Ištaran

Template:Short description Template:Template otherTemplate:Wikidata imageTemplate:Compare image with Wikidata Ištaran (Ishtaran; Template:Langx) was a Mesopotamian god who was the tutelary deity of the city of Der, a city-state located east of the Tigris, in the proximity of the borders of Elam. It is known that he was a divine judge, and his position in the Mesopotamian pantheon was most likely high, but much about his character remains uncertain. He was associated with snakes, especially with the snake god Nirah, and it is possible that he could be depicted in a partially or fully serpentine form himself. He is first attested in the Early Dynastic period in royal inscriptions and theophoric names. He appears in sources from the reign of many later dynasties as well. When Der attained independence after the Ur III period, local rulers were considered representatives of Ištaran. In later times, he retained his position in Der, and multiple times his statue was carried away by Assyrians to secure the loyalty of the population of the city.

Name

Ištaran's name could be written in cuneiform as ^dKA.DI or ^dMUŠ.Template:Sfn In the case of the first of these logograms, the reading Ištaran has been established as correct by Wilfred G. Lambert in 1969.Template:Sfn Other, now obsolete, proposals included Sataran, Satran,Template:Sfn Gusilim,Template:Sfn and Eatrana.Template:Sfn Also attested are a variant form, Iltaran, and an Emesal one, Ezeran (or Ezzeran).Template:Sfn The latter logogram could also designate the messenger (šipru) of Ištaran,Template:Sfn Nirah,Template:Sfn as well as the tutelary god of Susa, Inshushinak,Template:Sfn the tutelary god of Eshnunna, Tishpak,Template:Sfn and the primordial river deity Irḫan.Template:Sfn With a different determinative, ^mulMUŠ, it referred to the constellation Hydra, which could be associated with Ištaran.Template:Sfn Sometimes ^dDI.KU was used to render the name Ištaran as well, though these signs were also used to designate other judge deities, such as Mandanu and Diku (the deification of the Sumerian word "judge").Template:Sfn

It is commonly assumed that Ištaran's name originated in a Semitic language.Template:Sfn It has been proposed that it was etymologically related to Ishtar.Template:Sfn Christopher Woods suggests that the suffix -an should be understood as plural, and translates the name as "the two Ishtars", which he assumes might have been a way to refer to the morning and evening star.Template:Sfn He suggests that Ištaran was formed through syncretism of an Ishtar-like deity and a local snake god.Template:Sfn However, the linguistic association between the names Ištaran and Ishtar is not universally accepted.Template:Sfn Richard L. Litke instead assumed that Ištaran's name was Elamite in origin due to the location of Der, and that it was difficult to render for Mesopotamian scribes as a result.Template:Sfn

Ištaran could also be called Anu Rabû or AN.GAL, "Great Anu".Template:Sfn In Elamite sources, the signs AN.GAL instead designate the god Napirisha, in the past incorrectly believed to be the same deity as Humban.Template:Sfn Wouter Henkelman proposes a connection between these two deities based on this similarity, as well as their shared affinity with snakes and the fact that Der was located close to Elam.Template:Sfn

Character and iconography

Ištaran's character is poorly understood,Template:Sfn even though he belonged to a "very high level in the pantheon".Template:Sfn It is known that he was primarily viewed as a divine judge.Template:Sfn His just character was regarded as proverbial,Template:Sfn and kings such as Gudea of Lagash and Shulgi of Ur compared themselves to him in inscriptions to present themselves as equally just.Template:Sfn An Old Babylonian adab song makes a similar comparison with Nergal in place of a king.Template:Sfn

Based on Ištaran's placement in the proximity of Ereshkigal in the god list An = Anum it has been suggested that he was associated with the underworld.Template:Sfn It is also known that he could be viewed as one of the Dumuzi-like mourned "dying gods", as attested in Sumerian litanies and in a late ritual from Assur, according to which his death took place in the summer.Template:Sfn The latter text states that his corpse was beaten and the blood reached the underworld.Template:Sfn In a single text, he and Dumuzi are outright equated with each other.Template:Sfn Irene Sibbing-Plantholt argues he could also be associated with healing.Template:Sfn She notes that in a text from Malgium the theophoric name Ištarān-asû occurs,Template:Sfn asû being a term translated either as "physician" or more broadly "healer".Template:Sfn Based on Ištaran's alternate name, Anu Rabû, it has also been proposed that he was associated with the sky.Template:Sfn It has been argued that in art his possible celestial aspect might have been represented by rays coming out of his shoulders.Template:Sfn In one of the Temple Hymns, he is referred to as lugal dubur anna, "lord of the base of heaven".Template:Sfn

