| Zarpanitu | |
|---|---|
Queen of the gods, goddess of pregnancy | |
 Tablet with a hymn to Marduk and Zarpanitu attributed toAshurbanipal.British Museum. | |
| Other names | Erua, Papnunanki, Elagu, Laḫamun[1] |
| Major cult center | Zarpan,Babylon |
| Genealogy | |
| Spouse | Marduk |
| Children | Nabu, Ṣilluš-ṭāb, Katunna |
Zarpanitu (also romanized asṢarpānītu) was aMesopotamian goddess regarded as the spouse ofMarduk. Not much is known about her character, though late sources indicate that she was associated with pregnancy and that she could be assigned similar roles as her husband, including that of queen of the gods. She was originally worshiped in Zarpan, a village nearBabylon, though the latter city itself also served as her cult center.
The most common spelling of Zarpanitu's name incuneiform wasdzar-pa-ni-tum.[2] It is romanized as Ṣarpānītu instead byJeremy Black and Anthony Green,[3] but this choice has been criticized byWilfred G. Lambert, who points out that while cuneiform does not differentiate between the soundsz andṣ, supplementary evidence for the former option is provided both by various scholarly etymologies of the name and by texts written in theAramaic alphabet, which does differentiate betweenz andṣ.[4] The Aramaic spellingzrpnt is known from theSefire inscriptions.[2] Authors such asPaul-Alain Beaulieu,[5]Andrew R. George,[6]Joan Goodnick Westenholz[7] and Takayoshi Oshima (who was responsible for the relevant entry in theReallexikon der Assyriologie) also favor romanizing the name with az.[2] However, romanizations starting withṣ also continue to be used inAssyriological literature.[8][9]
Zarpanitu's name hasAkkadian origin.[10] Two different possibleetymologies are well documented in primary sources, "the lady of the city of Zarpan" and "creatress of seed" (fromzēr-bānītu).[11] Today it is assumed the name was most likely derived from the toponym Zarpan, a settlement located nearBabylon, though seemingly according to afolk etymology it was named after the goddess instead, as attested in a myth known only from a fragmentary tablet from thelibrary of Ashurbanipal.[2] While attempts have been made to etymologize the name as "silvery" instead, this view is now regarded as unsubstantiated.[11]
Two names which originally designated the spouse ofAsalluhi, Erua and Papnunanki, came to be used as names of Zarpanitu after her husbandMarduk was equated with that god in the eighteenth century BCE.[2] However, this tradition is not yet documented in theOld Babylonian forerunner to the later god listAn = Anum, where both of these names are stated to refer to the same goddess, but without identification with Zarpanitu.[12] The theonym Erua could be used either as asumerogram meant to be read as Zarpanitu or as an epithet, while Papnunanki typically appears in place of her standard name.[2] An early case has been identified in a text from the reign ofSamsu-Ditana, who in a formula written inSumerian refers to Zarpanitu as Papnunanki, in contrast with his predecessorsSumu-la-El,Hammurabi andSamsu-iluna, who all used her primary name in texts written in this language.[10]
According to a god list, secondary names of Zarpanitu were Elagu and Laḫamun, glossed as used inElam andDilmun, respectively.[1] However, it has already been pointed out byFriedrich Wilhelm König [de] in the 1930s that Elagu appears exclusively in Mesopotamian, as opposed toElamite, texts.[13] The second name, while sometimes quoted among Dilmunite theonyms in Assyriological literature as recently as in the 1990s, is similarly known only from sources from Mesopotamia.[4]
Not much is known about Zarpanitu's character.[11]Joan Goodnick Westenholz has suggested that she andTashmetum were simply "prototypical divine wives".[14] In late sources she could be characterized as a motherly figure connected to birth.[15] She was worshiped under the byname Erua as a goddess associated with pregnancy.[12]
In the first millennium BCE, Zarpanitu's role as the wife ofMarduk made her a high ranking deity, which was reflected in the epithets applied to her, such asbēlet ("lady"),bēltīya ("my lady"),šarratu ("queen"),bēlet Bābili ("lady of Babylon"),šarrat Bābili ("queen of Babylon"),bēletEsagil ("lady of Esagil") oršarrat Esagil ("queen of Esagil").[1] In some cases, she was effectively portrayed as Marduk's feminine counterpart, with similar characteristics, including a connection todivination, and analogous position in thepantheon, that of queen of the gods.[16] The so-calledArchive of Mystic Heptads calls her the "mistress-of-the-goddesses" (dbe-let-i-la-a-ti), which presumably reflects her status as the foremost female deity in late Babylonian theology.[17] At the same time, she was not included in royal statements of rulers acknowledging their dependence on Marduk.[18]
