Gatumdug

Template:Short description Template:Template otherTemplate:Wikidata imageTemplate:Compare image with Wikidata Gatumdug (Template:Langx; ^dĜa₂-tum₃-dug₃;Template:Sfn also romanized as GatumduTemplate:Sfn) was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the tutelary deity of Lagash and closely associated with its kings. She was initially worshiped only in this city and in NINA, but during the reign of Gudea a temple was built for her in Girsu. She appears in a number of literary compositions, including the hymn inscribed on the Gudea cylinders and Lament for Sumer and Ur.

Name and character

The meaning of Gatumdug's name is unknown,Template:Sfn though it is presumed that it can be classified as linguistically Sumerian.Template:Sfn Its emesal form was ma-ze₂-ze₂-be.Template:Sfn She was the tutelary goddess of Lagash, and could be metaphorically described as its mother in Early Dynastic sources.Template:Sfn In the hymn inscribed on the Gudea cylinders she is addressed as its divine founder as well.Template:Sfn

Some of the early Lagashite kings, including Enanatum I and Enmetena, designated her as their divine mother, though for other rulers of this state role was fulfilled by a different local goddess, Bau, as attested as in the case of Eanatum, Lugalanda and Urukagina).Template:Sfn Gatumdug could be described with the term ku₃, variously translated as "holy", "sacred", "lustrous" or "shining".Template:Sfn

Associations with other deities

It has been suggested in past scholarship that Gatumdug and Bau were initially two names of the same deity, but Template:Ill considers this implausible.Template:Sfn However, they could be syncretised in later sources.Template:Sfn A direct equation between them is attested in the god list An = Anum (tablet V, line 62).Template:Sfn In an early example of a syncretic hymn, the Old Babylonian composition Ninisina and the gods (Ninisina F in the ETCSL), Gatumdug is instead equated with the eponymous goddess.Template:Sfn

On the Gudea cylinders Gatumdug is addressed as a child of An.Template:Sfn

Worship

Gatumdug was already worshiped in Lagash in the Early Dynastic period.Template:Sfn She appears in one of the Zame Hymns discovered in Abu Salabikh, where she is described as its tutelary goddess.Template:Sfn Template:Ill points out that in Early Dynastic sources from the state of Lagash, she received offerings in the city of Lagash itself as well as in NINA (during festivals of its city goddess Nanshe), but not in Girsu, the city associated with Bau, who in turn did not receive offerings in the former two of these three cities.Template:Sfn The construction of a temple dedicated to Gatumdug is mentioned in the inscriptions of Ur-Nanshe, Eannatum and Entemena.Template:Sfn The first of these rulers also erected a statue representing her.Template:Sfn Bendt Alster pointed out that the inscription commemorating this event, which also mentions statues of Nanshe and Shulsaga, is the oldest known text to directly mention anthropomorphic statues of deities.Template:Sfn Sources from Lagash state that the temple was set on fire by Lugalzagesi, who also stole precious metals and lapis lazuli from it and destroyed statues displayed in it.Template:Sfn Despite her apparent importance in Lagash, Gatumdug is ultimately relatively sparsely attested in Early Dynastic sources.Template:Sfn She was also not invoked in theophoric names in this period.Template:Sfn Attested members of her clergy include a sanga (temple administrator) and a nin-dingir priestess.Template:Sfn

Gatumdug retained her importance under the reign of Gudea.Template:Sfn He referred to himself as her child.Template:Sfn One of his year names refers to the construction of a temple dedicated to her.Template:Sfn It was located in Girsu.Template:Sfn He also dedicated a statue representing him as an architect to her in the same city.Template:Sfn According to another of his inscriptions she assigned a lamma (tutelary protective deity) to him.Template:Sfn Passages alluding to this event are considered evidence of lamma being regarded as separate from a personal deity, as it is well attested that Ningishzida played this role for said ruler.Template:Sfn

Gatumdug continued to be worshiped in the Ur III period.Template:Sfn A temple dedicated to her continued to operate.Template:Sfn Various offerings were made to her, including butter, cheese, flour and dates.Template:Sfn A bead dedicated to her for the life of king Ibbi-Sin by a certain E-ḫegal is also known.Template:Sfn

In literature

File:Cylindres de Gudea - Musée du Louvre Antiquités orientales AO MNB 1511 ; MNB 1512.jpg

Gudea cylinders. Louvre.

Gatumdug is mentioned in the text inscribed on the Gudea cylinders,Template:Sfn a hymn commemorating the rebuilding of Ningirsu's temple E-ninnu.Template:Sfn She is the first of the deities the eponymous ruler consults regarding the meaning of his dreams.Template:Sfn In his inquiry he refers to her as his mother and father.Template:Sfn She subsequently provides the bricks needed for his construction project.Template:Sfn

In the Lament for Sumer and Ur, composed after the fall of the Third Dynasty of Ur,Template:Sfn Gatumdug is one of the goddesses who abandon their cult centers during the described disaster.Template:Sfn

An indirect late reference to Gatumdug occurs in a bilingual (Sumero-Akkadian) hymn to Shulgi.Template:Sfn It was discovered in Nippur and dates to the Old Babylonian period.Template:Sfn It is attributed to an individual bearing the theophoric name Ur-Gatumdug, addressed as an apkallu.Template:Sfn

External links

• The building of Ninĝirsu's temple (Gudea, cylinders A and B) in the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
• Ninisina and the gods (Ninisina F) in the ETCSL