The Staff of Ninsubura

THE STAFF OF NINSUBURA STUDIES IN BABYLONIAN DEMONOLOGY, II * F A M WlGGERMANN (CHICAGO/AMSTERDAM) ] The identification oj Ninsubura R. S Ellis (Ellis 1967: 51 ff ) defined the function of images of the "god with the staff" (Iext-fig 1 A 3) found buried underneath the daises of Mesopotamian temples as apotiopaic His definition was based on the analogy with certainly apotropaic clay figures buried in houses and palaces (Wiggermann 1986), and on his identification of the "god with the staff1 with Papsukkal, for whom Surpu and Maqlu (Ellis 1967: 60s 6) indicate apotropaic activity A new text (Borger 1973: 176ft) definitely identified the "god with the staff" as Ninsubura The new text prescribes an inscription for a figure of Ninsubura, and the prescribed inscription is identical with the one found on actual figures of the "god with the staf": sukkal i-li mu-ir-[ru h]a-mi-im kul-lat me-he-e (Borger 1973: 179: .36f), translated by Borger as "Der Wezir/Bote der Gotter, der Lenker, der alle Stiirnrie bezwingt" Borger (Borger 1973: 183) derives the function of the figure from its inscription: "man erwartete von ihnen offenbar Schutz gegen den Tempel bediohende Sturme" The attributes of the god, however, do not agree with the assumed apotiopaic function: he is unarmed, his attitude is not threatening, his position under the dais, the very heart of the temple, is unfit for defense, and the inscription is not unambiguously apotropaic Yet even in magic reason rules, and apotropaic figures are armed, threatening, strategically placed at the gate, and properly inscribed as defenders and warriors (Wiggermann 1986: 117ff ). Clay figures with other func- tions are clearly marked as such, and we must certainly not lump together all clay figures as apotiopaic (Wiggermann 1986: 129 JT) Indeed, Ellis himself (Ellis 1967: 60 f) was not convinced of an uniquely apotropaic function: "of the three epithets written on the figurines, sukkal Hi has the * Studies in Babylonian Demonology, I appeared in JEOL 21 (1981-82) 90-105 Ihe new edition of O R Gurney, 'Babylonian Prophylactic Figures and their rituals', AAA 22 (1935) 42ff., Text I, and the discussions establishing the identity and spellings of fcmarikku, and other apotropaic figures, have now appeared (Wiggermann 1986) For the abbreviations in the text and in the bibliography, see R Borger, Handbuih der Keilschiift- liieratur II, Berlin-New York (1975), XI-XXXII, and I A Brinkman e a ed., The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago Volume 15 S, Cfiicago-Gliickstadt (1984), vii-xxii For some addenda see p 133 4 jaarbericht ex oriente lux 29 — 1985-86 greatest appearance of being a title referring to the essential function of the god .. virtually identical figures occur in the temples of several different gods, as if the god in question were a relatively minor one who exercised the same function in relation to more than one deity". He suggested that "although there is no evidence for it, it seems also possible that the function of the god with the staff was also, at least in part, that of a woidly sukkallu: to bring news to and deliver orders from his patron". BorgeT's identification of the figure as Ninsubura did away with the apotiopaic Papsukkal, and seemingly all that remained to derive the function of the figure from was the inscription ]). Contrary to Borger, however, it is not only the inscription that gives a clue to the function of Ninsubura in the building ritual (Borger 1973). When the exorcist is going to fashion the statue of Ninsubura, he informs the future inhabitant of the temple "Lord, I am going to make your viziej (sukkallu)" (8f) This indicates, as seen already by Ellis, that the element sukkallu in the inscription is not an accidental epithet, but the essential attribute of the god, and the reason for his appearance in the ritual Moreover, Borger*s translation of the third epithet, hamim kullat mehe as "who subdues all storms", and "his subsequent derivation of apotropaic function from this translation (guards against storms threatening the temple) is not unobjec- tionable Firstly, hamamu does not mean "to subdue (bezwingen)", but "to collect", "to gather (to oneself)". The neutral translation offered by CAD Mj2 179 f is to be preferred: "master of all stoims". Secondly, a variant throws a different light on the meaning of mehu in this inscription The variant stems from the inscription on a damaged Ninsubura figurine from Ur (Rittig 1977: 20f, 41f), to be read with Borger (Borger BiOr 14 119) [sukkal ;-// m]u-ir-ru-um [ha-mi-im] kul-lat par-si (UE7 1 160). Although hamim kullat parsi "who holds all divine powers (in his hand)" is a well attested combination (CAD H 59a, Farber-Flugge 1973: 140f ) and perfectly fitting the nature of Ninsubura as a sukkal-god (see below), we must give piecedence to hamim kullat mehe Mehe is attested at least four times, against parsi only once, and the figurine with parsi is not very much older—if older at all—than the oldest figurine with mehe (Rittig 1977: 41) Mehe is lectio difficilior It is not normally construed with hamamu, and the replacement of me-he-e by parsu may be explained by assuming a slightly damaged original with me-he-e'1 read as me.hi.a = parsu Nevertheless, the fact that a variant with parsi does exist, shows that mehe cannot refer to storms threatening the temple, since in that case the variant inscription would have a totally different meaning The variants can be harmonized by assuming that mehe refers metaphoiically to the words of the gods expressing their regulations (parsu). ') The figures were collected and discussed by Rittig 1977: 36ff., 180ft., 209ft , 226f ; Rittig was not convinced of an uniquely apotropaic function (43, 227) See also Green 1983: 95 wiggermann — the staff of ninsubura 5 Thus we conclude that there is no reason at all to assume an apotropaic function for the "god with the staff' He is a sukkal-god who 'brings news to and delivers orders fiom his master" (Ellis1 alternative proposal, see also below, note 77). 2 A false Ninsubura "the god with the mace" B Landsbergei (Landsberger 1948: 89226) and W G Lambert (Lambert 1976: 13 f. also 1979: 9 ad 23) identify Ninsubura with another figure, well known fiom (mainly Old) Babylonian iconography This figure is characterized by a splaying beard2), a turban, a dress reaching to the knees, and a mace held in the hand immediately below the lump Others designate him as "Gottkonig als Krieger"3), "supreme warrior"4), or "god with the mace"5) The identification with Amurru6) is now generally given up Landsbergei and Lambert base theii identification on what is called by Lambert the "overall-view" method: gods frequently attested in OB seal inscriptions must be represented on OB seals with comparable frequency A sharper version of this theory is brought foreward by M Kelly-Buccellati (Kelly-Buccellati 1977: 47). who holds that "there often is a correspondance between the god named in the inscription and the motifs shown" She analyzes motifs and figures on seals with Samas, Amurru, Adad, and Ninsubura in their inscriptions, and concludes that 2) Banelet 1974: 35, Potada 1979: 3ft , see below note 89 3) Introduced by Moorigat 1940: 37ff and severely criticized by Landsberger 1948: 89; see also wiih previous literature and discussions, Douglas van Buren 1952: 92 ff, Nagel 1957: 98ff, Opificius 1961: 224ff, Solyman 1968: 80ff. Strommenger RIA 4 347, Banelet 1974: 361V, Moorey 1973: 75 77, 1975: 83, Col/on 1986: 22f., 36, lOOff *) Ravn 1960: 44 s) Frankfort 1939: 168: likely that he stands for a variety of deities . Amunu Conqueror-god the king, or even the king's statue", see also Porada 1948: 52, and 1962: 105 f 6) Ward 1910: 176ff 381; the identification with Amurru was rejected by Kupper 1961: 13 Moorey 1978: 48, suspects a close association between the "man with a mace" and Amurru (identified by his crook) Boehmer RIA 3 468b, 6 205b does not identify the figure with Amurru. but does consider his divinity proved The position of M Kelly-Buccellati 1977: 49 f is not completely clear She identifies with Amurru and/or (?) Ninsubura. A unique seal inscription, cited by Kelly-Buccellati 1977: 50 (Hermitage 6447. provisionally published by Lavinskaya The seal will be published by W G Lambert, whom we thank for his information that the correct reading of the original corresponds to our reading corrected on the basis of the published transcription), after a correction of the reading, throws much needed light on the presence of Amurru and his crook: an an.mar.iu gi3 gam Sen SuGAiffbr gal) Sul.a lum du8 du8 Lavlinskaya in the original publication, and Keliy-Buccellati in her quotation, read gi£ alam instead of giS gam Seal inscriptions, however, do not refer to "statues" of gods, but to gods, alam is not spelled with giS, Sen i's not a known divine attribute (see below note 13), and the signs alam and gam can easily have been confused by Laviinskaya. The resulting reading makes very good sense: ■'Amuiru, who holds the pure crook, who releases sin" The seal inscription confirms what was known from later texts of older origin (see CAD G 35a. Wtggeimann 1986: 121. below note 8) and OB seals: that the crook (curved staff) = gamlu belonged to Amurru The gamht is one of the tools of the (divine) exorcist, it purifies, remits sin, and exorcizes, and the second epithet of Amurru in the seal inscription is thus clearly related lo the first The function of Amunu, the god who holds the crook on OB seals is that of exorcist: lu-glsgam-su~du7 = mumpu, 'exorcist' (see CAD M/2 28 la) [Add] 6 jaarbericht ex oriente lux 29 — 1985-86 Amunu and/or (?) Ninsubura must (?) (can ?) be identified with the "god with the mace" (1977: 49 f) Lambert, apparently following Landsbergei {Landsberger 1948: 89f 226: "Stab- symbol") and Douglas van Buren {Douglas van Buren 1956: 101 ff) identifies the gidri "stafF', "sceptie" of the seal inscriptions—Ninsubura is gidri-kii su-du7/8, "holding a pure staff' (Sjdberg 1969: 97b)—with the mace held by the "god with the mace", and objects to the interpretation of the "mace" as a weapon because of the way it is held (below the lump) He calls it a "ceremonial sceptre or mace" Upon closer inspection, the arguments given for the identity of the "god with the mace" dissolve, and Ninsubura can be saved for the "god with the staff': The inscribed seals collected and discussed by Kelly-Buccellati show a coirespon- dance between the names of the gods and the attributes of the figures Text-fig 1 repeats her Fig B in a simplified form Names Figure holding saw cup mace crook lightning fork Samas + + + + Amunu + + + + + Adad + + + + Ninsubura + + + + Fig. 1. + : occurs + + : marked preference of a name for a figure. (Adapted from Kelly-Buccellati 1977: 48) It is not warranted, however, to interpret the correspondances as pointing to a relation of identity, Firstly, both a name and a figure may occur alone, showing that each carries meaning by itself7). Secondly, each of the figures with saw, cup, or mace, may co-occur with each of the names Samas, Amuiru, Adad, or Ninsubura, showing that the choice for one of the names is not determined simply by the ') For inscribed Ninsubura on a seal without gods or symbols, see Frankfort 1955: no 920. Beside Samas, Amurru, Adad, and Ninsubura, many other deities may occur in seat inscriptions That the representations on the seal and the inscription are not directely related, is also the traditional position {Frankfort 1939: 12f., Kupper 1961: 12, Collon 1986: 22f (who criticizes Kelly-Buccellati) Sometimes, however, the inscriptions do have a bearing on the representations on the seal: a) Votive seals (see le Goff 1963: 203ff, Gelb 1977: 109): Nergal (Porada-Basmachi 1951: 66f). Tispak (Wiggermann, Basmu and mufhuifu note 15), Ibba'um (ibid) Nabu (Porada 1948: no 691, see Wiggermann ibid, note 2), Marduk, Adad (Wetzel 1957: pi 43 f., Delaporte 1923: pi 93 Louvre A 830, cf. Unger 1953: I6ff), Apladad (Beck and Rainey in Aharoni 1973: 56ff) Meslamtaea (Collon 1982: 470 f) b) Seals with crook or lightning fork, see below n. 8 c) Presentalion seals, see beiow note 19, Collon 1986: 24+1 *d) Unger's explanation of the drawings on OA seals as signs commenting upon the representations (Unge> 1966: 11 ff) has not found adherents wiggermann — the staff of ninsubura 7 identity of the figure with attribute Yet, the combination of meaningful elements, names and figures, is not completely free; constraints and preferences8) indicate the existence of "semantic features" relating names and figures, and determining their use At the nature of these features, and the relation between them, we can only guess91 If it is not the simple identity of the god, but one of his properties, that regulates the