation C, Sovereign of Combat and Battle, both the idea of partnership and the presence of a Kalhu theology seem confirmed.
5.2.5 Short Invocations
In addition to the great invocations found in the Annals of the various kings of Aur, three different short invocations are attested in the inscriptions of Aur-na!irpal II and almaneser III. These invocations are merely lists of gods, and contain no divine epithets. One of these short invocations, ascribed to Aur-na!irpal II, is engraved on a cliff near Kurkh: Aur Adad ( d IKUR) Sn ( d 30) u ama Itar ( d INANA) il"ni (DINGIR.ME) r"bti (GAL.ME) "lik$t p"ni (IGI) umm"n"t!ya (RIN.HI.A.ME-a) 319
Aur, Adad, Sn, and ama, Itar, the great gods who travel before my armies.
The two short invocations appear in the inscriptions of almaneser III and bear a great resemblance to one another:
319 RIM A.0.101.19: 1-4 . 175 Aur Sn ( d 30) ama Adad ( d IKUR) d Itar ( d INANA) il"ni(DINGIR.ME) rabti (GAL.ME) r"im$t arr$t#ya (MAN-ti-ia) muarbu um#ya (MU-ia)
Aur, Sn, ama, Adad, and Itar, the great gods who love my sovereignty and who make my name great 320
And:
Aur Adad ( d IKUR) Sn ( d 30) ama d Itar (INANA) il"ni (DINGIR.ME) rabti (GAL.ME) r"im$t (GA-ut) arr$t#ya (MAN-ti-ia) a b!l$t (EN-ut) ki$ti u "[p]ir$t (MU) kabtu uarb
Aur, Adad, Sn, ama, (and) Itar, the great gods who love my sovereignty, those who caused my dominion to be great and my control firm. 321
As can be seen, each of these lists is very different from the longer invocations discussed above. The listing of gods in the invocation of Aur-na!irpal II reads: Aur, Adad, Sn, ama, Itar, while in both of the almaneser inscriptions the list reads: Aur, Sn, ama, Adad, Itar. In each, Asur is listed first, Itar last, and Sn and ama are paired. The only difference is the placement of Adad in the list. In the Aur-na!irpal invocation, he is connected to Aur, while in the almaneser invocation he is placed with Itar.
5.3 Conclusion to the Entire Invocation Analysis In EARI, an invocation section appears in the Annals of Tiglath-pileser I, Adad- n!r!r" II, Tiglath-pileser II, Aur-na!irpal II, and almaneser III. While the designations for the deities present in the invocation units of the Annals of Tiglath-pileser are demonstrative of a theology particular to this sovereign, the invocations units attested in the Annals of Adad-n!r!r" II and Tiglath-pileser II demonstrate a strong southern
320 RIM A.0.102.21: 1-4. 321 RIM A.0.102.22: 1-5. 176 influence. Both Aur-na!irpal II and almaneser III have more than one invocation unit attested in their inscriptions; however, in the inscriptions of each king, at least one of these is practically identical to the invocation units found in the inscriptions of Adad- n!r!r" II and Tiglath-pileser II. The two differing invocation units which are located in the inscriptions of Aur-na!irpal II likely differ only due to scribal error. The two differing invocation units which are located in the inscriptions of almaneser III contain not a southern influence, but seem to reflect a theology present in the city of Kalhu. In all invocations found in EARI, Aur is the first deity to be listed, while Itar is the final deity (except for two instances, one of which is likely due to scribal error). Itar receives seven different designations in the invocations found in EARI:
Adad-n"r"r! II A.0.99.2 d i 8 -tr SAG-ti AN-e KI-te a pa-ra-a! qar-du-ti uk-lu-lat
Tiglath-pileser II A.0.100.1. d INANA SAG-ti AN-e u KI-te pa-ra-a[! qard$ti uklulat] A.0.100.2. d INANA SAG-ti AN-e u KI-te pa-ra-a[! qard$ti uklulat]
Aur-na! !! !irpal II A.0.101.17 d i 8 -tr SAG-ti AN-e KI-te a pa-ra-a! qar-du-ti uk-lu-lat A.0.101.20 d INANA SAG-ti [am u er!eti a para!] [qar-du]-te uk-lu-lat
A.0.101.26 d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M A.0.101.28 d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M A.0.101.29 d INANA NIN MURUB 4 u M A.0.101.50 d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M
almaneser III A.0.102.2 d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M me-lul-ta- GI.LAL A.0.102.3 d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M] me-lul-ta- [GI.LAL A.0.102.4 d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M] me-lul-ta- GI.LAL A.0.102.6 d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M] me-lul-ta- GI.LAL 177 A.0.102.10 d INANA SAG.KAL AN-e KI-ti A.0.102.14 d INANA SAG-ti AN-e KI-te a GARZA qar-du-te uk-lu-lat
Of the seven different designations, two types can be discerned: a martial type (b!let t! Sovereign of Frenzy; muarrihat qabl"te [she] who Quickens Combats; a para! qard$ti uklulat [she] who wears the insignia of heroism; b!let qabli u t"h"zi Sovereign of Combat and Battle; and a m!lultaa tuqumtu [she] whose game is fighting) and a supreme type (aaritti il"ni Preeminent among of the Gods and aaritti am u er!eti Preeminent of Heaven and Earth). From these designations, three major innovations in her function may be perceived. In the invocation of Tiglath-pileser, Itar as the b!let t! is represented as a deity who controls chaos and speeds battle. As this manifestation, she is the aaritti il"ni who can incite war and provoke armies to victory; thus, she provides the equilibrium to Aurs steadfast nature. In the inscriptions of Adad-n!r!r" II, Tiglath-pileser II, Aur- na!irpal II, and in one version of the invocation unit of almaneser III, Itar is depicted with none of these chaotic undertones. As the aaritti am u er!eti she is the most supreme deity in the pantheon, while as the a para! qard$ti uklulat, she presides over warfare. Perhaps her chaotic nature is once again apparent in the remaining inscriptions of almaneser III in which she has martial overtones. In two versions of this kings invocations, Itar is designated as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi a m!lultaa tuqumtu. Of further note is that the company of Itar changes throughout the invocations. In the invocation of Tiglath-Pileser I, Itar is a deity of frenzied war with both Adad and Ninurta. Ninurta, in this instance, resembles Nergal. He is referred to as the qardu "gi lemni u ay"bi. He is also the muem! mal libbi, a characteristic invoked of him in the 178 concluding formula of the early NA kings. In the inscriptions of Adad-n!r!r" II, Tiglath- pileser II, Aur-na!irpal II, and in one version of the invocation unit of almaneser III, Itar (and Adad) is no longer connected to the martial gods. Instead, Ninurta is listed with Nergal and Nusku, perhaps under the influence of a Babylonian theology. Finally, Itar is once again paired with Ninurta in the invocation of an inscription of almaneser III found on the Black Obelisk at Kalhu. In this invocation, she and Ninurta are both, once again, sovereigns of war.
Chapter 6: CATALOG OF REFERENCES
Unless otherwise noted, all information provided in this section is dependent on that provided in the RIMA vols. I-III. This information is provided purely as a quick reference. All normalizations and translations are given and explained within their respected discussions. If more detailed information is desired pleased consult the RIMA volumes. The section lists only the royal inscriptions of rulers of Aur. Any other texts (hymns, dedications, rituals) and/or inscriptions which may contain references to Itar (whether royal or otherwise) will be mentioned in the pertinent sections of this analysis. The quick reference lists: Contents: the main contents of the inscription (e.g., recorded construction work, Annals). Object: the type of object upon which the inscription was found. Find-spot(s): the location of the object(s) upon which the inscription occurs was discovered if known. Additional: any additional information of interest Exemplars: the amount of exemplars for the text (per RIM)
The term exemplar is used in these editions to refer to a single inscription found on one object. The term text refers to an inscription which existed in antiquity and which may be represented in a number of exemplars which are more or less duplicates. 322
322 RIMA I, xiii. 180 Reference to Itar: unit of the inscription in which the name of Itar is attested
Catalog
Ititi (c. 1900) Text: A.0.1001 Contents: dedication of booty (allatu) to Itar Object: stone plaque Find-spot(s): Itar temple, Aur Additional: Old Akkadian Exemplars: 1 Line count: 8 Reference to Itar: action 1) i-ti-ti 2) PA 3) DUMU i-nin-la-ba 4) in a l0 -la-ti 5) ga-sur x (SAG) KI
6) a-na 7) d INANA 8) A.MU.RU
Ilu-umma (c. 19 th cent.) Text: A.0.32.1 Contents: dedication of temple to Itar Object: stone object Find-spot(s): Itar temple, Aur Additional: Exemplars: 1 Line count: 16 Reference to Itar: titulary 4) na-ra-am 5) d a-r 6) d INANA
Text: A.0.32.2 323
Contents: dedication of temple to Itar Object: bricks Find-spot(s): Aur
323 Again, following the conventions of RIMA, the number given to an inscription (e.g., RIM A.0.32.2) represents the master Text. This is a composite of all exemplars of the Text. For the purposes of this study, only significant variations between exemplars have been noted. 181 Additional: Exemplars: 16 Line count: 65 Reference to Itar: titulary 4) na-ra-am 5) d a-r 6) d INANA
and action: 19) a-na d INANA 20) NIN.A.NI
am!-Adad I (1814-1782) Text: A.0.39.1 Contents: record of construction work to Aur temple Object: stone tablets Find-spot(s): Aur/Enlil temple, Aur Additional: Exemplars: 9 Line count: 135 Reference to Itar: concluding formula 127) d INANA 128) be-le-et ta-ha-zi-im 129) GI TUKUL-u GI TUKUL 130) um-ma-na-ti-u 131) li-i-bi-ir
Text: A.0.39.2 Contents: record of construction work on .me.nu. Object: stone cylinders Find-spot(s): Itar Temple, .ma.ma, Nineveh Additional: Exemplars: 19 Line count: 25 Reference to Itar: titulary Col. i 6) na-ra-am d INANA
and action: Col. iii 6) a-na a-a-!ti" 7) d INANA be-el-ti 8) pa-la-a-am ed-de-a-am 9) lu- i-ru-kam
and concluding formula 182 Col. iv 21) d INANA NIN ni-nu-wa-a.!KI" 22) ar-ru-us-s pa-la-!u" 23) li-"e 4 -!er"-u-ma 24) [a-na] [a-ni]-i-!im" 25) [liddi]-i[n]
Text: A.0.39.6 Contents: dedication of kettledrum to d INANA.LUGAL Object: clay tablet Find-spot(s): Mari Additional: school tablet Exemplars: 1 Line count: 14 Reference to Itar: action 1) a-na d INANA.LUGAL 2) a-p-ra-at ki-a-at 3) a-me-e er-!-tim 4) ma-gi-ra-at ni-i qa-ti-u 5) a-li-ka-at im-ni-u
Aur-uballi" "" " (1365-1345) Text: A.0.73.4 Contents: record of construction work on chapel? of d INANA kud-ni-it-tum Object: clay tablet Find-spot(s): Itar temple, Aur Additional: Exemplars: 1 Line count: 14 Reference to Itar: action 5) d INANA kud-ni-it-tum be-el-ti
and concluding formula: r11) d a-ur d IKUR r12) d INANA kud-ni-it-tum r13) ik-ri-bi-u i-a-am-m-
183 Adad-narar! I (1307-1275) 324
Text: A.0.76.1 Contents: standard introduction (proto-Annals) Object: multiple objects Find-spot(s): Aur Additional: also appears on A.0.76.7; A.0.76.8; A.0.76.13; A.0.76.16; A.0.76.19; A.0.76.20; A.0.76.21 Exemplars: 34 Line count: 32 Reference to Itar: titulary 15b) LUGAL U.NGIN 16) ma-al-ki ru-be-e d a-nu a-ur d UTU d IKUR 17) d i 8 -tr a-na e-pi-u -e-ek-ni-u
Text: A.0.76.2 325
Contents: standard conclusion (proto-Annals) Object: multiple objects Find-spot(s): Aur Additional: also appears on A.0.76.5; A.0.76.6; A.0.76.7; A.0.76.8; A.0.76.10; A.0.76.13; A.0.76.16; 0.76.19; A.0.76.20.A; A.0.76.22.T; A.0.76.24 Exemplars: 38 Line count: 51 Reference to Itar: concluding formula 59b) d i 8 -tr be-el-ti 60) a-bi-ik-ti KUR-u li-i-ku-un i-na pa-ni na-ak-ri-u 61) ia iz-zi-iz
Text: A.0.76.3 326
Contents: second standard introduction (proto-Annals) Object: multiple objects Find-spot(s): Aur Additional: also appears on A.0.76.4; A.0.76.5.A; A.0.76.6.A; A.0.76.22 Exemplars: 38
324 Because this standard introduction is shared by multiple Texts, RIM assigns it an individual number, even though this is something of a falsity (RIMA I, 128). Since it was applied indiscriminately, having no specific connection to the body of a Text, for the purposes of this study, this standard introduction will also be treated as an individual Text. 325 This entry is considered by RIM to be the standard conclusion (RIMA I, 132) and will be treated in a fashion similar to RIM A.0.76.1. See n. 1. 326 This entry is considered by RIM to be the standard introduction (RIMA I, 135) and will be treated in a fashion similar to A.0.76.1. See n. 1. Additionally, A.0.76.3 is dated later in the reign of Adad-n!r!r" I than A.0.76.1. 184 Line count: 26 Reference to Itar: action 21) ina GI TUKUL.ME dan-nu-ti d a-ur EN-ia 22) i-na tu-kl-ti d a-nim d en-ll 23) d -a d 30 d UTU d IKUR d i 8 -tr 24) d U.GUR ka-a-ka-a DINGIR.ME 25) DINGIR.ME ra-a-bu-ti 26) EN.ME-ia
Text: A.0.76.4 Contents: record of construction work at Taidu Object: stone slab Find-spot(s): Aur Additional: Exemplars: 1 Line count: 53 Reference to Itar: concluding formula 49) [ d i 8 ]-tr GAAN a-bi-ik-ti [m"t#u] 50) li-!i-ku"-un i-na pa-n[i nakr#u] 51) ia iz-zi-[i]z
Text: A.0.76.11 Contents: record of construction work on northern quay wall at Aur Object: stones Find-spot(s): Aur Additional: Exemplars: 3 Line count: broken, between 70-80 Reference to Itar: concluding formula 32) d i 8 -tr be-el-ti 33) a-bi-ik-ti KUR-u 34) [li-i]-ku-u[n] Lacuna
Text: A.0.76.14 Contents: record of construction work on wall at Aur Object: stone tablet Find-spot(s): none Additional: Exemplars: 1 Line count: 40 Reference to Itar: concluding formula 34) d i 8 -tr GAAN a-bi-ik-ti 35) KUR u li-i-kun
185 Text: A.0.76.15 Contents: record of construction work on Itar temple at Aur Object: stone tablets Find-spot(s): Aur Additional: this inscription is the model for A.0.77.8. almaneser I continued the work, and Tukult"-Ninurta I finished it. Exemplars: 8 Line count: 49 + date formula Reference to Itar: concluding formula 42) d i 8 -tr be-el-ti a-bi-ik-ti 43) KUR-u li-i-kun i-na pa-ni 44) na-ak-ri-u ia iz-zi-iz
Text: A.0.76.1001 Contents: Object: stone tablets Find-spot(s): Nineveh Additional: Exemplars: 1 Line count: very fragmentary Reference to Itar: action 9) i-na e-mu-q dan-na-t[i...] 10) !ina" ka-ak-ki da-an-nu-t[i...] 11) !a"li-kat pa-ni-[ia]
almaneser I (1274-1245) Text: A.0.77.1 Contents: standard inscription (proto-Annals) Object: multiple objects Find-spot(s): Aur Additional: similar inscription to A.0.77.16 Exemplars: 21 Line count: maxium 168. It is difficult to judge line count, because of the fragmentary nature of the exemplars. Reference to Itar: titulary 2c) NUN mi-gir d INANA
Text: A.0.77.6 Contents: record of construction work on Itar temple at Aur Object: three stone tablets Find-spot(s): Aur Additional: see A.0.76.15 Exemplars: 1 Line count: 31 Reference to Itar: concluding formula 26) d i 8 -tr NIN a-be-ek-te KUR-u li-i-ku-un 27) i-na pa-ni na-ak-ri-u 186 28) ia iz-zi-iz
Text: A.0.77.16 Contents: record of construction work on Itar temple at Tamuu and Arbail Object: multiple objects Find-spot(s): Aur Additional: same Text as A.0.77.1, but with addition of work on above temples. Exemplars: 1 Line count: 4 columns (aprox. 50 lines each) Reference to Itar: titulary 2c) NUN mi-gir d INANA
Text: A.0.77.17 Contents: record of construction work on Itar temple at Nineveh Object: numerous clay cones Find-spot (s): Nineveh Additional: Exemplars: 20 Line count: 13 Reference to Itar: titulary 4) a i-na tu-kl-ti ! d "i 8 -tr NIN-u e["-li-i(?) kl-l]a-at na-ki-ri-u i-na-ru-ma 5) db-du za-e-ri-u i-na q-reb ta-ha-zi il-ta-ka-n[u-ma(?)...]-gi-u-nu sa-ak-lu-te and the 6) a-na GR d i 8 -tr [N]IN-u -e-ek-ni-i[]
and the concluding formula 11b) d i 8 -tr ik-ri-b[i]-u i-e-[m]e
Text: A.0.77.18 Contents: record of construction work on Itar temple at Nineveh Object: numerous clay cones Find-spot (s): Nineveh Additional: Exemplars: 5 Line count: 12 Reference to Itar: titulary 6) a-na GR d i 8 -tr [N]IN-u -e-ek-ni-i[]
and the concluding formula 11) [ d INANN]A !ik-ri"-be-u [i]-e-me
Tukult!-Ninurta I (1245-1208) Text: A.0.78.1 Contents: standard inscription Object: multiple objects Find-spot (s): Aur 187 Additional: Exemplars: 18; however, col. iv 9-22 is extant in only 1 exemplar. 327
Line count: six columns Reference to Itar: concluding formula
Col. vi 9) [itar NI]N(?)-la-at 10) [MUR]UB 4 (?) ta-ha-zi 11) [na]-ba-at 12) B[AL]A.ME-ia lu-u-mi 13) [zik-r]u-su si-ni-sa-n 14) [mut$ssu] !a-na" ri-hu-ti 15) [liku]-un 16) [abikti] 17) [m"t#u] 18) li-ku-un-u i-na pa-[ni nakir#u] 19) ia i-zi-iz x xx [...] 20) li-ner qu-ra-!di"-[u] 21) !lu-ub"bu ana U KR.!ME-" 22) lu-me-li-
Text: A.0.78.5 Contents: standard inscription Object: stone tablet Find-spot (s): Aur Additional: Exemplars: 1 Line count: 126 Reference to Itar: action 48) ina GI TUKUL-ti d a-ur 49) d BAD d -ma DINGIR.ME GAL.ME 50) EN.ME-ia i-na re-!u-ti 51) d i 8 -tr NIN-at AN-!e" KI-ti 52) i-na pa-ni um-ma-n[i]-ia 53) il-li-ku
and the concluding formula: 120) d i 8 -tr NIN na-ba-at 121) BALA.ME MAN-ti-ia
327 RIMA I, 233. Of the eighteen exemplars of this Text, in only two are the curses sections extant and in only one, E% 7889 (Ass 829), do we find the critical sign MURUB 4 . Unfortunately, this fragment has not been located, and so we must accept that as Weidner observes the traces look like [] x-e and so the editors of the volume write, this may be the final traces of the sign MURUB 4 (RIMA I, 238). 188 122) a-bi-ik-tu KUR-u 123) li-ku-un i-na pa-ni KR.ME- 124) ia iz-zi-iz 125) a-na U KR.ME-u 126) lu--me-li-u
Text: A.0.78.11 Contents: record of construction work on Itar temple at Aur Object: huge stone block, two gold tablets, two silver tablets, five lead tablets Find-spot (s): Aur Additional: Exemplars: 10 Line count: 86 Reference to Itar: titulary 7) SIPA ki-nu na-mad 8) d INANA
and concluding formula 71) d INANA 72) ik-ri-be- 73) i-e-me 77) d INANA NIN 78) GI TUKUL- 79) li-be-er 80) a-na U KR.ME- 81) lu-mel-li- 82) i-na u 4 -me-u-ma i-na ur-ru LUGAL-ti-ia 83) d INANA NIN -na-a el mah-ri-i 84) .AN.NA- qu-u-du i-ri--ni-ma 85) TIL u-bat d INANA NIN-ia i-na pa-na 86) e-du-nu- I il-ti-nu- a-na ri-mi-it d INANA ku-un-nu-ma -hu-ru i-na pa-ni-u la ep-u
Text: A.0.78.13 Contents: record of construction work on Itar temple at Aur Object: stone tablet Find-spot (s): none Additional: Exemplars: 1 Line count: 65 Reference to Itar: concluding formula 54) d i 8 -tr ik-ri-be-u 55) i-e-me 59) d i 8 -tr NIN-ti 60) LUGAL-su li-gi 61) GI TUKUL-u li-bir 189 62) mu-tu-su ana ri-hu-ti 63) li-ku-un 64) a-na U KR.ME-u lu-mel-li-u
Text: A.0.78.14 Contents: record of construction work on d di-ni-tu chapel in Itar temple at Aur Object: gold tablet, stone block, silver tablet, gold tablet, and two lead tablets. Find-spot (s): Aur Additional: Exemplars: 6 Line count: 43 Reference to Itar: titulary 4) SIPA ki-nu na-mad d INANA
concluding formula 36) d di-ni-tu 37) ik-ri-be-u i-e-me and 39b) d di-ni-tu 40) NIN GI TUKUL-u 41) li-be-er 42) a-na U KR.ME-u 43) lu-me-li-u
Text: A.0.78.16 Contents: record of construction work on d di-ni-tu chapel in Itar temple at Aur Object: a stone Find-spot (s): Aur Additional: Exemplars: 1 Line count: 33 Reference to Itar: concluding formula
65) d di-ni-tu 66) ik-ri-be-u 67) i-e-em-me and 71) d di-ni-tu 72) NIN-ti 73) MAN-su li-gi 74) GI TUKUL-u li-be-er 75) mu-tu-su 76) a-na ri-hu-ti 77) li-ku-un 78) a-na U KR.ME-u 79) lu-me-li-u 190 Text: A.0.78.17 Contents: record of construction work on d nu-na-i-tu chapel in Itar temple at Aur Object: 1 gold and 1 silver tablets Find-spot (s): Aur Additional: Exemplars: 2 Line count: 35 Reference to Itar: concluding formula 33b) d nu-na-i-tu 34) ik-ri-be-u 35) i-e-me
Text: A.0.78.23 Contents: record of construction work on
K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta Object: stone Find-spot (s): K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta Additional: Exemplars: 1 Line count: 146 Reference to Itar: titulary 22) ek-du na-mad d INANA and action 58) i-na re-!u-ti d INANA NIN AN KI 59) i-na pa-ni um-ma-na-te-ia il-li-ku
Text: A.0.78.24 Contents: record of construction work on
K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta Object: stone Find-spot (s): K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta Additional: related to A.0.78.23 Exemplars: 1 Line count: 57 Reference to Itar: titulary 10b) bi-bl d INANA NIN DINGIR AN-e KI-ti
Aur-r#a-ii I (1132-1115) Text: A.0.86.1 Contents: record of construction work on
Itar temple at Nineveh Object: clay cones Find-spot (s): Nineveh Additional: Exemplars: 29 Line count: 13 Reference to Itar: concluding formula 12c) d i-tar NIN GAL-tu D-[ iemme] 13b) d i-tar NIN GAL-tu LUGAL-su BALA- [li-is-k]ip 1-en u 4 -ma NU TI-su [liqbi] 191 Text: A.0.86.2 Contents: record of construction work on
Itar temple at Nineveh Object: clay cones Find-spot (s): Nineveh Additional: short version of A.0.86.1 Exemplars: 16 Line count: 8 Reference to Itar: concluding formula 8c) d i 8 -tr !D"-[u iemme]
Text: A.0.87.1 Tiglath-pileser I (1114-1076) Contents: Annals Object: multiple Find-spot(s): Aur Additional: many fragments found by Anu-Adad temple; written before conquest of Babylon. Exemplars: 42 Line count: eight columns Reference to Itar: invocation 13) d INANA SAG-ti DINGIR.ME be-lit te-e-e 14) mu-ar-ri-hat MURUB 4 .ME-te
Text: A.0.87.2 Contents: Annals 328
Object: multiple clay tablet fragments Find-spot(s): Aur and Nineveh Additional: written before conquest of Babylon; Aur copies contain description of building activities at Aur, while Ninevite copies contain building activity at Nineveh. Exemplars: 5 Line count: 46 Reference to Itar: invocation 6) [ d INANA SA]G-ti DINGIR.ME [b!lit te-e]-e mu-r-ri-hat MURUB 4 .ME-te
Text: A.0.87.10 Contents: Annals Object: multiple clay tablets Find-spot(s): Nineveh Additional: A.0.87.11; these texts are essentially Ninevite versions of A.0.87.4. The Ninevite versions contains different construction records. Exemplars: 8 Line count: 94 Reference to Itar: concluding formula 93) d a-ur EN GAL- d i 8 -tr NIN-at URU ni-nu-a ik-ri-be-u i-e-mu-!"