According to Wilfred G. Lambert, Ištaran's face was regarded as beautiful.Template:Sfn A lament refers to him as "bright-eyed".Template:Sfn He was also associated with snakes.Template:Sfn In the Temple Hymns, the entrance to his temple is said to be decorated with an image of intertwined mušḫuššu and horned viper (muš-šag₄-tur₃).Template:Sfn It is also possible that depictions of snakes on kudurru (boundary stones) represented Ištaran as a judge deity resolving conflicts over land.Template:Sfn Frans Wiggermann additionally assumes that a god depicted with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a snake, known from cylinder seals from the Sargonic period, might be Ištaran.Template:Sfn Christopher Woods instead proposes that this figure is Nirah.Template:Sfn Wiggermann argues this is implausible, as Nirah was a servant deity, while the snake god according to him is depicted as an "independent lord".Template:Sfn He also notes a similar figure, though seated on a serpent throne rather than directly partially serpentine himself, is also present on seals from Susa, and might represent Inshushinak.Template:Sfn He argues that both of these gods, as well as other deities, such as Ninazu, Ningishzida, Tishpak and the so-called boat god belonged to a group he refers to as "transtigridian snake gods" due to their similar character and iconography and the location of their cult centers.Template:Sfn He assumes all of them developed on the boundary between Mesopotamian and Elamite culture.Template:Sfn

Associations with other deities

Family and court

Ištaran could be viewed as a son of Anu and Urash, and as a result the Old Babylonian Nippur god list associates him with Uruk.Template:Sfn Marten Stol assumes that both Ištaran and Inshushinak were regarded as sons of Tishpak by the compiler of the god list An = Anum.Template:Sfn A list of city gods from Ur groups them together.Template:Sfn A late ritual known from Assur addresses Ishtar as Ištaran's sister.Template:Sfn

In An = Anum, Ištaran appears without a wife, but in an inscription of Esarhaddon this role is assigned to the goddess Šarrat-Deri, "Queen of Der". or Deritum, "she of Der".Template:Sfn There is also some evidence that Manzat, a goddess regarded as the divine representation of the rainbow, was viewed as his wife.Template:Sfn Irene Sibbing-Plantholt notes that based on the reference to this tradition in a syncretistic hymn to Nanaya it can be assumed that she was worshiped in Der alongside him in either the late second millennium BCE or in the first millennium BCE.Template:Sfn

Nirah was the messenger (šipru) of Ištaran.Template:Sfn He could also be viewed as his son.Template:Sfn The god Zīzānu was either another son of Ištaran or a son of Qudma,Template:Sfn his sukkal (attendant deity).Template:Sfn Further members of his court include the deities Rāsu, Turma and Itūr-mātiššu.Template:Sfn

Foreign equivalents and syncretism

In an Old Babylonian bilingual Akkadian-Amorite god list, Ištaran's counterpart in the Amorite column is aš-ti-ul-ḫa-al-ti.Template:Sfn Andrew R. George and Template:Ill note that this name might have an Elamite origin, and that the presence of such a deity in the Amorite pantheon is not impossible, as they inhabited the area of Emutbalum close to Der and Elam, and the well known Amorite leader Kudur-Mabuk and his father Simti-Šilḫak both bore Elamite names.Template:Sfn

A bilingual Hurro-Akkadian version of the Weidner god list from Emar seemingly regards Ištaran, misspelled as ^dKA.DI.DI (possibly an example of dittography, an error involving reduplication of a sign) and Kumarbi (usually associated with Enlil or Syrian Dagan) as equivalents.Template:Sfn Frank Simons assumes that this connection might be based on their shared association with the underworld, on shared perception as the "Father of Gods" (a prayer to Nisaba refers to ^dMUŠ as "father of the gods," though direct references to Ištaran in such a role are not known), or possibly on an unknown myth about Ištaran which resembled the Hurrian myths pertaining to Kumarbi's dethroning.Template:Sfn

It is possible that in the late first millennium, attempts at syncretising Ištaran and Anu were made during a period of cooperation between the theologians from Uruk, Nippur and Der, but direct evidence is presently lacking.Template:Sfn

A late god list equating various deities with Marduk mentions Anu Rabû among them, but the translation of the explanatory line is uncertain.Template:Sfn