appearances of his name on seals, the "overall-view" method, seeking to relate identities, is at fault. The only version of the "overall-view'" method one can subscribe to is the simplest: that some relation which determines the meaning of the seal holds between the names inscribed and the figures depicted As was seen already by B Parker (Parker 1975: 2535), there is another important objection to be raised against identifying the "god with the mace" with Ninsubura: the mace cannot be declared a "Stabsymbol" or a "ceremonial sceptre or mace", and so be harmonized with the hattu, "staff' of Ninsubura Staff and mace are different objects, with different symbolic values .3 The staff of the vizier Lambert's objection that a mace as a weapon is not expected to be held immediately below the lump is unfounded Soldiers, both natural and supernatural, do hold their maces in this manner10), and the "god with the mace" himself sometimes holds in his other hand a scimitar, clearly a weapon !i) What Ninsubura holds is definitely a staff, a gidri fhattu, as is proved by the seal 8) Crook and lightning foik, compatible only with Amurru and Adad respectively apparently identify divine functions distinguishing Amurru and Adad from other gods, and could be called their symbols For the crook cf Kupper 1961: 155, 161. above note 6 (the identified function is ' exorcizing"), and for the lightning fork. Adad's vizier in An-Anum III 253, cf Seidl 1968: 106f RIA 3 485f, Krechei RIA 3 498, AbouAwaj 1983: 55f, Romer 1982: 300 313 ad 20 (sukkallu) (the identified function may be ' to follow the command of his master and to strike down the enemy") At least in the case of Amurru it is clear that he is not only an exorcist, since the figure with the mace has a marked preference for Amurru too The figure with the saw has a marked preference for inscribed Samas (for the saw as his "symbol" see Boehmer 1965: 7213. Krecher RIA 3 498. CAD fassaru usage d) but apparently identifies a function (divine justice?) not only associated wilh Samas The figure with the mace has a preference both for Amurru and Ninsubura 9) Below we wjll provisionally identify the "god with the mace" with the udug/?erf«(-god/demon). and propose an overall interpretation of the scenes in which he occurs ,0) Cf Calmeyer RIA 5 582f (gods kings, soldiers; a ceremonial weapon but a weapon nevertheless not a sceptre). Certainly meant as a (supernatural) weapon are the mace of the ugallu {kakku see Wiggermann 1986: 120), and the mace of Meslamtaea (hutpalu see Wiggermann 1986: 83 120). both held below the lump The ugallu and Meslamtaea defend the house against attacking evil and brandish a dagger and an axe with their other hand. See also Collon 1986: 23'. lv) Spelters 1917: 146 no 573, Nagei 1957: 99 Abb 2. Porada 1948: no 455. Collon 1986: 417. von der Osten 1957: 293 (Syrian) cf Mazzoni !986: 71 ff 8 jaarbericht ex oriente lux 29 — i9s5-86 inscriptions, and the text of the ritual (Borger 1973: 179: 35), matching the actual figurines of the "god with the staff'12). Other terms are used for "mace" 13) It is not a coincidence that the vizier (sukkallu) Ninsubura holds a staff The evidence collected below (in part already Parker 1975: 2535) shows that the staff is the insigne of his office: — A beheaded ED statue holding a staff in its reverently folded hands is identified by the inscription as the god Alia 14): dAl-la lugal-e-kisal sukkal dNin-gis- zi-da "Alia, master of the courtyard building15), vizier of Ningiszida" (Strom- menger 1959: 46ff, see text-fig 2 Al) The image of Alia must once have been waiting in the "courtyard building" of a temple of Ningiszida, ready to introduce (see below) visitors to his master. — Tsimu, the double-faced vizier of Ea, may hold a staff on OAkk. seals16) He too introduces visitors17), see Text-fig. 2 C2, Text-fig 3 1-3. 12) The oldest example dates to the reign of Assur-res-isi, see Rittig 1977: 41 13) kakku (Wiggermann 1986: 120) hutpalu (Wiggermann 1986: 83, 120), hultuppu (Wiggermann 1986: 136). sita (Cocquerillat 1952: 121 ff.) can be connected with objects or representations; see in general art Keule RIA 5 578 ff, Cocquerillat 1951: 21 ft M. Kelly-Buteellati 1977: 50 (seal inscription, see above note 6) considers against all evidence (durJ0 instead of umdudur10; dur10 not "mace", but a type of axe, see Wikke 1969: 375 Sjoberg 7,A 65 [1975] 217, Steinkeller Or Ant 20 [1981] 244) dur10 a word for "mace" referring to the mace of the ' god with the mace" (see above note 6 for a different reading) 14) For this god see Lambert BSOAS 32 595, Lamberl 1980: 64 Renger RIA 6 308a doubts that the figure represents the god Alia It must be noted that the staff-bearing god on a fragmentary stele of Gudea (see text-fig 2 A2, Strommenger 1959: 49 p! XIa, Borker-Klahn 1982: no. 35). introducing Gudea and his personal god Ningiszida to a seated god with lion(s) at his feet, can only be the sukkallu of the seated god If the seated god is Ningirsu (Opificius 1961: 216 identifies him with Ea on account of the flowing vases, but other deities are associated with flowing vases as well—cf from the same time Borker- Klahn 1982: no. 41, presumably Baba—, and Eas vizier should preferably be two-faced Isimu also known in Lagas, cf. Borker-Klahn 1982: 49; for lions at Ningirsu's feet see Cyl A iv 19 and the seal Delaporte 1920: p. 13 T 110) his vizier can only be (cf the courtiers of Ningirsu enumerated by Falkenstein 1966: 98) dSii-gan seg9-bar sukkal-e-diig-ga-ka-an-ni (Cyl. B IX 3), whom we encounter holding the staff (of the shepherd) in a late text (KAR 19:5 nas hat it strti); if so, the second attendant, standing on the stele behind Ningirsu, might be dKinda,;(URi)-zi, the barber (Cyl B IX 13, see Falkemtein 1966: 79) Alia, introducing someone to Ningiszida, recurs on seals: Frankfort 1955: No 577 (OAkk), with long staff: Douglas van Buren 1934: pi Xa (AO 4359), Ur III (Strommenger 1959: 48+s9) ,5) e-kisal is the name of a room or a building in a larger complex, rather than the name of a specific temple, cf CAD K 419a bit khalli. A (statue of) Ninsubura stood in the OB temple of Ninuruamudu (in An-Anum identified with Ninlil and Istar). UEF 6 159 r ii 6. 11. and in the courtyard of Nanna's temple in Ur, VET 6 402 23 (both OB) 16) Sumer 34 117:10(= Text-fig 3:1), Boehmer 1965: nos 380, 495, 497 (= Text-fig 3:2), 514 For this god see Lambert/Boehmer RIA 5 179ff, Green 1975: 99f, Farber-Flugge 1973: 8f. The doubted existence of a second vizier of Ea, dAra(sa), seems to be proved by Frankfort 1955: 619, Delaporte 1923: PI 73:5 (two viziers), and Boehmer 1965: 504 (see Text-fig. 2 CI). 17) Only Isimu can be recognized without reference to his staff, and without identifying inscriptions only he can serve to prove the connection sukkallu—staff—introduction When it is accepted that an introducing god holding a staff can only be a sukkallu, other sukkallu may possibly be identified by reference to their master (sukkallu on OAkk seals were first recognized by Parker 1975: 24): a) See above note 14 for Sugan-segbar, note 16 for Ara b) On OAkk seals a vizier of Sarnas may be recognized (Parker 1975 PI X, 6 = Text-fig. 3:5. Boehmer wiggermann — the staff of ninsubura 9 — Three presentation seals (Ui III - Early OB) are owned by viziers18). They show the owner of the seal standing before the seated king and holding a staff19), see Text-fig.. 2 Bl. — The owner of an OB seal from Alalakh is identified by the inscription as the sukkal NacmT-Dagan. The representation on the seal shows him holding a staff20), see Text-fig 2 B2. — Nuska, the (grand) vizier of Enlil/Ekur 21) (and occasionally of other gods as well) is like Ninsubura a kingal/mw wrw22), "commander, director".. He carries out the instructions of Enlil, advises him, and gives judgement. Especially interesting 1965: nos 376, 431, 447, 457; like Samas with rays extending from his shoulders: 461, see Text-fig. 2 C3; holding scales with other hand: 458. see Text-fig 2 C4; two alike viziers, both with staffs, introducing: 448; introducing gods before Samas without staffs: 445, 439. see below note 38). An-Anum III 139fT. (OB parallel in Or Ant 8 14:79 ft".; see also note 52) knows six viziers of Samas: dNig-zi-da and dNig-si-sa (ICL 15 10: 182 f), the viziers of his right and of his left, dNin-pirig (TCL 15 10:186 has dMn-bara, the same alternation is attested in CT 16 10:36 // 50:6). his chief vizier, d Pap-nun-na and dBu-ne-ne (TCL 15 10:185 f omits the latter), his viziers of advice, and dEn-uru, his vizier of answer (sukkal-gaba-ri-ke4, in Or Am 8, where as in TCL 15 10 the latter is omitted, this epithet belongs to Bunene, sukkal-ga-ba-ra) Among the sukkattu of Samas Bunene (cf CAD sukkallu mng Ic-3'^RIA 2 76; sometimes identified with Papnunna, KUB 4 ll:6f, BA 10/1 70 no l:15f., perhaps also in An-Anum; intercessory activities: Mayer 1976: 234c, in NB royal inscriptions: VAB 4 232 ii 16ff, 242:51) and Kittu and MiSaru {CAD K 471a, M/2 118b. etc , cf. Castellino Or Ant 8 40) are best known, but also Ninpirig {CT 47 35 S 8, see Finkelstein RA 67 115ff) and Papnunna {CT 41 37 S 4) occur, both also with the tittle SAt hub, to which we will return elsewhere The names of the viziers cannot be distributed over the figures of the seals, and it must remain undecided whether it is indeed Kittu or Mlsaru who holds the scales on Boehmer 1965: 458 (for a doubtful identification of these two gods on the Samas tablet, cf Wiggermann Basmu and Mushussu note 32e; for the use of scales in rituals, cf Father 1977: 27) See also note 52 (three viziers of Samas) c) Many other introducing staff-bearing gods can be found on OAkk monuments and seals; as long as the name of their master remains unknown, they too must remain anonymous: Boese 1971: pi. XVIII N 11, see 122ft. (Master Nanse?), Moortgat 1940: 204. Iraq 1 PI. Hi (Ningirsu with plow ?, cf. RIA 3 486b; same scene, but without the staff, Buchanan 1981: no. 474, cf below 38), Moortgat 1940: 218, etc The important thing to note is that after the OAkk period representations of introducing mkkallu generally disappear, although intercessory activity remains attested in the texts (for the introduction in general cf. Douglas van Buren 1952: 92ff.), and occasionally staff-bearing (see the seal AO 4359 and the stele of Gudea, both note 14, and perhaps the floating staff of note 30) and not staff-bearing (Cotton 1986: 103) introducing gods are attested !8) This type of seals is studied by Sollberger 1965: 26ff , Franke 1977: 61 ff , cf Gelb 1977: 109 19) Legrain UEX 438, de Genouillac ITT II 937, Buchanan 1981: no. 653 20) Cotton 1975: no. 19. The evidence of notes i9 and 20 indicates that at least on certain types of seals the owner himself is depicted on the seal. 21) Cf TattqviU 1938: 432 fT, Weidner 1959: 36, Lambert and Millard 1969: 150, Cooper 1978: 1 13; hymns and prayers: Falkenstein 1959: 67 (in Enlil hymn), van Dijk !960: 108 ff, 144ff, see also Sjoberg 1977: 27ff, 1973: 16ff, 1974: 163ff„ Mayer 1976 : 406f„ 482fF He has recieved the me from Enlil (Sjoberg 1974: 164 r 16, and passim in the Sumerian hymns), and passes on the royal power in the Isme-Dagan hymn (Romer 1965: 44: 78f dNuska sukkal-dEn-lil- la-ke4 gidri-nam-Iugal-la su-ga ha-ma-ni-gar, cited with a further relevant passage by van Dijk I960: 147, see now Vanstiphoui 1978: 38) He intercedes with Enlil and Ninhil on behalf of Isme- Dagan in Sjoberg 1973: 18: IT. 15' 22) See van Dijk 1960: 124, Kulsther 1975: 105 Civil 1983: 53:44. CAD kingattu 10 iaarbericht ex oriente lux 29 — 1985-86 for the present subject is a "symbolsockel"23) from Assur24), dated by the inscription to the reign of Tukulti-Ninurta I (1243-1207). in relief on the "symbol- sockel" the king appears twice, stepping forward and stooping25), holding a mace in one hand and making a gesture of humility (laban appi26)) with the other. In front of him is a "symbolsockel" just like the one we are dealing with; it carries an object described by Seidl (Seidl 1968: 122) as a "sich nach oben leicht verjiingender Stab", and it is generally believed that the "symbolsockel" itself carried the same object The inscription (Schroeder KAH 2 55) identifies the god to whom the object is dedicated: seat (nemedu) of Nuska, grand vizier (sukkalmahhu) of Ekur, bearer of the just staff (nasi hatti eweti), attendant of Assur and Enlil, who daily repeats the prayer (teslit) of Tukulti-Ninurta, the king whom he loves, before Assur and Enlil, and who [obtains (?)] for him in the Ekur the fixation of his might (simat kismti[m], translation uncertain) . broken .." Opitz (1931: 86f), Seidl (1968: 122, 142), and Hrouda (1965: 71, 73) interpret the "staff" as a stylus (and the square object behind it as a tablet), although the object does not resemble a stylus as usually depicted, and the