328 As with the numbering for the proto-Annals, the Annals are given in chronological order. The greater the number, the later the text (e.g., RIM A.0.87.2 was likely to have been composed after RIM A.0.87.1). 192 Text: A.0.87.11 Contents: Annals Object: a broken clay tablet Find-spot(s): Nineveh Additional: introduction mirrors A.0.87.10 Exemplars: 1 Line count: 93 on the obverse. 26 remain on the reverse. Reference to Itar: concluding formula 25) [aur b!lu rab]-!" d INANA be-lat U[RU ninua] 26) [ikrib!u iemm]
Text: A.0.91.3 am!-Adad IV (1053-1050) Contents: record of construction work on
Itar temple at Nineveh Object: clay cone Find-spot(s): Nineveh Additional: Exemplars: 1 Line count: impossible to assess due to the fragmentary state of the cone. Reference to Itar: concluding formula 5) [arr$ssu li]s-ki-pu MU-u NUMUN-[u]
Text: A.0.98.3 Aur-d"n II (934-912) Contents: record of construction work on
Craftsmans Gate Object: multiple clay cones Find-spot(s): Aur Additional: Exemplars: 12 Line count: 21 Reference to Itar: concluding formula 18) a-ur d IKUR d 30 d UTU d i-tar DINGIR.ME GAL-te 19) ik-ri-bi-u i-e-mu-
Text: A.0.99.2 Adad-n"r"r! II (911-891) Contents: Annals Object: clay tablets Find-spot(s): Aur Additional: dates to the 19 th year of his reign (893). Exemplars: 4 Line count: 134 Reference to Itar: invocation 4b) d i 8 -tr SAG-!ti" AN-e ! KI"-te a pa-ra-a! qar-du-ti uk-lu-la
and action 97) !ina qib#t" a-ur EN GAL EN-ia ! " d !i 8 -tr" be-lit MURUB 4 ! M" a-lik-at pa- na-at RIN.HI.A.ME-ia DAGAL.ME
193 Text: A.0.99.3 Contents: Annals Object: clay tablet Find-spot(s): Aur Additional: dates to the 19 th year of his reign (893). Exemplars: 1 Line count: fragmentary duplicate of 99.2 References to Itar: see 99.2
Text: A.0.100.1 Tukult!-Ninurta II (890-884) Contents: standard introduction for Annals Object: fragmentary clay tablets Find-spot(s): Aur Additional: perhaps having the same conclusion as A.0.100.2 or A.0.100.4 Exemplars: A.0.100.2, A.0.100.3, and A.0.100.4 (and perhaps A.0.100.5). Line count: 34+ Reference to Itar: invocation 13) d INANA SAG-ti AN-e u KI-te pa-ra-a[! qard$ti uklulat]
Text: A.0.100.2 Contents: broken. Record of construction work on a wall. Object: clay tablet Find-spot(s): Aur Additional: same introduction as A.0.100.1; A.0.100.3; and, A.0.100.4 Exemplars: 1 Line count: impossible to assess due to the fragmentary state of the text. Reference to Itar: Reference to Itar: invocation 13) d INANA SAG-ti AN-e u KI-te pa-ra-a[! qard$ti uklulat]
and concluding formula 8b) [aur b!lu rab] 9) [u itar be-l]at URU ni-na-a ik-[rib!u iemm] 10) [ina t"h"z# a MAN.M]E-ni a-ar tq-ru-[ubte ammar libb#u] 11) [lu am-!]a(?)-[u(?)]
Text: A.0.101.1 Aurnasirpal II (884-859) Contents: Annals but a unique style which incorporates other genres. 329
Object: massive stone reliefs Find-spot(s): Kalah; reliefs layered the walls and floors of the Ninurta Temple at Additional: Begins with prayer to Ninurta; no concluding formula. Exemplars: 1 Line count: 3 columns (aprox. 135 lines each) Reference to Itar: titulary/action
329 RIMA II, 191. 194 37b) ina bi-ib-lat -ia u ti-ri-i! U-ia d INANA GAAN GA 38) SANGA-ti-ia lu tam-gu-ra-ni-ma e-pe MURUB 4 u M -a ub-la-ma
and action 70) ina q-bit a-ur d INANA DINGIR.ME GAL.ME EN.ME-ia
Text: A.0.101.17 330
Contents: Annals Object: stone stele Find-spot(s): Kalhu; found at entrance to Ninurta Temple Additional: frequently referred to as the Nimrud (or Great) Monolith Exemplars: 1 Line count: 5 columns (aprox. 110 lines each) Reference to Itar: invocation 10) d i 8 -tr SAG-ti AN-e KI-te GARZA qar-du-ti uk-lu-la-at
and titulary: 46b) ina bi-ib-lat lb-bi-ia 47) tir-!i U-a d INANA NIN GA SANGA-ti-ia 48) lu- tam-gu-ra-ni-ma e-pe MURUB 4 M 49) lb-ba-a ub-la-ma
and action 70) [ina q-bit a-ur d INANA DINGIR.ME GAL.ME EN.ME-ia]
Text: A.0.101.19 Contents: Annals Object: stone stele Find-spot(s): Kurkh Additional: frequently referred to as the Kurkh Monolith; no concluding formula. Exemplars: 1 Line count: 103 Reference to Itar: invocation 1) a-ur d IKUR d 30 2) u d -ma d INANA 3) DINGIR.ME GAL.ME 4) a-li-ku-ut IGI RIN.HI.A.ME-a
Text: A.0.101.20 Contents: only the introduction extant Object: stone stele (fragments) Find-spot(s): Babil (SE Turkey) Additional: introduction similar to A.0.101.17
330 The introduction is identical to RIM A.0.101.8. RIM A.0.101.8 has not been published (RIMA II, 233) and so will not be treated for this study. 195 Exemplars: 1 Line count: 47 lines extant Reference to Itar: invocation 12b) d INANA SAG-ti [am u er!eti a para!] 13) [qar-du]-te uk-lu-lat
Text: A.0.101.26 Contents: record of construction work on palace at Kalhu. Object: stone tablets Find-spot(s): Kalhu Additional: not all exemplars contain concluding formula Exemplars: 16 Line count: Reference to Itar: concluding formula 68c) a-ur EN GAL- 69) d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M D i-em-me
Text: A.0.101.28 Contents: record of work done on the arrat-niphi temple at Kalhu Object: inscribed on the obverse of a lion. See also 101.32. Find-spot(s): arrat-niphi temple at Kalhu Additional: Exemplars: 1 Line count: Reference to Itar: invocation 1) a-na d GAAN-KUR NIN GAL-ti SAG-ti AN-e KI-tim !ar-rat D" DINGIR.ME ge-r-tu [ina .KUR.ME] si-kir- DUGUD 2) ina d INANA.ME u-tu-rat nab-ni-sa zi-mu nam-ru GIM d !-ma" ta-li-me- kip- pa-at AN-e [er!etim] mit-h[a-ri] [ ta-h]i-"a 3) le-a-at d a-nun-na-ki bu-kur-ti d a-nim ur-bu-ut DINGIR.ME ma-li-kt PAP.ME- a-li- kt mah[-r]i d[a-li-h]at [ta]-ma-a-te 4) mu-na-ri-"a-at hur--ni ur--na-at d NUN.GAL.ME be-lat MURUB 4 u M ba-lu- ina -r-ra !ip-"u ul" i-!ma"-ga-ru-ma 5) mu-al-qa-at li-i-ti mu-am-!a-at !am"-mar lb-bi GA-at ki-na-te e-ma-at ik-ri-bi le- qa-at un-ni-ni 6) ma-hi-rat ts-li-te d INANA n-bu-t gt-mal-tu u-tu-ur-tu AN-e KI-tim ta-hi-"a ina kib-!rat" KUR.KUR.ME D-i-na na-bu- 7) MU- qa-i-at TI.LA.ME DINGIR-tim rme-ni-ti qur-bu- DG.GA a-ib-at URU kal- hi NIN-ia
and concluding formula: col. v 15b) a-ur EN GAL- NUN- d !INANA GAAN" MURUB 4 u M [t"h"z#]- MAN.ME-ni 16) a-ar tq-ru-ub-te am-mar [libb!u ]-am-!u-
196 Text: A.0.101.29 Contents: Declares various temple construction work at Kalhu. Object: known only from a squeeze Find-spot(s): Kalhu Additional: very broken Exemplars: 1 Line count: unknown Reference to Itar: concluding formula 25) [...] d INANA NIN MURUB 4 u M [...]
Text: A.0.101.32 Contents: record of work done on the arrat-niphi temple at Kalhu Object: inscribed on the reverse of a lion. See also 101.28. Find-spot(s): arrat-niphi temple at Kalhu Additional: Exemplars: 1 Line count: 21 Reference to Itar: concluding formula 14b) e-nu-ma d GAAN.KUR GAAN GAL-tum ina BRA- K ina at-ma-ni- ru-a-me - -bu ki-ni lu tap-pr-da-da [ar"k] UD.ME-a lu DUG 4 .GA 15) m-ud MU.ME-a lu ta-tas-qar SANGA-ti lu ta-ram a-na na-dan zi-bi-ia lu tah-du e- ma MURUB 4 M <-!a-ma-ru > !u-um-rat -a [lu] !tu"-ak-i-da-ni NUN- and 17b) a-ur EN.GAL- d MA u d INANA a-ib .KUR -a-t H.NUN "u-hu-du H.GL ina KUR- lu-kn-nu UN.ME[-] al-ti DU.DU-ku-ma ina gi-mir KUR.KUR.ME 18a) ina M a MAN.ME-ni KI tq-ru-ub-te am-mar - -am-!u- and 19b) d MA EN me-hi -ga-a-te d INANA !be"-lat MURUB 4 u M MAN-su 20) [lis]-ki-pu GI.A.TI- KAR- ina IGI L.KR.ME- ka-mi lu-e-ib-u su-un-qu bu-bu-tu ni-ib-ra-tu ina KUR- [lu]-ki-nu MU- 21) NUMUN- ina KUR- lu ZH
Text: A.0.101.38 Contents: record of construction work on the d INANA NIN-at d kid 9 -mu-ri the temple of Itar the Sovereign of the Divine Kidmuru at Kalhu. Object: stone tablets Find-spot(s): Kalhu Additional: other objects from this temple are: A.0.101.98; A.0.101.99; A.0.101.109; A.0.101.132. Exemplars: Line count: 49 Reference to Itar: concluding formula 34) a-ur EN GAL- d -ma DI.KU 5 AN-e 35) u KI-te d INANA NIN-at d kid 9 -mu-ri ik-ri-bi- 36) i-e-mu- UD.ME- lu-ri-ku ina M a MAN.ME-ni 37) a-ar tq-ru-ub-te am-mar - lu -am-!u- 197 38) H.NUN "u-hu-du u H.GL ina KUR- lu-kn-nu
Text: A.0.101.40 Contents: standard Nineveh inscription Object: stone reliefs Find-spot(s): Nineveh in Itar temple (and Nab temple and palace) Additional: 31) d INANA URU ni-na-a NIN-ia ina qaq-qar -ma-ma 34b) ana si-mat qar-ra-du-ti- d INANA NIN-ia Exemplars: 31 Line count: 44 Reference to Itar: concluding formula 38c) a-ur d INANA 39) [il$ rabtu r]a-i-mu-ut MAN-ti-ia EN-su ina nap-har KUR.KUR.ME lu-ar-bu- ina li- ti 40) [ki$ti u m!tell$ti l]i-ir-ta-du-[]u GUN kib-rat 4-ti a-na i-qi-u 41) [lu]-at-[li-mu-ma nu-uh]-[u] ["u]-uh-du h-gl-lu ana KUR-u lu-kn-nu
Text: A.0.101.50 Contents: record of construction work at Imgur-Enlil Object: 2 stone tablets Find-spot(s): Imgur-Enlil in a stone box Additional: Exemplars: 4 Line count: 49 Reference to Itar: concluding formula 42b) d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M 43) GI TUKUL.ME- lu- tu--bir GI.A.TI- 44) lu te-kim-
Text: A.0.101.56 Contents: record of construction work on Itar temple at Nineveh Object: multiple clay tablets Find-spot(s): Nineveh Additional: 14) d INANA URU !ni"-[nu-a]; similar to A.0.101.40 Exemplars: 25 Line count: 19 Reference to Itar: titulary 7) [e"lu qardu ] ina GI TUKUL-ti a-ur d IKUR d INANA d MA !DINGIR".ME re-!i-u DU.DU-ku-ma
and concluding formula: 17b) ! d INANA" be-let URU ni-na-<a> !ik"-ri-be- i-e-me 18a) ina M MAN.ME-ni -ra tq-ru-!ub-te am"-mar lb-bi- lu-!i- and 19) d INANA NIN GAL-tu [ina GI].GU.ZA- li-ke-mu- ina IGI KR.ME- ka-mi lu-e- ib-u 198 Text: A.0.101.66 Contents: record of construction work on Adad temple at Nineveh Object: multiple clay cone fragments Find-spot(s): Nineveh Additional: Exemplars: 17 Line count: 14+ Reference to Itar: titulary 4) e"-lu qar-du a ina GI TUKUL-ti a-ur d IKUR d !INANA(?)" d MA DINGIR.ME GAL.ME 5) EN.ME- it-tal-la-ku-ma
almaneser III (858-824) Text: A.0.102.2 Contents: Object: Find-spot(s): Kurkh Additional: likely dates to 853/2; found with the similar A.0.101.19; is thought to have been poorly written; does not have concluding formula. Exemplars: 1, though has the same invocation as A.0.102.2; A.0.102.3; A.0.102.4. Line count: 2 columns (aprox. 150 lines total) Reference to Itar: invocation 3b) d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M me-lul-ta- GI.LAL DINGIR.ME GAL.ME GA-ut MAN-ti-ia
Text: A.0.102.6 Contents: Annals Object: clay tablets Find-spot(s): Aur (and Kalhu) Additional: Exemplars: 12 Line count: 2 columns (aprox. 70 lines each) Reference to Itar: invocation 8b) d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 M me-lul-ta-a GI.LAL 8) DINGIR.ME GAL.ME
Text: A.0.102.10 Contents: Annals Object: stone tablet Find-spot(s): Aur Additional: found with one exemplar of A.0.102.6 Exemplars: 1 Line count: 4 columns (aprox. 53 lines each) Reference to Itar: invocation Col. i 5) d INANA SAG.KAL AN-e KI-ti
199 Text: A.0.102.14 Contents: Annals Object: obelisk Find-spot(s): Kalhu Additional: commonly referred to as the Black Obelisk; likely dates to 827. Exemplars: 1, though has the same invocation as A.0.102.15. Line count: 190 Reference to Itar: invocation 13b) d INANA SAG-ti AN-e KI-te GARZA qar-du-te uk-lu-la-at
Text: A.0.102.21 Contents: record of third campaign to Nairi Object: rock face Find-spot(s): near the source of Tigris Additional: likely dates to seventh regnal year (852). Exemplars: 1 Line count: 17 Reference to Itar: invocation 1) a-ur d 30 d -ma 2) d IKUR d INANA DINGIR.ME GAL.ME 3) ra-i-mu-ut MAN-ti-ia mu-ar-bu 4) MU-ia
Text: A.0.102.22 Contents: record of third campaign to Nairi Object: rock face Find-spot(s): near the source of Tigris Additional: likely dates to seventh regnal year (852). Exemplars: 1 Line count: 20 + Reference to Itar: invocation 1) a-ur d IKUR d 30 d -ma 2) d itar(?) DINGIR.ME GAL.ME GA-ut 3) MAN-ti-ia EN-ut ki-u-ti u 4) -[p]i-ru-ti MU kab-tu 5) -ar-bu-
Text: A.0.102.38 Contents: very fragmentary Object: stone statue Find-spot(s): Nineveh Additional: began with long invocation of Itar Exemplars: 1 Line count: unknown Reference to Itar: invocation 1) a-na d INANA NIN GAL-ti [] 200 2) NIN-at MURUB 4 M e-pi-[a-at (?) ] 3) [sa]-ah-ma--ti na-x-[]
Text: A.0.102.43 Contents: record of restoration projects at Aur Object: clay cones Find-spot(s): Aur Additional: Exemplars: 12 Line count: 14 Reference to Itar: concluding formula 10b) a-ur [ d ]IKUR DINGIR.ME GAL.ME d INANA -u-ri-[tu] ik-ri-bi-[u] 11) i--me-!"
Text: A.0.102.46 Contents: record of restoration of Tabira gate at Aur Object: clay cones and clay hand Find-spot(s): Aur Additional: Exemplars: 4 Line count: 18 Reference to Itar: concluding formula 14b) a-ur d IKUR d 30 15) d -ma d i-tar d U.GUR DINGIR.ME GAL.ME 16) ik-ri-bi-u i-e-me-
Chapter 7: CONCLUSION
The goal of this study was to investigate the function of Itar in Assyrian royal inscriptions from the reign of Ititi through the reign of almaneser III (EARI). In order to discover that function, the study approached the material on two levels. On the first, it examined the function of Itar in each unit in an Assyrian royal inscription: titulary, action, concluding formula, and invocation. On the second, this study attempted to correlate particular periods, territorial regions, divine company, and designations for Itar with those functions which were determined. The results of this study confirm that the central function of Itar in EARI is either to ordain or assist in the acquisition and maintenance of an Assyrian rulers sovereignty. The goddess performs these activities primarily at Nineveh and in traditionally Hurrian territories under the designations, B!let Ninua Sovereign of Nineveh and b!let qabli u t"h"zi Sovereign of Combat and Battle. As the Sovereign of Nineveh, Itar held an executive position at Nineveh and, during the late MAearly NA periods, she came to be viewed as Aurs counterpart. As the b!let qabli u t"h"zi, Itar was likely the patron deity of Kalhu and therefore held an executive function in that city. This form of Itar also may have held martial and executive jurisdiction over those northern territories which were traditionally Hurrian. 202 She may also have been partnered with a very martial form of Ninurta (Nergal). Finally, the study suggests that Itar had an important function at Aur during the reign of Adad- n!r!r" I. As Itar Aur#tum, Itar functioned together with Adad as a deity of war for this king. Breakdown of The Results of Level One Titulary: In addition to stating the throne name and genealogy of a ruler, the titulary unit also contains a list of the various additional designations each ruler of Aur took. Chapter One established that four rulers of Aur took a designation compounded with the name of Itar (e.g., nar"m Itar). The goal of this chapter was to understand the relationship between the function of Itar and designations compounded with her name. Conclusion: Because the purpose of the titulary unit was to identify the power of the subject of the inscription vis--vis peoples and nations, each designation taken by him in his titulary, including those compounded with the name of a deity (DN) must be understood in this context. Using outside cuneiform source material as a guide, it was established that designations compounded with a DN name should be understood as territorial titles (e.g., ar Aur). It was also demonstrated that the subject deity of such designations held executive power over that territory. Through an analysis of the designations compounded with the name of Itar in the inscriptions of am"-Adad I and almaneser I (and, perhaps, Ilu-umma), it was shown that this title indicated that Itar held executive control over the surrounds of Nineveh during the time of these kings. Though never explicitly stated in the designations, it is likely that Itar held this authority under the specific designation b!let Ninua (i.e., the title is never attested as nar"m b!let Ninua). That it is only as the 203 b!let Ninua that Itar holds power is supported by the fact that, in the same Ninevite inscription in which am"-Adad takes the designation nar"m Itar, he also proclaims that b!let Ninua granted him sovereignty. It was further demonstrated in this chapter that, in the inscriptions of Tukult"- Ninurta I, the region over which another form of Itar held executive authority was likely Hanigalbat. Though never explicitly stated in the designations, it is likely that Itar held this authority under the specific designation b!let qabli u t"h"zi. That it is only as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi that Itar holds this position is supported by the fact that Tukult"- Ninurta claims that Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi proclaimed his sovereignty. In conclusion, after an analysis of the titulary units of EARI, it was demonstrated that different manifestations of the goddess Itar held executive power over different territorial regions. Itar b!let Ninua had authority over Nineveh and its surrounds, while Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi had jurisdiction over Hanigalbat.
Action: In the action unit, the subject of an inscription states his accomplishments. In general, the accomplishments recorded in the unit were pious acts, city construction, martial campaigns and victories, and hunting activities. Though it was not done consistently, at various points in the unit, the actions of a particular god, or gods, were also recorded. Although Itar is recorded to have requested a new temple in an inscription of Tukult"-Ninurta I, in the main, the actions recorded for Itar are martial. The goal of this chapter was to discover what specific actions Itar is said to be capable of performing and whether there was a correlation between the actions attributed to her, the particular manifestation she acted under, the particular deities she was accompanied by, and the 204 territory connected to her actions. Conclusion: The chapter demonstrates that in the action unit, three different Itars act, each with different accompanying deities, territories, and responsibilities. As the b!let qabli u t"h"zi Itar acts within Hanigalbat and seems to have martial jurisdiction over Hanigalbat. She is recorded to have commanded the king to arms in this region and is stated to have led the kings army into battle. In doing this, her divine entourage consists of Aur, Adad, and Ninurta; furthermore, in this venture, she provides weapons to the king. As the b!let am u er!eti, Itar both commands and helps the king battle the Kassites. She may also cause the kings enemies to become subjugated to him. In this capacity, she acts both independently and in connection to a larger group comprised of Aur, Enlil, ama, and Adad. As a member of this larger group, Itar is one of the gods who leads the battle- formation. Finally, in the action unit, as the b!let Ninua, Itar acts similarly to Itar as b!let am u er!eti. She commands the king to war, aids him during the battle, and causes his enemies to become subjugated to him. She further has the ability to perform combat and battle. She acts independently, or together with Aur. All of these actions take place within the territory of Nineveh. In conclusion, after an analysis of the action units of EARI, it was demonstrated that different manifestations of the goddess Itar held martial authority within different territorial regions. Itar b!let Ninua had authority over Nineveh, and its surrounds, while Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi had jurisdiction over Hanigalbat. Itar as the b!let am u er!eti seems to have held martial authority over either the Kassites or southern lands (e.g., KI). As the b!let qabli u t"h"zi Itar seems to have had the widest range of martial power. She 205 is the only manifestation of Itar which is indisputably said to lead the army independently and to provide the king with a weapon.
Concluding Formula: In the concluding formula, a future ruler is urged to perform certain traditional respectful actions to the inscription and the object upon which the text is located. The future ruler is compelled to perform these actions though a series of blessings and cures. In the unit, various gods are invoked to enact these blessings and curses. The goal of this chapter was to discover which specific blessings and curses Itar is said to be capable of performing and whether there was a correlation between the actions attributed to her, the particular manifestation she acted under, the particular deities she was accompanied by, and the territory connected to her actions. Conclusion: The chapter established that in concluding formulae there are two forms of benediction: a short form and an extended form. The study determined that tutelary deities were invoked in both forms of the benediction and that, depending on the construction topic recorded in the inscription, the project indicated over which area the deity held tutelary status. Most deities are invoked in connection to their own temples; thus, these were the areas over which they held jurisdiction. In this capacity, Itar is invoked differently in each city. At Aur, she is invoked as Itar, Itar-Aur#tum, Din"tu, d nu-na-i-tu, and Itar-kud-ni-it-tum; At Nineveh the goddess is invoked as Itar b!let Ninua; and at Kalhu, the goddess is invoked as Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi, arrat-Niphi, and Itar b#let- d kid 9 -mu-ri. Itar is invoked as the tutelary deity over a region or territory under three different manifestations. Although 206 Aur is the primary tutelary deity of Aur, during the time of Aur-d!n II, Itar- Aur#tum, together with Aur, Adad, Sn, ama, is invoked as a tutelary deity of Aur. During the reign of almaneser III, this form of Itar is invoked as well; however, Nergal is added to this list of accompanying deities. At Nineveh, Itar b!let Ninua is always invoked as the tutelary deity. At Kalhu, Itar as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi is the tutelary deity during the reign of Aurna!irpal II and almaneser III. During the early NA period, Itar as the b!let Ninua joins Aur in becoming a tutelary deity of greater Assyria. The chapter further determined that in the concluding formula several different types of maledictions are invoked. Itar is invoked in two types: executive and martial. While several different deities are invoked in executive maledictions, Itar is invoked primarily to perform martial maledictions. The attestation for the executive maledictions has a pattern not dissimilar to the attestations for blessings; they demonstrate the tutelary status of the deity. Beginning during the reign of am"-Adad I, it is only Itar b!let Ninua who is invoked to remove sovereignty in inscriptions from Nineveh. During the reign of Aur-na!irpal II, the case is similar at Kalhu and at neighboring Imgur-Enlil. In the few attestations of the curse which remain, Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi is invoked to remove sovereignty. In one of these inscriptions, a very violent form of Ninurta is invoked with her. Together these gods are additionally invoked to enact several over executive maledictions. They are invoked to cause a non-compliant future king to dwell in bondage before his enemies, to destroy his lineage, and to devastate his land through disease. Martial maledictions are invoked only of Itar until the reign of Tukult"-Ninurta I (except one attestation in an inscription of Aur-na!irpal II). The study concludes that 207 specific manifestations of Itar are invoked to perform specific maledictions; furthermore, these specific manifestations of Itar are invoked to perform these maledictions only during the reigns of particular kings. It is only during the reign of am"-Adad that a manifestation of Itar referred to as the b!let t"h"zi was invoked to break the weapons of a non-complainant future ruler and his army. She is invoked with Nergal and Sn. During the MA period, the manifestation of Itar, Itar Aur"tum, was invoked by rulers as a bailiff deity who assured that a martial defeat was brought down upon the enemy king. During the reigns of Adad-n!r!r" I and almaneser I, she acted as a bailiff in concert with Adad. During the reign of Tukult"-Ninurta a variety of new martial curses were included in the concluding formula. Under the two names Itar and Din"tu, Itar is invoked to remove sovereignty, remove manhood, and hand over an enemy. Itar, designated as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi, is invoked in one inscription to slay an enemy king and to perform all of the previous martial curses that various forms of Itar (except to break weapons) were invoked to perform. The distribution of the curses in the inscriptions of Tukult"- Ninurta suggests that Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi was likely a composite deity formed from a deity named Itar b!let t"h"zi (Itar) and a deity named B#let-qabli (Din"tu). Using outside sources as a guide, it was concluded in the chapter that, traditionally, Itar b!let t"h"zi merely broke weapons. She was accompanied in this venture by a deity designated as the Sovereign of the Weapon. The deity B#let-qabli (Din"tu), traditionally had the authority to slay an enemy king, remove the manhood of that king, and hand him over an enemy. This deity was accompanied by Zababa. Outside evidence further suggested that the traditional home for both of these deities is the Habur triangle and that they had been 208 combined into the deity Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi during the OB period. Finally, Itar as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi is invoked to break weapons in an inscription of Aur-na!irpal II. In conclusion, this chapter demonstrated that under the designation b!let t"h"zi Itar functioned as a bailiff deity during the reign of am"-Adad, together with Nergal and Sn. During the reigns of Adad-n!r!r" I and almaneser I, Itar may have functioned together with Adad as a bailiff deity under the designation Itar Aur#tum. This status changed during the reign of Tukult"-Ninurta. During the reign of this king, a manifestation of Itar designated as the Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi, was introduced to Aur. This deity, who already included the Itar designated as Itar b!let t"h"zi, also subsumed Itar Aur"tum for a brief time. In general, after the reign of Tukult"-Ninurta, Itar no longer functioned as a martial maledictory deity. Instead, during the early NA period, Itar as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi, rose to a rank similar to Itar b!let Ninua. While Itar b!let Ninua was always a tutelary deity of Nineveh who maintained executive authority over that city and its surrounds, Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi became the tutelary deity of Kalhu and came to have executive authority over that city and its surrounds (perhaps with Ninurta). Various smaller forms of Itar continued to have tutelary status of their individual temples.
Invocation: In the invocation unit of an inscription, a list of gods is invoked by the subject of the inscription. Following the name of each of the deities are two to three designations which define the provinces over which they have jurisdiction. Itar is invoked in every invocation present in EARI. The goal of this chapter is to discern the 209 function of Itar not only by the designations she is given, but also by determining the meaning of her position in the register and with whom she is listed. Conclusion: This chapter demonstrated that there are four major designations attested for Itar in the invocation unit: 1. aaritti il"ni Preeminent among of the Gods 2. b!let t! Sovereign of Frenzy 3. aaritti am u er!eti Preeminent One of Heaven and Earth 4. b!let qabli u t"h"zi Sovereign of Combat and Battle There are also three subordinate designations which may accompany one of the major designations: a. muarrihat qabl"te [she] who Quickens Combats b. a para! qard$ti uklulat [she] who wears the insignia of heroism c. a m!lultaa tuqumtu [she] whose game is fighting.
