| Wer | |
|---|---|
 Stele of Zakkur, with an inscription mentioning Iluwer, a variant of Wer's name.[1] | |
| Major cult center | Terqa,Assur,Tell Afis |
| Consort | Wertum |
Wer (Wēr), also known asMer,Ber andIluwer was aweather god worshiped in parts ofMesopotamia and ancientSyria. It is presumed that he was originally one of the main deities of the northern parts of these areas, but hiscult declined in the second half of the second millennium BCE. The nature of the relation between him andItūr-Mēr, the tutelary god of Mari, is disputed by researchers.
In anOld Babylonian version of theEpic of Gilgamesh, Wer is described as the master of the monsterHumbaba, though in other versions of this narrative this role instead belongs toEnlil.
Two forms of the name, Wēr and Mēr, were originally in use.[2] A third version, Bēr, started to be commonly used in theMiddle Assyrian period.[2] Additionally, god lists attest the form Iluwēr, "the god Wēr."[3] The spelling Mēr was consistently employed in texts fromMari and nearby areas, with the chronologically most recent example being the theophoric name Tukulti-Mēr (a contemporary ofAshur-bel-kala[4]) from the late second millennium BCE, while Wer (Wēr) was the form used in southern Mesopotamia between the beginning of the period of theThird Dynasty of Ur end of the reign of theFirst Dynasty of Babylon, as well as inOld Assyrian sources contemporary with the texts fromKanesh.[5] Bēr predominates only in Middle Assyrian andNeo-Assyrian texts.[5] WhetherdME-RU, possibly to be read asMeru, attested in sources from theEarly Dynastic period (including theAbu Salabikh god list)[6] is the same deity as Wer is uncertain.[7]
While multipleSumerian etymologies have been proposed for the name (including derivation from the terms IM-mer, "north wind;"me-er-me-er, "storm;" andemesalme-er, "wind"), none have been conclusively proven.[3]Wilfred G. Lambert concluded that the name might have originated in alinguistic substrate due to the firstconsonant not following the usualphonetic rules of known languages of the region(suggesting unknown language lost through time).[5] Whether a connection existed between the theonym Wer/Mer andplace names such asMari and Warum is uncertain too.[7] Lambert considered the similarity to be accidental in the case of Mari, though he concluded that the matter cannot be conclusively settled.[5]
Wer was aweather god.[2] According toWilfred G. Lambert, available sources might indicate that he was originally one of the main gods worshiped innorthern Mesopotamia, but eventually declined in the middle of the second millennium BCE due to loss of his cult sites.[5]
Wer's symbol was alance.[8] A single Old Babylonian text attests that not only Wer himself, but also a deification of his emblem,dŠu-ku-ru-um ("lance"), could be an object of worship.[8]
While god lists, starting withAn = Anum, could consider Wer analogous toIshkur/Adad,[9] his own name was never represented by thelogogramdIŠKUR,[10] unlike these of other storm gods, such asHurrianTeshub,[11]HattianTaru,HittiteTarḫunna, orLuwianTarḫunz.[12]
The feminine form of the name, Wertum (or Mertum)[13] likely designated the wife of Wer.[3] She is attested inAssur in the Old Assyrian period (where one of the city gates was named after her) and in atheophoric name from Mari.[13]
A number ofAssyriologists, includingDietz Otto Edzard,[14] Wilfred G. Lambert[5] andAndrew R. George, assume that Wer was the same deity asItūr-Mēr,[15] thetutelary god of Mari,[16] but this view is regarded as unsubstantiated by Daniel Schwemer[17] and Ichiro Nakata, who point out that the latter deity's name is an ordinary theophoric name ("Mēr has turned [to me]"[3]) and that for this reason he is more likely to be a deified hero venerated as part of an ancestor cult tied to a specific location.[18] Known texts additionally do not indicate that he was a weather deity like Wer.[19] Other deities who are most likely deified heroes or kings in origin are attested from Mari, for exampleYakrub-El.[20] A second deity worshiped in Mari whose name is structured similarly and also includes Wer as the theophoric element is Tar’am-Mēr, "beloved of Mēr (Wer)".[21]
While known copies of a single passage from the incantation seriesŠurpu alternate between Wer and a deity named Immeriya, it cannot be established if the latter, who is otherwise best known from an inscribed statue possibly taken as bounty byUntash-Napirisha, was related to him in any way.[22]
Worship of Wer is chiefly attested from the middleEuphrates area, northernBabylonia (though only before theMiddle Babylonian period), theDiyala area, andAssyria.[10] While confirmed attestations go back to the time of theAkkadian Empire, only from theOld Babylonian period onward the god is known from sources other thantheophoric names.[3]
Wer appears in nine types of masculine theophoric names from Old Babylonian Mari, with eight using the spelling Mer and one - Wer.[23] Furthermore, the names of the local deitiesItūr-Mēr and Tar’am-Mēr are both agreed to be theophoric names invoking him.[21] Other sites where names invoking him are attested includeSippar, various locations in Assyria (in the Old Assyrian period)[13] and the Diyala area,[4]Puzrish-Dagan (Puzur-Wer from the Ur III period)[24] andLarsa (Ubār-Wēr from the Old Babylonian period).[25] A possible seventh century BCE attestation of a theophoric name invoking him as Ber,dnbr, usually interpreted as Dannu-Ber, "Ber is strong," is known from anAramaic papyrus found inSaqqara inEgypt,[25] However, the restoration is not certain, and according to Daniel Schwemer caution should be maintained.[1]
References to veneration of Wer other than theophoric names are absent from the corpus of Mari texts, though a place named Bāb-Mēr (KÁ-me-erki) is attested in a single source from thešakkanakku period.[26] Furthermore, later texts from thekingdom of Khana attest the existence of a house of worship dedicated to him (akītdme-er) in nearbyTerqa.[26] He was also apparently worshiped in Nerebtum,Shaduppum and Kakkulatum.[27]
A school text fromKanesh, an Assyrian trading colony inAnatolia, mentions him alongsideAshur.[13] In the Neo-Assyrian period, he was worshiped in Assur in the temple of Ištar-Aššurītu ("the AssyrianIshtar"), and inNineveh in the temple of Ashur.[1] He is also mentioned on the Antakya stele ofAdad-nirari III alongside Ashur,Adad,Sin ofHarran and other deities.[1] Additionally, in the same period Iluwēr, most likely the same deity, was worshiped byArameans inTell Afis in Syria,[3] as attested on theStele of Zakkur.[1]
In a section of an Old Babylonian version of theEpic of Gilgamesh preserved on the so-called "Yale tablet," corresponding to tablet III of the standard version,Enkidu mentions that the cedar mountain to whichGilgamesh wants to venture is under the control of the god Wer,[28] described as "mighty" and "never sleeping," and as the one who appointed the monsterHumbaba as its guardian.[29] Adad is also associated with Wer in the same passage.[30]
In other versions of the Epic of Gilgamesh, Humbaba's master isEnlil.[31] Even on the Yale tablet, it is mentioned that he bestowed seven terrors upon him.[32] Andrew R. George assumes that while the mountain belongs to Wer, and he appointed Humbaba as its guardian and his second in command, the decision still had to be approved by Enlil.[33]