Zarpanitu's status as the spouseMarduk is seemingly already indicated by a reference to these two deities in a year name ofSamsuiluna.[11] The tradition of pairing them with each other might have originated as early as in the third millennium BCE, and they already appear next to each other in theWeidner god list.[2] Other texts belonging to this genre also pair them together, with the exception ofOld Babylonian god lists fromNippur, which do not allude to any relationship between them.[2] Zarpanit is instead placed in the section which otherwise lists deities related toInanna in this case, which according toJoan Goodnick Westenholz is unusual for her.[7] It was believed that Zarpanitu could intercede with Marduk on behalf of petitioners, though Céline Debourse remarks that texts documenting this function could portray her in an ambivalent light, as she could both slander and praise these who asked her to mediate on their behalf, which can be considered a parallel to Marduk being portrayed both as a forgiving and punishing figure himself.[19] Due to being regarded as the wife of Marduk, Zarpanit was also considered thedaughter-in-law ofEa.[2]
Nabu was regarded as the son of Zarpanitu and Marduk.[20] This god was initially regarded as the divine "vizier" (sukkal) of the latter, as documented for example inMiddle AssyrianAn = Anum, but in a late tradition became a member of this god's family instead.[21]
Two minor goddesses, Ṣilluš-ṭāb and Katunna, were considered thehairdressers of Zarpanitu, and could be referred to as the "daughters ofEsagil", which presumably reflected their status as daughters of the main deities worshiped in this temple.[22] They were venerated in the Eḫilisigga ("house of beautiful allure"), a shrine located in the temple Erabriri, presumably in Babylon.[23] Similar duos of so-called "divine daughters" are known from other cities too:Borsippa (Kazbaba andKanisurra, "daughters of the Ezida"),Kutha (Dadamušda andBēlet-ilī, "daughters of the Emeslam"),Kish (Iqbi-damiq and Ḫussinni, "daughters of the Eduba"),Sippar (Mami and Ninegina, "daughters of theEbabbar [pl]"),Dilbat (Ipte-bīta and Bēlet-Eanni, "daughters of the E-ibbi-Ani") andLarsa (Mannu-šāninšu and Larsam-iti, "daughters of the E-Ningubla").[22]
The mythical creatureuridimmu (fromSumerianur-idim, "mad lion"[24]) could be described as the door keeper of both Zarpanitu and Marduk, and in a late incantation is implored to intercede with both of these deities on behalf of the petitioner.[25] The same being is also mentioned in a hymn to these two deities attributed toAshurbanipal, but in this case it appears in a context seemingly indicating influence from its portrayal inEnūma Eliš instead.[26]
InAssyria, Zarpanitu could be identified withŠerua, which reflected the syncretism between their respective spouses, Marduk andAshur, first documented underSennacherib, and was further facilitated by the phonetic similarity between the name of the Assyrian goddess and the secondary name Erua.[27]
Through the eighth and seventh centuries BCE, attempts have been made to subordinate the local theology ofUruk to Babylon, withBabylonian rulers aiming to assimilate bothIshtar of Babylon and Ishtar of Uruk with Zarpanitu.[28]Paul-Alain Beaulieu notes that in theEanna archive from Uruk in texts from between the reigns ofMarduk-apla-iddina II andNabopolassar the titlebēltīya, which typically designated Zarpanitu, is instead used in contexts which indicate Ishtar was meant.[29] He suggests the attempts to syncretize the two to reassert the supremacy of Babylon over Uruk might have originally started in the eighth century BCE, as some accounts ofNabu-shuma-ishkun's reign indicate that the image of Ishtar was removed from Eanna and replaced by a different goddess, deemed "improper" by the chroniclers, with the original only restored in the sixth century BCE byNebuchadnezzar II.[30] It is possible that some of the syncretic efforts relied on confusion which could be caused by the use of Ishtar's name as a generic term for goddesses, known for example from tablet XI of theEpic of Gilgamesh, as well as the use of the logogram referring to theSumerian form of the name, Inanna, to spell the generic titlebēltu.[31] In later sources from Babylon Zarpanitu and Ishtar of Babylon appear as two separate deities in distinct roles, for example in a text dealing with the relationship between Marduk and Zarpanitu referred to asLove Lyrics, Ishtar of Babylon plays the role of a paramour.[32] However, there is no evidence that the relationship between Zarpanitu, Marduk and Ishtar of Uruk was imagined similarly inNeo-Babylonian Uruk.[33]