It was further demonstrated that each of these designations represents a different manifestation of the goddess. During the reign of Tiglath-Pileser I, Itar was recognized as a supreme god, the aaritti il"ni, and as a deity of frenzy (b!let t!) who controls and speeds battle (muarrihat qabl"te). As both the preeminent god among gods and the deity of frenzy, Itar had the ability to approve or disapprove of regimes. This was shown to be a power equal to the god Aurs, for, if she disapproved of a reign, she could topple it. It was further demonstrated that, as this manifestation, Itar was linked to both Adad and Ninurta. Ninurta, in this instance, resembles Nergal. He is referred to as the qardu "gi lemni u ay"bi. In the inscriptions of Adad-n!r!r" II, Tiglath-pileser II, Aur-na!irpal II, and in one version of the invocation unit of almaneser III, neither Itar nor Adad is primarily 210 connected to the martial gods (Ninurta, Nergal, and Nusku). Itars status is instead elevated to that of aaritti am u er!eti. She is now the most supreme deity, not only of the divine pantheon, but of the entire universe. In the invocation unit of these kings, the subordinate designation a para! qard$ti uklulat [she] who wears the insignia of heroism accompanied the designation aaritti am u er!eti; thus, though her martial aspect took a subsidiary position to her supreme position, Itar continued to have a martial aspect. Perhaps because of the importance of the city of Kalhu, Itar continues to be designated as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi during the reign of almaneser on the Black Obelisk at Kalhu. This major designation for Itar is also referred to as the a m!lultaa tuqumtu in the invocation unit. In this capacity, Itar is not only associated with Ninurta in the unit, but, since they are both designated by extremely similar titles, they seem almost inseparable. In conclusion, this chapter demonstrated that, through an analysis of Itars designation in the invocation units and her position vis--vis the other gods present in those units, Itar rose in importance for the Assyrian kings during the early NA period. During the MA period, due to her fearsome martial authority, she became a deity preeminent among the gods, one who could destroy kings and topple regimes. Later, this martial aspect was emphasized less as Itar ascended to the position of Preeminent among Heaven and Earth.
211 The Results of Level Two The results of this study confirm the presence of no fewer than eight active manifestations for Itar in EARI: Itar, Itar Aur#tum, Itar b!let Ninua, Itar b!let t"h"zi, Din"tu, Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi, Itar b!let am u er!!ti, Itar b!let t!, and arrat- niphi. Furthermore, the evidence presented suggests that each of these manifestations has her own distinct characteristics and history. Each had dominion over specific regions, performed specific actions, and each may have been associated with a particular company of gods. While several of the manifestations were invoked in EARI concurrently (e.g., Itar Aur#tum and Itar b!let Ninua), attempts to unite certain manifestations are also present. This seems first to have been seriously attempted during the reign of Tukult"-Ninurta I. This king not only created a new Itar temple at Aur but also combined the various actions of the various manifestations of the goddess in the maledictory units of several inscriptions. After the reign of this king, during the later MA period, further unification is perceptible. In the invocations of later inscriptions, the martial form of Itar is united with the form which held executive authority over the gods and, later, the universe. The culmination of this unification occurred during the reign of Aur-na!irpal II, when this king brought all previous discussed manifestations of Itar together in the form of a great deity: arrat-Niphi.
212 arrat-niphi 331
Though each designation which accompanies a gods name represents a separate manifestation of that god, when those designations are juxtaposed, a greater and more versatile deity is, in effect, created. In EARI, this process culminates in the creation of the goddess arrat-niphi, a manifestation of Itar so great that she encompasses all of the previously discussed manifestations.
Analysis of arrat-Niphi Hymn 1 ana arrat-niphi ( d GAAN-KUR) b!lti (NIN) rab#ti (GAL-ti) aaritti (SAG-ti) am (AN-e) er!eti (KI-tim) !arrat kal (D)" il# (DINGIR.ME) geertu a [ina ekurr"ti (.KUR.ME)] sikira kabtu (DUGUD) 2 ina itar"ti ( d INANA.ME) $turat nabn#ssa z#mu namru a k#ma (GIM) ! d ama" tal#m#a kipp"t am (AN-e) [er!eti)] mith"ri[] tahitta 3 l!t Anunnaki bukurti Anim urb$t il"ni (DINGIR.ME) m"likat ahh!a (PAP.ME- ) "likat mahr[i d]"lihat [t]m"ti 4 munarri"at hur"n# ur"nat Igigi ( d NUN.GAL.ME) b!lat qabli (MURUB 4 ) u t"h"zi (M) a balua ina Earra !ip"u ul" i!ma"ggar$ma 5 mualqt l#ti muam!t !am"mar libbi r"imat (GA-at) k#n"ti !mt ikrib# l!qt unn!n# 6 m"hirat tesl#t# Itar ( d INANA) nebtu gitm"ltu $turtu a am (AN-e) er!etim (KI- tim) tahi""a ina kib!r"t" m"t"ti (KUR.KUR.ME) kal#ina (D-i-na) nab 7 uma (MU-) q"iat bal""i (TI.LA.ME) ilti (DINGIR-tim) r!m!n#ti a qurbua ""bu (DG.GA) "ibat "l (URU) Kalhi b!lt#ya (NIN-ia) 332
To arrat-niphi, Great Sovereign, Preeminent One in Heaven (and) the Earth, Sovereign of All Gods, Strong One, her command is weighty [in the temples], among goddesses her shape is surpassinga glowing radiant form which, like ama her sibling, surveys uniformly the entirety of Heaven (and) [Earth]; expert of the Anunnaki, child of Anu, greatest of the gods, counselor of her brothers, who travels in front, who roils seas, who shakes mountainsheroine of the Igigi.
331 Queen of the Planetary Rising is Itar in her aspect as the rising Venus (Andrew George, Babylonian Topographical Texts [Leuven: Orientalia Lovaniensia,1992], 464 n. 170). Cf. Otto Schroeder, d arrrat- Niphi, AfO 1 (1913): 25-26; and also, W. de Filippi New Evidence for the Separate Identity of d arrat- Kidmurri and d arrat-Niphi (GAAN.KUR) Formerly Read b#lat-m!ti, RA 70 (1976): 181-2. 332 RIM A.0.101.28: 1-6 213 Sovereign of Combat and Battlewithout whom they do not approve a verdict in Earrawho causes victory, who causes the attainment of a hearts desire, who loves loyalty, who hears prayers, receives petitions, (and) accepts supplications. Itar, radiant, perfect, surpassing, who surveys Heaven (and) the Earthin all the regions of all the lands her name is calledguarantor of life, compassionate goddess whose proximity is good, the one who dwells in the city of Kalhu, my sovereign
After the introduction to the goddess as arrat-niphi, this hymn divides beautifully into two stanzas. In stanza A, Itar is praised as Itar of Nineveh (indicated by the title b!ltu rabtu) while in stanza B she is praised as the Itar of Kalhu (indicated by the title b!let qabli u t"h"zi): Stanza A:
b!lti (NIN) rab#ti (GAL-ti) aaritti (SAG-ti) am (AN-e) er!eti (KI-tim) !arrat kal (D)" il# (DINGIR.ME) geertu a [ina ekurr"ti (.KUR.ME)] sikira kabtu (DUGUD) 2 ina itar"ti ( d INANA.ME) $turat nabn#ssa z#mu namru a k#ma (GIM) ! d ama" tal#m#a kipp"t am (AN-e) [er!eti)] mith"ri[] tahi""a 3 l!t Anunnaki bukurti Anim urb$t il"ni (DINGIR.ME) m"likat ahh#a (PAP.ME-) "likat mahr[i d]"lihat [t]m"ti 4 munarri"at hur"n# ur"nat Igigi ( d NUN.GAL.ME)
Great Sovereign, Preeminent One in Heaven (and) the Earth, Sovereign of All Gods, Strong One, her command is weighty [in the temples], among goddesses her shape is surpassinga glowing radiant form which, like ama her sibling, surveys uniformly the entirety of Heaven (and) [Earth]; expert of the Anunnaki, child of Anu, greatest of the gods, counselor of her brothers, who travels in front, who roils seas, who shakes mountainsheroine of the Igigi.
Stanza B:
b!lat qabli (MURUB 4 ) u t"h"zi (M) a balua ina Earra !ip"u ul" i!ma"ggar$ma 5 mualqt l#ti muam!t !am"mar libbi r"imat (GA-at) k#n"ti !mt ikrib# l!qt unn!n# 6 m"hirat tesl#t# Itar ( d INANA) nebtu gitm"ltu $turtu a am (AN-e) er!eti (KI-tim) tahi""a ina kib!r"t" m"t"ti (KUR.KUR.ME) kal#ina (D-i-na) nab 7 uma (MU-) q"iat bal""i (TI.LA.ME) ilti (DINGIR-tim) r!m!n#ti a qurbua ""bu (DG.GA) "ibat "l (URU) Kalhi b!lt#ya (NIN-ia) 333
333 RIM A.0.101.28: 1-6. 214 Sovereign of Combat and Battlewithout whom they do not approve a verdict in Earrawho causes victory, who causes the attainment of a hearts desire, who loves loyalty, who hears prayers, receives petitions, (and) accepts supplications. Itar, radiant, perfect, surpassing, who surveys Heaven (and) the Earthin all the regions of all the lands her name is calledguarantor of life, compassionate goddess whose proximity is good, the one who dwells in the city of Kalhu, my sovereign
As the patron of Nineveh, Itar is designated by two of the titles she receives in EARI invocation units: aaritti am u er!eti Preeminent One in Heaven and Earth and arrat kal il# Sovereign of All the Gods. In stanza B, Itar is addressed only as the b!lat qabli u t"h"zi. In each stanza, after each designation, comes praise of the goddess authority. In stanza A, this authority concerns command, which originates with the goddess. This is indicated by the declaration, [ina ekurr"ti] sikira kabtu her command is weighty [in the temples]. In stanza B, this authority concerns her importance in the divine council. This is indicated by the statement balua ina Earra !ip"u ul" i!ma"ggar$ma without whom they do not approve a verdict in Earra. In addition to establishing Itars judicial authority, in each stanza the different manifestations, Itar of Nineveh and Itar as the b!l!t qabli u t"h"zi, are equated with celestial bodies. In A, this is rendered by: 2 ina itar"ti ( d INANA.ME) $turat nabn#ssa z#mu namru a k#ma (GIM) ! d ama" tal#m#a kipp"t am (AN-e) [er!eti)] mith"ri[] tahi""a
among goddesses her shape is surpassinga glowing radiant form which, like ama her sibling, surveys uniformly the entirety of Heaven (and) [Earth];
In B, this is rendered by: nebtu gitm"ltu $turtu a am (AN-e) er!eti (KI-tim) tahi""a
radiant, perfect, surpassing, who surveys Heaven (and) the Earth
Finally, the remaining contents of the hymn provide distinctive qualities for each 215 manifestation. In stanza A, the goddess is the: 3 l!t Anunnaki bukurti Anim urb$t il"ni (DINGIR.ME) m"likat ahh#a (PAP.ME- ) "likat mahr[i d]"lihat [t]m"ti 4 munarri"at hur"n# ur"nat Igigi ( d NUN.GAL.ME)
expert of the Anunnaki, child of Anu, greatest of the gods, counselor of her brothers, who travels in front, who roils seas, who shakes mountainsheroine of the Igigi.
As the daughter of An, Itar is compared with Bau (B#let Ekallim or Gula). As the one who roils the seas, she is the b!let t! the Sovereign of Frenzy who is also deemed the Sovereign of the Gods in the invocation of Tiglath-pileser I. The section ends by declaring this Itar causes victory and brings joy to those who worship her. In stanza B, the goddess is the one: 5 mualqt l#ti muam!t !am"mar libbi r"imat (GA-at) k#n"ti !mt ikrib# l!qt unn!n# 6 m"hirat tesl#t#
who causes victory, who causes the attainment of a hearts desire, who loves loyalty, who hears prayers, receives petitions, (and) accepts supplications.
Unlike Itar, daughter of An, Itar b!lat qabli u t"h"zi is not presented as a goddess who revels in warfare; rather, she is the one who, through a kings loyalty, assigns victory. The hymn ends with a praise of the total goddess, arrat-niphi: ina kib!r"t" m"t"ti (KUR.KUR.ME) kal#ina (D-i-na) nab 7 uma (MU-) q"iat bal""i (TI.LA.ME) ilti (DINGIR-tim) r!m!n#ti a qurbua ""bu (DG.GA) "ibat "l (URU) Kalhi b!lt#ya (NIN-ia) 334
In all the regions of all the lands her name is calledguarantor of life, compassionate goddess whose proximity is good, the one who dwells in the city of Kalhu, my sovereign:
Thus, represented in this hymn is the culmination of those aspects for Itar which are
334 RIM A.0.101.28: 1-6. 216 present, yet veiled, throughout the entirely of EARI.
Conclusion The results of this study indicate that, in order to understand the characteristics of Itar and her role in society, she should not be approached as a singular deity (perhaps no deity should). Although EARI provide merely a rough and sometimes opaque screen through which to examine the many functions of Itar and the various manifestations under which she performed those functions, the information contained in the inscriptions can illuminate the multiple facets of her development. If Itar was ever a deity native to Aur, the texts do not reveal this status. Instead, she seems to have been connected, not to southern Mesopotamia as some would argue, but to the north, northeast, and northwest of Aur. Although some of the manifestations of Itar which are represented in the texts may be connected to northern Sumerian cities, Itar, in EARI, is a north Mesopotamian deity. Furthermore, the texts demonstrate that, as Aur became Assyria, Itar developed into an even greater form of the goddess, thus paving the way for her status as patron of the Sargonid kings. It is to be anticipated that, because this work solidly demonstrates the rise and unification of various manifestations of Itar, it will provide the foundation upon which further, even more specific, research may be built.
217
Appendix A B!let-t"h"zi, and B!let qabli u t"h"zi Sovereign of Battle and Sovereign of Combat and Battle
am!-Adad I: A.0.39.1.A d INANA be-le-et ta-ha-zi-im
Tukult!-Ninurta I A.0.78.1 [Itar NI]N(?)-la-at [MUR]UB 4 (?) ta-ha-zi
Adad-n"r"r! II A.0.99.2 d !i 8 -tr" be-lit MURUB 4 ! M"
Aur-na! !! !irpal II A.0.101.26 d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M A.0.101.28 d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M A.0.101.29 d INANA NIN MURUB 4 u M A.0.101.50 d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M
almaneser III A.0.102.2 d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M me-lul-ta- GI.LAL A.0.102.3 d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M me-lul-ta- GI.LAL A.0.102.4 [ d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M] me-lul-ta- [GI.LAL] A.0.102.6 d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 M] me-lul-ta- GI.LAL A.0.102.38 d INANA NIN GAL-ti [] NIN-at MURUB 4 M e-pi-[a-at(?) ] sa-ah-ma--ti na-x-[]
Considered by scholars to be one of Itars quintessential epithets (certainly her typical martial title), 335 the designation b!let qabli u t"h"zi Sovereign of Combat and Battle likely has its origins as a combined title which, when separated, originally represented two different deities. One of these deities was an independent god named B#let-Qabli (Sovereign of Combat), while the second was a manifestation of Itar, Itar b!let t"h"zi Sovereign of Battle. As will be demonstrated, B#let-Qabli seems to have been united with Itar b!let t"h"zi as early as the reign of the Ur III king, $-Sn;
335 Hurowitz and Westenholz, LKA 63, 11. 218 however, this conjoined deity was not universally recognized. In a variety of inscriptions from the OB period, each deity continues to be attested independently. This is the case in EARI. Itar as the b!let t"h"zi is implored in one inscription of am"-Adad I, 336 while Itar as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi is attested in multiple Assyrian royal inscriptions after the reign of Tukult"-Ninurta I. Though the original function of Itar b!let t"h"zi may have been to watch over and support the king on campaign, Itar b!let qabli u t"h"zi is a much more violent manifestation of the goddess; one who relishes the fight. Grammatically, the full title, b!let qabli u t"h"zi, is a genitival chain comprised of the bound form of the governing noun, b!ltu (b!let), followed by the governed terms qablu and t"h"zu in the genitive (qabli and t"h"zi). In EARI, b!ltu is not consistently spelled syllabically; however, when expressed logographically, it is with the Sumerogram NIN (never GAAN), and always accompanied by a phonetic complement, -at or et (-it). Generally, in EARI, the terms qablu and t"h"zu are expressed logographically by the signs MURUB 4 (qablu) and M (t"h"zu), respectively; however, in the inscriptions of am"-Adad I and Tukult"-Ninurta I, t"h"zu is spelled syllabically. Finally, in all examples of the epithet in EARI in which the designation is directly preceded by the name of the goddess Itar, the name is consistently expressed logographically as d M
( d INANA). Unlike the titles of other gods such as ama (whose designation as b!l d#ni Sovereign of Justice is more easily comprehended), the exact nature of Itars role in warfare remains elusive. Generally, Itars shorter martial title, b!let t"h"zi, is translated as Sovereign of Battle, while the combined version, b!let qabli u t"h"zi, may be
336 This title may also take the form b!let qabli in later Assyrian royal inscriptions, but this version of the title is not present in EARI. 219 translated as Sovereign of Combat and Battle, or understood as a merismus: Sovereign of Warfare. The term t"h"zu battle, is represented in Old Akkadian texts by the sign KAS.UDUN-eig. 337 According to the lexical list Proto-Izi I, KAS.UDUN-eig has two possible meanings: either a specific type of battle maneuvering, e.g. to ambush, or, as a generic term for battle or military campaign. 338 This latter meaning reflects a possible core connotation to the Akkadian term t"h"zu. The noun t"h"zu is derived from the verb ah"zu to seize or to take. This sense of taking may apply to a region, as in to take over. 339 When the verb ah"zu is used with the noun harr"nu road, one may translate idiomatically: to take [to] the road. This would be similar to its use with the noun d#nu justice, as in to take to court, or, in the case of marriage to take to wed. If the noun t"h"zu originally connoted military seizure or military operation (with the intent of seizure) at its most basic level, Itars standard martial title is likely to reflect an original role as the deity of the (military) campaign. Evidence for this conclusion is borne out by reviewing the contexts in which the title is used for Itar. CAD provides two separate entries for the term qablu: a. middle and b. battle. In EARI, both entries (a and b) can be signified by the logogram MURUB 4 ; however, in Akkadian texts which date to the OB period, only the first usage is represented by MURUB 4 . The second usage is indicated by the repetition of the logogram EN. Because both of the terms were originally represented by different logograms, it is unclear if their meanings are related (i.e., should qablu be understood to represent the center of
337 CAD T, 48. 338 Ibid. 339 CAD A, 173.
220 combat?). The logogram EN can also indicate the Akkadian word amu battle; however, because the usages of amu in Akkadian texts are also vague, it, too, offers little by way of clarification. One may tentatively suggest that the use of the logogram MURUB 4 came to represent both usages of qablu purely for ease of memory, and that the second usage did not originally mean center of the battle. The martial term qablu should then be accepted as a poetic synonym for t"h"zu, as CAD and various Sumerian texts suggest (these texts will be addressed in the succeeding discussion); thus, the translation combat will continue to be used here.