stylus is not attested as a symbol of Nuska (cf CAD Q 80a)—already in this time his symbol is the lamp (Seidl 1968: 124, 128fT, Wiggermann 1986: 218). The object does resemble a staff, however, and a staff fittingly represents the vizier Nuska, whom the inscription explicitly calls "bearer of the just staff (nasi hatti es>^i)". A staff probably representing Nuska appears on a Neo-Babylonian stele from Harran27), and a staff seated on a sockle (ina mbti.su) is attested in a late text from Uruk (Thureau-Dangin RAcc 118: 4)28) Here and elsewhere29) the sukkallu Nuska intercedes between god and man, and the replace- ") For the object cf. Seidl 1968: llOff., Hrouda 1965: 71; for the word cf Muller 1937: 67ff. Weidner 1959: 29 ad 16:116 (nemedu) 24) Andrae 1935: 67 ft, Opitz 1931: 83 ff JS) Cf Gruber 1980: I712 (kamasu) 26) Cf. Gruber 1975: 78 ff, CAD labdnu B discussion section Since it is a testitu of the king that is repeated by Nuska, what the king does on the sockle (and must have done on one occasion in front of the sockle) is sullu, cf. ina laban appi sullu, CAD sullu A la-I' 21) On two stelae from Harran Nabonidus holds a staff surmounted by the stylus (?) of Nabu; a third stela, also ascribed to Nabonidus (the inscription is lost), shows the king holding a staff surmounted by a crescent. If the first two stelae reflect traditional ideology (Marduk—Nabu—king, see below notes 40 ff), the third may reflect local opinions: Sin—Nusku (Sin's son in Harran)—king, see Gadd 1958: 35 ff , and pi IIIc, Borker-Klahn 1982: 230a. A parallel for the staff surmounted by a symbol is the staff of Apladad on a NB seal (Beck and Rainey in Aharoni 1973: 56 ff), surmounted by the lightning fork of his father Adad (see Text-fig 2 B3) Although nothing is known about Apladad's functions in the pantheon, we 'may assume that he partook in the powers of his father, and that the staff symbolizes the transmission of power (for this god see Lipihski 1976: 53 ff) Ihe center of his cult lay in Suhi (Lipimki 1976: 63 ff, Haktdr 1983: 27). and there can be no doubt that the god with the staff (upper part broken) on the stele of Samas-res-usur {Wehsbach 1903: no IV. with photograph) is this local god, introducing the ■'governor' to Adad, his father, and Istar, two national gods 25) The identity of the square object remains enigmatical Could it be the tablet on which Tukulti- Ninurta has written his prayer 7! 29) See above note 21, OrNS 54 117, and Tallqvist 1938: 434 w1ggermann — the staff of ninsubura 11 ment of the god by the symbol defining his function strongly reminds of the interceding &Pu-lisanu (symbol), "Mouth-and-Tongue" oi KAR 139, a ritual from the same time30).. A fortunate and unusually long strain of evidence linked the wkkallu of the texts to representations of this official and his staff in art Other evidence cannot be linked to iconographical material, but connects the official with the word for "staff' (gidi i/hattu)31): — As close as we can get to a general statement on the staff of the mkkallu from the native sources is Kramer ICS 5 11:282 (Inanna's Descent): lu-igi-na sukkal- nu-me-a gidii su br-in-du8 "(the demon) who was in front of her, though not a vizier, held a staff in his hand" The passage shows that the one leading the way and carrying a staff is generally, but not always the mkkallu, or, stated differently, that the staff identifies a function generally, but not necessarily, associated with the mkkallu official Below we will identify this function as giving guidance — The OB evidence is corroborated by a Middle Assyrian royal ritual in which among high officials depositing their insignes are the chief mkkallu and the vice mkkallu depositing their staffs (KAR 135 iv 9)32) Other attestations concern individual viziers: — The "pure staff', gidri-za-gin, was given to Ninsubura by his33) father Anu34), who installed him in his office35) (Langdon BL 195: 2ff, see van Dijk 1960: 53). The deified staff, d^Gidri-si-sa, "Just-StarT appears in An-Anum I 70 (CI 24 2:7) as Ninsubura's advisor, next to dEs-bar-an-na, "Decision-of-Anu", the deified command of his master — dAIamus is the mkkallu oi Sin, the god of Ur (An-Anum III 3 7, CI 25 19:6 and duplicates). When Ur was destroyed (Lamentation over the Destruction of Sumer and 10 See Oppenheim 1966: 250 ff Perhaps the staff floating in the air between a seated god and a worshipper lead to him by a lamassu (Porada 1948: no 277, Ur III) represents intercession in a time when depicting an introducing sukkallu was unusual (see note 17c). 31) Important evidence was quoted already by van Dijk 1969: 546 Undecided remains the case of the staff of Ningiszida (now attested in VET 6 395:5), since he is never called the ■iukkallu of his father Ninazu (see Wiggertnann Baimu and Mmhussu 4 e) 32) Cited also by Parke) 1975: 24~\ cf. Caplice-Heimpel RIA 5 144a Staff-bearing officials are attested on Neo-Assyrian reliefs (Text-fig 2 B4), but cannot with certainty be identified with the mkkallu of the texts (cf Hrouda 1965: 105, 153) At least in one case the official is certainly not a mkkallu: on the kudurru VA 2663 (= Seidt 1968: 61 f no 107 with previous lit , inscription VAS 1 37; see Text-Fig 2 A4) we see a Belehnungsscene", showing Meiodachbaladan II holding a staff, and an official called mkin temi in the text (iji 36, iv 51, v 34) holding a slightly shorter staff The long staff held by the king could also be called a hutartu. see Michel WO 2 140 B (Shalm III) hutariu sa aai iarri, 'a staff for the hand of the king", brought in as tribute by Jehu Ihe corresponding relief (photograph e g Reade 1983 p 45 no 62 f) shows a servant oi Jehu bringing in a long staff [Add.] 33) I ignore here the distinction between the male and the female Ninsubura For his staff see also SjSberg 1969: 97b, An-Anum I 32, UET 6 74:16' J4) Ninsubura is the [dum]u-zi-ki-aga-An-ku-ga UET 6 74:13'; see also next note, and note 37 3S) a-ia-zu gar-ra "installed by your father , RA 75 101 (OB seal), also Sjoberg 1982: 72f 12 jaarbericht ex orients lux 29 — 1985-86 Ur 448 i6)) dAlamus gidri ba-da-an-sub su-ni-ta u4-bi(?) ; "Alamus had laid down the staff, with his hand he [no longer] " (UET 6 134:2' // 133:24). — Nuska. the vizier of Enlil. is "bearer of the just staff' in KAH 2 55 (cited above) and other texts (Tallqvist 1938: 143) One of his names is dEn-gidri, "Lord-of-the- Staff' (ibid 294) — Also the vizier Papsukkal37) is called bel hatti, "lord of the staff' {Reiner 1958: IV 97) — Nabu, the grand vizier, is g,sgidri-mah-il-la: nds hatti sirti in 4R2 14/3:5 f, see also Cavigneaux Texts from Babylon I 48 79 B. 1/53:4, and especially (OB seal) Char pin 1980:294 No. 113: dNa-bi-um sukkal li-luh-ku (see note 46) su-du8 The only vizier whose identity can be established without reference to the staff is Ea's two-faced vizier Isimu Since beside his two faces nothing distinguishes him from other viziers, and since he appears frequently without staff 38), we may conclude that viziers in general can function also without staff39). 36) For context cf Kramer ANE13 618. 37 Papsukkal is in origin the sukkallu of Zababa, and at home in Kis In later texts he is syncretized with Ninsubiira/Ilabrat (AfO 2 ll2. MSL 4 9:92, C7 24 40:51, cf Nougayrol AS 16 37", Sjoberg 1969: 97b, Lambert 1976: 12), with the vizier of Ansar Gaga (Steinkeller INES41 289ff) and with the vizier of Apsu Mummu (CAD M/2 197b) Influenced by the syncretism with Ninsubura is probably the suilla Scheii RA 24 31 where he is a son of Anu and an interceding god, and the late incantation CT 13 38:3 f // OECT 6 PI XVII Rm 97:16f in which the temple being build, the dwelling of An and Istar, is addressed: [sukk]al-mah-zu dGada-lal-abzu rgal-an1-zu s a(text Ki)-gal-dingir-re-rne"1- [ke4]: sukkallaka sirit 11 Pap-sukkul erst malik Hi, 'your chief vizier (Akk. differently) is Gadalalabzu (Akk Papsukkal), ihc wise one, the counselloi of the gods' The god Gadalalabzu (cf CAD G 8a, citing Igituh App A i 40), ' linen-clad of Abzu", appears in the suit of Enki in An-Anum (CT 24 16:37, 29:87; for the sign gada here cf. Lambert Journal of Jewish Studies 33 67; forerunner TCL 15 10:97), identified in the right column with Ninsubura In Walker and Kramer 1982: 80:5 dingir-gada-lal - abzu is an epithet of Ninsubura Sometimes Papsukkal is a protective god (Ellis 1967: 60. quoting Maqlu VI 15-17, and Surpu IV 97; see also Lamastu Tablet II 53. Falkenstein LKUp 10: [ma].?sar babi?a Papsukkal ra tamusu la i[bur]ra, the guardian of its gate is Papsukkal, who is conjured by him will not survive") associated like other sukkallu, with doors: dIg-gal-la = MIN( = ^Papsukkal) ?a mutireti CT 24 40:55 (cf An-Anum I 33, which replaces Papsukkal with Ninsubura), "Great Door = Papsukkal of the double doors"; identification with dGan-du1 "door frame" (Tallqvht 1938: 308, 322, Lambert RlA 4 244, for the word MSI 6 134 AfO 17 2669, ZA 53 162S, Studien Falkenstein 257), a daughter of Ninsubura, and a door man (!) of An; especially S77 232, a ritual for the renewal of a door, in which Papsukkal and dNin-gan-du1 (also known from KAV 50 i 11 as another daughter of Ninsubura) figure, and BBSt 8 iv 27: Papsukkal sukkallu babsu hpetrik ("block his gale"). 38) Isimu without his staff e.g. Porada 1948: nos 198, 202, Text-fig 3:3(allOAkk) For less certain examples see note 17b (viziers of Samas without staff), and 17c (vizier of god with plow without staff) Even more uncertain is the interpretation of the OAkk seal BM 122125 (= Boehmer 1965: Abb 570 = • Cotton 1982: 144. cf Frankfort 1955: 662) showing a god on a dragon (Tispak), and a second god introducing a worshipper and at the same time holding a rope bound around the neck of the dragon If it is this second god to whom the seal is dedicated (a-na I-ba-um), this god might be Ibbu, in An-Anum V 262 (adduced by van Dijk 1969: 546) a mkkallu of Ningiszida, the son of Ninazu who in Esnunna was replaced by Tispak (see Wiggermann Baimu and Mushusfu note 15) Special mention deserves Boehmer 1965: Abb 504, an OAkk seal on which the bifrons Isimu is present without staff, beside a second introducing god with staff presumably Enki's second vizier Ara (see above note 16) S9) Thus not much can be said against Woolley's proposal (Woolley 1975: 30f, 142f) to identify the statue of a seated female figure (pi 58a) found together with a mace head dedicated to Ninsubura (pi 58b) with the cult statue of this deity wiggermann — the staff of ninsubura 13 The staff held by the vizier is given to him by his master 40) In the human world this is the king, who himself has received his staff from the gods41) By giving a staff the master passes on the right and obligation to rule to his servant42) Although the vizier is the official usually associated with the staff, other officials may hold staffs as well43) Even if it cannot be proved for each single case that the 4D) To Ninsubura by Ami (BL 195:2 ff RA 75 101). to Nuska by Enlil (not actually attested, but cf eg van Dijk I960: 108: Iff, where Enlil transfers the me, ' regulations" to Nuska, his vizier), to Nabu by Marduk (not actually attested, but in NB it is Nabu who gives the staff to the king). Gods not viziers receive staffs too: Anu and Enlil have received theii staff from Enmesarra (Borger ZA 61 77:49; perhaps this is why Papsukkal, the vizier of Anu. is called ' son of Anu offspring of Enme[sarra]' in RA 24 31:2. 4), and in En el IV 29 Marduk recieves the staff from the assembly of his fathers (" Mardukma fair urn", "Maiduk is the king") Staffs are given to city gods: to Nanna by Enlil (Sjoberg MA'S 44:18), to Maiduk by An (sibir-kur-kui-ra, van Dijk MJO 12 66:6 f) to Inanna "without whom An and Enlil cannot make a decision in the land' (Sjoberg 1972: 63:14), and "no king [is chosen] for the shepherdship over the land ' {ibid 64:23) by Enlil (VAS 10 199 iii 20), by Anu (TCI 6 51:43 see Hruika 1969; 473ff.: u-luh(gl w-/u-/j«)-nam-lugal-la: uluh sarruti), or by Enki (not actually attested, but cf note 41. where Inanna passes on the sceptre to the king, Romer 1965: 129:22f. where Inanna receives the me from Enki, probably also Sjoberg 1972: 63:22 and especially Farber-Flugge 1973: 54:6, where the gidri-mah is among the me brought by Inanna fiom Eridu to Uruk) *') Like kingship (Jacobsen 1939: 59ff, Finkei 1980: 65ff) the staff (and the other royal insignia) descended from before Anu in heaven (BRM 4 2 i II, Civil apud Lambert and Millard 1969: 140 ii 88) The king could receive his staff from the national gods Enlil (VET 6 276 ii 9. Steible 1983: 142, Romer 1969: 133 ff cf, BRM 4 12:70). Anu (TCL 6 53:7 f, cf iSulgi A 87 f) or Inanna, who perhaps replaces Enki (Romer 1969: 135ft , Sjoberg 1972: 61 ff., and above note 40 end), and sometimes from Enki (Falkenstem ArOr 17/1 215:10); from their viziers Nuska (see note 21) or Ninsubura (Walker and Kramer 1982: 80:11, see also below note 73), from the god of his city, Ningirsu in Lagas (Steible 1983: 142, Gudea Siatue D iv 5f ; from the son of bis city god, Igalima in Lagas, Gudea Statue B ii 18f. Statue D i 19fj Nanna in Ur (Romer 1969: 133ff., cf 4R2 9:34f), Samas in Larsa (preceded by Ninisina in an Enlilbani hymn, Kapp ZA 51 80:165, u-luh). Assui in Assyria (Weidner AOB 112:22 f, YOS 9 71:6f.; Assur. Enlil. Samas: OIP 2 117:5), Marduk and Nabu in Babylonia (BBSl 36 ii 29ff„ VAB4 216 i 29, ABL 260:5. 