In tablet III of the "Epic of Anzû," Ištaran is listed as one of the names of Ninurta along with other names of deities that are claimed to be equivalents of him in this composition, namely Zababa, Pabilsag, Inshushinak (described as bēl pirišti, "lord of secrets"),Template:Sfn Ninazu, Panigara (an alternate spelling of the name Panigingarra),Template:Sfn Ḫurabtil (labeled as an Elamite god), Lugal-Marada, and even Lugalbanda (a legendary king of Uruk) and Papsukkal (a messenger god, sukkal of Zababa).Template:Sfn Andrew R. George suggests that based on their placement in documents such as the Canonical Temple List, it is possible that some of these gods - Ištaran, Inshushinak, Zababa and Lugal-Marada - could be seen as "local manifestations" of Ninurta by the ancient theologians responsible for compilation of such texts.Template:Sfn Michael P. Streck emphasizes that such associations would be typical mostly for late theology.Template:Sfn

Worship

Ištaran was the tutelary god of Der.Template:Sfn His temple located there was known under the ceremonial Sumerian name Edimgalkalamma, "House, Great Bond of the Land".Template:Sfn A library was attached to it, and it is known the scribes of Der were in contact with those from Uruk and Babylon.Template:Sfn However, as of 2010, only seven tablets whose colophons state they originate in Der are known.Template:Sfn

Oldest attestations of Ištaran are royal inscriptions from the Early Dynastic period from Lagash and Umma, and one of such texts attributed to Entemena relays how Mesalim of Kish at the command of Ištaran demarcated the border between these two states,Template:Sfn represented by their gods Ningirsu and Shara.Template:Sfn It has been proposed that Ištaran was understood as a neutral party, similarly to how Dagan was portrayed in similar texts from contemporary Syria, and as such as a suitable deity to ask for resolution of such conflicts.Template:Sfn Another Early Dynastic ruler, Lugalzagesi, called himself a "beloved friend of Ištaran".Template:Sfn Theophoric names invoking Ištaran also first appear in sources from the Early Dynastic period.Template:Sfn

Evidence for the worship of Ishtaran in the Sargonic period includes a mace head dedicated to him by Naram-Sin of Akkad, found in Ur,Template:Sfn and theophoric names from Adab, such as Ur-Ištaran.Template:Sfn Gudea, who reigned after the fall of the Akkadian Empire, in an inscription compared himself to Ištaran, asserting that like him he would declare just judgments not only for Sumerians and Akkadians, but even for "a brute from Gutium".Template:Sfn In the following Ur III period, king Shulgi patronized the Edimgalkalamma.Template:Sfn A Sumerian text from the third millennium BCE found in Susa, where it was presumably brought in the aftermath of an Elamite raid, also mentions work undertaken in his temple in Der, might predate his dynasty, but the name of the ruler responsible for it is lost.Template:Sfn One of Shulgi's daughters bore the name ME-Ištaran (reading of the first element uncertain), as attested in documents from the Garšana archive, which detail matters related to her estate located there and mention her marriage to a certain Shu-Kabta, a man who was apparently both a physician and a military official.Template:Sfn

The formula "favorite of Ištaran, beloved of Inanna" (migir Ištaran, naram Inanna) was used by the viceroys of Der Ilum-muttabil (also read Anum-muttabil),Template:Sfn Nidnuša,Template:Sfn and a third holder of this office whose name is not preserved.Template:Sfn They reigned during Der's period of independence after the fall of the Third Dynasty of Ur.Template:Sfn In this period the rulers of Der were considered representatives of Ištaran on earth, which is presumed to parallel the development of similar models of rulership in Eshnunna and Assur, where the local rulers similarly were believed to act as governors on behalf of Tishpak and Ashur, respectively.Template:Sfn An inscription of Ilum-Muttabil indicates that he dedicated a new construction project to Ištaran too, but it is unknown if it refers to a temple.Template:Sfn Eckhart Frahm notes that it is not impossible repairs of Edimgalkalamma are described in it, though he due to their poor preservation of the text cannot be established with certainty.Template:Sfn

In a royal inscription preserved on a clay cylinder found in Ur, Sin-Iddinam of Larsa recorded that after defeating and taking captive an enemy ruler, Warassa, he entrusted him to Ištaran and released his imprisoned troops, and states that the king declared he took these actions "In order that my name is mentioned in Der in remote (days)".Template:Sfn Warassa might have ruled over either Der itself, much like his namesake known from sources contemporary with the reign of Hammurabi of Babylon, or nearby Malgium; the third proposed location he might have hailed from, Eshnunna, is considered unlikely, as Sin-Iddinam refers to him as lugal, rather than ensi₂, the typical title of Eshnunnean rulers.Template:Sfn An inscription of the Assyrian king Ilu-šūma mentions Ištaran and his city in passing.Template:Sfn This text is the oldest known reference to cities other than Assur in Assyrian royal inscriptions.Template:Sfn In the Old Babylonian period, a man bearing the theophoric name Ištaran-nasir was a merchant active in Carchemish and was in contact with Zimri-Lim, the king of Mari, informing him about events such as a festival of Nubandag and the death of king Aplahanda.Template:Sfn