Early Attestations The earliest attestation for a Sovereign of Combat ( d nin. en) is attested in the ED Sumerian god-list from F!ra. 340 There is no ED attestation for a deity called the Sovereign of Battle. Furthermore, neither designation is extant in the inscriptions of the Sargonic kings as a title or name of a god. 341 Instead, the earliest attestation for Sovereign of Battle seems to be in a Sumerian inscription ascribed to Gudea of Laga (c. 2144-2124). 342 In the maledictory section of an inscription located on a statue
340 WVDOG 43 1 v 6 d ni n. en. Also, Manfred Krebernik, Die Gtterlisten aus F!ra, ZA 76 (1986): 161- 204. Unfortunately, there is a lacuna in the text where we would expect to find the deities who precede this god. It must also be remembered that there is a chance d ni n. en represents a male deity (if it had any gender/sex at all) for, during this early period, it is likely that the logogram ni n could represent either sex/gender; see Joan Westenholz, Goddesses of the Ancient Near East 30001000 BC in Ancient Goddesses: The Myths and the Evidence, edited by Lucy Goodison and Christine Morris (London: British Museum, 1998), 63-82; cf. also, Selz, Five Divine Ladies, n. 2. 341 The title is also not attested in the poems attributed to Enheduanna, or in any of the legends of the Sargonic kings. 342 For the remainder of this discussion the goddess will be referred to as Itar. This is done primarily for 221 of Gudea devoted to the god Ningirsu (the warrior and protector of Laga), Itar is mentioned in the company of Bau (who is called the daughter of An) and Utu (who is called the Sovereign of the Blue Skies): Let An, let Enlil, let Ninhursanga, let Enki of trustworthy utterance, let Suen, whose name nobody can explain, let Ningirsu, lord of the weapon, let Nane, lady of the boundary, let Nindara, the master and warrior, let the mother of Laga, shinning Gatumdu, let Bau, the lady, eldest daughter of An, let Inana ( d i nana), lady of battle (nin. m. ke 4 ), let Utu, lord of the blue (skies), let Hendursanga, the herald of the land 343
This maledictory section is somewhat generic in that none of the deities mentioned is given a specific task to perform; rather they are, as a group, invoked to curse a disloyal future ruler. This means no conclusions as to Itars role as the Sovereign of Battle can be drawn. However, it is of note that Itar as the Sovereign of Battle is listed after Bau, who is a deity of Laga and described as the daughter of An (the deity of Uruk), and before Utu, normally the deity of Larsa; thus, Itar, the Sovereign of Battle (and perhaps Utu), may be connected to the divine circle of Bau at Laga. Though not titled b!let t"h"zi, Itar is designated as the Lion of Battle (piri g. m) in The Victory of Utu-hegala royal inscription likely commissioned by Utu-hegal (c. 2130), the king of Umma and Uruk. This work, which reads somewhat like a literary text, commemorates Utu-hegals defeat of Gutian invaders, and in it the king
ease, but also because, if Sumerian Inana and Akkadian Itar were combined during the Sargonic period, they must be, at this time, considered one and the sameat least until further research is done into this topic. For all other gods: if mentioned in Sumerian texts, the god will be designated by the Sumerian name (e.g., Utu), when in Akkadian texts, the god will be referred to by the Akkadian name (e.g., ama). 343 RIM E3/1.1.7.St B col. viii 44-64. It is of note that, out of the twenty-six dedicatory statues commissioned by Gudea, Itar is not designated as the Sovereign of Battle on the statue devoted to Itar (RIM E3/1.1.7.St C). In the statue devoted to Itar, she is designated as Itar of the Lands ( d i nanna. kur. kur). 222 states that he went before Itar saying: My lady, lioness in the battle (pirig. m), who butts the foreign lands, the god Enlil has com[missioned me] to bring back the kingship of the land of Sumer. [May you be my] a[lly]. 344
Utu-hegal then reports his departure from Uruk, stating that Itar is, in fact, his ally. Also of note is that the text records the assignment of Dumuzi-ama-uumgal as the kings military commander by order of Gilgame. Whether Itar as the Lion of Battle is comparable to Itar, the Sovereign of Battle (or Sovereign of Combat and Battle), is not yet clear. Since he is departing from Uruk, Utu-hegal may only be calling upon Itar in her capacity as patron god of Uruk, and on Dumuzi/Gilgame in his capacity as the patron god of Bad-Tirba; however, it should be noted that in this capacity she is said to butt the foreign lands; thus, this text may contain an allusion to Itars depiction in the poem in. nin. me. hu. a. 345 This poem will be discussed in more detail. On a final note, Pirig-m Lion of battle, is the name of a king of Laga prior to the reign of Gudea. 346
In the hymns of the Ur III ruler ulgi (2094-2047) and his son Amar-Sn (2046- 2038), Itar is, in the main, depicted as a sweet and loving spouse; however, the tradition of Itar as a deity of warfare is also evident. The standard martial title for Itar is attested on several texts attributed to ulgi, and in an inscription of Amar-Sn. In a simple hymn which narrates ulgis pursuit of Gutian rebels, ulgi D, the king is praised as a mighty warrior whose battle-axe drips with blood. Though Itar is mentioned in a very broken
344 RIM E2.13.6.4: 27-32. 345 The contemporary title can be Inana and Ebih. Literally, i n. ni n. me. hu. a may translate to Mistress of the Red Essence; however, it may also be rendered, Mistress of the Angry Essence, for the Sumerian term hu (Akk. ezzu) may indicate either the color red or anger. 346 Itars connection to lions is well known. It is not the goal of this discussion to connect the goddess with lions. Rather, it is the history of her connection to battle as part of a title which is investigated. 223 passage, the remains of this passage suggest that she, designated as the Sovereign of Battle, is displeased with the events which have transpired (whatever they may have been); 347 thus, we may infer that she has an opinion concerning the kings activities. What results from this opinion is not extant, but, presumably, it would have been of some consequence; this conclusion is borne out in a Sumerian text, Death of Ur-Nammu. Death of Ur-Nammu was likely commissioned by the daughter of Ur-Nammu (or by his son, ulgi) upon his death. 348 Although a king beloved by the gods, Death of Ur- Nammu narrates the tragic reality that the pantheon of the gods had tired of Ur- Nammus offerings of piety and no longer accepted them. 349 Without the support of the council of the gods, Erekigal, Sovereign of the Netherworld, orders Ur-Nammus death. Of all the deities, it is Itar as the Sovereign of Battle who may have been the one most likely able to save the king from his fate. Unfortunately, the goddess is absent during the decision of Erekigal, because, as the tale reports, Enlil had sent her away to a foreign land. Realizing that she missed the verdict, Itar becomes passionately upset, destroying cattle-pens, devastating sheepfolds, and hurling insults. Itar as the Sovereign of Battle is presented in the text as a supporter of the king, and, perhaps, even as guarantor of his safety. Itars status as sponsor of the king is also present in ulgi X, yet another hymn
347 For a discussion of this hymn see Jacob Klein, Three ulgi Hymns: Sumerian Royal Hymns Glorifying King ulgi of Ur (Ramat-Gan: Bar Ilan University Press, 1981), 50-123, and The Royal Hymns of Shulgi King of Ur: Man's Quest for Immortal Fame (Philadelphia: The American Phiological Soceity, 1981). 348 See Dina Katz, The Image of the Netherworld in the Sumerian Sources (Bethesda: CDL Press, 2003), 329. 349 This summary follows the treatment of the text by Samuel N. Kramer, The Death of Ur-Nammu and His Descent to the Netherworld, JCS 21 (1967): 104-22. 224 attributed to ulgi (this one dedicated to ulgi, himself). In this hymn, ulgi travels to Uruk where Itar, designated as the daughter of Sn (the patron god of the Ur III dynasty), 350 greets the king as one would greet a lover. The goddess then declares that she will grant the king a good fate: In [the campaign] (m) I will be the one who goes before you. In [the theater of war] (en. en), I will carry your weapon like a personal attendant. In the assembly I will be your advocate. On [the road] (har. ra. an. na) I will be your encouragement. 351
In the hymn, Itar may not be referred to as the Sovereign of Battle but her words confirm her status as sponsor for the king in his martial activities while on campaign. The reference to the divine assembly, in the midst of a section referring to warfare, indicates a role for the goddess similar to that depicted in Death of Ur-Nammu. She would seem to have the power to advocate for the justification of ulgis war. By going before the king while on campaign she announces her approval for the action. As in the Utu-hegal text in which the goddess is designated the Lion of Battle, in the Death of Ur-Nammu Itar is connected with Uruk. This is where ulgi travels to venerate Itar. As in the Gudea inscription, Itar is in the company of the gods, Bau and Utu. Just after giving her proclamation to ulgi, the king states that he knows the joyful heart of B#let-Ekallim (=Bau), 352 and brings an offering before Utu at his temple. Utu
350 It is possible that this new designation, daughter of Sn, occurs because Itar is subsumed into the circle of Sn, just as Ningirsu is equated with Ninurta, son of Enlil. In the hymn, Itar claims that it is Sn who gives her power. 351 ulgi X 28-30, edited in Jacob Klein, Three ulgi Hymns, 124-66. 352 It is during the Ur III period that Bau is conflated with B#let-Ekallim. Furthermore, the three gods, Itar, Utu, and Bau (B#let-Ekallim) are frequently found together in texts. For an examination of the goddess B#let-Ekallim see Geet! De Clercq, Die Gttin Ninegal/B#let-ekallim nach den altorientalischen Quellen des 3. und 2. Jt. v. Chr., (Ph.D. diss., Julius-Maximilians-Universitt zu Wrzburg, 2003). 225 then gives ulgi more good news. Finally, Itar is associated with the word-pair battle (m) and combat (en. en). As discussed above, the addition of combat (en. en) to the title Sovereign of Battle may have been for poetic reasons; for unlike the term battle (m), which is regularly found in texts dating before the Ur III period, combat (en. en) only seems to come into regular use in texts during this time. 353 It is, nevertheless, also possible that this inscription demonstrates a transitional stage. Itar is not yet designated the Sovereign of Combat and Battle but she is present during both battle (m), presumably the province of Itar as Sovereign of Battle, and combat (en. en), presumably the province of the enigmatic deity, Sovereign of Combat ( d nin. en). A simple dedicatory inscription of Amar-Sn which was found on multiple bricks at Uruk, confirms the association of Itar, the goddess who loves the king, with Itar, who is designated as Sovereign of Battle: For Itar ( d inana), mistress of battle (nin. m), his beloved spouse. 354 Generally, when titled spouse of the king in the hymns attributed to the Ur III kings, Itar is depicted as joyful, loving, and attracted to the king. 355 This simple inscription seems to solidify that which is suggested in ulgi X. For the Ur III kings, Itar, as Sovereign of Battle, could also be a beloved spouse. 356
Unfortunately, in this short inscription, no further hint is given concerning Itars more specific role in either battle or combat. The refrain of the Sumerian poem in. nin. me. hu. a reads I shall praise the
353 G. R. Castellino, Two ulgi Hymns (BC) (Rome: Instituto di Studi del Vicino Oriente, 1972), 100 n. 29. 354 RIM E3/3.1.3: 13. 355 E.g., in the case of ulgi A in which Itar chooses ulgi to be her spouse because of his good looks. 356 This is, of course, connected to the Ur III kings equation of themselves with Dumuzi of Bad-tirba, the fianc or spouse of Itar. 226 [Sovereign of Battle (ni n. m)], the great child of Suen, maiden Inana. 357 As with the previous works, Itar is titled Sovereign of Battle and designated the daughter of Sn. Also similar to the previous works, in this text, Itar is depicted as a helper to the king; however, this time she is characterized as a bloodthirsty terror that initiates and participates in wars: Goddess of the fearsome divine powers, clad in terror, riding on the great divine powers, Inana, made perfect by the holy a-an-kar weapon, drenched in blood, rushing around in great battles (m), with shield resting on the ground (?), covered in storm and flood, great lady Inana, knowing well how to plan conflicts (en. en) you destroy mighty lands with arrow and strength and overpower lands. 358
This is so much the case that she is, in fact, said to plan and begin martial action:
Against its magnificent sides, I shall place magnificent battering-rams, against its small sides I shall place small battering-rams. I shall storm it and start the 'game' of holy Inana. In the mountain range I shall start battles (m) and prepare conflicts (en. en). 359
Retold in the poem is the great fight which the goddess, as the Sovereign of Battle, brings to the mountain, Ebih, because the mountain is disrespectful to her, flaunting its height and beauty. When commencing battle, in the poem, Itar is said to have opened the gate of the house (temple) of battle (.m). 360 Unlike the previously discussed works, in this poem the goddess is not depicted as a judicial advocate of the king, nor is she
357 Since there is no critical commentary for this poem, the translation follows the Oxford University edition in The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature; http://www-etcsl.orient.ox.ac.uk, 1.3.2: 23- 24hereafter, ETCSL. Cf. also, Henri Limet, Le pome pique Inanna et Ebih. Une version des lignes 123 182 Orientalia 40 (1971): 11-28, and Jean Bottro and Samuel Kramer, Lorsque les dieux faisaient l'homme (Paris: Gallimard, 1993), 219-226. 358 ETCSL 1.3.2: 1-6. 359 ETCSL 1.3.2: 37-40. 360 Ibid.; see also, Andrew George, House Most High: The Temples of Ancient Mesopotamia (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1993), 126 No. 797. 227 depicted as merely holding his weaponry in battle. Rather, Itar is characterized as not only present on the battlefield, but ready to fight; however, her actions are still meant to aid the king. In in. nin. me. hu. a, Itar declares to An that he placed her at the right side of the king in order that the king be powerful: You have placed me at the right hand of the king in order to destroy rebel lands: may he (the king), with my aid, smash heads like a falcon in the foothills of the mountain 361
In the poem, Itar as the Sovereign of Battle is annoyed because the king (whose name is not given) was unable to conquer the region in which Ebih lies. Correlating the kings power with her own, Itar proclaims that the mountain Ebih would not bow down to her (or her king). Itar then pleads her case to An, demanding the destruction of the mountain. Eventually, after a massive battle, she (with the king) is victorious. This altered portrayal of the goddess continues to be present in an inscription of the brother and successor of Amar-Sn, $-Sn (2037-2029). In the text, Itar is, again, noticeably a deity of war. This time she is referred to by the extended martial title Sovereign of Battle and Combat; however, her role, assigned by Enlil, is to be a soldier to the king: [Lady of battle (nin m) (and)] combat (en. en), butting [l]ike a [bull], [Inn]in, [b]orn to be a warrior, [p]resented with a , a mace, arrows (and) a quiver, the one covered with [as]tounding qualities, the first [da]ughter of the god Sn, holding the fifty [m]es, the holy goddess Inanna ( d inana. ke 4 ) for $-Sn, her beloved spouse in order to sweep like a huge onrushing flood over its population (namely) the enemy country which in disobedience to him, (engages) in battle (and) hostilities in order to smite its powerful ones, mischievous (and) inimical, in order to destroy the memory of its famous black- headed people, in order to subdue its great far-reaching mountain ranges the
361 ETCSL 1.3.2: 1-6: 80-81. 228 god Enlil made Inanna ( d inanna) as helper for $-Sn, mighty king, king of Ur, king of the four quarters. 362
As in the previous texts, Itar is once again a helper to the king, and, as in the in. nin. me. hu. a, she aids the king in war, not merely holding his weapons, but providing him with the ability to subdue nations. In this instance, in her role as the spouse of the mortal king, Itar is not said to provide a good destiny for the king. Instead, she attacks foreign lands. 363 This text is also, to my knowledge, the only extant Sumerian inscription which contains the full version of the standard martial title for Itar. Furthermore, this is the last Sumerian literary text to attribute the standard martial title to Itar until the reign of Rim-Sn.
Early Old Babylonian Texts According to Piotr Michalowski, the Lamentation of the Destruction over Sumer and Ur was created as a propagandistic piece to legitimize both Ibi-Erras destruction of the Ur III state and the founding of his new dynasty at Isin (2017-1985). 364 Because Ibi- Erra was the general of Ibbi-Sn, the last ruler of the Ur III dynasty, Michalowski contends that Ibi-Erra is depicted as a defender of the Ur III state and the custodian of its traditions even though he is the one who aided in its downfall. 365 The fall of the dynasty of Ur III is presented in the Lamentation as having been inevitable, for though:
362 RIM E3/2.1.4.1 col. i 25- col. ii 13. This long inscription (some six columns) was written on a Sammeltafel (with 7 exemplars) found at Nippur (RIME II/III, 295-300). 363 It may also be noted that, in a dedicatory inscription of this king (RIM E3/2 1.4.19), it is Annun"tum who is designated as the spouse of $-Sn. 364 Piotr Michalowski, The Lamentation of the Destruction over Sumer and Ur (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1989), 6-7hereafter, LDSU. 365 Ibid., 7. 229 Ur was indeed given kingship [but] it was not given an eternal reign Who has ever seen a reign of kingship that would take precedence (forever)? 366
The text demonstrates an acceptance of a revolving kingship and depicts the demolition of a regional power. An, Enlil, Enki and Ninmah decide the fate of the dynasty, which is then commanded by An and Enlil. 367 The gods, who cannot disobey the command, take action. An, Enlil, Nintu (Ninmah), and Enki initiate the destruction of the state. The gods frighten the inhabitants, blow an evil storm, and take away foodstuffs. After these actions, Utu no longer provides justice, while Itar handed over strife (m) and battle (en. en. na) to a rebellious land. 368 She is finally followed by Ningirsu who wastes the land like milk given to dogs. 369
This lament is particularly significant for several reasons. Again, as in the Laga inscription of Gudea and the ulgi hymn, Itar seems to be in similar company. In this text, Itar is listed with Utu and, while not Bau herself, the spouse of Bau, Ningirsu. Furthermore, though not titled Sovereign of Battle, as in the other two examples, Itar has jurisdiction over battle and combat. What it means to put battle into the hands of an enemy land is more difficult to discern. In the poem in. nin. me. hu. a, victory did not automatically come merely because Itar declared it should be so. Ebih stood up to the
366 LDSU 366-368. 367 LDSU 55. 368 In his translation, Michalowski presumes it is victory in battle and combat which Itar gives: Inanna handed over victory in strife and battle to a rebellious land. This is, of course, a reasonable conclusion, for, in the inscriptions and legends of the Sargonic kings and in a few of the ED legends, Itar, not as b!let t"h"zi (or b!let qabli u t"h"zi), is said to give victory to various kings. Since this is not yet demonstrated to be an ability of Itar as b!let t"h"zi (or b!let qabli u t"h"zi), it cannot be assumed that this is the role she plays here. 369 LDSU 58-64. 230 goddess; the mountain did not bow down. It is possible that, in the Lamentation of the Destruction over Sumer and Ur, Itar does not give a pronouncement that allows the king even to participate in warfare. She does not come to the aid of the king; she is not his helper. Itar is also the controller of battle and combat in an OB Balbale to the goddess: [Enlil] hat mir den Himmel gegeben <hat mir> der Erde <gegeben>, ich <die Himmelsherrin bin ich>. Der Herrenschaft hat er mir gegeben, die Herrinnenschaft hat er mir gegeben, den Kampf (m) hat er mir gegeben, die [Schla]cht (?) (en. en) <hat er> mir <gegeben>. 370
In this lament, Itar only proclaims her ownership over the dominions of battle (m) and combat (en. en), as received from the god, Enlil. She is not titled nin; she is not the sovereign. In Enki and the World Order, Itar makes a similar, yet even further weakened proclamation. The tale narrates how Enki, authorized by Enlil, orders the world. Enki does this by granting functions to various deities; however, he seems to overlook Itar, for she comes to him requesting a role in the universe. Enki responds to the goddess by increasing (?) her powers: Maiden Inana, how have I disparaged you? How can I enhance you? Amongst the ominous occurrences in the hurly-burly of battle (m en. en. na) I shall make you speak vivifying words; and in its midst, although you are not an arabu bird (a bird of ill omen), I shall make you speak ill-omened words also. 371
As in The Death of Ur-Nammu and ulgi D, Itar seems to play a judicial role in this text.
370 Eine sumerische Hymne mit Selbstlob Inannas 11-15, edited in Willem Rmer, Eine sumerische Hymne mit Selbstlob Inannas, Orientalia 38 (1969): 97-114. 371 ETCSL 1.1.3: 437-450. Cf. also, C. A. Benito, Enki and Ninmah and Enki and the World Order (Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1969); Samuel Kramer and John Maier, Myths of Enki, the Crafty God (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), 38-56; and, Richard Averbeck, Myth, Ritual, and Order in Enki and the World Order, JAOS 123 (2003): 757-71. 231 The vivifying words which she speaks are likely oracular; thus, it is possible the text reflects the tradition which places Itar in the assembly advocating for the life of the king (and perhaps even for the average warrior). The text also seems to assign yet another role to Itar, for, not only does she speak positive, vivifying words, she speaks negative ones as well. The short form of Itars martial title, Sovereign of Battle, is attested in two Akkadian inscriptions of Iddin-Sn, an early OB ruler of Simurrum, a city on the Hurrian border. 372 One of these inscriptions, written on a stone block, is dedicatory in nature. In this inscription, Iddin-Sn explains that, because the gods Adad, Itar, and Niba answered the prayers of his son, Zabazuna, he was able to conquer the city of Kulunnum. These same gods appear in the maledictory section of the inscription: aw#lam u"ti Anum (AN) Enlil Ninhursag Enki ( d EN.KI) Sn ( d EN.ZU) Adad ( d IKUR) b!l kakkim ( GI TUKUL) ama ( d UTU) b!l d#nim (DI.KU 5 .DA) Itar ( d INANA) b!lat t"h"zim Ninsianna ( d nin-AN-si 4 -an-na) il#ya Niba b!l#ya erretam lemuttam liruru
May Anum, Enlil, Ninhursag Enki Sn Adad, Sovereign of the Weapon, ama, Sovereign of Judgment, Itar, b!lat t"h"zim, Ninsianna, my god, and Niba, my sovereign, curse that man with an evil curse. 373
The reign of Iddin-Sn coincided with that of Ibi-Erra; thus, it is not surprising to find the same four lead deities: An, Enlil, Ninhursag (Nintu/Ninmah), and Enkiwith the addition of Sn. These gods are followed by three deities who are given titles: Adad, Sovereign of the Weapon, ama, Sovereign of Judgment, and Itar, b!let t"h"zi.
372 For recent treatment of the early history and texts from this region see Jesper Eidem and Jrgen Lsse, The Shemshara Archives (Copenhagen: Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, 2001). 373 RIM E4.19.1.1 34-53. It is also likely that this same maledictory section appears on two additional dedicatory inscriptions of this king, one to Adad, and the other to Niba (RIM E4.19.2 and 3). Unfortunately, in both of these examples the concluding formula is missing. 232 Two final gods are designated the personal deities of Iddin-Sn: Ninsianna and Niba. While the deity Niba is said to be merely the personal deity of Iddin-Sn, the mention of the goddess Ninsianna is of particular interest. In a hymn thought to have been written during the reign of Iddin-Dag!n and considered the penultimate attestation for the hieros gamos, Itar is praised for a multitude of attributes: one of these being her beauty, another, her role as holder of the me. 374 Additionally, in the hymn, the goddess is frequently praised as the Great Sovereign of Heaven (nin. gal. an) and as Venus, the evening star. 375 Of further interest for this investigation, is that the hymn itself is dedicated to Ninsianna, whose name may mean Red Sovereign of Heaven. 376 Though Ninsianna is also referred to as Itar in the text, and though referred to as a warrior, she is never said to be the b!let t"h"zi; thus, though having martial powers and having been equated with the universal Itar, Ninsianna (certainly in this text) seems to be a separate deity from Itar, b!let t"h"zi. She is Venus, specifically as the evening star. Perhaps the second oldest Akkadian attestation for the standard martial title of Itar is in the Old Assyrian satire, Sargon, Lord of Lies. The text was discovered in the
374 Daniel Reisman, Iddin-Dagan's Sacred Marriage Hymn, JCS 25 (1973): 185-202. See also, and Willem H. Ph. Rmer, Sumerische Knigshymnen der Isin-Zeit (Leiden: Brill, 1965), 128-208. 375 Wolfgang Heimpel, Catalogue of Near Eastern Venus Deities, SMS 4 (1982): 59-72. Heimpel notes that the earliest clear association of Ninsiana with Venus is in the OB star-list. 376 Cf. Thorkild Jacobsen, who translates the name as Heavens Radiant Queen (Jacobsen, The Harps that Once: Sumerian Poetry in Translation [New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987], 124 n. 23); and, RIME III/II which renders that name (divine) lady of the twilight or the redness of heaven (RIME III/II, 117). If the name is understood as Red Sovereign of Heaven, the deity Ninsiana may also lie behind the name i n. ni n 9 . It may be recalled that, in the poem i n. ni n. me. hu, Itar is designated Mistress (i n. ni n 9 ) of the Red Essence. Finally, worship of Ninsiana would seem to be connected to Uruk. In a dedicatory inscription found in the . an. na (RIM E3/2.1.2.7), Amar-Sn records working on a bronze argibillu for Ninsiana. 233 Kltepe archives; thus, it likely dates to the k"rum period at Aur (c. 1900-1850). In this farcical tale, Sargon of Akkade boasts of his grand military prowess, swearing by Adad ( d IM) b!l emuqim u Itar (U.DAR) b!lat t"h"zim, that his tales of conquest are true. 377
Unfortunately, like the inscription of Iddin-Sn, the two gods perform no explicit actions in the text other than to be witnesses to the kings oath, but this does suggest an early connection between Adad and Itar as maledictory gods at Aur. However, a second early inscription from Aur indicates a different divine circle for Itar. The earliest Akkadian attestation of the martial title for Itar from which any more specific role may be gleaned is also its first attestation in EARI. In the maledictory section of am"-Adad Is Aur inscription, Itar is once again titled b!let t"h"zi: ama ( d UTU) Enlil Adad ( d IKUR) u arru-m"tim pir#u lilqut$ !a"na pan arrim (LUGAL) [m"]hir#u $ u umm"n"t$u ay-iprik$ Nergal ina kak"im iittau u iitti m"t#u lirtaddi Itar ( d INANA) b!let t"h"zim kakkau ( GI TUKUL-u) u kakk# ( GI TUKUL) umm"n"t#u libir Sn ( d ZUEN) il (DINGIR) r!#ya l$ r"bi! lemutt#u ana d"ri"tim 378
May ama, Enlil, Adad, and arru-m!tim take away his children; before a king who opposes him, may he and his army not resist; may Nergal, violently, confiscate his assets and the assets of his country; may Itar, Sovereign of Battle, break his weapon and the weapons of his army; may Sn, god of my administration, be a malevolent bailiff to him for an eternity.
Unlike its position in the Iddin-Sn inscription, Itar is listed between the gods Nergal and Sn. Also dissimilar is that, within the inscription, Itar is specifically requested to break the weapons of a disloyal future ruler, not merely to curse him. Previously, in the inscriptions of the Ur III kings in which Itar was titled b!let t"h"zi, she was depicted as a helper to the king who led his army and carried his weapon. This curse may still reflect
377 Kt. j/k 97: 11-12, edited in Cahit Gbatti, Kltepeden Akadli Sargona it Bir Tablet, AA 3 (1997): 152-155. 378 RIM A.0.39.1: 114-135. 234 that role. She does not carry the weapons of the enemy king; she destroys them. The final two OB examples of the short form of Itars martial title appear in an inscription of Rim-Sn and in an extispicy prayer. In the prayer, Itar, in addition to multiple other deities, is called upon to act as a witness to a divinatory act of the king. Her name and epithet appear at the end of a list of gods which begins with An, followed by Sn and Nergal. All of the gods are requested to stand by the king during his ritual: Anum abi am Sn arri agm Nergal b!l kakki Itar ( d INANA) b!let t"h"zim lib$ma itt#ka ina ikrib akarabu trti eppuu kittam uknam
May Anum, Father of Heaven, Sn, King of the Crown, Nergal, Sovereign of the Weapon, (and) Itar, b!let t"h"zim, stay with you! In the ritual act I prepare, in the extispicy I perform, put you truth! 379
Two of the deities listed with Itar as b!let t"h"zi are the same as those in the am"- Adad maledictory section: Sn and Nergal. Also of note is the designation of Nergal as b!l kakkim, the same title given Adad in the Iddin-Sn maledictory sections. Unlike the just-discussed OB examples, in a Sumerian inscription of Rim-Sn, the standard martial title for Itar is slightly altered. The inscription itself is located on a dedicatory cone found in the temple of Ningizida (who may, at times, be equated with Nergal). In the inscription, Rim-Sn recalls his conquest of Uruk and credits multiple gods with his success: An, Enlil, Ninlil, Ninurta, Nuska, Enki, Ninhursag, Sn, ama, Adad, and Nergal. 380 Separately listed are: Itar Sovereign of my Battle ( d nin. m. g. ta), Ninisina Sovereign of my strength, and Sovereign of Combat ( d nin. en. en. na) who shines for me. That these three gods are not only listed
379 YBC 5023 60-66, edited in Albrecht Goetze, An Old Babylonian Prayer of the Divination Priest, JCS 22 (1968): 25-9. 380 RIM E4.2.14: 10. 235 together, but also set off from the main list of deities further indicates their association with one another. According to several offering lists of the early OB kings Abi-ar# and S$m-el, a goddess named Sovereign of Battle ( d nin. m) is the recipient of oil at Larsa. 381 In a text dating to a slightly later period, a deity named Sovereign of Combat ( d nin. en. en. na) receives offerings in the Ninurta temple at Nippur. This offering is listed in a text dated to the third regnal year of the Larsa king, Sn-iq"ams (1840-1836). It has been suggested that the offering was made in gratitude to the goddess for her aid in his conquest of the settlements P"-N!r!tim and Na!!rum (which he took during his second regnal year). 382
d nin. en. en. na is listed in both TCL 15, 10 v and VS 24, 20 v as an independent deity: d nin..an. na d inanna. xxxx 19 d nin. en. en. na d nin. in. ti. na d nin. en. en. na is listed after d nin..an. na, Sovereign of the . an. na and d inanna. xxxx, and before d nin. in. ti . na (inti = alakti?, way, caravan or, perhaps, campaign. An = Anum IV lists d nin. in. ti. na after d nin. en. en. na and d nin. m and equates the goddess with b!let qurdi Sovereign of the Hero]) and d nin..m. a, Sovereign of the Emu (the temple of Itar and Dumuzi at Bad-tibria, a precinct of Uruk). Because d nin. en. en. na, d nin. m, and d nin. in. ti. na, are listed together in
381 YOS 14 204: 3, YOS 14 246: 4, and YOS 14 248: 3. There is a further Larsa attestation for this goddess. An undateable text records a Trankofers for d ni n. m, see, Thomas Richter, Untersuchungen zu den lokalen Panthea Sd- und Mittelbabyloniens in altbabylonischer Zeit (Mnster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2004), 368. 382 Ibid., 131. 236 An = Anum IV, it is possible to speculate that d inanna. xxxx = d inanna. nin. m. Finally, VS 24, 20 v 13-17 lists d nin. en. en. na before the Itars of Uruk, Ki, Zabalam, and Akkade. 383 While no further characterization is given for the goddess in the offering lists, in the Rim-Sn inscription the Sovereign of Combat ( d nin. en. en. na) is called the one who shines for me. Because of the epithet which accompanies her name, it may be possible to equate this deity with Ninsianna, as Venus, the evening star. This deduction is further supported by a dedicatory inscription of Rim-Sn which says that Ninsiana is the goddess whose station shines forth. 384
As mentioned previously, Ninsiana can be connected to B#let-ekallim. In the offering lists of Abi-ar# and S$m-el, B#let-ekallim is listed just prior to the Sovereign of Combat ( d nin. en. en. na) and just after Adad. This may indicate a connection between Adad and B#let-Ekallim. 385 Finally, in a Rim-Sn text, Ninisin is titled the sovereign of my strength. This is a similar designation to that of Adad in the Old Assyrian satire, Sargon, Lord of Lies. Additionally, Adad is entitled ar qabli ( d lugal . en. en. na) in the great god-list An = Anum. 386 Thus, there would seem to be a correlation and, at times, an equation between the gods B#let-Ekallim, Adad, and the Sovereign of Combat ( d nin. en. en. na). Finally, it should be noted that, as in the previously-discussed Sumerian works, each goddess is listed as performing particular
383 Furthermore, though an Itar of Uruk is listed in VS 24, 20 V, because d ni n. en. en. na is listed after d ni n..an. na in TCL 15, 10 V, the ordering may suggest that she is a deity of Uruk. This is certainly the case by the NA period, for the ki . en. en. na is listed as a seat of Itar in the . an. na of Uruk according to the Topographic Texts (George, House Most High, 111 No. 614). 384 RIM E4.2.14.18: 1-2. 385 Richter, Panthea Sd- und Mittelbabyloniens, 370. 386 An = Anum III 220 (Litke, 140). 237 actions for the king. Itar is designated as the deity of my battle, Ninisina is the goddess of my strength, and Sovereign of Combat shines for me. As martial deities, they provide military aid to the king. The only OB attestation of the combined form of Itars martial title appears in the epilogue to the Code of Hammurabi. This section of the Code is maledictory in nature and, of all the deities present, the largest amount of curses is entreated of Itar: Itar ( d INANA) b!let t"h"zim (M) u qablim (EN.EN) p"tiat kakkiya lamass# damiqtum r"imat palya ina libbia aggim ina uzz"tia rabi"tim arr$ssu l#rur damq"tiu ana lemn!tim lit!r (lit!r repeat) aar t"h"zim (M) u qablim (EN.EN) kakkau libir i#tam ahmatam likunum qarr"d#u liamqit dam#unu er!etam liqi gurun alm"t umm"n"tiu ina !!rim littaddi umm"nu r!mam aj uari u"ti ana q"t nakr#u limall#uma ana m"t nukurtiu kam l#r$u
May the goddess Itar, mistress of battle and warfare, who bares my weapon, my benevolent protective spirit, who loves my reign, curse his kingship with her angry heart and great fury; may she turn his auspicious omens into calamities; may she smash his weapon on the field of war and battle, plunge him into confusion and rebellion, strike down his warriors, drench the earth with their blood, make a heap of the corpses of his soldiers upon the plain, and may she show his soldiers no mercy; as for him, may she deliver him into the hand of his enemies, and may she lead him bound captive to the land of his enemy. 387
In the epilogue, Itar is mentioned between Zababa, who, as son of the Ekur (Enlil) is equated with Ninurta and with Nergal. It is not surprising that Itar is connected with Zababa in the text. Both deities were patron gods of Ki and it is in connection to this city that Itar is most frequently mentioned in the inscriptions of this king. What is curious is that, as can been seen, her role in the epilogue is much like that presented in the early Sumerian inscriptions. Itar is referred to as a benevolent protective spirit of Hammurabi who aids the king in warfare. Because of her love for him, she is expected to alter his omens and perform startling feats of violence, plunging the enemy into
387 Code of Hammurabi l 92-li 23. As presented in Martha Roth (Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor [Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1997]). 238 confusion and causing the earth to be drenched with the blood of enemy soldiers. It is possible that in this passage Itar is a combination of the earliest version of Itar, as b!let t"h"zi, and the later version, as b!let t"h"zi u qabli (from the text of $- Sn). In this section, Itar is a judicial advocate for the king with the ability to overturn divine pronouncements concerning other kings and is a warrior who forces enemies to bow down before the king. It is likely, too, that Itar does not merely perform these tasks, but empowers or allows the king to perform them as well. The epilogue reads that Itar is the one who bares (p"tiat) [his] weapon. The participle p"tiat derives from pet to open, or to reveal. 388 Simply, the phrase alludes to the unsheathing of a sword; however, the phrase may also suggest that she is permitting warfare to occur. Though perhaps more explicit, this role may be similar to that already discussed. Just as in the Balbale to Itar, as Enlil gives battle (m) and combat (en. en) to Itar, in a bilingual letter of Hammurabi it is declared, for him (Hammurabi) on the battle field, Itar gave (nad"num) you t"h"zu (m) and qablu (en. en). 389 This sentiment may reflect the one present in the Lamentation of the Destruction over Sumer and Ur. In that text, Itar was said to hand over battle (m) and combat (en. en) to an enemy land. This negative action is also present in the Curse of Akkade, in which Itar, this time specifically connected to the Ulma temple in Akkade, abandons her city because of Enlil. In her abandonment, she takes [removes] the gift of battle (m) and combat (en. en) from the city and hands them over to the enemy. Furthermore, she removes
388 CAD P, 340. 389 LIH 60 i 17 (CAD, T 42); cf. Nathan Wasserman, A Bilingual Report of an Oracle with a Royal Hymn of Hammurabi, RA 86 (1992): 1-18. 239 the citys weapons, thus: The life of Agade's sanctuary was brought to an end as if it had been only the life of a tiny carp in the deep waters, and all the cities were watching it. Like a mighty elephant, it bent its neck to the ground while they all raised their horns like mighty bulls. Like a dying dragon, it dragged its head on the earth and they jointly deprived it of honour as in a battle. 390
Akkade is destroyed, not only due to Enlils proclamation, but also through Itars removal of warfare and the martial accoutrements necessary to protect the city during times of strife. Itars connection to the Ulma is intriguing. In the Temple Hymn to Ulma, Itar (who is listed together with Aba the patron deity of the Akkade dynasty) is called: An urabu-bird, the nungig of the nigingar; Arrayed in battle, beautiful, who handles the utg-weapon; Who washes the tools in the blood of battle (m); She opens the door of battle (m) 391
Again, as in the case of the Hammurabi inscriptions, Itar is said to open warfare. Itar in that work was connected with Ki and designated as b!let qabli u t"h"zi. Finally, the Temple Hymn to Ulma also records Itar as an arabu-bird which is exactly the type of bird Itar is said not to be in the Sumerian work Enki and the World Order. Finally, in a bi-lingual letter to Zimri-L"m, Itar is referred to not merely as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi, but also as the aaredat qabli u t"h"zi Pre-eminent One in Combat and Battle. 392 In this letter, Itar is preceded by ama and Adad. Adad is referred to as the qur"dum rabm Great Warrior.