262:5, etc see also note 27), but especially Nabu (VAB 4 98 i 14. 112 i 17 210:10 278 vii 23ff, TCS 5 111:24 AT, cf 5R 66 ii I4ff.), who gives the staff to the king in his temple e (nig.)pa kalam ma.sum ma/sim ma/si sa, "giving a staff (rulership) to the nation" (see Cavigneaux Texts from Babylon I p 49 79.B l/58:6ff., 57 79.B 1/90:3f. Ebeling Parfumrez pi 46:5. all with Akkadian translations of this temple name). On special occasions rulers may designate other gods as givers of the staff: Nanna (Karki StOr 49 51: IS f, 53: (5 f„ 127:46), Samas (Sollberger RA 61 42:115, VAB 4 102 iii 11). Istar (Biunnow ZA 5 79:28, Streck Asb. 188 6 K 2652:4) See discussions and literature in Fxmkfort 1948: 237f, 245ff, Douglas van Buren 1956: 101 f . van Dijk 1969: 546 f, Romer 1969: 130ff, Krecher RIA 5 10911, Renger RIA 5 128ff Caplice-Heimpel RIA 5 139IT. sub vocibus ' Insignien", Inihroni- sation , "Investilur' [Add] 42) That the powers and the staff of the sukkallu stem from the king is clear not only from general considerations-—from whom else could they stem (see below notes 70 ff. for the sukkallu as holder of the me)?—but also from the Middle Assyrian royal ritual (KAR 135 + , see Miiller 1937), in which the king receives the regalia from Assur and Ninlil (in the ritual actually the priest), and the officers among whom the sukkallu. receive their office (and the insignia of their office; not mentioned but clear in iii 9, where the officers abdict by returning their insignia) from the king (iii 13) "3) Beside the sukkallu the sdkin temi could be identified as a staff bearing official (above note 32) In the divine world occasionally gods not sukkallu do hold staffs: AnunTtum (cit CAD H 154a), and Istar of Lagaba (Leemans SLB I/O; the shepherd Sumuqan (see below note 45); Amurru (Kupper 1961: 65), but he may be called a sukkallu (KAV 64 v II); Henduisaga, addressed as king (.ICS 33 94:181) An Old Sumerian group (pronoun—bi) of staff bearing deities: e-kur es dL am[a-m]e gidri-ku su- ba gal-la-bi, "the Ekur. the temple were the /nwassu-goddesses are provided with a pure staff (Westenholz OSF \ 6:6, see, with a different reading, neglecting the collective -bi, Aister AO AT I E4. 14 iaarberichi ex orienie lux 29 — 1985-s6 Fig, 2 A 1: The vizier god Alia (after Strommenger 1959: 47, see note 14). ED 2: The vizier of Ningirsu, the god Sugan-segbar (?) (see note 14 Aftei Borker-Klakn 1982; no. 35) Ur III 3: The vizier god Ninsubura (after Rutig 1977: Fig 3) NB 4,5: The Babylonian king and the sakin temi of Babylon (after Onhmann 1975: Abb 249, see note 32; on the original the sakin temi is drawn on a smaller scale) NB B 1: Ur III — Early OB vizier (after Buchanan 1981: no 653, slightly restored) 2: OB vizier from Alalakh (after Collon 1975: no 19) WIGGERMANN — THE STAFF of NINSlJBURA 15 3: The god Apladad, whose staff may symbolize the powers transmitted to him by his father Adad (after Aharom 1973: pi 26, see note 27) NB 4: Official from the time of Ashurbanipal. not certainly a vizier; he and his duplicate next to him each hold two staffs (after Hrouda 1965: pi 63 3) 5: Shepherd with staff and whip (after Boehmer 1965; Abb 693) OAkk [see Add n 45] 6: Shepherd with staff (after Boehmer 1965: Abb 701) OAkk. 7: Shepherd with knobbed staff, perhaps a sibinu (see note 45) and unidentified tool (after Boehmer 1965: Abb 698). OAkk. C 1: Ara (a), one of Enki's viziers (see notes 16 and 38), and Isimu (b), here without staff, introducing a gift bearing visitor (supplicant) to their master (c) (after Boehmer 1965: Abb 504) OAkk 2: Introducing vizier, holding a divergent staff (from Buchanan 1966: 382. OAkk.) 3: Samas' vizier Bunene (?) (see note 17b), leading a caught lion-demon (ugallu) to Samas (from Boehmer 1965: 461) OAkk 4: One of Samas viziers, holding scales (from Boehmer 1965 : 458. see note 17b) while introducing a visitor OAkk The first example of the long staff common in the later periods is on a seal from the Ur III period (AO 4359, Douglas van Buren 1934: pi Xa. see note 14 end) staff symbolizes the power to lule in the name of the lord, it is very unlikely that a symbolic object so thoroughly and logically integrated in the justification of ruler ship could symbolize a second, totally44) different aspect of official manage- ment Not only officials hold staffs. The staff is also the tool of the shepherd45), and it is abundantly clear that the symbolic staff of rulership, given to the king to shepheid the people46), derives from the staff of the shepherd, with which he guides his flock (see Text-fig. 2 B5-7) J 7); are we to understand that the protective Lamassu deities are instructed by Enlil in the Ekur, and from there exert their beneficial influence over the country ? Much later (OB) is the lamas.su holding a staff on a seal (Porada 1948: no 533). see also below notes 64f for interceding lamassu functioning as wkkallu 44) Most symbolic staffs (for the non symbolic staffs of daily life see note 45) of notes 40. 41, and 43 symbolize the rightful transmission of rulership; from Enmesarra. the ■'Lord-of-all-regulations'1, the incarnation of abstract rulership, to the national gods, from the national gods to the city gods from the national gods or the city gods to the king Inanna's title to rulership is less clear—and this perhaps explains why she had to steal the me-, but her ruling power is unmistakable 45) See Waetzoldt RIA 4 425a, and below Like the staff of the king and of the wkkallu, the staff of the herdsman is a hattu {CAD H 155a, 156) The herdsman (ndqidu) and cattle god Sumuqan holds a hattu in KAR 19 t 5. Like the kings he also holds another tool of the shepherd, a sibirm (Dumuzi, the shepherd: Farber 1977: 134:24, 185:36; clad as a king, holding a gidri, RA 8 165:52) The sibirru, though often translated as "staff , is apparently not exactly a staff, since it occures often beside hattu in the hands of herdsmen and kings (symbolic), can be surmounted by a ram's head (C7 28 46:1!, see Cotton 1986: 54). \p used as a weapon, and has a sikkatu. a "nail" (M?Z 5 185:430; van Dijk, who discusses the Sumerian attestation in MIO 12 63, proposes kentron, see also Steible 1975: 18ff , "Hirtenwaffe"). The man in front of or behind a chariot may carry a short stick, probably used for driving the draft animals (bar-is), see e.g Boese 1971: pi 5 CT 2, pi. 7 CS I, and passim There is no evidence to support Herodotus' opinion (I 195) that beside a seal each Babylonian owned a staff specially made for him, surmounted by an apple, rose, lily, eagle, or something of the sort. [Add ] 46) See eg Gflrfrf 1948: 38 f, Seux 1967: 244ff , 441 ff , RIA 6 I62f, Finkel 1980: 66:4, UE7 6 101:40 (where Haja gives the gidi i-ma h-u4-sii-r a to the sipa-kalam-ma 'the shepherd of the land", which means the king) References to representations of kings holding a gidr'ijhattu (Barn-let 1974: 16 jaarbericht EX oriente lux 29 — 1985-8(5 The drawings of Text-fig. 2 serve to quickly inform the reader on the main outward properties of staff bearing divine (A 1-3, B 3?, C la, and without staff b, 2-4) and human (B 1-2, 4') viziers, other officials (A 5), kings (A 4), and shepherds (B 5-7). 4 The office of vizier The worldly sukkallu is a high court official47), watching over the correct execution of the command of his master 4S) Larger courts, especially in the Ur III period49), but also earlier and laterso), can be served by a whole department of travelling sukkallu, headed by a sukkalmahhu51) or gal sukkal 52) The functions of the divine sukkallu are derived from those of his worldly model Since mythological texts are much more explicit than economical ones or even 1 IS ft" D 20. D 37. both OB; later AKA 20:7, 94:50, and passim; note ABL I051-f-r 3 = Fales 1983: 170 f. where a representation of a king is described, holding his staff in the wrong way) or an ri-Iuh (Barrellet 1974: 1I8IT, D 38; held by Ninsubura: YOS5 41, Karki 1980 J63 Rs 16:4; by Inanna; 7CL 6 53:43; by Nabium: Charpin 1980: 294:113: see also JAOS 103: 194, Sieible 1975: 19, with previous !itera(ure; u-luh and gidri apparently do not contrast, and both denote the simple staff, for different opinions, see Durand AEPHE 1976/77: 169 and Walker and Kramer 1982: 80) occur in the texts, but such representations are not found before the second half of the first millennium (Strommenger R1A 4 347b, 348a Seidl 1968: 89ff. Calmeyer 1973: 163 f, Mallowan 1966 II: 446f, Huff 1968: 74ff, Hrouda 1965: 105) 47) Cf CAD S 354ff ; also translated chancellor (Sollberger 1966: 169 no. 637, Neumann OLZ 1979: 341). or stressing the butler aspect, Kammerer" (Falkenstein 1966: 111). The ES dialect does use the EG word sukkal. but also uses la-bar (li-bi-ir) corresponding to EK lagarx (sal hub, sal al) = ardu sukkallu. lagar = lagarru kalu. and */nagir/. /nagir/ (nimgir) = nagiru (the complex relations between these words will be treated in a separate article) The meaning of siibui in Nin- subur a-(k) remains uncertain Although Ninsubura is attested as wife of Meslamtaea/Nergal (vav Dijk I960: 18 22 f 52 f 88") it is hardly possible to explain ihe name on the basis of the equation subur = ersetu. ' underworld (so Falkenstein 1966; 108 Lambert 1976: 12), since the deity does not have any connection with the underworld; subur in the equation is not a word for 'underworld', but for cultivable earth" {Gelb 1944: 23). and Meslamtaea is originally not an underworld god, but a war god. who comes forth from the (house of) peace" (meslam, a Semitic loanword) 43) inim-lugal Sollberger 1966: 12 No 2:10 a-dah-inim-ma TCL 16 87 iv 22 (Nuska). inim- lum CT 16 20:114 (Nuska). 40) See Gregoire 1970: 201'*8( 275, Bauer 1972: 239 Hruska 1973: 119, 1974: 98f, Scharasthenidze 1974: I03ff with the remarks of Neumann OLZ 1979: 341 For the later and earlier period: Klauber 1910: 54ff 50) gal sukkal: Gelb 1957: 238, Frankfort 1955: No 593. deClercq CdC 161,.ICS 35 158 17:3, etc, see Cohen JCS 28 231 5;) CAD S 360 f, and passim 52) See note 50 Although some gods are served by more than one sukkallu, there is no evidence of an organization of sukkallu headed by a sukkalmahhu In An-Anum one god may have one (Enlil) or more (Enki, cf note 16) -sukkalmahhu. but no sukkallu at al], one god may have several sukkallu (Damgal- nunna, Ninguenna. Gula), but no sukkalmahhu Only Utu has several sukkallu (see note 17b) and one sukkalmahhu (Ninpirig); Whether one of his three staff bearing sukkallu on the OAkk seal Ravn 1960: no 17 (= Text-fig 3:4) is a sukkalmahhu. cannot be decided In the world of the gods the title sukkalmahhu was probably a loan from the human world, and served only to honor its bearer, or rather his lord WIGGERMANN — THE STAFF OF NINSUBURA 17 letters, the study of the divine sukkallu may also serve to flesh out the dry bones of the human one Below we will cursorily document the functions of the divine sukkallu, with special reference to Ninsubura S3). The sukkallu reports in for duty: lugal-mu dEn-ki i-gub-be-enu4-ul a-ra- zu, "my lord, Enki, I (Isimu) am ready for the 'quick, please'" (Farber-FIugge 1973 27:16, and passim) "Quick, please" is also the introduction of EnliPs command to his vizier Nuska (Civ/7 1983: 52:28) The duties of the divine sukkallu do not only involve travel54); at home he is advisor and confidant55) of his master At home the sukkallu also fulfills important tasks at the door; following the orders of his master56) he sends off visitors, or invites them in The key passage illustrating this function of the sukkallu is VAS 10 199 iv 27") (Inanna hymn) (when I try to enter the Ekur, the house of Enlil) i-dua-e gaba-mu su li-bi- ma-ma sukkal-e sil6-la58) na-ma-ab-be, "the doorkeeper will not push me back, and the vizier will not say 'go away'" Individual viziers at doors are attested SJ) Since the element -labr- in ihe Akkadian form of the name, Hlabrat (see von Soden OA'S 26 341), is taken by native commentators to represent ES labar = ardu, sukkallu (cf CAD S 355b., Lambert AfO 26 111), the whole word may be Sumerian rathei than Akkadian: (N)in-labar-at (with assimilation, and the Akkadian feminine ending as in Mullilm) When we understand Niiisubiira(k) as Lady (1 Lord) of Subartu and provider of (Subarian) slaves, her ES name, "Lady servant' , her fufiction in the pantheon as main servant of Inanna and Anu, and her place next to the war god Meslamtaea (see note 47) are explained The epigraphical and iconographieal (see above on the false Ninsubuia) evidence was discussed (with key references) by Lambert 19/6: 12f He concluded that N is from Hammurabi onwards male only except in traditional texts (discussions. Falkenstcin BiOr 9 90'5, Kramer B4SOR 79 21-. M. Lambert RA 42 197f., Bergmann ZA 56 32 Sjoberg 1969: 97. Farber-FIugge 1973: 9f, Kulscher and Wilcke ZA 68 10544\ 109) At first he is the personal batman of Anu or Istar. but later, since Rim- Sin, "hedirecls the regulations of heaven and underworld' IKarki 1980 Rs 16:5) and gives judgement to the great gods; ''he is a kind of executive passing on orders to all the gods" 5a) Eg. Isimu (Farber-FIugge 1973: 32: Iff), Namtar (Gwney 1960: 105 fT passim; Namtar, the personified fate, is one of the most fearful messengers. In the Unterweltsvision von Soden 1936 16:42 he is depicted as executioner) Nuska (Civil 1983; 50:28ff), Ninsubura (Kramer JCS 5 3:28ff , ba-an-gi4 "reporter" RA 69 123d Walker and Kramei 1982: 80:5, VET 6 74:3') 55J For Ninsubura see (JET 6 74:18. Rs 7:4, 15:6, SI7W76 r 7. Pkchioni 1981: i 16:9ff. Walkei and Kramer 1982: 80:3 Nuska (ad-gi4-gi4 in Civil 1983: 53:61) is adressed: a-ba za-gim kur-gal- da u4-da sa-kus-ii who, like you, could give counsel daily to the great Mountain (Enlil)' [ibid 62) For other gods, see Tallqvist 1938: 128 s v mdliku (Bunene. Nabii. Papsukkal. Nuska) For Ninsubura as trustworthy confidant, see HruSka 1969: 502 iii 41 ff, also uri-ad-hal-an-gal-la ' keeping the secrets of the great An'" (OB seal }iaq 6 lOf. also Nuska ABR7 ! 