In the Kassite period, Edimgalkalamma was rebuilt during the reign of one of the two kings bearing the Kurigalzu (Kurigalzu I or Kurigalzu II).Template:Sfn The 1920 discovery of a text documenting this event contributed towards identifying its findspot, Tell Aqar, as the location of Der.Template:Sfn He is also referenced in an inscription from Susa from the reign of one of the Kurigalzua, and possibly in another from Babylon also attributed to one of them.Template:Sfn Furthermore, he appears in eleven theophoric names from Nippur from the Kassite period, with further five invoking "Anu Rabû".Template:Sfn He is also one of the few Mesopotamian gods attested in linguistically Kassite theophoric names, which usually invoked Kassite deities rather than Mesopotamian ones.Template:Sfn Multiple people bearing theophoric names invoking Ištaran (^dKA.DI or AN.GAL) are also attested in the documents of the First Sealand dynasty, and Ran Zadok proposes that these individuals originally came from Der.Template:Sfn He is also invoked in the Elamite name Kuk-Ištaran, "protection of Ištaran".Template:Sfn

An inscription of king Marduk-nadin-ahhe of the Second Dynasty of Isin mentions Anu Rabû as the last god in a long sequence of deities, immediately after Išḫara.Template:Sfn

In later periods Ištaran was worshiped in the treasury of the Ešarra temple in Assur.Template:Sfn Assyrians also intervened a number of times in the religious affairs of Der, and repeatedly carried off and returned the statue of Ištaran in order to ensure the loyalty of local inhabitants.Template:Sfn During the reign of Shamshi-Adad V, statues of the deities of Der, including Ištaran, as well as Šarrat-Deri, Mār-bīti, Urkitum, Saĝkud of Bubê and others, were seized by the Assyrian army which attacked the city, as documented in a letter of this king addressed to the god Ashur.Template:Sfn They were later returned by Adad-nirari III.Template:Sfn The city god was however subsequently taken away once more on the orders of Sennacherib to punish the local population for their earlier support of the Elamite king Template:Ill, who campaigned in Mesopotamia against Aššur-nādin-šumi, the Assyrian ruler's son and governor of Babylonia.Template:Sfn However, he was once again returned when Esarhaddon ascended to the throne, which was a part of a broader process of reversal of his predecessor's policy towards southern cities.Template:Sfn He also renovated the Edmigalkalamma, which was damaged in an Elamite invasion during the reign of Enlil-nadin-šumi.Template:Sfn Esarhaddon's efforts were subsequently continued by his son Ashurbanipal, as documented in three texts from Nineveh.Template:Sfn Most likely the work in Der was stretched over the course of multiple years, starting before 652 BCE and concluding at some point between 647 and 645 BCE.Template:Sfn A text from Ashurbanipal's reign also mentions Ištaran (under the name Anu Rabû) as one of the deities who aided this king during a campaign against Elam (653 BCE) alongside Ashur, Lugal-asal, Marduk, Nabu and Shamash.Template:Sfn

Ištaran most likely continued to be worshiped in Der until the city was deserted in either the Seleucid or Parthian period.Template:Sfn While in the past it was assumed that theophoric names invoking him stopped being used after the Kassite period,Template:Sfn more recent research shows that scribes from Der still bore such names in the late first millennium BCE.Template:Sfn

Mythology

A fragmentary text known Abu SalabikhTemplate:Sfn and Ebla mentions a group consisting of Shamash, Ištaran, the river god ^dÍD Template:Sfn and Nammu.Template:Sfn The connection between Ištaran and Shamash was based on their shared association with justice, and later recurs for example in inscriptions of Gudea.Template:Sfn Like them, ^dÍD was a divine judge, and Nammu's presence might be the result of association between him and this goddess attested elsewhere.Template:Sfn

The Hymn to Nanshe mentions Ištaran in his role of a divine judge, possibly in association with Ningishzida.Template:Sfn

Ištaran is also mentioned in the Epic of Erra, where he forsakes the inhabitants of Der after they start acting violently.Template:Sfn He is also the only deity to resist Erra's destructive rampage.Template:Sfn

A Neo-Assyrian copy of a lament originally dealing only with the death of Damu contains the names of nine deities who met the same fate,Template:Sfn including Ištaran.Template:Sfn

External links

• Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses: Ištaran (god)