390 ETCSL 2.1.5: 77-82. 391 Temple Hymn to Ulma 13-16, edited in ke W. Sjberg, et al., The Collection of the Sumerian Temple Hymns (Locust Valley: J. J. Augustin, 1969). 392 A, 1258 + S.160 SN line 17 in Dominique Charpin, Les malheurs d'un scribe ou de l'inutilit du sumrien loin de Nippur, in Nippur at the Centennial, 7-27. 240 Late Old Babylonian-early Neo-Assyrian Texts There are only two late OB texts which connect Itar to t"h"zu (m) and qablu (en. en): a Kassite inscription and the poem in. nin. ag 4 gur 4 . ra. Though not designated by either version of her standard martial title in the Sumerian poem in. nin. ag 4 gur 4 . ra, Itar is connected to battle (m) and combat (en. en) within the text. Similar to her representation in the poem in. nin. me. hu. a, the goddess is depicted as enthusiastically engaging in warfare: She (Itar) stirs confusion and chaos against those who are disobedient to her, speeding carnage and inciting the devastating flood, clothed in terrifying radiance. It is her game to speed conflict (en. en) and battle (m), untiring, strapping on her sandals. 393
The poem itself is the premier literary work which demonstrates the connections between conflict, strife, misery, confusion, and Itar. Though attributed to Enheduanna, it was likely created in the OB period, and seems to have been eventually cataloged with two of the other great poems which honor the goddess: nin. me. r. ra and in. nin. me. hu. a. 394 This text is seen as having been so influential that it has even been argued to be the template for the martial lexical list Erimhu, which has attestations at Bogazky and Aur. 395 In in. nin. ag 4 . gur 4 . ra, Itar is praised for her authority and
393 ETCSL 1.3.2: 18-28. In his excellent treatment of the complicated text, Sjberg chooses to not translate the verbs denoting the action, instead rendering: 18 She confusion and rebellion against those who are disobedient to her, 19 She battle, she lets a devastating flood come fast, she is clothed in awe-inspiring radiance, 20 Her(!?) joy (is) the fight, to battle, untiring, strapping on her sandals (in-nin -gur 4 -ra: A Hymn to the Goddess Inanna by the en-Priestess Enheduanna, ZA 65 [1976]: 161253) hereafter, IG. 394 The three poems lead the OB catalog at Andrews University: AUAM 73.2402 1 [i n- ni n] ag 4 gur 4
ra 2 [i n- ni n] me hu. a 3 ni n me ar 2 - ra. On the dating of Sumerian texts see William Hallo, On the Antiquity of Sumerian Literature, JAOS 83 (1963): 167- 76. 395 Piotr Michalowski, Literature as a Source of Lexical Inspiration: Some Notes on a Hymn to the 241 supremacy in warfare and, as noted by ke Sjberg, for her power over seemingly every aspect of society. The poem also attributes new martial characteristics to Itar, such as a speeder of battle. This characteristic will be discussed more fully in Appendix C. Of further significance, it is only in in. nin. ag 4. gur 4 . ra that the martial word- pair battle (m) and combat (en. en) are reversed. In each of the examples presented in this discussion, battle (m) has consistently preceded (en. en). This is even the case in the Rim-Sn inscription. Itar, Sovereign of my Battle, is listed prior to the Sovereign of Combat. This is not the case for An = Anum. 19 d nin. ni. n. a ar-rat ni. nu. a 20 d nin. ki. ku. lu. b. gar be-lit um-ma-nim 21 d nin. en. en. na MIN (= be-lit) qab-[li] 22 d nin.KA ! xZAB.a MIN ta-ha-[zi] 396
21 d nin. in. te. na MIN qur-di 397
This new word order seems to become the norm. For, in post-OB attestations of the combined martial title of Itar, the word-pair is ordered qabli u t"h"zi, as in the poem in. nin. ag 4 . gur 4 . ra and in the god-list An = Anum. An attestation of this new word-pair order is present in an inscription of the Kassite king, Kurigalzu, son of Kadaman-Harbe (c. 1500). 398 In this inscription, the
Goddess Inana," in Written on Clay and Stone; Ancient Near Eastern Studies Presented to Krystyna Szarzyska, eds. Jan Braun, et al. (Warsaw: Agade, 1998), 65-74. 396 The text reads 22 d ni n. KAx x. a. Litke argues that the sign x resembles an inserted ZAB, thus he believes the scribe meant AGxZAB = M not KA ! xZAB (p. 150 n 22). 397 Litke, 150. 398 For a discussion concerning the authenticity of this inscription, see Tremper Longman, Fictional Akkadian Autobiography: A Generic and Comparative Study (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1991), 90-91. 242 Kassite king praises Itar of Uruk, together with An, and says that he granted many lands to: Itar ( d I-tar) b!lti (GAAN) urb$ti "likat id#ya muallimat umm"n#ya r!ti ni#ya s"kipat lemm#ya 399
Itar, the Greatest Sovereign, who travels at my side, who keeps my army safe, who shepherds my people, who defeats my enemies
At the end of the inscription, in its maledictory section, the king implores only Itar: Itar b!ltu (GAAN) urb$tu ina qabli (MURUB 4 ) u t"h"zi (M) ina id"u (-) ayya-illik (DU-ik) abikti taht (I.I) umm"n#u likun puhuru liparrir 400
May Itar, the Greatest Sovereign, not travel at his side in combat and battle; may she establish a severe defeat of his troops; may she scatter his company.
Itar, now titled the Greatest Sovereign, continues to be a helper-goddess to the king in warfare. She is said to travel at his side, to keep his army safe, and to cause the defeat of an enemys army through disorder. This Kassite example is of particular import for two reasons. The first significance is, as previously stated, the preceding of t"h"zu by qablu; the second is the representation of qablu, not by the logogram EN.EN, but by MURUB 4 . This difference in representation seems to have been adopted by the scribes of the Assyrian ruler, Tukult"-Ninurta I. It is not until well after the reign of am"-Adad I that the standard martial epithet of Itar, b!let t"h"zi (b!let qabli u t"h"zi), reappears in EARI. After a period of approximately five hundred years, the title is attested in the standard royal inscription of the MA ruler, Tukult"-Ninurta I. The title appears in the maledictory section of the inscription:
399 CT 36 6 col. i 22, edited in Arthur Ungnad, Schenkungsurkunde des Kurigalzu mr Kadaman- Harbe,AfO 1 (1923): 19-22 400 CT 36 7 col. ii 26-30. 243 Itar [INANA] b!lat [NIN-la-at] qabli [MURUB 4 ] u t"h"zi [n"]bt palya (B[AL]A.ME-ia) lu$mi zikr$ssu sinnis"ni mut$ssu ana rihti likun abikti m"t#u likunu ina p"ni nakir#u ay-izziz x xx [...] lin!r qur"d#u [lu-ub]-bu ana q"t (U) n"kr#u (KR.ME-u) lumell#u 401
[Itar], Sovereign of Combat and Battle, [the one who] called my pal: may she transform his masculinity in the same manner as a sinnis"nu; may she cause his potency to pour-out; may she establish a defeat of his land; may he not stand before his enemy; may she ... slay ....his soldiers; (and) may she place him into the hand of his enemies.
As can be observed, the title is ordered as in the Kurigalzu text, with qablu preceding t"h"zu. Also similar is that qablu is represented not by the logogram EN.EN, as in the earlier texts, but by MURUB 4 . Dissimilar is that t"h"zi is written syllabically, as in previous Akkadian texts of northern origin (i.e., the Iddin-Sn inscription), and not represented by the logogram M, as in the Kurigalzu text. The appearance of the title in the Tukult"-Ninurta text is unexpected. Also peculiar are the actions Itar is entreated to implement in the maledictory section. In both the am"-Adad inscription and epilogue to the Code of Hammurabi, Itar is requested to break the weapons of a disloyal ruler. Here she is not entreated to do this. Nor is she requested to bring about chaos, deny mercy, or drench the land with soldiers blood, as in the Code of Hammurabi. Instead, here, Itar, as b!let qabli u t"h"zi, is merely implored to bring about the defeat of a disloyal kings land. This is a curse found in the Kurigalzu text; however, it should be noted that this curse is also typical of those found in the inscriptions of his direct ancestors, Adad-n!r!r" I and almaneser I. There is a gap of several centuries before the epithet b!let qabli u t"h"zi is once again attested in EARI. This time it occurs in the standard inscription of the early NA king, Adad-n!r!r" II. Referred to as b!let am u er!eti in the invocation section of this
401 RIM A.0.78.1 col. vi 9-22. 244 king, in the action section, Itar is designated the b!let qabli u t"h"zi. As with the Tukult"-Ninurta inscription, in all exemplars of the inscription, qablu is designated by the logogram MURUB 4 . The term t"h"zu, however, is indicated by the logogram M, as in texts of southern origin. In the Adad-n!r!r" II inscription, Itar, as b!let qabli u t"h"zi, is also attributed a role similar to that in the ulgi texts. Following her title, the inscription records that she is the one who "likat pan"t umm"n"t#ya rap"tu travels before his (the kings) vast army. 402 In this instance, the campaign is against the Hurrian region of Hanigalbat. While in the Adad-n!r!r" II inscription Itar is referred to as b!let qabli u t"h"zi, in the standard inscription of Tukult"-Ninurta I Itar is designated by her supreme title, b!let am u er!eti. She is referred to as the b!let am u er!eti when she is said to lead that kings army against Babylon. The difference in designations may reflect Itars role as a southern deity as opposed to a northern deity. As will be explored more fully in a succeeding section concerning Itars title, b!let am u er!eti, the scribes of Tukult"- Ninurta may have employed this title for the goddess because they were following a southern Kassite tradition. The scribes of Adad-n!r!r" II may have been following a tradition in which the b!let qabli u t"h"zi leads warfare in the northern regions. In fact, it is likely that the title b!let qabli u t"h"zi reflects an Itar established in the northern city of Kalhu (and likely Arb#la), for it is only in inscriptions discovered at Kalhu that Itar is designated by this title. The standard martial epithet of Itar, b!let qabli u t"h"zi, is not attested in the inscriptions of the son of Adad-n!r!r" II, Tukult"-Ninurta II; however, it is attested in
402 RIM A.0.99.2: 97. 245 multiple inscriptions of Aurnasirpal II, grandson of Adad-n!r!r" II. 403 Like the Tukult"- Ninurta I inscriptions, in each of these instances, the epithet is located in the maledictory section. Furthermore, in each example Itar is entreated to perform a different action. In one of the inscriptions (thought to come from Kalhu), she is merely requested to listen to a future kings ikribu, 404 while in a second, from a town near Kalhu, she is implored to break the weapons of a disloyal king and remove his throne. 405 The first example is notable because it is similar to yet another inscription of Aurnasirpal which was found at Nineveh. In this example, the king declares that Itar, designated this time as the b!let Ninua, will listen to a future kings ikribu and grant him success in all of his battles against other kings; thus, she is not the b!let qabli u t"h"zi in the Nineveh inscription. Finally, though Itar is not titled b!let qabli u t"h"zi in the action section of two versions of the standard inscription of Aurnasirpal II, 406 both of which were discovered at Kalhu, the ruler does declare: ina bibl"t libb#ya (-ia) u tiri! q"t#ya (U-ia) Itar ( d INANA) b!ltu (GAAN) r"imat (GA) angt#ya (SANGA-ti-ia) lu tamgurannimma ep! qabli (MURUB 4 ) u t"h"zi (M) libbaa (-a) ublama
Because of my heartfelt offerings and my prayers, Itar, the sovereign who loves my priesthood, accepted me and decided to make combat and battle. 407
In these inscriptions, qabli and t"h"zi do not form part of an epithet, but, once again, Itar is specifically associated with the pair of martial terms qablu and t"h"zu. She is also presented as she was in the earliest Sumerian inscriptions: as a helper to the king.
403 RIM A.0.101.26; A.0.101.28; A.0.101.29; A.0.101.32; and A.0.101.50. 404 RIM A.0.101.26 and A.0.101.29, though this last inscription is too broken to make out the curse. 405 RIM A.0.101.50. 406 RIM A.0.101.1 and A.0.101.17. 407 RIM A.0.101.1: 37b-38b, and A.0.101.1: 17 col. i 46b-49a. 246 Because of her love for him (due to his piety), she makes (ep!u) qabli u t"h"zi, as in the much earlier inscription of $-Sn. There are several attestations for the standard martial epithet of Itar in EARI in the inscriptions of almaneser III. It is attested in an invocation section repeated on several inscriptions of almaneser III. 408 The inscriptions themselves date to various periods, and were written objects located in northeastern Assyrian territory (i.e., Kalhu, Nineveh, and Kurkh). In the invocation, the title b!let qabli u t"h"zi is accompanied by the additional martial epithet, a m!lultaa tuqumtu the one whose game is fighting. This additional epithet will be more fully discussed in the following section; however, it should be noted here that it represents the tradition in which warfare is not merely the realm over which Itar presides, but that it is considered a form of play for the goddess. Itar is also designated as the b!let qabli u t"h"zi in two further inscriptions of this king. 409 One of these inscriptions contains a version of almaneser IIIs Annals, which can be dated to the year 843. 410 This edition of the Annals has multiple exemplars, several of which were discovered at Aur, while a single exemplar was found at Kalhu. As in the case of the shared invocation section of the inscriptions just discussed, Itar is designated in this inscription as not only b!let qabli u t"h"zi, but also, a m!lultaa tuqumtu the one whose game is fighting. Finally, there are two further inscriptions which contain the title. In one, it is unclear whether a m!lultaa tuqumtu accompanies it. The inscription is located on a stone statue found at Nineveh and contains a dedicatory inscription to Itar. The beginning of the text seems to have contained several epithets for
408 RIM A.0.102.2, A.0.102.3, A.0.102.4, A.0.102.38. 409 RIM A.0.102.6, and A.0.102.38. 410 RIMA III, 32. 247 the goddess, but unfortunately, it is very broken. On the second, the designation is located in the invocation of one version of the Annals of almaneser III. In this inscription, it is Ninurta who is deemed as the b!l (EN) qabli (MURUB 4 ) u t"h"zi (M). 411
411 RIM A.0.102.10. 248
Appendix B B!let am u er!eti Sovereign of Heaven and the Earth
Tukult!-Ninurta I A.0.78.5 d i 8 -tr NIN-at AN-[e] KI-ti A.0.78.23 d INANA NIN AN KI Though only attested twice in EARI, in the inscriptions of a single king, the divine designation Sovereign of Heaven and the Earth has a rich history in southern Mesopotamia. Its appearance in the two inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta I, one from Aur and one from K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta, speaks not only to the rulers ready adoption of that tradition, but also to its endurance. Like Itars standard martial title Sovereign of Combat and Battle, the title Sovereign of Heaven and the Earth is a simple genitival chain comprised of the bound form of the governing noun b!ltu (b!let) followed by the governed terms am and er!etu in the genitive (am and er!eti). As can be seen, in each attestation in EARI the terms b!ltu, am, and er!etu are expressed logographically by NIN, AN, and KI, respectively; however, it is only in the K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta inscription that phonetic complements are given (-at with NIN, -e with AN, and ti with KI). A further orthographic distinction between the attestations is the writing of the name of the goddess. In the inscription from Aur, her name is spelled: d i 8 -tr, while in the K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta inscription it is expressed logographically as d M ( d INANA). Unlike Itars standard martial title, in which b!ltu governed two similar nouns, in this instance b!ltu governs two opposing nouns: am and er!etu. The Akkadian term am meaning sky or heaven is, as noted by Wayne Horowitz, unlike its Sumerian 249 counterpart an. While an is a singular noun, am is plural. 412 According to Horowitz, behind this plurality lies a Semitic tradition in which the sky was perceived as having multiple levels: lower, middle, and upper. Contrary to am the term er!etu is singular; however, it too represents multiple levels: earth, netherworld, and land. 413 The term er!etu has no exact Sumerian equivalent; er!etu may denote the ground upon which people walk, or signify the ground underneath. In Sumerian, these planes are identified separately as ki and kur and are not interchangeable. 414 Because the title Sovereign of Heaven and the Earth is attested in both Akkadian and Sumerian texts, these nuances must be acknowledged. If translated literally, the designation for Itar in the inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta (b!let am u er!eti) may mean Sovereign of Heaven and Earth (excluding the Netherworld) or Sovereign of Heaven and Earth (including the Netherworld). It may also, as will be borne out through the following discussion, be translated Sovereign of the Space in between these Regions. Itar is first designated Sovereign of Heaven and Earth in two Sumerian hymns attributed to the poet Enheduanna: in. nin. ag 4 . gur 4 . ra, and the Sumerian Temple Hymn to Uruk. 415 The designation of Itar as the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth is striking. Though multiple cuneiform texts refer to Itar as the Sovereign of Heaven, particularly in her manifestation as Ninsiana, there is far less evidence which suggests
412 Wayne Horowitz, Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1998), 223-24. 413 CAD E, 308. 414 Horowitz, Geography, 272. 415 IG 179 n . gal . gal . zu a. ba sag mu. un. g. g za. e ni n. an. ki . me. en Who can oppose your great deeds? You are the Lady of heaven and earth! and Sumerian Temple Hymn to Uruk 207 un. gal . an. ki d i nanna. ke 4 (Emesal un. gal . an. ki = ni n. an. ki ) The Great Queen of Heaven and Earth, Inanna, edited in Sjberg, Sumerian Temple Hymns, 29. 250 she was ever titled Sovereign of the Earth. According to William Hallo and J. J. A. van Dijk, the title reflects Itars elevation in the pantheon during the Sargonic period. Hallo and van Dijk contend that, since Itar was the patron goddess of the Sargonic kings, the power to bestow kingship over Sumer and Akkade passed to Akkadian Itar just before they conquered the region, i.e., they would not have been able to rise to power had Itar not had this status. 416 In order to legitimate this claim to the throne, the scholars contend that the Sargonic poet Enheduanna conflated Akkadian Itar with Sumerian Inana. In order to demonstrate the goddess elevation further, the scholars argue that Earth was added to the title Sovereign of Heaven. This new designation was an attempt to conflate the goddess with Antu (Earth), the wife of the god An (Heaven). 417 According to this theory, originally Itar (Inana) had been merely a junior queen (nu. gig) at Uruk. This new title reflects her elevation to senior queen by virtue of being equated with Antu, the wife of An (the highest deity in the Uruk pantheon); 418 thus, the new title Sovereign of Heaven and Earth draws together two characteristics: Inanas original celestial nature
416 Hallo and van Dijk, Exaltation, 4. 417 Ibid., 86-87, and Sjberg, Sumerian Temple Hymns, 9. 418 In Sumerian Temple Hymns, ke Sjberg also chronicles Inanas possible prior husbands in an attempt to ascertain the origin of a tradition of a marriage between An and Inana (Ibid.). Prior to Hallo and Sjberg, it was Adam Falkenstein who first suggested that what lay behind Inanas title as Sovereign of Heaven and Earth was an effort to equate her with Antu (Sumerische religise Texte, ZA 52 (1957): 56-75). In the main, conflation has been accepted; thus, most scholars agree that from this point on, the traits of both deities were merged and no reference to Inana or Itar can be understood separate from the other. This conclusion, that at least by the Sargonic period, the deities were fused, finds validation in the texts themselves. It is possible to find in a single text (which dates to the Sargonic period) the name of this new compound deity Inana-Itar written syllabically (Akkadian), and signified by the Sumerian logogram d i nana (M). This logogram would normally have been used to indicate the Sumerian deity only. For more on the title nu. gi g used in reference to Inana cf. Annette Zgoll, Inana als nugig, ZA 87 (1997): 181-95. 251 and Antus terrestrial nature. The difficulty with this theory is that the title Sovereign of Heaven and Earth is used to refer to several male gods, none of whom were ever thought to have been married to either An or Antu. A further complication to this theory is that the title is attested before the reign of the Sargonic period. Instead of translating each segment of the title separately, Samuel N. Kramer saw the designation as indicative of a merismus; thus, he translated it as Queen of the Universe. 419 As Nathan Wasserman notes in his work on OB literary texts, heaven and Earth are not merely opposites, but, when written as a pair, they represent a merismus; when juxtaposed, heaven and Earth do not represent either heaven or Earth. 420 Instead, Wasserman contends, it is the space between Heaven and Earth that is intended by pairing the two poles. 421 In essence, then, the title Sovereign of Heaven and the Netherworld would represent the ultimate rule of the area in between the two regions; therefore the title likely does not conceal a tradition of two separate deities with two separate titles,
one belonging to a deity of Heaven, and one to a deity of the Earth. This possibility is corroborated by a Sumerian inscription of the last ruler of Larsa, Rim-Sn. In the introduction of this inscription, Itar is addressed as the Sovereign of Everything
419 Samuel N. Kramer, The Sumerian Sacred Marriage Texts, 502. 420 Nathan Wasserman, Style and Form in Old-Babylonian Literary Texts (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 62. 421 Wasserman defines a merismus as: a widespread stylistic device, whereby a conceptual totality is expressed, concretum pro abstracto, by the use of two antipodal terms. These extremes encompass and define a conceptual totality (Ibid., 61). Wasserman further explains that merismatic pairs which designate space are expressed either on a vertical or on a horizontal axis, concluding that the space within the vertical axis is generally conveyed by heaven-earth, while the horizontal is usually denoted by east-west (Ibid., 73). 252 (nin. g. sag), a title which is paralleled in the conclusion by the designation Sovereign of Heaven and Earth (nin. an. ki). 422
Earliest Attestations The title Sovereign of Heaven and Earth is attested in royal inscriptions as early as the ED period, and continues to be found in texts through to the NB period. Among the gods who are designated by this title are Ninlil, Enlil, Nanna, Itar, ama, and in the later periods, Marduk, and Nab. The title was not consistently held by any single god and seems to have been transferred between gods; thus, it is possible that the title was originally a political one. A survey of the various attestations of the title demonstrates a correlation between the god to whom a king attributed his kingship, and the likelihood of that same god being designated Sovereign of Heaven and Earth in texts attributed to that king. In texts which date to the earliest periods in the written record, two royal titles which designate territorial rule are attested. 423 In texts from Uruk which date to the archaic period, the title which designated rule over the territory of Uruk was en (en. ki . en. gi or en. uruk). In texts from Ur, which date to the slightly later Fara period, the title which designated rule over the territory of Ur was lugal (lugal. kal am. ma later, lugal . uri m). 424 Each title designated rule not merely over the city, but over the entire territory governed by the city. It is conventionally accepted that, though no particular god is said to grant kingship in the Sumerian King List, the god Enlil was, in
422 RIM E4.2.14.2. 423 Hallo, Titles, 3-8. 424 Ibid. 253 fact, the deity who was thought to do so. According to Westenholz, this long-held belief is not entirely accurate. The bestowing of kingship, according to Westenholz, was also, originally, one of the central functions of Itar. 425
Westenholz demonstrates that both Enlil and Itar granted kingship in Sumer by citing two, almost identical, dedicatory inscriptions, which were ascribed to the ED king of Uruk, Lugal-kigine-dudu (c. 2400): For An, king of all the lands, and Inana, queen of Eana, Lugalakiginedudu, king of Ki when Inana combined lordship with kingship for Lugalakiginedudu, he exercised lordship in Uruk and kingship in Ur. When Inan[a specially summoned] Lugalak[igi]nedu[du], [then ? Lugalakiginedud]u dedicated this for his l[i]fe to Inana, his mistress. 426
And:
For Enlil, king of all the lands when Enlil specially summoned? him, and combined lordship with kingship for him, he (Lugalakiginedudu) exercised lordship in Uruk and kingship in Ur. Lugalakiginedudu, in his great joy, dedicated this for his life to Inana, his beloved master. 427
Each of these of these almost indistinguishable texts explains that either Inana or Enlil is responsible for the rule of Lugal-kigine-dudu. In yet another royal inscription, this one ascribed to a contemporary king, E-anatum of Laga, only Itar gives kingship: Eanatum, who is commissioned by Ningirsu to Eanantum, ruler of Laga, Inana, because she loved him so, gave him the kingship of Ki (e.g., hegemony over Sumer). 428
It is also in the inscriptions of two of these kings, Lugal-kigine-dudu of Uruk and Eanantum of Laga, that the divine title Sovereign of Heaven and Earth is first
425 See Westenholz, Empowerment. 426 SARI Uk 1.2. 427 SARI Uk 1.1. 428 SARI La 3.5. 254 attested. 429
In a fragmentary dedicatory inscription of Lugal-kigine-dudu of Uruk, the god Enlil is designated as ar am u er!eti; 430 and, in a dedicatory inscription of the slightly later king of Uruk, Urzage, Ninlil, the spouse of Enlil, is referred to as Sovereign of Heaven and Earth (nin an. ki. ra). 431 In this same inscription, Enlil is only referred to as the ar m"t"ti (lugal kur. [kur]. ra), the Sovereign of the Lands. The title also appears on the Stele of the Vultures. This famous Sumerian inscription, likely commissioned by En-anatum of Laga, records the first military defeat of Umma by E- anatum, his father. In the text, which records a boundary dispute between Umma and Laga, it is Enlil who is credited with assigning victory and who is repeatedly referred to as Sovereign of Heaven and Earth (lugal. an. ki . ka). 432 This god is also the lead deity in the maledictory section, indicating his primacy. Itar plays a key role in the inscription as well, but she is titled the spouse of E-anatum and is said to be the god of whom the king must be worthy (for it is Itar who chooses to put the king in the lap of Ninhursag). The practice of crediting either Enlil or Itar with the ability to bestow kingship continued into the Sargonic period; however, it was also during this period that Enlil came to be the primary deity of the pantheon. By the Ur III period, the cult of Enlil at Nippur rose in importance such that Nippurian theology began to permeate all