35:8), ad-ha 1-a n-na-zu-a, "who knows the secrets of An ' -Walkei and Kramer 1982: 80:7 see also VET 6 74:10'. CT 47 50: S 3 (vizier of the secret of An) 50) E g Isimu and Namtar in the texts cited in note 54 and below in this paragraph S7) See Poebel ZA 35 52, Romer OA'S 38 98 Cooper 1978: 1 13. ss) Ever since Poebel first treated this passage, the signs now Tead sil6-la have been read ur-la. with due doubts expressed by Poebel and Romer The sign is undoubtedly sil6 (ezen x a), and for the word see CAD duppuru, lex. section BIN 2 14:2 (= Lamastu amulet 15) // S7T214:5. $77/ 215 i I9//20 Geller Iraq 42 40 VAS 17 18:12 Renger ZA 59 163 (sil6-la-dug.) A syllabic spelling is perhaps attested in Vgaritica 5 17:6: si-it-la 18 IAARBERICHI EX ORiENTE LUX 29 — 19S5-S6 in texts from OB onwards: Nuska, the vizier of Enlil meant in the preceding passage, is called i-du8-e-kur-r a, "doorkeeper of Ekur" (TCL 15 4:6 59)). Isimu, the vizier of Enki, is send by his loid to welcome Inanna when she arrives: ni- silim hu-mu-[na]-e, "you must say her a welcome'" (Farber-Flugge 1973; 121:14), and to let her enter (ibid 18) The vizier of Uras is called Ipte-bita(m), "he opened the temple" (Lambeit RlA 5 151) on an OB seal (Collon 1986: 434), in OB texts fiom Dilbat and An-Anion In post OB texts, Papsukkal is associated with doors (above note 3 7), and so is conspiciously Namtar, the vizier of Ereskigal (in the MB myth Nergal and Ereskigal, see Knudtzon EA 357: 54ff, also in Lambert 1960: 117:25) Less certain is the case of Urmasum after whom in the OB period a gate of probably Egalmah, the temple of Ninisina, was called (Kraus 1951: 60, 82); Urmdsum, plausably translated as "Twin-Dog", is one of the viziers of Gula/ Egalmah on an OB seal (Collon 1986: 167) and in later theological texts {Kram 1951: 82), and may be identified with as yet hypothetical dogs at the entrance of Ninisina's temple (cf CAD K 71b; possible representation: Moortgat 1944: 43 Abb 46) indefinite and from late sources is the evidence for Ninsubura's presence at the gate: when identified with lggaila, "Big-Door", he is w mutiieti, "of the double doors'' (CAD M/2 300a); one3 of the names of his wife is dEgi (gl -gu-) -ka- gal, "piincess of-the-main-gate" (KAV 5$ i 5), and one of their daughters is dgan- du7;, Booi-Fiame" (ibid. 9f, see above note 37)60) On OAkk seals (see text-fig 3 and comments) the sukkallu is often seen leading visitor to his master61). In the following periods the sukkallu is replaced in this function0-), at least in art63), by the /amasw-goddesses04), whose lord he can be 5a) Duplicates ^udug-e-kur-ta see Falkenuem 1959: 67. Farbei ZA 66 26V New syllabic spellings of Peiu's epithet i-dufi-gal-kur-ra (Castellino OrAnl 8 55:173 u-du-ga-al-ku4-ia-ke4f Cavi- gneaux and Al-Rawi RA 76 189 f u-du-gat-kw-ra-ka), show that the pronounciation of i-du3 couid be /udu/ (see also the loanword uiu and its feminin utu-tu in MIO 1 74 iv 21), but do not exclude thai udug is a real variant of i-d us. and not only a variant spelling. In Lambert and Millard 1969: 46:74f( Nuska is ihe direct superior of Kalkal. normally called the doorkeeper of Ekur 60) it is apparently as a doorman, that a vizier can be apotropaic (Papsukkal, above note 3 7) °') The latest example of a staff bearing inttoducing vizier (?) occurs on a seal mentioning Sulgi (AO 4359 = Douglas van Buren 1934: pi. Xa). see above note 17c We may assume that the sukkallu of the seals leads the visitor to his master from the gale (see above), or fiom the courtyard building (Alia, see above note 15) For references to introducing sukkallu on seals see above note 14 (Sugansegbar), 16 (Ara also text-fig 2 C 1 a). 17 (Isimu, viziers of Samas, and of unidentified gods), 38 (Ibbii) 61) For an Ur III example of the introducing sukkallu, see the preceding note 63) Introducing visitors remains common in the texts, see Namtar in Nergal and Ereskigal (a text not going back on pie-ME originals). Knudtzon EA 357:54 ff' ' 64) The lama\\u introducing someone to the god is common on seals and other objects of the Ur III and OB periods, see Foxvog Heimpel, Kilmer and Spycket RlA 6 446ff., with previous literature, Braun- Holziiigct 1984: 45 ff. Gtontbtrg 1986: 93 ff An uncertain example of an OAkk lamassu on a seal is Porada 1918: No 215 adduced by Sp\ckci I960: 80; although she does not hold a staff, she might also be seen as a female sukkallu. see CAD lukkallaiu For the attitude of the lamanu, holding the introduced peison with one hand, and greeting the god with the other, see Groneberg 1986: 96f ; it is the same attitude as that of the sukkallu when he does not hold a staff, see comments to Text-fig 3 Like the sukkallu. the lamassu is standing at the gate (RlA 6 447. 448 f), and may hold a staff (above note 43) WIGGERMANN — THE STAFF OF NINSUBURA 19 Fig 3 1 Sumer 34 117 (OAkk ) For this attitude see also text-fig 2. A 1, 2, and above note 14 Isimu Behind the visitor Parrot and Lambert 1954: No 196 2 Boehmer 1965: Abb 497 (OAkk ) Isimu 3 Buchanan 1981 Abb. 472 (OAkk ) Isimu, without staff, see note 38 4 Ram I960 No 17 (OAkk ) Three wkkallu of Samas, see note 52 5 Parker 1975 pi X no 6 (OAkk) Divergent attitude of sukkallu: face turned toward visitors (but note the direction ol the feet); greeting gesture made to visitors, not to god If the vizier holds the staff, only one hand is free. The free hand may be resting (1), greeting (2. 4, 5) or holding the visitor (3, 4) If the vizier does not hold a staff—in that case only Isimu can be identified with certainty—his attitude is generally exactly that of the introducing lamassu (3, Porada 1948: 198; unceitain viziers, not Isimu: Boehmer 1965: 445, 439, see note I7b. and Boehmer 1965: 474, see note 17c) That the lamassu and the sukkallu share certain properties is recorded also in the Ur III PN dLamma- sukkal (Limei 1968: index) Sumerian PNs do not attest to the replacement of sukkallu by lamassu, but the only PN-type shared by the sukkallu (in this case the individual sukkallu Alia, see above note 14) and the lamasw, and not by any other god (in the name dUtu-Di-mu we must read dUtu-di-mu) seems to point to their introductory activity: dLamma-(r)e-silim-mu / Al-la-silim-mu (timet 1968: index), "(May)-rhe-Lamassu/Alla-(biing about)-My-Well-Being" 20 jaarbericht ex oriente lux 29 — 1985-86 called65). This replacement is perhaps related to the increasing importance of the sukkal(mahh)u in the Ur III state66) Even when the sukkallu no longer introduces visitors to his master (at least not in art), he may still intercede between the god, whose trusted advisor he is, and his servants, to whose prayers he listens67). Beside the wife of the implored deity and the lamassu, the sukkallu is the most common interceding deity68) at the divine court69) The powers of the vizier, symbolized by his staff70), are called mefparsu, and his instructions k-ag-gkjthtu: Ninsubura is dingir me-galam-ma ur4-ur4, "the god who collects the artful powers" {TIM 5 54, OB seal, for the phrase see Farber- Flugge 1973: 156), strongly reminding of the hamim kullat parsifmehe inscribed on oi) en-dL amma-dLamma Walker and Kramer 1982: 80:8, VET 6 74:14' (Ninsubura) 66) L-ambea 1976: 13 notes a broadening of Ninsubura's functions in Rs 16:5 (Kiirki 1980: 163) continuing later in the OB period. Ninsubura may be in certain contexts the vizier of a national council, serving all the gods (cf. Sjoberg 1982: 69ff.. no 3) Thus, although similar broad functions are ascribed to Nuska (van Dijk 1960: 108 ff), Ninsubura is the more important of the two when they appear together: in an early OB pantheon"" enumerating gods 'pervading" something (Sjoberg 1974:167), Nuska pervades only the holy dais (bara-feii-ge am-si), while Ninsubura pervades the whole !and (kalam-e am-si) The national vizier Ninsubura is present also at the court of Nanna, next to his personal viziei Alamus (VET 6 402:23) 67) (Ninsubura) (sud)a-ra-zu-e gis-tuku-Ki 16:7, Walker and Kramer 1982 80:12; sa-gur-ru, who shows clemency" (UET 6 74:14), sa-la-sii, who is compasionate'' (Walker and Kramer 1982: 80:12); arhus tuku-ma-ra-ab. 'have mercy on me ' Iraq 35 78:20 (OB seal) 68) Ninsubura: TCI 15 35 r. 23 ff, Hruska 1969: 484 hi 41 ff. Walker and Kramer 1982: 80 (intercession of Ninsubura with the angry personal god of the sufferer), Gronebeig 1986: 101 fT, 103B6 (VET 6 402:41) Other viziers: Nuska (notes 21, 29), Bunene (note I7b), Papsukkal (note 37), Nabu (listening to prayer. 4R2 !5/3:15f, /AOS 88 125:11, 130 r 2; taking the hand of the weak: Cavigneaux Texts from Babylon I p 45 79 B 1/38:5, 61 79 B 1/109:2, 66 79.B 1/137:3 f. damiqtaka lizkir; AfO 4 20:12) The sukkallu may also speak against those breaking a regulation under divine protection (in curses): [Nabu] sukkallu siru ina pani Marduk unmam lemutiam litlasqar (RA 16 126 iv 13 ff., MB kudurru, for further examples with Nabu. see Pomponio 1978: 62f), dARA \ukkalmahhu sa Ea lu rabis lemuww (Iakil-ihssu 2, AfO 12 365: 34) 60) See Mayer 1976: 2303 Beside divinities at the court of the implored gpod, also the personal god may intercede on behalf of his servant The best known and clearest example is the introduction of Gudea by his personal god Ningiszida (see Falkenuein 1966: 101 ff) on a seal (Douglas van Buren 1934: 72 Fig 1, and 68). Although Ningiszida on this seal is distinguished by his dress from the sukkallu gods of the OAkk period, his left hand does not greet but supports a flowing vase held by the seated god, and, behind Gudea held by Ningiszida. a !ama.ssu greeting with both hands is present, it cannot be excluded that some of the staffless gods introducing someone on OAkk seals are the personal gods of the introduced subject, and not the sukkallu of the seated god. For intercession by the personal god see also Groneberg 1986: 96 ff For the possible representation of the personal god on OB seals see note 103 1Q) Renger RlA 5 129b assesses the state of affairs as follows: "Die regalia verkorperen in magischer Weise die gotlliche Krafte die die Ausiibung der Herrschaft iiberhaupt erst moglich machen '. See above notes 40-42. and note that the gidri-mah is among the me brought by Inanna from Eridu to Uruk (Farber-Flugge 1973: 54:6) Primeval Enmesarra, the "Lord-of-all-regulations" transmits his powers, the me of his name by giving the staff of Anu and Enlil (Borger ZA 61 77:49); in another text (LKA 77 i 33) the same gods receive the parsu from Enki, a god who not regularly distributes paxm (that is done by Anu and Enlil, see Farber-Flugge 1973: 137) and in this text probably plays the part of the primeval god played elsewhere by Enmesarra See also Cohen 1973: 340 (= 382) for qualities of the ruler s staff (EL A) wiggermann — the staff of ninsubura 21 the figurines of Ninsubura and treated above In Rs. 7:2 (Kdrki 1980: 149) Ninsubura is "the great lord" me-kilib-ba ag-e. "who controls every power'1, in Walker and Kramer 1982: 80:4 he is me-ba-a, "who apportions the powers", on an OB seal (Charpin 1980: 294:111) he holds the "powers of heaven in his hand" (me-an-na su-du771)), just like the staff on other seals (Sjoberg 1969: 97b) dMe-ninnu-an-na is one of the gods identified in An-Anum with Papsukkal/ Ninsubura (I 33); his name means: "Fifty-Poweis-of-Heaven" Other sukkallu gods may be associated with the me too72) Without the help of his vizier, a god cannot give instructions to his divine or human subjects73); the god keeps his vizier well- informed74) Like his human model in the NA period75), the divine vizier is found involved in the administration of justice76). References stressing the great powers of the vizier seem—in as far as they can be dated—not to precede the OB period and to be limited to the viziers of the national gods Anu/Istar (Ninsubura), Enlrl (Nuska), and Marduk (Nabu) If this indeed reflects a difference with the earlier periods, and not only additional and more explicit sources (seals, and royal inscriptions concerned with the justification 71) See also me-kii-ga 5i[-du7 Rs 15:3 (Karki 1980; [62) The verb in dingir-me-iu-ga (Hrouda J977: 88 D 7, OB seal) is unclear, and not paralleled by anything in E'aibei-Flugge 1973, where all terms combined with me are collected (related to ru-gu/rig, ??, see van Dijk 1973: 114, Erymei- Kemky 1977: 485ff, and to be translated as "'who has been presented with the powers"?) 