Zarpanitu presumably was originally venerated in Zarpan, a town located in the immediate proximity ofBabylon, though she is much better attested than this settlement itself.[34] It is known from aNeo-Babylonian (or later) fragment of atopographical text fromSippar (BM 66534), which mentions its city gates, as well as from a fragmentary myth confirming its association with Zarpanitu.[35] Babylon also served as her cult center, and she worshiped in this city in theEsagiltemple complex dedicated toMarduk in acella known under the ceremonial names E-dara-anna ("house of theibex of heaven") or E-ḫili-ĝar ("house endowed with luxuriance").[27] Her seat inside it was known as the Eḫalanki ("house of the secrets of heaven and the netherworld").[36]
The oldest reference to Zarpanitu which can be dated with certainty occurs in the twenty-fourth year name ofSumu-la-El.[11] It commemorated the fashioning of a statue representing her.[37] Another early reference to her can be found in the nineteenth year name ofSamsu-iluna, which mentions the construction of thrones for her and Marduk.[37] An inscription dealing with the preparation of a cultic object dated to the reign of either Samsu-iluna orHammurabi which mentions Zarpanitu, Marduk and Esagil is also known from a copy discovered inNippur, and according to Douglas Frayne it can be assumed that it pertains to the same event.[38] Many additional references to Zarpanitu occur in letters from theOld Babylonian period, where she is one of the most commonly referenced goddesses, next toIshtar,Annunitum,Ninsianna,Gula andAya.[39]
In a New Year (akitu) ritual from Babylon presumed to precede the rise of Marduk to the position of the head of the pantheon underNebuchadnezzar I, Zarpanitu is listed as one of the deities present during the celebrations, alongside Marduk,Nabu,Nanaya,Sutītu,Zababa,Bau,Nergal,Laṣ andMammitum.[40] One of the inscriptions ofSargon II (722–705 BCE) commemorating his participation in theakitu festival in the same location mentions Zarpanitu among the recipients of gifts provided by him.[41]
A list of deities worshiped inAssur indicates that Zarpanitu was one of the nineteen deities who were believed to reside in the temple of Gula in this city, with a variant which instead places Annunitum in her position being considered an ancient scribal error as the sequence of deities also containsEa, his wifeDamkina and Marduk.[27]
Theophoric names invoking Zarpanitu are known from sources from the Neo-Babylonian period, though for the most part only women bore them, in contrast with names invoking many other goddesses, for example Bau, Gula, Ishtar, Nanaya orNingal, which are attested for men too.[42] Only two exceptions are known, Ardi-Ṣarpanitu and Ardi-Erua, both of which are masculine theophoric names invoking her under respectively her primary name and an epithet.[43] They are regarded as atypical.[44]
In the corpus ofUgaritic texts Zarpanitu is mentioned in an incantation againstLamashtu which pairs her with Marduk and invokes them in parallel withAnu andAntu,Enlil andNinlil, Ea and Damkina andPapsukkal andAmasagnudi.[45] It is one of the twelve examples of texts from this site written in standard cuneiform which are assumed to be patterned after similar Mesopotamian compositions.[46] Direct parallels to individual passages have been identified in the corpus of Mesopotamian incantations against Lamashtu.[47]
InEmar Zarpanitu is attested exclusively incolophons.[8]
In literary texts Zarpanitu typically appears alongsideMarduk.[48]
A short myth focused on Zarpanitu describes how the town Zarpan was named after her and then gifted to her byEnlil, here identified as her father.[34] AfterwardsEa praises her virtues and suggests to his son Marduk that she would be suitable for him and that they should rule over the sea together.[49] It has been suggested that the name Ninabdubur, "lady of the sea foundation", which is attributed to her in god lists, might reflect this section of the myth.[2]
Zarpanitu is also referenced inLudlul bēl nēmeqi, where the protagonist prays to her at the Kaḫilisu ("gate sprinkled with luxuriance"), presumably the gate of hercella inEsagil.[27]Andrew R. George points out that it is also attested in inscriptions ofAshurbanipal andNebuchadnezzar II.[50]
Takayoshi Oshima suggests that in aNeo-Assyrian[51] myth focused on Marduk the name Damkianna, normally considered to be a variant form ofDamkina, the wife of Ea, is instead used to refer to Zarpanitu, in parallel with a late prayer attesting a similar situation.[52] A different interpretation has been suggested byWilfred G. Lambert, who assumed that she is to be understood as Damkina in this context, and based on the unusual character of the text proposed that it originated inMalgium, where this goddess was commonly acknowledged in royal inscriptions, in theKassite period.[53] The narrative deals with a conflict between Marduk and his allies and the gods ofNippur, led by Enlil, which is ultimately decided in favor of the former by the intervention of Damkianna, though it is not certain what it entailed.[54]
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