429 This transfer of the bestowing of kingship is also traditional to the two gods of Laga. In an inscription of Entemena (SARI La 5.23), Nanshe is credited as the one who gave kingship of Laga to Enmetena, while in a inscription of the later king Uruinimgina, it is Ningirsu who is said to have granted the kingship of Laga. 430 SARI Uk 1.4 (this is a rather broken inscription). 431 CBS 09594 and CBS 09622. Cf. SARI Uk. 1 and Uk. 3., and RIM E1.14.16.01, ex. 2. One wonders if the same situation between Ninlil and Enlil is occurring as with Nane and Ningirsu. 432 EAN 1 and FAOS 05/11. 255 Mesopotamian religion. The result of this was that all divine power came to be routed through Enlil. Not unlike the rerouting of Athenas power through Zeus, Inanas power over kingship was sublimated through Enlil, as can be seen in such statements as [Enlil] who gave her the power to give kingship. 433 Following Jacobsens model, it was during this time that the pantheon of gods was conceived as sitting in the council of Enlil. This divine pantheon would then select one of their own to be the head and to be granted Enlil-ship (illil$tu), the divine counterpart to mortal kingship. This head god then chooses a mortal worthy to be her/his ensi governor. 434
In a tigi to Enlil ascribed to the Ur III king Ur-Nammu, Ur-Nammu B, Ur-Nammu explains that Enlil chose him to build the Ekur into a lofty temple. In the tigi, Enlil, designated as Nunamnir the Shining One, is also designated as the Sovereign of Heaven and the Earth (an. ki. lugal. [bi ]). 435 Enlils characterization in the lament is as the one whose commands cannot be altered and as the ruler of everything. It is also in this text that Enlil proclaims Ur-Nammus kingship. Interestingly, in a text ascribed to the son of Ur-Nammu, ulgi, ulgi A, Nanna, the patron god of the Ur III dynasty, is
433 Westenholz, Empowerment, 79-80. 434 Jacobsen, Early Political Development in Mesopotamia, ZA 52 (1957): 91-140; see also, Jacobsen, Mesopotamia: The Cosmos as a State; The function of the State; The Good Life, in The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man: An Essay on Speculative Thought in the Ancient Near East, eds. Henri Frankfort et al. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977), 125-219. For an analysis of pre-Sargonic attestations for Enlil see Gebhard Selz, Enlil und Nippur nach prsargonischen Quellen, in Nippur at the Centennial: Papers Read at the 35e Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Philadelphia, ed. Maria deJong Ellis (Philadelphia: The University Museum, 1992), 189-225. 435 ETCSL 2.4.1.3: 3. See also, Jacob Klein, Building and Dedication Hymns in Sumerian Literature ASJ 11 (1989): 27-67 and G. Castellino, Urnammu. Three Religious Texts (continued), ZA 53 (1959): 106-32. 256 referred to by the title Sovereign of Heaven and Earth ( d nanna. lugal. an. ki. ke 4 ). 436
The title is also used to designate Nanna in a somewhat fragmentary adab to the god credited to $-Sn ( d /nanna ? \ /en ? \gal.an.ki.a.ka). 437 Finally, in Ibbi-Suen C, another adab to Nanna, this time credited to Ibbi-Suen, the final king of the Ur III dynasty, the god is once again designated by the title Sovereign of Heaven and Earth (an. ki. <a> lugal. bi ). 438 In both adabs, it is Nanna, not Enlil, who elevates the kings to rulers over the land. In his treatment of this hymn, Mark Hall considers this phenomenon: The notion in this context is that Ibbisuen is elevated by the moon-god to be the foremost among all princes of the world, just as Enlil has elevated Nanna/Suen to be the foremost prince among the gods. 439
This tradition of referring to Nanna as the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth does not seem to have been continued by the kings of the Isin dynasty, for it is not attested in their inscriptions. Rather, since these kings credited their kingship to Itar, it follows that, in their inscriptions, she receives the designation Sovereign of Heaven and Earth. Itar is referred to only as the Sovereign of Heaven in an inscription of the Isin king, Iddin-Dag!n; however, in texts ascribed to his son, Ime-Dag!n, the goddess is designated as the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth in two texts: a royal poem, Ime- Dag"n A +V, and a Hymn to Itar. Each work bears a great resemblance to the much earlier Lugal-kigine-dudu royal inscription for, in each, Itar is said to have combined the priestly office of en with the office of lugal on Ime-Dag!ns behalf. In Ime-Dag"n A
436 ETCSL 2.4.2.01: 86c. 437 TuM NF IV, 12: 20, edited in Mark G. Hall, A Study of the Sumerian Moon-God, Nanna/Suen, (Ph.D. diss., Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1985), 788-99. 438 CBS 8526, edited in Hall, Nanna/Suen, 454-58. 439 Hall, Nanna/Suen, 458. 257 +V, the king declares: Inana, the lady of Heaven and Earth ( d inana nin. an. ki. ke 4 ), chose me as her beloved spouse. She put attractiveness in my waist-belt (?), looking at me with her life-giving look, as she lifted her radiant forehead to me, to make me step onto the flowery bed. She has uttered her unalterable holy word for me to spend long, long days in the &ipar, combining the priestly office of en with the kingship and caring unceasingly for E-ana, and for my neck to become thick like a wild bull's in Unug as my splendour covers Kulaba. 440
And, in the Hymn to Itar ascribed to the same king, it is said: Then she made Ime-Dag!n, the son of Enlil, the en priest of Unug, into their guardian -- this is what Inana, the lady of Heaven and Earth ( d inana nin. an. ki. /ke 4 \), did; and the great An declared his consent. 441
It must also be noted that in the Hymn to Itar, unlike in the Lugal-kigine-dudu inscription, the consent of An (and possibly of Enlil) regarding Itars decision to bestow kingship is declared. In fact, in this hymn, Enlil is also referred to as the Sovereign of Heaven and the Earth. This sublimation of Itars power through Enlil is also present in a Balbale to the goddess. In this Balbale the goddess declares: Mullil (Enlil) hat mir den Himmel gegeben <hat mir> der Erde <gegeben>, ich <die Himmelsherrin bin ich>. Der Herrenschaft hat er mir gegeben, die Herrinnenschaft hat er mir gegeben, den Kampf hat er mir gegeben, die [Schla]cht (?) <hat er> mir <gegeben>. 442
440 ETCSL 2.5.4.01: 100-111. See also, Douglas R. Frayne, New Light on the Reign of Ime-Dag!n, ZA 88 (1998): 6-44. 441 ETCSL 2.5.4.a: Segment C 10-13. See also, ke W. Sjberg, Sumerian Texts and Fragments in the University of Pennsylvania Museum Related to Rulers of Isin, in Dubsar anta-men: Studien zur Altorientalistik: Festschrift fr Willem H. Ph. Rmer zur Vollendung seines 70 Lebensjahres mit Beitrgen von Freunden, Schlern und Kollegen, eds. Manfried Dietrich and Oswald Loretz (Mnster: Ugarit-Verlag, 1998), 345-78. 442 Selbstlob lines 11-15. 258 In this lament, which was discussed in the previous chapter regarding Itars standard martial title, b!let qabli u t"h"zi, Itar states that Enlil gave her Heaven and Earth and the ability to bestow kingship. Curiously, a somewhat opposing view is present in an adab to Inana attributed to Ur-Ninurta, the sixth king of Isin. In an adab credited to Ur-Ninurta, Ur-Ninurta D, not only is Itar designated as the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth, but she is also said to have power and wisdom equivalent to the highest gods, An and Enlil. As in the Balbale, she is said to have acquired kingship, only this time she has done it on her own: Your ideas are as profound as the abzu; no one is known to have perceived them. Your actions are very great, and there is no god to rival you. You fetched your divine powers on a favourable day, and none of them escaped you. You have secured the kingship, and nothing escapes from your hand. You have equal rank with An the king, and you decide destinies with him. Your utterances are as well- established as those of Enlil. Grandiloquent Inana, you have no rival in Heaven or on Earth. 443
The king continues:
Inana, lady of Heaven and of the broad Earth ( d inana nin. an. ki. dajal. la), powerful, who radiates , who shines by night, who goes forth from, who is diffused wide over Heaven and Earth may you make eminent... 444
In this text, Itar no longer needs the consent of An and Enlil; her decisions are, once again, her own. In the hymns of the Isin kings, they frequently equate themselves with Dumuzi (e.g., when they referring to themselves as the chosen spouse of Itar). Though allegedly referring to events which took place during the ED era, the extant versions of Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta date to the OB period. If this legend was popular during the reign
443 ETCSL 2.5.6.4: 6-12. See also, Adam Falkenstein, Sumerische religise Texte, ZA 52 (1957): 56-75. 444 ETCSL 2.5.6.4: 25-29. 259 of the Isin kings, then it is no surprise to find Itar declaring: I, whom the great neck-stock of Heaven, the Queen of Heaven and Earth (nin. an. ki . ke 4 ), the goddess of the myriad powers, Holy Inana, Enmerkar and the lord of Aratta. 445
In addition to being designated the Sovereign of Heaven and the Earth in the legend, Itar plays a pivotal role in the attainment of kingship for the legendary king, Lugalbanda. This title is also used to designate Itar in two additional literary texts which may be dated to the Isin period: the Lament for Eridu and the Dumuzi tale DI D 1 . As is typical of the lament genre, in the Lament for Eridu various gods were chronicled as having destroyed their patron cities. After Enlil, Aruru, and Nanna were said to have destroyed their cities, Itar is reported to have destroyed her city of Uruk. She is designated as the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth (gaan. an. ki . ke 4 ). 446 Unlike in the lament, DI D 1
tells the happy tale of Dumuzi as he goes to the couch of Itar. The story highlights Itars ability to grant Dumuzi a long and successful reign. In the text, Itar is declared Queen of Heaven and Earth (nin. an. ki) and Queen of the Extent of Heaven and Earth (nin. an. ki. . a). 447
It is unclear what brought about the defeat of the Isin kings by the southern Amorite dynasty at Larsa; however, during the transition of rule from the Isin to Larsa a
445 ELA 221-2.
446 Eridu Lament 21, edited in Margaret W. Green, The Eridu Lament, JCS 30 (1978): 127-167. In her treatment of the text, Green considered two possible dates for the text: either the reign of Ime-Dag!n of Isin or that of the Larsa king, Nur-Adad (128). 447 DI D 1 col. iii: 63 edited in Yitzhak Sefati, Love Songs in Sumerian Literature: Critical Edition of the Dumuzi-Inanna Songs (Ramat Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 1998). Only a single copy of this text is preserved (BM 15280). Kramer sees a connection between this tale and the Sacred Marriage hymn of Iddin-Dagan (Kramer, Sacred Marriage, 502). 260 usurper king named Enlil-b!ni (1860-1837) was allowed to assume the throne at Isin. 448
Though Itar figures prominently in many of the inscriptions of Enlil-b!ni, in a hymn attributed to this king, Enlil-b"ni A, the god Utu is designated as the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth and is said to grant the king his rule: In the E-ana, Inana has fixed a rejoicing heart to be your lot and has you brought grandly into her holy bedchamber to spend the night there. The mother of the Land, Ninisina, has caused you to lay the foundations with your hands in Isin. Utu, the judge, the king of Heaven and Earth (lugal . an. ki. ke), has confirmed for you in your hands the sceptre which brings the black-headed to justice. 449
It is interesting that in this hymn Enlil-b!ni credits ama with his rule and that he designates him as the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth, for this is exactly the tradition carried on by Larsa kings. According to Kuhrt: Utu (Sumerian sun-god, patron-deity of Larsa) chose a human helper to put matters right and appointed Nur-Adad, Sn-iddinams father (c. 1865), who he taught how to restore order in the kingdom of Larsa. 450
With the dawn of a new regime, that of the Larsa kings, Utu continues to be titled Sovereign of Heaven and Earth (ar am u er!eti). In his inscriptions, Sn-iddinam (c. 1842) designates ama as arid am u er!eti Preeminent One of Heaven and the Earth and in the inscriptions of the slightly later Larsa king, Kudur-Marduk (c.1835), ama is also designated as the Sovereign of Heaven and the Earth (b!l am u er!etim); 451 thus, even though this dynasty ruled various cities, it is ama who is
448 Kuhrt, The Ancient Near East, 78. 449 ETCSL 2.5.8.1: 151-168. See also the edition in Alex Kapp, Ein Lied auf Enlilbani von Isin, ZA 51 (1955): 76-87. 450 Kuhrt, The Ancient Near East, 80. 451 RIM E4.2.13a.2; This may also be the earliest Akkadian attestation of the title. 261 designated as the Sovereign of Heaven and the Earth. Curiously though, in a letter from a petitioner to the son of Kudur-Marduk, Warad-Sn (1834-1823),
Nanna is referred to as the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth (en. an. ki ). 452 This king also revises a blessing not attested in inscriptions since those from the Sargonic period discovered at Marihe wishes Nanna, at Ur, to grant him a firm foundation for his throne. It is possible that this inconsistency stems from a desire to return to the older traditions of kingship ceremonies. In texts ascribed to another son of Kudur-Marduk, Rim-Sn, each of the three gods who have previously held the title, Itar, Enlil, and Nanna, are designated by it. Rim-Sn expanded the rulership of the Larsa dynasty, ruling Nippur and eventually taking even Isin and Uruk. 453 In an early inscription of this king (discussed above), Itar is addressed as both the Sovereign of Everything (nin. g. sag) and as the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth (nin. an. ki) 454 ; however, in R#m-Sn A, a hymn to Enlil, Enlil is credited with granting him kingship and is titled Sovereign of Heaven and Earth (lugal. an. ki. [a]). 455 Finally, Nanna is designated by the same title (lugal . an. ki ) in another hymn of this king, R#m-Sn G, and is also credited with bestowing kingship upon him. 456 In each of these prayers, the king also refers to each of the gods by the same title Sovereign of Heaven and the Earth. One wonders if Rim-Sn, with this allocation of the title, used it in order to apply older traditions, understanding
452 The title is attested in RIM E4.2.13.16 and in C. J. Gadd, Two Sketches from the Life at Ur, Iraq 25 (1963): 177-181. 453 Kuhrt, The Ancient Near East, 78. According to Kuhrt, it is also possible that Sn-k!id may have briefly held control of Aur. 454 RIM E4.2.14.2: 21. 455 ETCSL 2.6.9.1: 1. 456 ETCSL 2.6.9.7: 6. 262 each god as acting independently and each as having jurisdiction over its own region; therefore, three crowning ceremonies: one at Uruk, one at Nippur, and one, not at Sippar, but at Ur, meant three gods had to be titled Sovereign of Heaven and the Earth. It is also noteworthy that, during the reign of R"m-Sn, Uruk was able to break away from the rulers hegemony under the authority of Sn-k!id (c. 1830)another Amorite. 457 It is not a surprise, then, that, on a number of clay cones, he dedicates work done to the . an. na temple at Uruk and to Itar as the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth (nin. an. ki . ke). 458 The designation is attested for Itar in the inscriptions of Anam, a later descendant of Sn-k!id, who also ruled Uruk. 459 In the inscriptions of other Amorite rulers, either Itar or ama continued to be designated by the title. Hammurabi, the famous promoter of ama, claimed the deity of the Sun as his grantor of kingship. 460 It is no surprise, then, that in a bi-lingual inscription ama is not merely the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth, but the b!lum rabium a am u er!etim (Sumerian en. gal. an. ki) Great Sovereign of Heaven and the Earth. At Mari, in the inscriptions of a different Amorite ruler, Yahdun-L"m (c. 1810), it is also ama who is designated as Sovereign of Heaven and Earth; however, in the bi-lingual letter to Zimri-L"m, both ama and Itar are designated by the title. Furthermore, Zimri-L"m attributes his reign to Itar.
457 Kuhrt, The Ancient Near East, 80. 458 RIM E4.4.1.7: 1. 459 RIM E4.4.6.1: 38. 460 For a study on the reasoning behind Hammurabis allegiance to ama see Jennie Meyers, ama of Sippar and the First Dynasty of Babylon, in Studies Presented to Robert Biggs, ed. Marth Roth (Chicago University Press: Chicago, 2004), 193-200; Cf. also, Meyers, The Sippar Pantheon: A Diachronic Study, (Ph.D. diss., Harvard University, 2002). 263 The title Sovereign of Heaven and Earth first occurs in the Assyrian royal inscriptions in a dedicatory inscription of am"-Adad I, which was found at Mari. In the Mari inscription, Itar ( d INANA.LUGAL) is referred to by the somewhat unusual title: "pirat instead of the expected b!let (NIN). This designation is, in turn, followed by the phrase kiat am u er!etim: ana Itar-arratim ( d INANA.LUGAL) "pirat kiat am u er!etim m"girat n# q"t#u "likat imn#u am#-Adad arrum (LUGAL) dannum (KALAGA) ar (LUGAL) m"t Akkade k"id kiat ay"b#u lilissam (LI.LI.Z) siparram (ZABAR) a rigimu ""bu ana simat qarr"d$t#u $luku u!li
For Itar-arratim, Sovereign of the entire Heaven and Earth, the one who is favorable of his hand-lifting, the one who travels at his right hand: am"-Adad, Strong King, King of Akkade, conqueror of all his enemies, appropriately offers up a copper kettledrum whose sound is good, suitable of his heroism. 461
Like the designation "pirat, the addition of the qualifier kiatu before am u er!etim is also unique. At Mari, the title "piru, which generally refers to the overseer or governor for a powerful ruler of a city-state, could also be the equal of b!lu or arru, lord or king, as in the case of an inscription of Naram-Sn. 462 In this inscription, Naram-Sn is referred to as the "pirim of Everything upon his capture of Elam. Knut Tallqvist also recognizes this equation when used in reference to Gilgame. When Gilgame is designated "pir er!!tim, Tallqvist translates the phrase Regent der Unterwelt. 463 Rikvah Harris offers further insight into the use of "piru, contending that it could be employed as a poetic epithet, as illustrated through its use with the rulers of Sippar. 464 Thus, though not the expected term,
461 RIM A.0.39.6. 462 CAD, 1 , 453 ff 463 Tallqvist, Gtterepitheta, 229. 464 Rivkah Harris, Biographical Notes on the Naditu Women of Sippar, JCS 16 (1962): 1-12. 264 b!ltu (NIN), "pirat may be a dialectical substitute with the same nuance; however, if this is indeed the case, how then should d INANA.LUGAL be understood? Dominique Charpin asks just this question in his discussion of the name. 465
Charpin chooses to translate the name literally, Itar-roi. In his discussion, Charpin compares the name to the formulation of a benediction to a lord, bu-lu-u" e 4 -tr lugal li- ba-<li>-i"-ka, 466 Salut! QuItar te fasse vivre, toi, le roi! Thus the question becomes whether to translate that Itar make you live, you, the king, or may Itar make you live as king, as opposed to taking it appositionally, namely, may Itar, the queen, make you live. Charpin compares the name to Getinana-lugal. 467 If d INANA.LUGAL indeed must be read as Itar arratu, then the title "pirat appears redundant. It is perhaps better to translate d INANA.LUGAL as the construct Itar arri Itar of the King. This would allow a connection to be made between this goddess, d INANA.LUGAL, and the goddess B#let Ekallim, whose name literally means the Sovereign of the Palace. As has been mentioned previously, this goddess is frequently equated with Itar. The final curiosity concerning the epithet "pirat kiat am u er!etim is the addition of kiatu, a modifier that, like arratu, appears redundant. The simplest explanation for the addition of kiatu to am u er!etim is that it is meant to clarify that Itar is not the deity of two separate realms, Heaven and Earth, rather that she is the deity of all of Heaven and Earth, the universe. This was seen in the inscription of Rim-Sn, who designated Itar as the Sovereign of Everything (nin. g. sag) in addition to
465 Dominique Charpin, Inscriptions Votives dEpoque Assyrienne, MARI 3 (1984): 41-81. 466 ARM X 103, with a translation in ARMT X 157 ibid., 44. 467 For a discussion of this name see Piotr Michalowski, Royal Women of the Ur III Period - Part III, ASJ 4 (1982): 129-142. 265 Sovereign of Heaven and Earth (nin. an. ki). 468 It could also be merely a word-play. In his Aurite titulary, am"-Adad I takes the grand title LUGAL KI, which literally translates to King of Ki. 469 Originally, the title King of Ki referred specifically to the land of Ki. Eventually, the meaning of the title increased so that the title could be taken by any ruler who claimed hegemony over northern Babylon. 470
By the Sargonic period, the logogram KI came to be equated with the Akkadian kiatu; thus, the Akkadian correspondent to the title LUGAL KI is ar kiati King of Everything. 471 It has been suggested that, since the land of Ki was not a country over which am"-Adad held dominion, the latter is an example of how the king understood the title. 472 The reason Itar is designated "pirat kiat am u er!etim may reflect am"-Adads desire to bestow upon Itar a title as grand as his own. Thus the Itar of Kings was also the "pirat kiat am u er!etim, as am"-Adad could claim to be ar kiati and k"id kiat ay"b#u the conqueror of all his enemies. After am"-Adad, the tradition of referring to Itar and ama as Sovereign of Heaven and Earth continues at
468 RIM E4.2.14.2. 469 Hallo is very suspect of the grandeur of this title. Though it could mean emperor, he thinks it is a more simple territorial title (Titles, 98). 470 SARI, 18; cf. also SANE 2/ 17; and Westenholz, Empowerment, 77, in which she explains that , in order to claim this title, Enlil had to bestow kingship. Because of this, Westenholz argues that the designation king of Ki could have originally referred only to the northern lands; thus, Enlil bestowed control over the northern regions and Inana/ Itar over the southern. Our inscription suggests that, for am"-Adad I, Itar controlled the entirety of the lands. 471 This was because the logogram KI was used by the Assyrians for the Akkadian word, kiatu (Hallo, Titles, 23 n. 1). am"-Adad also did not take another popular title of the Akkadian kings, ar kibr"tim arbaim Sovereign of the Four Corners- essentially having the same meaning as ar ki. Perhaps this is because, as Westenholz has noted, it was Man-it$u after whom am"-Adad styled himself- a king who did not use the title (Hallo, Titles, 50-51). 472 ARI, 19-20 n. 68 266 Mari in the inscriptions of Zimri-L"m. 473
On a kudurru of the Kassite king, Burna-Buria II (1359-1333), whose reign likely coincided with the Assyrian ruler, Aur-uballi" I, ama continues to be designated as the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth (en. gal. an. ki) in two inscriptions discovered at Larsa. 474 Both describe work done on the . babbar, the Shining House, the temple of ama found at Sippar, Larsa, Girsu, and Aur; 475 however, it should be noted that neither inscription addresses the kingship of Burna-Buria. In an inscription of this same king, Itar, too, is designated the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth (nin. an. ki ). 476 This inscription records the dedication of a diorite vase to Itar; however, the object was placed not in the . an. na, Itars temple in Uruk, but in the . hur. sag. kalam. ma, Itars temple at Ki. 477 This is the first attestation of an Itar not associated with Uruk, who is designated as Sovereign of Heaven and Earth; however, it is not the only one from this period. In several inscriptions of the Kassite king, Kudur-Enlil (1254-1246), whose reign likely coincided with that of almaneser I, Itar is once again referred to as the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth (nin. an. ki). 478 Here again, her temple is not the . an. na. Instead, the inscription is found on bricks from the
473 Referred to above, in Charpin, Les malheurs d'un scribe, the Sumerian half of the text refers to Itar as the gaan. an. ki . In the Akkadian she is the b!let am (AN) u er!eti (KI). ama, in the Sumerian half of the text, is the l ugal . an. ki , while in the Akkadian he is the ar am (AN) u er!eti (KI). 474 MSKH 1, pp. 105-6, No. E.2.2 and No. E.2.3. 475 George, House Most High, 70 No. 97-100. 476 MSKH 1, p. 142, No. P.2.2 and MSKH 1, p. 110, No. J.5.2. 477 George, House Most High, 101 No. 482. 478 No. J.5.2 (MSKH 1, 142) and No. P.2.2 (MSKH 1, 191). 267 . bra. dr. gar. ra Temple, Dais of the Throne, Itars temple at Nippur. 479 As can be seen from the preceding list of attestations, it is unclear if the title Sovereign of Heaven and Earth still indicated a gods purview over kingship. It is apparent, however, that by the Kassite period, when designated as Sovereign of Heaven and Earth, Itar was no longer specifically tied to Uruk. As is to be expected, with the rise of a new dynasty, the designation once again is used to refer to a different deity. In the maledictory section of an inscription inscribed on a kudurru of Nebuchadnezzar I (1126-1105), Ninurta is designated as the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth (ar am u er!eti). In both this text and on another kudurru, Ninurta is listed with the goddess, Gula; however, in the second text, Ninurta is preceded by Mardukwho is now designated by the title ar am u er!eti. 480 Nebuchadnezzar not only attributes his kingship to Marduk, but also is thought to have elevated Marduk within the pantheon for just this purpose. In both of these kudurrus, Marduk is referred to as the ar il"ni. Marduk continues to be referred to by this title in the inscriptions of the later Babylonian kings, however, he is not designated the ar am u er!eti. On a kudurru of Marduk-nadin-ahhe (1100-1083), the brother of Nebuchadnezzar, Itar in her incarnation as Venus (Ninsiana?) is designated as Sovereign of Heaven and Earth (b!let am u er!etim). In the maledictory section of this inscription, Itar is listed together with Sn and ama:
479 George, House Most High, 71 No. 110. This temple has an alternative title: . dur. an. ki , House, Bond of Heaven and the Netherworld (George, House Most High, 80 No. 218). Additionally, the . hur. sag. kal am. ma is listed in litanies to Itar after the . bra. dr. gar. ra (George, House Most High, 71 No. 110). 480 BBS VI col. ii: 39 and BBS VII col. ii: 25-29, as edited in L. W. King, Babylonian Boundary-Stones and Memorial-Tablets in the British Museum (London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1912)hereafter BBS. 268 Sn "ib am (AN-e) ell$ti saharubb k#ma lub"ri lilebbissa zumuru ama ( d UTU) dikuggal am (AN-e) u er!eti (KI-ti) lu dikkulduma 481 ina par[ik]ti lizzissu Itar b!lit (NIN) am (AN-e) u er!eti (KI-ti) ana mahri il"ni (DINGIR.ME) u arri (LUGAL) ana lemutti lirtedd#u 482
May Sn, who dwells in the pure heavens, dress his body with leprosy as with a garment; May ama, Chief Judge of Heaven and Earth, be his opponent and stand against him with obstruction; May Itar, Sovereign of Heaven and Earth, bring him enmity before the gods and the king.