72) Eg Nuska (passim, see nota 21), Nabu (me-kilib-ba uiJl.-ur4 4R1 14/3:1, hamim kullat par si LKA 57:5, see also, with comparable phrases Cavigneaux Texts from Babylon I 43 79 B 1/23:1 f., PSBA 20 156:20, KAR 25 ii 31, 5*43 36d, on OB seal: PBS 14 No 474 on MB seal: Maxwell-Hys/op 1971: 90 and Fig 65c Pomponio 1978: 1871) 13) e-nc-da-im dEn-lil dingir-gal-gal-e-ne-er a-ag nu-sum-sum-mu UE7 6 74:12' (Ninsubura) Human subjects are meant in Walker and Kiamer 1982: 80:11 e-ne-da-nu nam-en- nam-lugal-la siSgidri-mah la-ba-an-sum, without him the exalted sceptre is not given for en- ship and kingship" Something similar is said of Inanna when she receives the me from Enki (Sjoberg 1972: 63:14, 64:23, cited also above, note 40) For Ninsubura see also a-ag-dwr-ga za-kes-re. "who seizes the bundle (Sjoberg 1967: 276) of instructions" (UET 6 74:16'), a-ag-ga sum-mu Rs \5;5 (Karki 1980: 162), a-ag-ga . Woolley 1976: 241 U.I656 (1) (OB seal) Also here belong Charpin 1980: 294:109: khi-kilib su-na si, "who holds all the instructions', and nadin lereli, "who gives instructions'' (Groneberg 1981: 126 i 10) 1J) gal-zu (Rs. 15:5. in Karki 1980: 162). gal-an-zu UET 6 74:3', nig-mu-zu-zu Iraq 35 78:20 (OB seal), na-ri Walker-Kramer 1982: 80:10, YOS 5 47 (OB seal), Syria 55 227 (OB seal), itpesu, erw Groneberg 1981: 126:11 f (OB Agusaja), all refering to Ninsubura 15) SeeKlauber 1910: 57f 70) gi-sum-mu/ifp/a nadanu, "to give judgement' (and similar expressions with Ziptu): Ninsubura (An-Anum I 35), Nuska (ABRT 1 35:14. especially KAR 58:31 // SMS 6:24). Nabu (IAOS 88 125:14, PBS 1/1 18:7 // LKA,42:9), references partly from CAD siptu B In the Lamentation over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur (UET 6 J 33:22 ff) a description of the abandoned dub-la-mah and the disappearance of its juridical institutions (^gu-za-di-kU;, s i - s a), is followed immediately by "Alamus (the vizier of Sin) had iaid down his staff, with his hand he [no longer] " (Sumerian cited above), thus suggesting a relation between these institutions and Alamus; confirmation of his juridical activities comes from the SB texts Langdon RA 12 190:10 and Perry Sin PI 2 ii 9 (broken) Juridical activities are attested also for Nuska (van Dijk 1960: 110:14 ff), and Nabu (RA 18 30:7f, Unger 1931: PI 48:3) The god di-ku5-um (dikum, loanword from Sumerian di-ku5 as indicated by the spelling), "judge", the vizier of Nirtegal (An-Anum IV 102) may also be mentioned For Ninsubura see also An-Anum I 38 22 jaarberich I ex oriente lux 29 — 1985-86 of ruleiship), the growing importance of the divine vizier may again (see above) be related to the growing importance of the human vizier in the Ui III administration77) 5 Sumerian angelohgy J van Dijk {van Dijk 1969: 546, RIA 3 537 h) has presented the theory that the sukkallu is lelated to his lord as effect to cause, a Sumerian angelology He documents his theory with two well chosen examples, dnim-gir, "Lightning" the sukkallu of Iskur, the whethergod {An-Anum III 253), and ANablum, "Flame", the sukkallu of the fire god Gibil {An-Anum II 342). The old sukkallu of the great gods, however, are not convincingly explained by this theory: their names and natures seem independent of those of their lords78) The great gods living in large households in major cities had sukkallu early, and the reasons behind their appointments are no longer transparent. That they partake in the nature of their lords derives from their function: when they confront his subjects, they speak his words Sukkallu of other gods too paTtake in this way in the nature of their lord, and their names may point directly to the command of their master79) The names of others point in a more general manner to the decisions of their lords80), even so general as to become abstracta81). The presence of viziers at 11) The attitude of the figurines of Ninsubura discussed above is not greeting, which excludes the conceivable, but in view of the disappearance of this activity after the Ur III period improbable interpretation of these figurines as introducing visitors to their master, thus comparable to the figurines of lamawu goddesses under daises in temples in earlier times (Braun-Holzinger 1984: 45 ff) The inscription indicates that the sukkallu is there as representative of higher authorities, giving orders What authorities the Ninsubura under the daise represents, however, is not clear: when the future owner of the temple, anonymous belu, not Anu ot ilu, is informed on the purpose of the figurine, the exorcist calls it sukkallaka, your vizier (Borger 1973: 178:9), but the inscription identifies him as Ninsubura, the vizier of the gods, that is, not of every single god, but of the council of gods, the central authority headed by Ami and Enlil Thus the authority behind the figurine could be the god of the temple, in which case his commands are directed probably to his human subjects, especially the king; or Ninsubura represents the central authorities, in which case his commands are probably directed to the god of the temple, since the central authorities have other ways to inform their human subjects of their wishes We are similarly confused by another temple building ritual, CT 13 38 // OECT6 PI XVII Rro 97 (cited above, note 37), in which the temple being built is addressed as Ezida, the dwelling of Anu and Istar. and its (of the temple) vizier is Gadalalabzu/Papsukkal Are we lo suppose that the temple being built is modelled after the temple ol An and remains his (explaining Ninsubura and Gadalalabzu/Papsukkal), until the specific god for whom the temple is being built moves in (explaining "your vizier")? 7S) Ninsubura of Anu/Istar, Nuska of Enlil. Nabium of Marduk, Isiinu and Ara of Enki, Alamus of Sin, Papnunna and Bunene (bur2 C, "light", "glow ', PSD 1917) of Utu; mdNin-pirig, one of the other viziers of Samas the element pirig perhaps denotes 'light", cf. Finkelstein R4 67 1166 79) Examples in notes 79-81 are taken from An-Anum Tasme-zikru, the female vizier of Belel-biri, 'She-Listens-to-Commands' Ner-e-tagmil, "Kill-Do-Not-Spare", the vizier of the ordeal god. Iqbi- damiq, "He-Speaks-It-Is-Good*", the viziec of ^Nig-gi-na, Uqur "destroy" (Lambert BiOr 30 356), the name of the dagger of Nergal, and his vizier E-turammi, " Do-Not-Slacken" the name of the vizier of Bitdut the deified fetters 80) Namtar, "Decision", 'Fate , a son of Enlil, the god of decisions, but the vizier of Ereskigal, the W1GGERMANN - THE STAFF Of NIN'SUBURA 23 gates and their introductory activities nicely fit into the conception of the divine world as a state, and cannot be explained as cause and effect Thus instead of laying an abstract principle at the origin of the office of divine sukkallu, we would view this office as explained by the natural tendency to conceive of divine rulers as human rulers, and to endow them with a comt That abstract principles do come into play is unavoidable when abstract entities like gods are involved; the principle underlying the association of some sukkallu with their masters may be derived from the "state" theory too: they are related as mler—the master-—and deified command, or the state effectuated by that command 6 An alternative identity fat the 'god with the mace" If the "figure with the mace" represents the Babylonian king, as it is often held82), it is certainly not the contemporary king he lepiesents The contempoiaty king is dressed differently^), and may occur on seals and othei woiks of ait84) together with the "figure with the mace" Moreover, the situations in which the figure occurs—we will return to these below—and the fact that he sometimes wears the horned headdress of divinity85), show that he,belongs to the realm of the supernatural With his designation "Gdttkoning als Krieger", MoortgatSG) tried to lesolve the conflicting evidence by raising the alleged king to the position of emblem This solution has proved attiactive, and found adherents to the present day; most recently Collon87) thought that he "probably represents the concept of active kingship, with the king as secular leader of his people, holding the mace, his symbol of authority". Landsberger8S) briefly discussed Moortgat's solution, and called it a "Schreibtischgebilde"; the concept of the king as emblem is unmesopotamian Instead of trying to solve the problem of the conflicting evidence "god" and "king" by mixing the elements into a suspect anachronistic "god-king1 s-'), we queen of the underworld Elsewhere we will aigue that in 'tmimu the vizier ol Tispak' a line from An- Anum. btismu replaces mu?huisu, and Tispak Ninazu. and that the monstei snake muihuiiu is an angel of death of the underworld god Ninazu, 81) Especially the two viziers of Utu Nig-zi-da and Nig-si-sa taw and 'Order" S2) See above notes 3ff a3) For the dress of the king see Collon 1986: 36f. Douglas van Buren 1952: 92ff. 84j On seals: Collon 1986: No 395; on Mari wall painting: Parrot 1958: PI IXfl. where in the middle the king faces Istar, and on the left and right of this central scene we see lamawia and at the right our figure with horns Also Lambert 1976: 14 adduces arguments against 'Gottkonig", S5) Po>ada l948:'No 429, 469, 472; on the wall painting of note 84 Other gods too may occui without their horned crown: Solyman !968: 83. Boehmer RIA 3 468b 6 205b Opi!kiu\ 1961: 224 se) See note 3 S7) Collon 1986: 101; see also Nugel 1957: 98ff 88) Landsberger 1948: 89 se) OB year names and royal inscriptions cannot be adduced to prove the existence of representations of the king standing in the attitude of the "god with the mace" and holding a mace nor that our figure was such a king From the material collected by Durand apud Bartelet 1974: 118 ff only one piece refers 24 jaarbericht ex oriente lux 29 — 1985-86 might try to evade it by denying the reality of one of the two constituting elements The supernatural elements of the figure, and his identification as a god or demon can hardly be denied, but it is possible to deny that the resemblance between the OB "figure with the mace" and the Akkadian and peripheral kings is sufficient to asses the identity of the figure as king Thus the figure would not be a "god-king", but a god resembling in certain respects the kings of an earlier period. This solution too has found its adherents, especially among philologists; identifications with Amuiru or Ninsubura did, however, not explain the resemblance of the figure with the king, and were unacceptable for a number of other reasons set out above To salvage the second solution, we will have to look for another god or demon The representations on Old Babylonian seals reflect the religious interests of its bearer: defense against intruding evil, and good relations with the divine court, which ensures divine protection and well-being These themes are the constituting elements of Mesopotamian prayers and incantations of all times, and especially of those on Cassite seals, where the text has replaced the more ambiguous representa- tions of the previous period. The figures defending the seal beaier against evil are relatively well known90), and the "god with the mace" does not count among them, because of his quite different distribution91) The second theme is traditionally expressed by showing a supplicant, sometimes carrying an edible animal as gift, entering into the presence of the lord The lord may perhaps be the personal god of the supplicant, or a god with whom he or humanity in general has particularly good relations; he may be his city god, or a national god, or even the king Generally the god is