This is the first clear attestation of Itar designated as both the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth and as Venus. The version of the title which appeared in the inscription of am"-Adad is nowhere to be seen when the epithet reappears approximately four hundred years later in the inscriptions of Tukult"-Ninurta I. Once again, the title returns to its more expected form as b!let am u er!eti. 483 In each of the inscriptions, one discovered at Aur, and a second, written later in his reign and discovered at his new city, K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta, the title is attested in identical passages of the action unit of the inscription: ina GI tukulti a d Aur Enlil ( d BAD) u d ama il"ni (DINGIR.ME) rabti (GAL.ME) b!l#ya (EN.ME-ia) ina r!!$ti a Itar ( d i 8 -tr) b!lat (NIN-at) am &AN-!e") er!eti (KI-ti) ina pani umm"n[#]ya illik$ itti katiliau ar (MAN) m"t (KUR) Kardunia ana ep! tuqm"ti asniq abiktu umm"n"t!u akun 484
With the support of Aur, Enlil, and ama, the great gods, my lords, (and) with the aid of Itar, Sovereign of Heaven (and) the Earththey who travel before my armyI approached Katiliau, King of the land of Kardunia, to perform mles. I established a defeat of his troops.
481 The meaning of dikkuld is uncertain; however, CAD suggests opponent (CAD D, 137). 482 BBS VIII col. iv 7-14. 483 RIM A.0.78.23. 484 Cited here: RIM A.0.78.5: 48-57. RIM A.0.78.23: 56-68 has d INANA NIN AN KI for Itar b!lat (NIN -at) am (AN-e) er!eti (KI-ti). 269 In this passage, Itar, designated as b!let am u er!eti, does not grant kingship; however, in the maledictory unit of the inscription, she is credited with granting his kingship. Here, she helps lead his army against Babylon and the Kassite king, Katiliau. That Itar is designated as b!let am u er!eti in this role, rather than the b!let qabli u t"h"zi, is unexpected. It may reflect the theological ideologies already evident in a letter from the scribe of Zimri-L"m. In that letter, Itar is designated both by the title b!let am u er!eti and by the title aaredat b!let qabli u t"h"zi most pre-eminently powerful in battle and conflict. Furthermore, in the letter, Itar b!let am u er!eti, was intimately concerned with the kings success on the battlefield for she caused his weapon to surpass all others. The question remains, however, whether the inscription of Tukult"-Ninurta demonstrates a tradition in which Itar as the b!let am u er!eti was also envisaged as designating kingship. Though the title b!let am u er!eti is not attested in any of EARI again until the inscriptions of Aurna!irpal II, it is present in a psalm to Itar written for the Assyrian king, Aur-na!irpal I (1050-1032). In this hymn, it is Itar, the Sovereign of Nineveh, who is titled b!let am u er!eti: ana arrat il"ni (DINGIR.ME) a par!# [.. u]tlumu q"tua ana b!let "l (URU) Ninua r[u? ! -bat ? ..]-ME aq$tu ana m"rat (DUMU) Sn ( d XXX) tal#mat d ami ku ! [-u]l ! -lat arr$ti (LUGAL-ti) tab!l ana p"risat puruss (E.BAR) il"t (DINGIR-at) kal gimri ana b!let am (AN-e) er!eti (KI-ti) m"hirat ta!l#t# ana !mt ikrib# l!qt unn!n# 485
For the Sovereign of the Gods, who bestows the divine ordinances For the Sovereign of the city of Nineveh, the exalted [princess of the gods] For the Daughter of Sn, the sibling of ama, you control all sovereignty For the One who Renders Verdicts, the goddess of the whole of everything To the Sovereign of Heaven and the Earth, who accepts appeals
485 Wolfram von Soden, Zwei Knigsgebete an Itar aus Assyrien, AfO 25 (1974): 37-45 [38 lines 4-9]. 270 To the One who hears prayers, who receives lamentations
Similar to the inscription found on the kudurru of Marduk-nadin-ahhe, the Babylonian king who ruled concurrently with Aurna!irpal I, Itar, designated as b!let am u er!etim, is also equated with Venus. As in the kudurru, she is listed together with Sn and ama. Also similar to the kudurru inscription, Itar, though later in the text called an uumgallat terrifying dragon, is at no point connected to war or battle. Instead, in this hymn Aurna!irpal declares: Itar ana r!tu ina ni# tabbinni called me for shepherdship over the people. 486
In EARI, two kings directly attribute their kingship to Itar, am"-Adad I and, as just mentioned, Tukult"-Ninurta I. In an inscription discovered at Nineveh, am"-Adad directly attributes his reign to Itar, who is expressly designated as Itar of Nineveh (though not b!let am u er!eti). 487 In this inscription, this Itar is also accorded the ability to remove kingship and bestow it upon someone else. Tukult"-Ninurta attributes his kingship to Itar in two inscriptions; however, she is designated differently in each. In his standard inscription from Aur, the goddess is designated as the b!lat qabli u t"h"zi when she calls him to kingship. 488 In the second inscription, also discovered at Aur, the goddess is designated as the b!let am u er!eti when she leads the kings army to war, and receives no additional designation when credited with calling his kingship. 489 To confuse matters even more, in yet another inscription of Tukult"-Ninurta, one discovered at K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta, the king proclaims that he is the babil Itar beloved of Itar,
486 AfO 25: 39 line 27. 487 RIM A.0.39.2. 488 RIM A.0.78.1. 489 RIM A.0.78.5. 271 who is designated as the b!let il"ni a am u er!eti the Sovereign of the Gods of Heaven and the Earth.
Conclusion The designation b!let am u er!eti could be a standard title for Itar at Uruk; however, though no other god is designated by this title in EARI, in early Sumerian texts it refers to multiple other deities. During this earlier period, no two gods are designated by this title simultaneously. This indicates transference of the title between gods; thus, though a supreme title, it was likely not a permanent one. The method of transference appears to have been intricately linked to the patron god of the city from which a dynasty ruled (e.g., the Ur III kings designated Nanna, the patron god of Ur, as the ar am u er!eti). With the rise of the Amorite dynasties, this changes slightly. Not only does the title begin to be consistently attributed to ama, the patron god of Larsa and Sippar (cities from which Amorites ruled), it seems to have also designated other deities concurrently. During this period, this new usage of the title continues into the Kassite period; however, any established tradition connected to the title seems to evaporate with the rise of the second dynasty of Isin. This is likely the reason for its appearance in EARI. Eventually, when used for Itar, the title is linked to Itar in her manifestation as Venus. At this point, it is unclear if the title continues to indicate divine executive power over mortal kingship.
272
Appendix C B!let il"ni a am u er! !! !eti and Aaritti il"ni Sovereign of the Gods of Heaven and the Earth and Preeminent One of the Gods
b$let il"ni a am u er! !! !eti
Tukult!-Ninurta I A.0.78.24 d INANA NIN DINGIR.ME AN-e u KI-ti
In a single inscription of Tukult"-Ninurta I inscribed on a stone tablet discovered at K!r-Tukult"-Ninurta, Itar ( d INANA) is designated as the b!let (NIN) il"ni (DINGIR.ME) a am (AN-e) u er!eti, (KI-ti) Sovereign of the Gods of Heaven and the Earth. Though seemingly similar to the title b!let am u er!eti, the title is entirely different. This time is not the region of Heaven and Earth over which she is sovereign, but the gods that dwell in each of those regions. It is unclear why Itar should receive this title here. Since it occurs only a in single inscription, which was written during the latter half of the reign of Tukult"-Ninurta, it undoubtedly reflects a new theology. It may be that the specification that it is the gods over whom she rules indicates that she functions as the leader of the divine council.
273 aaritti il"ni The title aaritti il"ni is only attested as a designation for Itar in the identical invocation units of the two different versions of the Annals of Tiglath-Pileser I. 490
In each invocation unit, Itar is listed as the final deitylocated after Aur, Enlil, Sn, ama, Adad, and Ninurta. After her name are listed her designations. She is designated first as the aaritti il"ni, then as the b!let t! muarrihat qabl"te Sovereign of Frenzy, who Quickens Combats. Itars name is expressed logographically in one attestation as d M
( d INANA); however, there is a lacuna where her name would ordinarily be expected in the second attestation. The appositional phrase which follows the goddess name, aaritti il"ni, is a simple genitival chain comprised of the bound form of the governing noun, aarittu (aaritti), followed by the governed term, il"nu, in the genitive (il"ni). In each attestation of the title, the noun il"ni is expressed logographically by the combined logogram DINGIR.ME. The noun, aarittu, is also signified logographically. In each instance it is signified by the logogram SAG, which is always accompanied by the phonetic complement -it. Although the logogram SAG can signify r!u head or r!t first. It can also signify aaridu leader. 491 Both Akkadian terms have the connotation of primary; however, r!t has a more numeric nuance and can indicate a bureaucratic or hierarchical
490 RIM A.0.87.1 and A.0.87.2. 491 CAD A 2 , 416. 274 rank amongst others, as in first-rank, first born, the one in front. 492 The adjective, aaridu, though also having the connotation of foremost, can mean leader or vanguard; however, the nuance is not numeric as much as it indicates power or strength. It means the most powerful, or being the most authoritative on a subject. 493 To be aaridu may allow one to have r!t status in a particular field, as when Tiglath-Pileser I proclaims in The Epic of Tiglath-Pileser that the gods gave him aarid$ta !#r$ta qard$ta taq#au, the most power, highest place, and valor. Traditionally, in the Tiglath-Pileser examples SAG-ti is not normalized aaritti (both Tallqvist 494 and CAD 495 have r!t); however, I propose that this is exactly the term that was meant. Though aaridu is more commonly expressed by the combined logogram SAG.KAL (as directed by the Old Babylon lexical list OB Lu 2 -azlag 2 ) 496 in SB documents, it may also be written SAG, SAG.IZI, and IGI.DU. 497 This inconsistency is demonstrated in attestations of the title as a designation for the god, Ninurta. In several versions of the Annals of Aurnasirpal II 498 and in an inscription of almaneser III, 499 Ninurta is
492 CAD R, 274. 493 CAD A 2 , 416. 494 Tallqvist, Gtterepitheta, 169. Tallqvist actually translates the epithet as die Vornehmste des Himmels und der Erde. By translating r!t vornehme, he argues that the title has a nuance of royalty and so understand the title as a family title, rather than a political one, perhaps connecting the title to the Inana and Dumuzi hymns in which Inana is a princess. 495 CAD R, . 496 Cf. OB Lu2-azlag2 A: 140 l u 2 sag. kal a-a-re-du-um and OB Lu2-azlag2 B-C 121 l u 2 sag. kal a-a-re- [du-um]. 497 aaridu in the f.s. construct can be aardatu (as in the OB Mari text); however, in SB texts the form is aarittu. 498 RIM A.0.101, A.0.101.3, and A.0.101.4. 499 RIM A.0.102.10. 275 referred to as aarid il"ni. In each case, the title is written SAG.KAL DINGIR.ME; however, in the Epic of Tukult# Ninurta, the same title is given to Ninurta, this time written SAG-id il#. The phonetic complement id forces the normalization, aarid il"ni. In The Epic of Tiglath-Pileser, the title again designates Ninurta; however, aaridu is expressed by SAG. Though there is no phonetic complement, Hurowitz and Westenholz contend that SAG, in this case, should be normalized aarid, because this is one of Ninurtas most common epithets. 500 If SAG, when used in the title aarid il"ni as a designation of Ninurta, should be normalized as aarid, then it stands to reason that it should be normalized similarly when referring to Itar. Finally, EARI themselves indicate that aaridu is the term signified by SAG. In the Annals of Adad-n!r!r" II, 501 Tiglath-Pileser II, 502 Aur-na!irpal II, 503 and almaneser III, 504 Itar is referred to by the title aaritti am u er!eti. In each example, save two, the designation is written SAG-ti AN-e KI-te; however, it is the two anomalous writings for the title which suggest a normalization of aaritti for SAG-ti. In one exemplar of the Annals of Tiglath-Pileser II (KAR 349), the title is written SAG-it-ti AN-e KI-te. 505 In a single inscription of almaneser III, the title is written SAG.KAL AN-e KI-te (in this same inscription Ninurta is called the aarid (SAG.KAL) il"ni (DINGIR.ME). 506
This title is first attested as a designation for Itar in a Sumerian hymn attributed
500 Hurowitz and Westenholz, LKA 63, 13. 501 RIM A.0.99.2. 502 RIM A.0.100.1. 503 RIM A.0.101.17 and A.0.101.20. 504 RIM A.0.102.10 and A.0.102.14. 505 RIMA I, 165 n. 13. This is taken as a scribal error by the editors of RIM who contend that this is an error for r!t#ti. 506 RIM A.0.102.10. 276 to Hammurabi, Hammurabi F. In it, Itar is the aaritti il"ni (sag. kal. dingi r. re. e. ne). 507 Itar receives a similar title in the in. nin ag 4 gur 4 . ra in which she is called the aaritti Annunaki (sag. kal . nun. gal. e. ne). 508 In each of these hymns, Itars importance in the decision making process of the gods is emphasized. In Hammurabi F, the text states that Enlil can not make a decision without Itar, while the Annunaku gods were considered the judges of the divine world. This judicial aspect to the title is also seen in the case of ama, who embodies judicial power. In urpu, it is ama who is the aarid il"ni. 509 Even though it is, at this point, impossible to determine with any confidence a deeper meaning for the title, it may be that it is placed in order to highlight to succeeding title. As ama is the aarid il"ni when it comes to judicial matters, Itar would then be the aaritti il"ni in matters of war.
The title b!let t! and the secondary epithet muarrihat qabl"te are attested in two inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser I: in his standard inscription and in a derived inscription which was discovered on fragmentary clay tablets found at Aur and Nineveh. 510 While the epithet muarrihat qabl"te is extant in no other text, there is a single attestation of the title b!let t! in a text external to EARI. In this example, located in the Epic of Tiglath-Pileser, the title is followed by the epithet d!k"su ana qabli (MURUB 4 ) who provokes him to combat. 511 In all EARI attestations of the conjoined designations, b!let t! and muarrihat qabl"te, the title b!let t! and the participle muarrihat are written syllabically; however, qabl"te is written logographically with the sign MURUB 4 followed by the pluralizing determinative ME and the phonetic complement -te. The syntax of the title b!let t! is simple. Similar to b!let qabli u t"h"zi, it is comprised of the bound form of the noun b!ltu (b!let) followed by the term t! in the genitive (t!). Behind the title b!let t! lies a tradition which characterizes Itar as a violent figure who causes frenzy through her own actions and by inciting others to violence. The title muarrihat qabl"te
intensifies this characterization of Itar. The meaning and tone of the title b!let t! is very different from Itars standard
510 RIM A.0.87.1 and 2. 511 Hurowitz and Westenholz, LKA 63, 4. 278 martial epithet b!let qabli u t"h"zi. Whereas qablu is a generic term for battle or warfare, and t"h"zu likely stands for the military campaign, the noun t! connotes not merely a combative situation, but imparts a sense of commotion, disorder, and frenzy. Also noticing this core nuance, Knut Tallqvist translates the title Herrin der Umwlzung,
and there is a similar rendering by RIMA II: Mistress of Tumult. 512 The noun t! begins to be attested only during the OB period, and its first meaning, as given in CAD, is anarchy, disarray, confusion, disorder; its secondary meaning is melee, fray. 513 Depending on the actor, t! can be characterized as a positive or a negative situation. When negative, the term is utilized primarily in omens to indicate times of political or social upheaval, times when normal life becomes acutely disorganized. This sense of confusion is present in its association with a particular set of winds, the ar t! (i m uhhu), which were thought to be evil violent swirling dust storms that created chaos. When positive, t! is experienced by the enemy. Opposing soldiers become so disorganized that they fall down; later NA and Neo-Babylonian (NB) texts suggest that t! represents the fiercest combat in the middle of the battle where the true chaos takes place. Referred to as an idiosyncratic substitute for Itars usual epithets [b!let qabli u t"h"zi], 514 the title, b!let t!, is attested only in two royal inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser I 515 and in the epic of this same king. Because the title appears in the invocation section of the inscriptions, little information as to the role played by the b!let t! can be surmised. This is not the case with regards to the epic, which provides important
512 Tallqvist, Gtterepitheta, 65. 513 CAD T, 42. 514 Hurowitz and Westenholz, LKA 63, 4. 515 RIM A.0.87.1 and A.0.87.2. 279 additional information. The Epic of Tiglath-Pileser records the rebellion of what may be Gutian lands and a full half of the narration is devoted to the actions of the gods and the king on the battlefield. After equipping the king, the god Enlil leads him to the battlefield. It is after this action that we are told that Itar, who is now referred to as the b!let t!, provokes (d!k) him (the king) to battle: a[n]a nuur umm"n"t!unu tuqunta (GI*L) ib(!)ni qabla (MURUB 4 ) ikta!ar uk#n sahmata kakk! (GI.TUKUL.ME) !tesih namurr$*te umdairma ana t$ari (x) *m[i(?)]giru Tiglath-Pileser "lila uarrah kakk! (GI.TUKUL.ME) ina mahr#$ma (IGI--ma) d Enlil (BE) ana tuqmate ireddu d Itar (U-DAR) b!let t! dekssu ana qabli (MURUB 4 ) [t]amehma d Ninurta (MA) aarid (SAG) il"ni (DINGIR.ME) panuu imnuu d Nusku (ENADA) kullat ay"b# iaggi um!luu nakr! (KR.ME) irahhi! d Addu 516
In order to diminish their troops he (Aur) created battle. He prepared war, he caused disarray (among the enemies). He girded himself with awesomely bright weapons. He directed to the battlefield his favorite. He makes pre-eminent the weapons of Tiglath-Pileser, the champion. In front of him (Tiglath-Pileser), Enlil leads him into war. Itar, Lady of Turmoil, stirs him to battle. Ninurta, foremost of the gods, takes (position) at his fore. On his right, Nusku massacres all the enemies. On his left, Addu devastates the foes
The verb used to describe the action of Itar, dek, can have the meaning to arouse or to call up soldiers. 517 Each of these meanings connotes a very different function. To arouse is to awaken or to provoke a person out of a state of calm. To call up soldiers is to mobilize forces, to prepare battle lines, or, possibly, to arrange the soldiers. This second action is performed by Itar in the much earlier epic of the MA king, Adad-n!r!r".
516 LKA 63 rev. 1-10. 517 CAD D, 124. 280 To refer to the Epic of Adad-n"r"r# as existing in a fragmentary state would be an understatement; however, from the pieces which remain it may be determined that it records Adad-n!r!r"s confrontations with the Kassite king, Nazi-Marutta (1307-1282). Luckily, it is also in these fragments that Itar is mentioned. Although it is unclear exactly who is speaking, the text reads: !!"numa d Itar iqr q[ur"d# ()] [n]aspanta u!! el#ya 518
When Itar summoned my warriors [for battle], she brought down destruction upon me
The verb qer to invite, can be used to call up or to lead. It does not mean to rouse. Itar, in this instance, as in earlier texts, is responsible for the assembling of the army. Itar is said to perform a similar action in a much earlier inscription of the Gutian ruler, Erridu-pizir (2260-2223): Itar ( d INANA) in m"t Akkad
umm"nam (RIN-am) ikun 519
Etar had established troops in Akkade.
Unlike the Gutian inscription or the Epic of Tukult#-Ninurta, in the Epic of Tiglath- Pileser, Enlil calls (red) the warriors to the line. In the Epic of Tiglath-Pileser, Itar, as the b!let t!, rouses the king to action after he has been called. She affects the battle, not from the outside, as a general, but from the inside, as an inciter. This characterization of the goddess is very different from that present in the Epic of Adad-n"r"r#, but is very similar to her depiction in the Epic of Tukult#-Ninurta. Compared to the Epic of Adad-n"r"r#, the Epic of the Tukult#-Ninurta is in an
518 Epic of Adad-n"r"r# 9-10, as presented in Claus Wilke, Die Anfnge der akkadischen Epen ZA 67 (1977): 153-216 [187-190]. 519 RIM E2.2.2. 281 excellent state of preservation. Similar to the Epic of Adad-n"r"r#, the Epic of Tukult#- Ninurta records a series of confrontations between a Kassite king, this time Katiliau (1232-1225), and the Assyrian king, this time Tukult"-Ninurta. Itar is featured twice in the Epic and, though not titled b!let t!, she performs chaotic actions and is praised within the frenzy of battle. In the first appearance, Itar is said to be a deity who, together with Aur, Enlil, Anu, Sn, Adad, ama, and Ninurta, acts alongside Tukult"-Ninurta in the climactic battle. In the description of this final battle, as in the later Epic of Tiglath- Pileser, the actions of the gods are recounted. Each deity performs a specific attack, striking with his/her own weapon. Enlil uses flaming arrows, Anu, a mace, Adad, wind, and Itar, a kepp: #mer ina (A) mahra d Aur ippuh el (UGU) nakr! (KR.ME) i"t (IZI) napanti isarru d Enlil (BE) qabl"te ay"b# uaqtar nabla ikun d Anu me""a la p"d elu targ#gi nannaru d Sn (xxx) uk#n el#unu (UGU-unu) namungat qabli (MURUB) uerdi "ra (IM) ab$ba eli (UGU) t"h"z#unu d Adad (ISKUR) urannu ut"i !n umm"n"t m"t (KUR) umeri u Akkad (URU KI ) d ama b!l (EN) d!ni d Ninurta qardu aar!d (SAG-ed) il"ni (DINGIR.MES) kakk#unu ( GIS TUKUL.MES-unu) uebberma imha! keppa d Itar a qur"d!unu ueni "!ma,
Aur in the vanguard went to the attack; the fire of defeat burned upon the enemy. Enlil in the midst of the foe, (and) sends flaming arrows smoking. Anu pressed the unpitying mace upon the wicked. The heavenly light Sn imposed upon them the paralyzing weapon of battle. Adad, the hero, let a wind (and) flood pour down over their fighting. ama, lord of judgment, dimmed the eyes of the armies of the land of Sumer and Akkad. Heroic Ninurta, first of the gods, smashed their weapons.
Itar flailed her jump rope, driving their warriors insane! 520
Of the actions of all of the gods, Itars are the most curious; not only her choice of
520 Epic of Tukult#-Ninurta col. iii 33-40 as presented in Peter Machinist The Epic of Tukulti-Ninurta I: A study in Middle Assyrian literature (Ph.D. diss., Yale University, 1978). Although the order of the tablets still remains a matter of some dispute, this is the only critical edition to datehereafter, ETN. 282 weapon, a jump rope, but also because she performs no violence per se. In the Epic of Tukult#-Ninurta, Itar is said to hit (mah"!u) her kepp. This striking leads to the disorientation of the enemy soldiers. "!mu discretion or initiative, 521 was an important quality for a king to have during battle, as is reported in a speech by Sargon of Akkade in Sargon, the Conquering Hero: [i-na-an-na-ma] ? a-a-re-du-um is-sa-a[k-k]ar te-er pa-ag-ru-uk u-ku-ut-ta-ka // t[il-i]l-li-ka wu-di at-[t]a a "e-[mi] ka-i-id-ka na-kr // (x)-x-x-x-ul-x pi-ka li-ib-ba-ka li-wa-hi-ir li-ib-ba-ka li-wa-hi-ir bi-ir-ki-ka an-na mi-it-hu-ru-um-ma a qr-ra-di ur-ra-am q-ab-lam ak-ka-di -ar-ra [i]-si-nu-um a mu-ti in-ni-pu-u
Now (?), the champion speaks, Restore to your body your jewelry, your festive garb! Certainly you are endowed with "!mu, your attacker is the enemy of Let your mouth command your legs! Here, then, is the clashing of heroes Tomorrow, Akkade will commence battle. A festival of arms will be celebrated. 522
In the D, the intransitive verb an to become different, strange or to change is made transitive, rendering, unn to alter. 523 When "!mu is the object of unn, the meaning becomes to change ones mind or to put confusion into someones mind. When negative, this madness is thought to occur when a person is confronted by a terrifying sight, e.g., a severed head. It can also be incurred after a severe physical attack, e.g., a blow to the cranium. Finally, even kings are called mad when they trust in their own
521 CAD $, 85. 522 Sargon the Conquering Hero 10-17, as presented in Westenholz, Legends. 523 CAD 1 , an B, 408. 283 strength (as opposed to that of the gods): a ina an "!me ana em$q ramaniu [ittaklu] (Kutu-Nahundi) who in his lunacy trusted in his own strength. 524 The device Itar uses to create this bewilderment is her kepp; a device which, in and of itself, may embody confusion. E, the verb from which the noun t! confusion is derived, can be indicated logographically by the sign SH. This sign was originally comprised of two tangled threads (sh = two crossed gu signs). 525 This sense of entwining remains in the adjective e, which means tangled or confused, 526 and is present in the phrase "!munu em their tangled minds. 527 Itars connection to the twisting (sh) of fibers is attested in Enki and the World Order, when Enki says to the goddess: I made you tangle (sh) straight threads; maiden Inana, I made you straighten out tangled threads. I made you put on garments, I made you dress in linen. I made you pick out the tow from the fibres, I made you spin with the spindle. I made you colour tufted (?) cloth with coloured threads. 528
Itar is also associated with rope (if not the tangling of it) in the Sumerian ir-namursa&a to Inana for Iddin-Dag!n: Their right side they adorn with women's clothing, They walk before the pure Inanna. The great lady of heaven, Inanna, I would say: Hail! Their left side they cover (?) with men's clothing, They walk before the pure Inanna. To the great lady of heaven, Inanna, I would say: Hail! With jump ropes and colored cords they compete before her, They walk before the pure Inana.