seated, sometimes he stands. None of these interests us here, since the "figure with the mace" does not occur in the position of host A third group of gods are the servants of the divine courts, and it is among these that we must find the name of the "figure with the mace", since clearly he cannot be one of the major gods92) to the king 'smiting with a mace (gis-tukul/Z^Mw, see above note 13)" (122 D 16); the attitude is different here from the normal attitude of the "figure with the mace", but even if there were cases referring to the king in the attitude and with the attribute of the ' figure with the mace ", there would be no obvious reason why the king holding a mace should be dressed differently from his other representations, and appear as timeless emblem Neither do we believe that the splaying beard can be explained by referring to representations of the king as road runner {Barrdei 1974: 35); again there is no reason why the king as road runner should be depicted differently from the king as gift bearer, and why this representation of the king should appear in supernatural functions Below we will adopt this solution in a different form 90) See Wiggermann 1986: passim, and for the exorcist (?) Amuiru above note 6 91) The apotropaic monsters are from earlier ages, while the "god with the mace is an invention of the late Ur III period (for the date, see U Seidl, forthcoming on the Mari wall paintings, Collon 1986; 100f.) The "god with the mace" does not interchange with eg the bull nmn/kusarikku, or the hairy heio/lahmu two well known apotropaic figures 92) The identification with Ninsubura made him an important, but no! a major god wiggermann — the staff of ninsubura 25 The distinctive characteristics of the "god with the mace" are his dress and headgear, his weapon, his beard, and the scenes in which he appears His dress is not unique, and is also worn by Old Akkadian and later peripheral kings when they go to battle or kill enemies The unknown god is sometimes represented in the same killing postures as these kings93), and the king and the god probably shared the property of armed defender of good The turban is worn by contemporary Old Babylonian and earlier kings since Gudea The figure with whom the "god with the mace" generally occurs, with whom he forms a pair, is the goddess raising her hands in a gesture of greeting, identified with the lamassu of the texts (see above note 64); in the great majority of cases he stands at her left, the two facing each other Sometimes symbols of gods or a supplicant, and regularly a naked woman stand next to or between them These scenes are by far the most popular ones on Old Babylonian seals, and must have an obvious and retracable meaning The meaning is partly revealed by the nature of the lamassu as introductory goddess, and by the appearance of the two in clear introduction scenes, together next to a seated 01 standing god, sometimes completed by a supplicant. The representation of the "god with the mace" facing the lamassu is so constant, that following sugges- tions of Poiada and Collon (Collon 1986: 101) one is lead to think of the existence of a more permanent model, presumably at either side of a doorway Collon, considering only the "god with the mace", suggested a monumental model at one place only, but the lamassu, the counterweight of the "god with the mace" and an important element in the functioning of each temple since she leads petitioners inside, indicates that we should rather think of a scene occuring in one form or another quite regularly at doorways of temples There is another detail linking the "god with the mace" to doorways: representations of him standing on the head of Huwawa94). The hairdo of the figure killing Huwawa on the plaques differs from that of the "god with the mace", and since the former is presumably Gilgamesh, the latter is presumably not95) Since only Gilgamesh is known to have defeated ") Dough', van Buren 1930: Fig 301 (clay chariot front), Porada 1948: No 877E, 1950: 159 Fig. 1, Delaporte 1923: PI 112 9b (all seals), Opijitius 1961: No 480 ff.. and p. 225 (clay plaques), cf Collon 1982; 168 The weapon, mace or scimitar (see note 11 and the references of the present note), is apparently not a symbol, but the tool of his trade (c! Kupper 1961: B) A reference to the mace (oi one of its forms; the weapon held below the "lump" is not uniform, and may have a small lump, or no lump at ail) from the texts' may be found in the phrase ' mace-to-hit-the-evil-ones (gis-hul-ditb-ba, see Grayson 1975: 69) of the udug/r<i&isu-gods (of An)'* from SB magical texts of older origin (see Wiggermann 1986: 135 f), used to designate the stick or stick-like weapon of cornel-wood held by (divine) exorcists 9a) Opifiiiui 1961: No 484 ft, Barrelei 1968: 410f 9S) The Gilgamesh on the action plaque Opitz 1928: 207 ff. has the hairdo of the Old Akkadian kings; the Gilgamesh on the second action plaque, Parrot 1968: 230 fig. 23 is broken See Calmevei 1973: 165ff, RIA 3 373f Wilcke RIA 4 533. Barrelet 1974: 37, [Add] 26 jaarbericht ex or1enfe lux 29 — 1985-s6 Huwawa, the pose of the "god with the mace" on top of the head of Huwawa is not victorious; theii association is coincidental, and explained by assuming a role at a doorway for both That Huwawa heads were fastened at the temple front is known from literary sources, and actually attested in the temple at Rimah-6) The figure from the texts best fitting the description, and not yet identified in art97), is the udug/feWw spirit; he is a minor god, a servant at the divine court, and a member of a group of beings performing similar functions The term may denote a variety of beings98) who will remain unidentified; generally it contrasts with lamma, and, just as for the lamma, we must expect a more or less constant representation in the constant context of the introduction to a god Together with his female companion, the lamma"), the udug-spirit stands at doorways; their introductory functions at the divine court seem to derive from their presence there For the supplicant, the seal bearer, seeking good relations with his lord, the support of a favourable udug and lamma is extremely important Their presence denotes the return to well-being after the expulsion of evil, and the extirpation of the sins that have caused it More generally, "being accompanied by a favourable udug and a favourable lamma" is the Babylonian way of expressing personal happiness. Lamma is the older and more generally used member of the pair 10°) The male udug may be armed (see note 93) and is apparently conceived as less gentle than the female lamma; he can operate also against humanity; in that case he is an evil udug, corresponding to the Akkadian utukku lemnu This interpretation of the pair "god with the mace" and introductory goddess gives the seals and other works of religious art on which they appear an obvious meaning, something that identification with a "god-king" did not, and with Ninsubura only to a degree: that of enhancing the happiness of the bearer (or the inhabitants of the house where the object was situated) 9S) Howard-Cana [983: 64 ff. Wiggermann [986; 270fT 97) An earlier identification of K Frank is discussed in Wiggermann [986: 143 References to representations of an uiukku from the texts are MSL 7 240: 116 (OB): dUdug-ku-Gi and UVB XV 40 r 15 (LB; these late utakku's may belong to the class of representations described in Wiggermann 1986: I59f) 9S) The term may be used as a general lerm. denoting named udugs, lammas, and the snake-god Irhan (CT 24 8; 10 fT 9:15. where the enumerated beings are called the "six udugofEkur') For two certainly anthropomorph udug see below note 101, and for the peers of the god with the mace operating together see Moortgai-Corren\ 1965 PI 44 No 72 Puruda 1948: 427E, Collon 1986: 420. Legrain UE X 557). ") See note 64 above, and von Soden 1964: [48 ff, Mayer 1976 : 245 ff., Vor Under 1975: 25 f, 47ff. Oppenheim 1964: 199 ff For their function at the divine court see RIA 6 447b: ' the female L's nature as one half of a double-being seems to derive from its basic role at doorways, where it is on one side, while the male (udug/sedu) is on the other''. 10°) lamma is generally used to refer to male beings (the king, gods) as well as to female beings The histories of these terms and their representations in art are very complex, and cannot be treated here wiggermann— the staff of ninsubura 27 The origin of the fixed representation, and the undeniable resemblance of the "god with the mace" with the kings of an earlier period, may be sought in the statues of kings standing full size in buildings, and later viewed as udug; the names of two of these kings, udug of the Ekur, are known from An-Anum and its Old Babylonian forerunner: Lumma and Hatanis101) These two are pre-Old Akkadian, but statues of Old Akkadian kings are known to have been standing in buildings of the Old Babylonian period too: in Mari we find the lamassdt of Sargon and Naram-Sm standing in the throne room of the palace (Bitot 1980: 139 i 5 f, without lamassdt, 142 i 16ff.) Birot comments (147+s) that lamassu is more or less a synonym of salmu, "statue", but that it connotes a statue with the same protecting powers as the lamassu deities Here the more general female member of the pair is used to name the type Beard, dress, weapons, attitude and position at doorways (Lumma and Hatanis) or throne rooms (Sargon and Naram-Sm) fit the udug- spirit as protective deity and introducing companion of the lamma. The wind blown beard may derive from a representation of the king as road runner (see note 89) 101) See lacobsen 1939: 98f 16e, Lambert RIA 3 544a, van Dijk RIA 3 536b 28 jaarbericht ex orients lux 29 — 1985-86 A term often used next to sedu and lamassu, and also denoting an aspect of personal happiness, is bastu, translated by CAD B as "dignity (personified as a protective spirit)" When the udug and the lamma are indeed both present on seals, we must expect the personified bastu to occur sometimes in their company Since the word is feminine, it is probably a female that represents "Dignity", and indeed there is an obvious candidate in the naked woman, often occuiing in between the udug and the lamma. sometimes wealing the horned crown, but generally not distinguished by anything but her full naked presence10') Beside this general correspondance between the figures of the texts and those of the seals, there is one other piece of evidence—not proof, but reinforcement lakob-Rost and Freydank (Jakob-Rost and Fteydank 1981: .325 ff..) recently published a triangular object from Old Assyrian Assur, presented to the Assyrian Istar for the life of the dedicant and that of her family The object is called a bastu (ie§), and apparently is a pudendum The authors believe this to prove that, contrary lo the findings of the CAD, bastu could denote sexual parts Choosing not to contradict the CAD, where the meaning of bastu is based on many attestations, we are forced to believe that the ^bastu" of the inscription does not denote the pudendum, but what the Fig. 5 Naked woman, bastu, 'Dignity", on OB seals 1) Orthmann 1975: pi. 267 no. 1 = Moortgat 1940: 345. 2) Porada 1948: 442 3) Porada 1948: 447E 4) Porada 1948: 495 For further examples see e g Moortgat 1940: 346ff . Porada 1948: 476IT 102) For the naked woman see Winter 1983: 95ff, 192ff, with many drawings. He concludes that she is a protecting and interceding supernatural being For representations see CAD bastu lex section. lamasm mng 4 wiggermann — the siaff of nin$ubura 29 pudendum symbolically stands for, "Dignity". The pudendum from Assur would then be an abbreviated form of the naked woman103). Again, this identification of a previously totally obscure figure gives a simple meaning to the scenes in which she occurs, and to the seals on which the scene occurs. Yet, it must be stressed that both identifications are speculative; definite proof is lacking. Bibliography * Abou Assaf, A , 1983 Die Ikonographie des altbabylonischen Wetlergottes BaM 14 43-66 Aharoni Y, 1973 Beer-Sheba I Excavations at Tel Bcer-Sheba 1969-1971 seasom Andrae, W, 1935 Die jungeren hchtar-Tempel in Assur WVDOG 58 Barrelet, M.-Th , 1968 Figurines et reliefs en terre cuite de la Mesopotamie antique 1974 La "Figure du Roi" dans l'iconographie et dans les textes depuis Ur-Nanse jusqu'a la fin de la Irc Dynastie de Babylone, in P Garelli (ed ), U Palais el la Royaute. CRRAI 19, 27-138 Bauer, J 1972 Altsurnerischc Wirt\chaftstexte am Lagavh Studia Pohl 9 Beck, P and Rainey, A F.„ 1973 Beck, P A votive Cylinder seal, in Aharoni 1973: 56-60 Rainey, A F., The cuneiform inscription on a votive cylinder seal from Beer-Sheba* in Aharoni 197J: 61-70 Bitot, M , 1980 Fragment de rituel de Mari relatif au kispum. in B Alster (ed) Death in Mesopotamia, Mesopotamia I, CRRAI 26. 139-150 Boehmer, R. M., 1965 Die Entwicklung der Glyptik wahrend der Akkad-Zeit UAVA 4 Boese, 1 1971 Altmesopotamisthe Weihp/atten, UAVA 6 Borger, R , 1973 Ionmannchen und Puppen. BiOr 30, ] 76-1 S3 Borker-Klahn, J, 1982 Altvorderasiatnche Btldstelen und vergleichbart Fehreliejs, BaF 4 Braun-Holzinger. E A 19// Fruhdynastische Beterstatuetten 1984 Figurliche Bronzm aus Mesopaiamien Calmeyer P., 1973 Reliefbronzen in baby Ionise hem Stil Charpin, D , 1980 Archives familiales et propriele privee en Babylonie ancienne Civil, M 1983 Enlil and Ninlih The Maniage of Sud J AOS 103 43-64 Cocqueriliat, D , 1951 Notes pour servit a 1 histoire des masses d armes. RA 45, 21-24 1952 Les masses d'armes d'apres les textes RA 46. 121-136 Cohen, S 1973 Enmeikar and the Lord of Aratta, Ph D University of Pennsylvania 103) Another minor deity, less generally attested, closely related to the group of udug, lamina and baitu, is the "god in ladder-patterned robe, with one hand raised' {Colion 1986: p 27f,. and eg Moortgat 1940: 321. Porada 1948: 468). Following the line of reasoning adopted here, we are tempted to identify him with the personal god of the seal bearer (see note 69) 30 jaarberichi ex oriente lux 29 — 1985-86 Collon, D , 1975 The Seal Impressions from Tell Atchana / Alalakh, AO AT 27 1982 Catalogue of the Western Asiatic Seals in the British Museum Cylinder Seals II Akkadian- Post Akkadian- Ur Ill-periods 1986 Catalogue of the Western Asiatic Seals in the British Museum Cylinder Seals III hin-Iarsa and Old Babylonian Periods Cooper, J . 1978 the Return of Ninurta to Nippur. AnOr 52 Delaporte, L., Musee du Louvre catalogue des cylindres orientaux cachets et pierres gravees de style ouental 1920 I. Fouilles et Missions 1923 II Acquisitions Douglas van Buien, E , 1930 Clay Figurines of Babylonia and Assyria YOS Res 16 1934 The God Ningizzida, Iraq 1, 60-89 1946 The Guardians of the Gate in the Akkadian Period, OA'S 16, 312-332 1952 Homage to a Deified King, ZA 50, 92-120 1956 The Sceptre, its Origin and Significance. RA 50, 101-103. Dijk, J. I A van, i960 Sumer tithe Cotterlieder II Teil. 1969 "Vert comme Tifpak", OrNS 38 539-547 1973 Un rituel de purification des armes et de larmee Essai de traduction de YBC 4184. in M A Beek ea (ed ), Symbolae Biblicae et Mesopotamicae Fiancisco Mario Iheodoro de liagre Bold dedkatae. 101-117 * Ellis, R S 1967 "Papsukkal figures beneath the daises of Mesopotamian Temples. RA 61, 51-6! Fales, M , 1983 Cento Letteie Neo-Assire Falkenstein, A , 1957 Die neusumerische Gerichtsurkunden. 1959 Sumerische Gotterlieder I Teil 1966 Die Inschriften Gudeas von Lagosdi I Etnlcitung AnOr 30 Farber-FIugge, G. 1973 Der Mythos Inanna und Enki unier besonderer Berucksichtigung der Liste der me Studia Pohl 10 Farber, W, 197/ Beschwdrungsrituale an Istar und Dumuzi Finkel, I L..: 1980 Bilingual Chronicle Fragments, ICS 32. 65-80 Franke. J A , 1977 Presentation Seals of the Ur Ill/Isin-Larsa Period, in Mc Gibson 1977: 61-66 Frankfort. H , 1939 Cylinder Seals 1948 Kingship and the Gods 1955 Stratified Cylinder Seals (together with Th lacobseti) OIP 72 Fiymer-tCensky. T., 1977 The Judidal Ordeal m the Ancient Near East. Ph D Yale University Gadd. C J , 1948 Ideas oj Divine Rule in the Ancient Near Fast 1958 The Harran Inscriptions of Nabonidus. AnSt 8. 35-92 Gelb I J. 1944 Hurrians and Subarians SAOC 22 1957 Glossaiy of Old Akkadian MAD 3 1977 Typology of Mesopotamian Seal Inscriptions, in Gibson 1977: 107-126 wiggermann — the staff of ninsubura 31 1982 Terms ior slaves in Ancient Mesopotamia, in Societies and Languages of the Ancient Near East Studies in honour of I M Diakonoff, 81-98 Gibson, Mc. e.a (ed ), 1977 Seals and Sealing in the Ancient Neat East BiMes 6 Grayson A. k , 1975 Two fragmentary Assyrian Royal Inscriptions, Iraq 37, 69-74 Green, A , 1983 Neo-Assyrian Apotropaic Figures, Iraq 45 87-96 Green, M W, [975 Eridu in Sumerian Litaature, Ph D University of Chicago Gregoire. 1 -P, 1970 Archives Administtatives Sumeriennes Groneberg, B , 1981 Philologische Bearbeitung des Agusayahymnus, RA 75. 107-134 1986 Eine Einfiihrungsszene in der altbabylonischen Litctatur: Bemerkungcn zum persdnlichen Goll in K. Heckei - W Sommeifeld ed , Keilschrifilkhe Literaturen, CRRAI 32. 93-108 Giliber, M I . 1975 Akkadian laban appi in the Light of Art and Literature, JANES 7. 73-83. 1980 Aspects oj Nonverbal Communication in the Ancient Near East Studia Pohl 12 Goff, B L . 1963 Symbols oj Prehistoric Mesopotamia Guiney O R , 1960 The Sultanlepe Tablets VII The Myth of Nergal and Ereshkigal, AnSt 10 105-131 Haklar. N , ' 1983 Die Stellung Suhis in dei Geschichte Eine Zwischenbilanz Or Ant 22, 25-36 Howard-Carter, Th . 1983 An Interpretation of the Sculptural Decoration of the Second Millennium Temple at Tell Al- Rimah, Iraq 45, 64-72 Hrouda, B , 1965 Die Kuiturgeschichte des Assyrischen Flachbildes 1977 Isin-Isan Bahriyat I Die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen 1973-1974 Hruska, B , 1969 Das Spatbabylonische Lehrgedicht Inannas Erhohung , ArOr 37 473-522 1973 Die inneie Struktui del Reformtexte Urukaginas von Lagasch, ArOr 41 4-13, 104-132 1974 Das Drehem-Archiv und die Probleme der Neusumerischen Viehwirtschaft Act Am Hung 22. 91-101 Huff, D , 1968 Das Felsgrab von Eski Dogubayazit, Istanbuier Mittetlungen 18, 58-86 Jacobsen, Th 1939 The Sumerian King List A S 11 Jakob-Rost, L , and Freydank, H , 1981 Ein altassyrische Votivinschrift, AoE 8 325-327 Karki, i , 1980 Die Sumerhchen und Akkadischen Konigsimchriften dei Altbabylonischen Zeit StOi 49 Kelly-Bucceilati M , 1977 Towards the Use of Quantitative Analysis in Mesopotamian Sphragistics, Mesopotamia 12, 41-52 Klauber, EG, 1910 Assyrisches Beamtentum nach Briefen atts der Sargonidenzeit LSS 5/III Kraus. F R , (951 Nippur und I sin nach altbabylonischen Rethlsurkundcn ICS 3 Kupper, J -R 1961 L iconographie du dieu Amurru dam la glyptique de la J'" dynastic babylonienne 32 jaarbericht ex oriente lux 29 — 1985-86 Kutscher, R., 1975 Oh Angry Sea YNER6 Landsberger. B.. !948 Sam al Studien zur Entdeckung der Ruinenstatte Karaiepe erste Lieferung Lambert. W G, 1960 An Address of Marduk to the Demons, AfO 19, 114-119. 1969 [and Millard, A R ]. Atra-hasis The Babylonian Story of the Flood 1976 Introductory Considerations, OrNS 45, 11-14 1979 Near Eastern Seals in the Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art Iraq 41. 1-45 1980 The Theology of Death, in B Alster (ed ), Death in Mesopotamia, Mesopotamia 8, CRRAI26, 53-66 LimeL H . 1968 L anthroponymie sumerienne dans lei documents de la ?c dynastie d Ur Lipihski, E , 1976 Apladad. OrNS 45, 53-74 Mallowan. MEL, 1966 Nimrud and its remains Vols. I and II Mayer, Werner, 1976 Unter suchungen zur Formempiache der Babylomschen Gebetsbeschworung Studio Pohl Series Major 5 Maxwell-Hyslop, K R , 1971 Western Asiatic feweikn c 1000-612 B C Mazzoni S , 1986 II Trionfo sul Nemico: Irasfbrmazioni di un motive iconografico in Siria e in Anatolia, Vicino Orients 6, 71-93 Meier, G , 1937 Die assyrische Beschwdrungssammlung Maqlu AfOB 2 Moorcy, P R S., 19 73 [and Gurney. O. R ] Ancient Near Eastern Seals at Charterhouse, Iraq 35, 71-81 1975 The Terracotta Plaques from Kish and Hursagkalama, c 1850 to 1650 B C , Iraq 37, 79-99 1978 [and Gurney, O R.] Ancient Near Eastern Cylinder Seals Acquired by the Ashmolean Museum Oxfoid 1963-1973,40, 41-59 Moortgat. A.. 1940 Vorderasiati.sehe Rollsiegel ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Steinsclmeidekunst 1944 Assyrische Glyptik des 12 ) ah thunder is, ZA 48, 23-44 Moortgat-Correns U 1968 Die ehemalige Rollsiegel-Sammlung Erwin Oppenlander, BaM 4, 232-297 Muller, K F , 1937 Das assyrische Ritual MVAG 4I/III Nagel, W 1957 Ein altassyrisches Konigssiegel. AfO 18. 97-103 Opificius. R., 1961 Das altbabylomsthe Terrakottarelief. (JAVA 2 Opitz, D . 1928 Der Tod des Humbaba AfO 5. 207-213 1931 Ein Altar des Kbnigs Tukulti-Ninurta I von Assyrien AfO 7 83-90 Oppenheim, A L . 1964 Ancient Mesopotamia Portrait oj a Dead Civilization (966 Analysis of an Assyrian Ritual (KAR 139) Historv of Religions 5 258-265 Orthmann. W. 1975 Der alte Orient Propylden Kunstgeschichte Band 14 Osten, H H von der 1957 Altorientalische Siegelsteine der Sammlung Hans Silvius von Aulock WIGGERMANN — THE STAFF OF NINgUBURA 33 Parker, B , 1975 Cylinder Seals from Tell Al Rimah. Iraq 37, 21-38. Parrot, A , and Lambert, M., 1954 Glyptique mesopotamienne, fouilies de Lagash (Tello) et de Larsa (Senkereh) 1958 Mission Archeologique de Mari 11/2: Le Palais Peintures murales 1968 Les Fouilies de Larsa, Syria 45, 205-239 Picchioni, S. A , 1981 // poemetto di Adapa Pomponio, F , 1978 Nabu II who e la figura di un dio del pantheon babilonese ed assiro Siudi Semitici 51 Porada, E, 1948 Corpus of Ancient Near Eastern Seals in North American Collections I The Collection of the Pierpont Morgan Library 1951 [and Basmachi, F ] Nergal in the Old Babylonian Period, Sumei 7. 66-68 1962 The Seal Impressions, in Weitemeyer 1962: 99-131 1979 Remarks on Mitannian (Huriian) and Middle Assyrian Glyptic Art, Akkadica 13, 2-15 Rainey, A F , 1973 see Beck, P and Rainey, A F Ravn, O E , 1960 A Catalogue of Oriental Cylinder Seals and Impressions in the Danish National Museum Reade, J e , 1983 Assyrian Sculpture Reiner, E , 1958 $urpu a collection of Sumerian and Akkadian Incantatibns AfOB 11 Rittig, D , 1977 Assyrisch-babylonische Kleinplastik magischer Bedeutung vom 13 -6 fh v Chr R6mer, W H Ph., 1965 Sumerische Konigshymnen der Isin-Zeit 1969 "Konigshymnen" der Isin-Zeit und Konigsinvestitur. ZDMG Suppl I, 130-147 1982 Sumerische Hymnen I Ein er-sem-ma-Iied fur den Gott Iskur von Karkar, in G van Driel e.a (ed ), Zikir Sumim As.syriological Studies Presented to F R Kraus on the Occasion of his Seventieth Birthday. 298-317 Scharaschenidze, Dsch M , 1974 Die sukkal-mah des alten Zweistromlandes in der Zeit der III Dynastie von Ur, ActAntHung 22. 103-112 Seidl, U , 1968 Die babylonische Kudurru-Reliefs, BaM 4, 7-220 Seux. M - I, 1967 Epithetes royales akkadiennes et sumeriennes Sjoberg, A , 1967 Contributions to the Sumerian Lexicon, ICS 21, 275-278 1969 The Collection of Sumerian Temple Hymns TCS 3 1972 Prayers for King Hammurabi of Babylon, in Studies in the History of Religions (Supplements to Numen) XXII Ex Orbe Religionum Studia Geo Widengren Oblata Pars Prior 58-71 1973 Miscellaneous Sumerian Hymns, ZA 63, 1-55 1974 Miscellaneous Sumerian Texts I, OrSu 23/24, 159-181 197 7 Miscellaneous Sumerian Texts II, ICS 29, 3-45 1982 Miscellaneous Sumerian Texts III. ICS 34 62-80 Sollberger, E. 1965 Three Ur-Dynasty Documents. ICS 19, 26-30 1966 The Business and Administrative Correspondence under the Kings of Ur TCS 1 Solyman, I., 1968 Die Entstehung und Entwicklung der Gotterwqffen im alten Mesopotamien und ihre Bedeutung 34 jaarberichi ex oriente lux 29 — 1985-86 von Soden, W, 1936 Die Unterweltsvision eines assyrischen Kronprinzen. ZA 43, 1-31. 1964 Die Schutzgenien Lamassu und Schedu in der Babylonisch-Assyrischen Literatur, BaM 3, [48-156 Speleers, L , 1917 Catalogue des intailles el emprcintes orientates des Musees Royaux du Cmquanlenaire Spycket, A . 1960 La Deesse Lama. RA 54. 73-84 Steible, H, 1975 Rimsin mem Konig FAOS 1 1983 [and Behrens. H ] Glossal zu den altsumerischen Bau- und Weihinsehriften FAOS 6 Sn ommenger, E , 1959 Statueninschriften und ihr Datierungswert. ZA 53, 27-50 1970 Die Neua.ssyri.sche Rundskulptur Tallqvist. K.N, 1938 Akkadische Gotterepitheta, mil eincm Gotterverzeichnis und einer Lhte der pradikativcn Ekmente der Sumerischen Gbtternamen SlOr 7 Unger E 1931 Babylon die heilige Stadt, nach der Beschreibung dei Babylonier. 1953 Two Seals of the Ninth Century B C fiom Shadikanni on the Habur, BASOR 130, 15-21. 1966 Der Begiim der altmesopotamisthen Siegelbildfoi sthung Eine Leistung der Osterreichischen Orientalistik Vanstiphout H L. I , j, 1978 Lipit-Estar s Praise in the Edubba. ICS 30, 33-61 Vorlander H , 1975 Mem Gott Die Vorsiellungen vom peisdnlichen Golt tin Alien Orient und im Allen Testament AO AT 23 Ward, W FL, 1910 The Seal Cylinders of Western Asia Walker, C B F . and Kramer S N , 1982 Cuneiform Tablets in the Collection of Lord Binning. Iraq 44 71-86 Weidner. E , 1959 Die Inschriften Tukulu-Ninurtas I und seiner Nachfolgcr AlOB 12 Weissbach, F H. 1903 Bahylonische Miseelkn Weitemeyer, M . 1962 Some Aspects of the Hiring of Woikei s in tin Sippar Region at ihe Time of Hammurabi With a C'haptei on the Seal Impressions by Edith Porada and Paul Lamp! Wetzel, F . 1957 Das Babylon der Spdtzeit WVDOG 62 Wiggermann, F A M , 1986 Babylonian Prophylactic Figures The Ritual Texts [forthcoming/ Basmu and mushusiu Wilcke, CI 1969 Das Lugalbandaepos Winter, U 1983 Frau und Gotlin Woolley, C L , 1976 Ur Excavations VII Tin Old Babylonian Period