524 Ibid., 406. 525 CAD E, 380. 526 Ibid. 527 Ibid. 528 ETCSL 1.1.3: 437-444. 284 To the eldest daughter of Su'en, Inanna, I would say: Hail! 529
In his extensive treatment of the term kepp, Benno Landsberger somewhat cautiously concludes that the instrument was a jumping rope (e.g., two entwined cords). 530 The noun kepp does not occur in texts whose date is prior to the MB period and it is rarely attested before the NA period. 531 It does, however, appear in the Akkadian version of Itars Descent to the Netherworld. In this version, Itar decides to visit the Netherworld for reasons which are not altogether clear. After she arrives at the gate, the attendant must announce the visitor to Erekigal, the sovereign of the region. Itar is specifically referred to by the gatekeeper as muk#ltu a kepp rabti d"lihat ap mahar Ea she who holds the skipping rope and stirs the Aps before Ea: !rumma l at izzakkara [ana]Ere[kigal] ann#tu m ah"tki d Itar i[zzaz] ina [ gi dalti] muk#ltu a kepp rabti d"lihat ap mahar d Ea 532
The door-man went inside and said to Erekigal: Listen to this: your sister Itar is standing at the gate. She is the one who holds the jumpropes and stirs up the Aps before Ea
529 Iddin-Dagan A 60-66, as edited in Reisman, Iddin-Dagan's Sacred Marriage Hymn. See also, and Rmer, Sumerische Knigshymnen, 128-208. 530 For a discussion on the kepp and other Mesopotamian items of play see Benno Landsberger, Einige unerkannt geblieben oder verkannte Nomina des Akkadischen, WZKM 56 (1960): 109-129; see also, Anne Kilmer, An Oration on Babylon, AfO 18 (1991): 9-22. 531 CAD K, 312. 532 The Descent of Itar to the Netherworld lines 25-27 as presented in William R. Sladek, Inannas Descent to the Netherworld (Ph.D. Dissertation, The Johns Hopkins University, 1974), 243. Though the two most complete Akkadian editions of ID date to the NA period (CT 15 45 and KAR 1:26), the end of LKA 62 (which dates to the reign of Tiglath-Pileser I) contains the first eleven lines of Itars Descent to the Netherworld (see Erica Reiner, Your Thwarts in Pieces your Mooring Rope Cut: Poetry from Babylonia and Assyria (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1985), 25-27. 285 In this instance, Itar, holder of the kepp, is also d"lihat the one who roils the great Netherworld river, the Aps. She is not said to stir the mind of Aps. ke Sjberg considers this meaning in his discussion of the bi-lingual hymn, the in. nin. ag 4 . gur 4 . ra, noting that the verb kepp can mean to twist. 533
In Mesopotamia, the mind was believed to be in the gut, the liver (kabtu). If we analogize this situation to the one presented in the Epic of Tukult#-Ninurta, we may understand that Itar drove the warriors insane (ueni "!ma) and removed their initiative by roiling their insides. In other words, she made them afraid. In this instance, Itar, by hitting her kepp, disoriented the judgment of the enemy warriors. 534 Instead of trusting in the gods, they trusted in their own strength. It should be recalled that disorientation was also an important attack element in the Epic of Tiglath-pileser. In that instance, it was Enlil who caused disarray (among the enemies). That Itar is said to drive the enemies insane by beating (mah"!u) her kepp is significant for her later title b!let t!. Itar performs the opposite action in her second appearance in the Epic of Tukult#- Ninurta. Itar is mentioned for a second time in the Epic of Tukult#-Ninurta during the final battle, recorded in a riveting narration:
iz!zak"ruma qur"d d Aur ana mithu!i ipann m$ta !#"ta!ll"al$ Itar ( d EDAR) ahulap ina t! inaddu b!lta [l]abbuma !am"ru k#ma Anz an nabn#ta [ka]dru ezzi ana t! balu tahl#pi [i]l-!tah"-"u irati ut !tak"kiru lub$# !i"kta!ru p!r!ti userra i!mar# tuhri [i]mmell$ma ina (A) eh!lu"ti kakk# (GI.TUKUL.ME) d"pinu mutu uranu !u" ? iziqqa ana ah"me k#ma ti!but labb# ZU-har-ra-a-tu $m# (U 4 .ME)
533 Sjberg, in-nin -gur 4 -ra, 161253. 534 In his treatment of the Epic, Peter Machinist suggests that it was perhaps the rotating of the kepp which was maddening to the warriors; that the sound it created was unnerving (ETN, 342). 286 !x a hi"mmat aamti t! i!d ina qabli (MURB) 535
The warriors of Aur declared: To the fight! (and) go to meet death. They give shout: O Itar, be merciful! (and) in the melee praise the mistress. They rage wildly, become strange in form like Anzu. They go fiercely and furiously to the fray, without armor. They had stripped off their chest ornaments (and) changed their clothing. They had bound up their hair (and) rubbed their lances with bran. The ferocious, heroic men played with sharpened weapons; [And] destructive monster winds blew at each other like attacking lions. [t]he confusion of swirling dust storms whirls about in the battle.
As they begin their onslaught, so terrifying do they become that they are equated with lions, demon winds, and the Anzu bird; so fearless that they strip themselves of their armor and fight in the nude. They are himmat aamti swirling dust storms, which, in the t! frenzy, i!d ina qable whirl about in the battle. Just as they begin their onslaught, in the midst of the frenzy, the warriors cry out, Itar ahulap praise Itar. The actions of the warriors are precisely the actions attributed to Itar in her manifestation as the Guea in the Akkadian works, the OB Great Itar $ila and Aguaya. Aguaya, an exceptionally complex poem written in OB Akkadian, narrates the difficulties the gods endured due to Itars enjoyment of pandemonium. Because of its archaic and complex language, an exact understanding of Itars character is difficult to assess. Treated in depth by Brigitte Groneberg, the poem records that: 7 i-si-in-a ta-am-ha-ru 8 u-ut-ra-aq-q-du a-an-ti 9 i-a-t--ul ta-am-ha-at a-te- li 10 i-ta-ar-ru da-a-ni 11 Itr i-si-in-a ta-am-ha-ru 12 u-ut-ra-aq-q-du a-an-ti 13 i-a-t--ul ta-am-ha-at a-te-li 14 i-ta-ru da-a-ni 536
Ihr Fest ist der Kampf das Tanzenlassen der hren (?) sie verknpft(?) (aber) hlt nicht gepackt die Frsten: sie holt die Gewaltigen fort. Itar ihr Fest ist der Kampf das Tanzenlassen der hrensie verknpft (?) aber hlt nicht gepackt
535 ETN col. iii 40-53. 536 Aguaya col. III 7-14, as presented by Brigitte Groneberg in, Lob der Itar Gebet und Ritual an die altbabylonische Venusgttin Tanatti Itar (Groningen: STYX, 1997), 76. 287 die Frsten: sie holt die Gewaltigen fort.
Again, the connection between frenzy and Itar is made, this time by the verb raq"du to dance. 537 Raq"du, like t!, was also considered a synonym for sh. 538 Groneberg suggests that Aguaya was created as an etiology for a whirling festival held in honor of Itar as the deity Guea, whose name literally translates to Whirler. In this aspect, Itar is most connected with storms, ferocity, and wind. Within the work, the goddess is repeatedly presented as a violent warrior who enjoys and relishes battle, not unlike her depiction in the much earlier Sumerian poems in. nin. me. hu. a and in. nin. ag 4 . gur 4 . ra. Furthermore, as can be seen from the excerpt, in her incarnation as the Whirler, Itar incites battle or rage. This is so much so, that she even rouses Enki to anger (albeit against her) in a later section of the work. It should also be recalled that in the Akkadian version of Itars Descent to the Netherworld, it is the Aps she roils, the home of Enki. Itars role as the Guea is also found in the Akkadian MB copy and in the Hittite translation of the Great Itar $ila from Bogazky. In the Great Itar $ila, Itar is referred to both as Guea, the one who whirls, and as the kakkab tan$q"te mutamhi!at ahh! mitgur$ti star of the battle-cry who makes brothers who have lived in concord do battle with one another. 539 This connection is also present in the god-list An = Anu a am!li, a list possibly dating to the MA period. In An = Anu a am!li, Guea is equated with the Itar of the battle-cry (a tan$q"te); thus, not only was it likely that the Assyrian
537 CAD R, 166. 538 Ibid. 539 Erica Reiner and Hans Gterbock, The Great Prayer to Ishtar and its Two Versions from Bogazkoy, JCS 21 (1967): 25566. 288 scribes knew of Itar as the Guea, but may have also connected the goddess with madness and fury. 540
muarrihat qabl"te The participial epithet muarrihat qabl"te (MURUB 4 .ME-te) is only attested in the invocation section of the two versions of the standard inscription of Tiglath-Pileser, each time subsequent to the title b!let t!. Curiously, it does not follow b!let t! in the Epic of Tiglath-pileser. Its syntax is slightly more complicated than b!let t!. Though also comprised of a bound form followed by a noun in the genitive, muarrihat is a bound f.s. participle rather than a simple noun. qabl"te is merely the plural form of qablu in the genitive. Previous attempts to translate the phrase have produced: [the one] who proudly does battle 541 and [the one] who adorns battles. 542 Each of these translations derives muarrihat from ar"hu to become laden with glory, or pride. 543 In the D-stem, this meaning becomes factitive, thus having the meaning to boast or to exalt, or to make magnificent, or to glorify. 544 This is how Westenholz and Hurowitz have understood
540 An = Anu a am!li 96d g. a. i a MIN (= b!let) ta-nu-qa-a-te (Litke, 235). This god-list differs significantly from the great god-list An = Anum, and has no traceable ties to it (Litke, 4). Not only do the lists follow different orders, but also they give Akkadian, rather than Sumerian, explanations for the gods (Litke, 15-16). Furthermore, while the much longer An = Anum arranges deities according presumed familial relationships, the ordering found in An= Anu a am!li indicates a different pattern. See also L. King, CT 24, 6-8. 541 CAD Q, 14 (CAD 2 does not offer a translation). 542 RIM A.0.87.1 and A.0.87.2. 543 CAD 2 , 37. 544 AHw 1182-3 D stolz and verherrlichen. 289 its use in LKA 63 rs. 5 uarrih kakk!: he (Aur) makes pre-eminent the weapons. 545
Thus, muarrihat qabl"te may also be translated she who brings preeminence to combats. The only difficulty with this translation lies within its meaning, for it is entirely unclear what it means to bring preeminence. To glorify battle, is to make it important or attractive, thus RIMs translation she who adorns battles; however, the inscriptions give no indication that Itar was thought to be an attractive deity, particularly in her warfare role. To glorify weapons may be to make them strongest, or most successful. Perhaps this should be the interpretation: she who makes combats successful. This interpretation works well with her role as a helper in battle; however, it may be more appropriate to translate the phrase in connection to her role as b!let te. As the b!let te, Itar was responsible for arousing battle. In the Epic of Tukult#- Ninurta, she speeds battle so intensely the warriors became like winds. Instead of understanding muarrihat as derived from the verb ar"hu, 546 it should perhaps be categorized as a bound f.s. durative participle of the -stem of the verb ar"hu to hasten or to quicken. 547 This verb is used in conjunction with Itar in the sentence aruh napura her (Itars) pardon is swift. 548 As muarrihat qabl"te, Itar would then be the one who quickens combats. This is precisely the activities performed by the goddess in the Epic of Tukult#-Ninurta and in the Sumerian texts. Taken together then, the epithets b!let t! and muarrihat qabl"te would compliment one another: Sovereign of Frenzy, who Quickens Combats.
545 Horowitz and Westenholz, LKA 63, 7. 546 Though listed under ar"hu, CAD does actually specify the form of the word. AHw does not even offer a translation, but does list it as a D-stem (AHw, ar"hu, 1183). 547 CAD A 1 , 222. 548 Ibid., 221. 290
Appendix E Aaritti am u er! !! !eti a para! !! ! qard#ti uklulat Preeminent One of Heaven and the Earth who wears the insignia of heroism
Adad-n"r"r! I A.0.99.2.A/I d i 8 -tr SAG-[ti] AN-e [ KI]-te a pa-ra-a! qar-du-ti uk-lu-lat
Tiglath-Pileser II A.0.100.1.A/I d INANA SAG-ti AN-e u KI-te pa-ra-a[! qard$ti uklulat]
Aur-na! !! !irpal II A.0.101.17.C d i 8 -tr SAG-ti AN-e KI-te a pa-ra-a! qar-du-ti uk-lu-lat A.0.101.20 d INANA SAG-ti [am u er!eti a para!] [qar-du]-te uk-lu-lat
almaneser III A.0.102.10.A/I d INANA SAG.KAL AN-e KI-ti A.0.102.14.C/I d INANA SAG-ti AN-e KI-te a GARZA qar-du-te uk-lu-lat
In EARI, the title aaritti am u er!eti Preeminent One of Heaven and the Earth, occurs only in the invocation units of the Annals of Adad-n!r!r" II, Tiglath- Pileser II, Aur-na!irpal II, and almaneser III. Similar to the designation b!let am u er!eti, aaritti am u er!eti is a powerful title and it is with it that the function of Itar is taken full circle. In Sumerian texts, and in the inscriptions of am"-Adad I and Tukult"- Ninurta I, Itar, in her manifestation as Sovereign of Heaven and the Earth, held executive authority over the southern lands. In her final designation as aaritti am u er!eti, Itar is elevated even higher. She becomes Preeminent of Heaven and the Earth, overshadowing all other deities. Also similar to the designation b!let am u er!eti, the title aaritti am u er!eti is a simple genitival chain comprised of the bound form of the governing noun, aarittu (aaritti), followed by the governed terms am and er!et in the genitive (am u er!eti). In each attestation, the terms am and er!etu are expressed logographically by AN and KI, 291 and each is accompanied by the expected phonetic compliments (-e with AN, and ti with KI). The term aarittu is signified by the logogram SAG, followed by the phonetic complement ti in all attestations, but one. In a single inscription of almaneser III, aarittu is indicated by the combined logogram SAG.KAL, without a phonemic compliment. 549 The writing of the name of the goddess is also not consistent. In the Annals of Adad-n!r!r" II and in a version of the Annals of Aur-na!irpal II, Itars name is written syllabically as d i 8 -tr. 550 Yet, in the Annals of Tiglath-Pileser II, in a second version of the Annals of Aur-na!irpal II, and in two versions of the Annals of almaneser III, her name is expressed logographically as d M ( d INANA). 551 As mentioned in the introduction, in the invocations, the title is consistently paired with the secondary martial epithet, a para! qard$ti uklulat she who wears the insignia of heroism. 552
a para! !! ! qard!ti uklulat The epithet, a para! qard$ti uklulat is attested in multiple EARI as a secondary epithet. The epithet appears, with only minor variants, in inscriptions from the early NA period and only in the inscriptions of Adad-n!r!r" II, Tukult"-Ninurta II, Aurnasirpal II, and almaneser III. 553 In the inscriptions of Adad-n!r!r", II Tukult"-Ninurta II, and Aurnasirpal II, the entire phrase is written syllabically. This, however, changes in the inscriptions of almaneser III. In one example of the phrase in this kings inscriptions
549 RIM A.0.102.10. 550 RIM A.0.99.2.A and A.0.101.17. 551 RIM A.0.100.1, A.101.020, A.0.102.10, and A.0.102.14 552 With the exception of one version of almanesers Annals (RIM A.0.102.10). 553 See the above catalogue. 292 par!u is signified by the logogram GARZA; the remaining sections of the epithet are spelled. Each attestation of a para! qard$ti uklulat is preceded by the supreme title for Itar, aaritti am u er!eti Sovereign of the Heaven and the Earth, with which it is in a genitival relationship. The epithet itself is a subordinate clause comprised of a genitival phrase governed by the stative uklulat. The governed phrase is composed of the governing noun par!u in the bound form (para!), followed by the abstract noun qard$tu in the genitive (qard$ti). Like the epithet b!let t"h"zi u qabli, a para! qard$ti uklulat assumes a full jurisdiction over battle, but this time, it is not battle itself that is highlight, it is the rites which accompany it. Variously translated as: who is endowed with all the attributes of heroism, 554
who possesses fully all the attributes of heroism, 555 or who is consummate in the canons of combat, 556 it is still not entirely clear what is meant by the epithet. The term uklulat is derived from the quadrilateral verb uklulu, which has the basic sense to make whole or to make complete. In Akkadian texts, to be whole or complete generally indicates perfection; thus, the verb is descriptive in nature. Literally, then, uklulat, should mean she who is in the state of being made perfect or complete, thus rendering the above translation who is endowed. The difficulty of translation and, thus, interpretation lies in the translation of the modifier, para! qard$tu. Unlike qard$tu heroism, the connotation behind par!u is a bit more difficult to define. Attested as early as the Old Akkadian period, it has very diverse set of meanings: 1. rite, ritual
554 CAD Q, 131. 555 CAD 3 225. 556 RIM A.100.1, A.0.101.17, A.0.101.20, and A.0.102.14. 293 2. temple office, prebend, income from a prebend 3. divine authority, power, office 4. symbol, insignia 5. authoritative decision, command, decree 6. custom, practice 557
As can be observed from the above list, par!u can have the meaning rite or ritual, but it can also mean divine authority, command, offices, or insignia. Itar is frequently defined in cuneiform sources as heroic. Evidence for this has already been given in the discussion concerning her standard martial epithet, b!let qabli u t"h"zi. Itar is also depicted as a goddess who may perfect the heroism of others. Again, this was illustrated in the previously mentioned texts in relation to the king. It will also be more fully discussed in a following section of this study. If par!u is understood as military procedures (or rites), then those qualities of Itar which make her the one who musters or arranges troops may be alluded to by this epithet. What has not yet been explored is Itars relationship to the cultic rites which involve battle. In a Sumerian hymn ascribed to the Ur III king ulgi, ulgi E, battle is metaphorically referred to as the rites of Inana, and, as can be seen, its connection to heroism is apparent: For the rebel lands, the illiterate (?) ones that carry no emblems, my warfare is a horizon on which there are clouds, enveloping the twilight in fear. The mountains, where the forests do not grow as thick as thornbushes, where in the cult places of the rites (gar. za) of Inana (i.e. in battle) throw-stick and shield do not tumble to the earth in a great storm, where the combatants take no rest in the insistent bitterness of the fierce battle, where life-fluid and blood from both scoundrel and honest person 558
The Sumerian word for rites (gar. za) is equal to par!u in certain circumstances. When
557 CAD P, 195. 558 ETCSL 2.4.2.05: 220-235. 294 these rites of Inana, take place throw-stick and shield do not tumble to the earth in a great storm and combatants take no rest in the insistent bitterness of the fierce battle. Those engaged in battle remain competent and do not abandon the fight even when tired. These are the actions which would be expected of heroic and skilled warriors. This circumstance is also reminiscent of that found in the Epic of Tukult#-Ninurta, in which the warriors praised Itar while performing battle. Thus, it may be that both the actions taken during battle, which then lead to heroism, may be what is alluded to in the epithet. This interpretation is bolstered by the meaning of the final martial epithet to be discussed, a m!lultaa tuqumtu. There is, however, yet another possible interpretation. If par!u is understood as insignia, then the epithet may be understood to reference Itars appearance. As explored by Gudrun Colbow, Itar was frequently depicted with various martial accoutrements. 559 If understood this way, para! qard$ti uklulat would be the epithet by which one could differentiate one Itar from another. The epithet could then be read who wears (is endowed with) the insignia of heroism. Reading the epithet this way, one may conclude that Itar performs a role akin to a general. She controls not only the troops, but also the very theater of war.
559 Gudrun Colbow, Die kriegerische Itar: zu den Erscheinungsformen bewaffneter Gottheiten zwischen der Mitte des 3. und der Mitte des 2. Jahrtausends (Mnchen: Profil Verlag, 1991); see also Marie Barrelet, Les desses armes et ailes, Syria 32 (1955): 22260. 295
Appendix F a m!lultaa tuqumtu "Whose game is fighting"
almaneser III A.0.102.2 d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M me-lul-ta- GI.LAL A.0.102.3 d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M me-lul-ta- GI.LAL A.0.102.4 [ d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 u M] me-lul-ta- [GI.LAL] A.0.102.6 d INANA be-lat MURUB 4 M] me-lul-ta- GI.LAL
Like the previously discussed epithets, the designation a m!lultaa tuqumtu is part of a double epithet. It is always is preceded by the standard martial epithet b!let qabli u t"h"zi and (as mentioned in the previous section discussing b!let qabli u t"h"zi) is attested only in the invocation units of four versions of the Annals of almaneser III. 560 In all attestations, m!lultaa is written syllabically, while the noun tuqumtu is indicated by the composite logogram GI.LAL. Like a para! qard$ti uklulat, a m!lultaa tuqumtu is a subordinate clause. Unlike a para! qard$ti uklulat, its composition is a simple verbless clause. This clause is comprised only of the bound form of the noun m!lultu with a f.s. pronominal suffix -a (m!lultaa) and the noun tuqumtu in the nominative. Because the translation of the epithet is easily evident, there is unanimity for its translation generally being rendered whose play/game is fighting. The meaning of the term tuqumtu is similar to qablu battle, or fight. 561 The noun m!lultu is a term for an unspecified play or game. 562 The verb m!lulu, from which it
560 RIM A.0.102.2, A.0.102.2, and A.0.102.4. The only other deity to carry a similar epithet is Itars counterpart, Nanaya: me-lul- qab-lum (Nanaya K 3600- DT 75, I 4 [ABRT I 55]. 561 CAD T, 481. 562 CAD M 2, 15. 296 is derived, means to play 563 and is used in a variety of contexts. In Mesopotamian texts, children are said to play in playgrounds, and when winds move, they are said to play. The idea that fighting was a form of play is attested in the Epic of Tukult#-Ninurta: immell$ma ina ehl$ti kakk [the men] play with sharp weapons. 564 In Sumerian texts, a popular metaphor for battle seems to have been e. e. men inana the game of Itar; and, the bilingual lexical series Diri lists m!lultu together with kepp (Itars weapon in the Epic of Tukult"-Ninurta) as Akkadian synonyms for the Sumerian term for game, e. e. men KI. E. NE. DI. 565
In the legend concerning the Early Dynasty ruler, Lugalbanda, Lugalbanda in the Wilderness, battle is presented as the game of Itar since the establishment of the universe: [In the days long past, when heaven was sundered from earth[when] the offices of lord and king of Unug were made brilliantly manifest, then sceptre and staff of Kulab were held high in battle which is Inana's game (m eemen
d inana. ke 4 ) 566
In a second legend concerning an Early Dynastic king, Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, the game seems not to have been the battle itself, but rather the provocation/ incitement of the warriors. This is made explicit in a speech made by the messenger of the king of Aratta involving the goddess: And if were he able to pile it up in the courtyard of Aratta Truly, if he were able to pile it up in this manner, then the joy of the grain pile (Itar), the torch of
563 CAD M 2, 16. 564 ETN col. v 49. 565 Diri IV goes so far as to specify that it is, in fact, a game of Itar: 273 e. e. me. i n KI.E.NE.DI.AN.INANNA ki-ip-pu- = MIN
(= kip-pu-u), me-lul-t d INANNA (CAD M, 15). 566 Lugalbanda in the Wilderness 1-14, as presented in Herman Vanstiphout, Epic of Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003). 297 the mountains, the emblem of the settlements, the ornament of the seven walls, the mistress fit for battle, Inana ( d inana), the heroine of the battleground who makes the troops dance her dance (eemen d inana) 567
And it may be recalled that in the poem in. nin. me. hu. a Itar declares that by storming the mountain she will start the game of Inana: Against its magnificent sides I shall place magnificent battering-rams, against its small sides I shall place small battering-rams. I shall storm it and start the 'game' of holy Inana. In the mountain range I shall start battles (m) and prepare conflicts (en. en). 568
This same characterization is found in the previously discussion Sumerian hymn, in. nin. ag 4 . gur 4 . ra. The game, was not always thought to be good. Sometimes men were advised not to engage in Inanas game, as we read in the Exploits of Ninurta: But lord, do not venture again to a battle as terrible as that. Do not lift your arm to the smiting of weapons, to the festival of the young men, to Inana's dance (eemen d inana. ke 4 )! Lord, do not go to such a great battle as this! 569
The Sumerian term eemen
can also indicate a festival, or time of joy. This sense of the term is also displayed with regards to warfare in Akkadian texts. In the Akkadian legend, Sargon, the Conquering Hero, battle is equated with a festival: 10 !i-na-an-na" ? -a-ma a-a-re-du-um is-s-a[k-k]ar 11 te-er pa-ag-ru-uk u-ku-ut- ta-ka 12 // t[i-i]l-li-ka 13 wu-di at-[t]a a "e-[mi] ka-i-id-ka na-kr 14 // (x)-x-x-x-ul- x 15 pi-ka li-ib-ba-ka li-wa-hi-ir 16 li-ib-ba-ka li-wa-hi-ir bi-ir-ki-ka 17 an-na mi-it- hu-ru-um-ma a qr-ra-di 18 ur-ra-am q-ab-lam ak-ka-di -ar-ra 19 [i]-si-nu-um a mu-ti in-ni-pu-u
Now (?), the champion speaks, Restore to your body your jewelry, your festive garb! Certainly, you are endowed with "!mu, your attacker is the enemy of Let
567 Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta 285-289, as presented in Vanstiphout, Epic of Sumerian Kings. 568 ETCSL 1.3.2: 96-99. 569 ETCSL 1.6.2: 137-139. 298 your mouth command your legs! Here, then, is the clashing of heroes. Tomorrow, Akkade will commence battle. A festival of arms will be celebrated. 570
This festival can also be specifically attributed to Itar, as in Aguaya: #sina tamh"ru. 571
570 Sargon the Conquering Hero 10-19, as presented in Westenholz, Legends. 571 Aguaya col. III 7 (Groneberg, Lob der Itar, 76). 299
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