Sukkal (conventionally translated fromSumerian as "vizier") was a term which could denote both a type of official and a class of deities inancient Mesopotamia. The historical sukkals were responsible for overseeing the execution of various commands of the kings and acted as diplomatic envoys and translators for foreign dignitaries. The deities referred to as sukkals fulfilled a similar role in mythology, acting as servants, advisors and envoys of the main gods of the Mesopotamian pantheon, such asEnlil orInanna. The best known sukkal is the goddessNinshubur. In art, they were depicted carryingstaves, most likely understood as their attribute. They could function as intercessory deities, believed to mediate between worshipers and the major gods.
The office sukkal is also known from various areas to the west and east of Mesopotamia, including theHurrian kingdomArrapha, SyrianAlalakh andMari andElam under the rule of theSukkalmah Dynasty, while the concept of divine sukkals was incorporated intoHurrian religion, in which major gods such asKumarbi orHebat commonly appear in company of their sukkals, similar to their Mesopotamian counterparts.
The word sukkal (Akkadian:sukkallu) hasSumerian origin and at first denoted a class of human officials,[1] responsible for the implementation of the commands of the king.[2] Translations found in literature include "vizier",[3] "secretary",[4] and "chancellor."[2] Tonia Sharlach notes that "vizier" is considered to be the standard translation today.[5] The same word is also conventionally employed as a translation of the name of another, unrelated, office,badalum, used in northern Syrian cities, such asHarran andAbarsal, in the third millennium BCE.[6] It is also the conventional term for thehead of the Eblaite administration, most likely referred to aslugal sa-za.[7] The word sukkal is attested in Eblaite documents, but seemingly designates a type ofclergyman instead.[8]
This office of sukkal is also known from outside southern Mesopotamia, for example fromMari[1] fromAlalakh in western Syria,[9] from theHurrian kingdom ofArrapha in northeastern Mesopotamia,[10] and fromElam.[11] At least in southern Mesopotamia and Mari, a sukkal served as an intermediary between the royal administration and foreign envoys.[12] There is evidence that they often knew more than one language and acted astranslators, and some were likely foreigners or children of foreigners who settled in Mesopotamia.[12] In some cases, a specific foreign dignitary was always mentioned alongside the same local sukkal accompanying him.[12]
A related office, known fromEarly DynasticGirsu[13] and from the administrative texts of theThird Dynasty of Ur, was that of the sukkalmah (GAL.SUKKAL,sukkalmaḫḫu).[2] Tonia Sharlach proposes this term should be understood as the equivalent of a modernsecretary of state.[1] A sukkalmah was in charge of a number of sukkals.[2] In Elam, this term was adopted as a royal title, possibly because the sukkalmahs of the Ur III state, who resides inLagash, close to Elamite territory, were in charge of the territories surroundingSusa when the state they served reached its maximal extent.[14] The so-calledSukkalmah Dynasty ruled over Elam in the early second millennium BCE.[15]
Some lexical texts explain sukkal aspašišu, "salve priest", though the reason behind the equation of these two terms is not known.[1]
InMesopotamian religion, some deities were designated as sukkals and functioned as a divine counterpart of the human officials.[16] Due to more direct evidence present in myths compared to economic and administrative texts, their functions are better known than these of their human namesakes.[17] A sukkal was the highest-ranked member of a deity's court, and in some cases in god lists could appear even before their children.[18] At the same time, not every servant deity was a sukkal.[18] Three distinct classes of divine servants can be found in various documents: advisers and representatives (including the sukkal), deities dealing with the personal needs of a god, and finally those tasked with upkeep of their household, such as divinecooks orgardeners.[16] In myths, sukkals act both as traveling envoys of their masters, and as their advisors at home.[19] Wisdom was frequently regarded as a trait of this class of deities.[20] While most deities had courtiers, usually only these whose position in the pantheon was well established had sukkals,[18] and sukkals of the major city gods were likely the oldest deities of this type.[21] Instances of a sukkal having a sukkal of their own, while known, should be regarded as an anomaly according to Richard L. Litke.[22] For example,Niĝgina, a sukkal of thesun godUtu, had her own sukkal,[22] as didAlammuš, the sukkal of the moon godNanna.[23]
The goddessNinshubur is regarded byAssyriologists as "the earliest and most important" sukkal,[24] the "archetypal vizier of the gods."[25]
The attribute associated with all sukkals was a staff.[26]Papsukkal could be calledbēl ḫaṭṭi,[27] "lord of the staff."[28] Similarly,Nuska bore the Sumerian epitheten-ĝidri, "lord of the scepter."[29]Alla,Isimud andNinshubur were depicted holding staffs too.[30] One possible depiction of Ninshubur carrying a staff is present on theseal ofLugal-ushumgal, governor ofLagash during the reigns ofNaram-Sin of Akkad and his sonShar-Kali-Sharri.[31] A sukkal was expected to walk in front of their master, leading the way with their staff.[32] Sukkals could be associated with doors as well.[28] In literary texts, they could be tasked with screening visitors who wanted to see their master.[19]
The title of sukkalmaḫ could be applied to divine sukkals, though there is no evidence that a divine sukkalmaḫ was in charge of regular sukkals, and in some cases a deity had multiple sukkals but none of them was referred as a sukkalmaḫ, while in other a sukkalmaḫ was the only sukkal of their master.[2] Most likely addressing a deity as a sukkalmaḫ was only meant to highlight the high position of their master in the pantheon.[2] Deities addressed as sukkalmaḫs include Nuska (the sukkal ofEnlil),[33]Ara (one of the two sukkals ofEnki),[34] Ninpirig (one of the sukkals ofUtu),[2] Ninshubur (the sukkal ofInanna)[24] and Alammuš (the sukkal of Nanna).[35] A further title used to describe some of the divine sukkals was SAL.ḪÚB2.[36] In most of the texts where this word is attested, it occurs in parallel with "sukkal."[37] It only ever designates gods, not human officials, and only a handful of attestations are known.[37] It is assumed that it referred to a sukkal particularly emotionally close to their master.[38] Deities referred to this way include Ninshubur (both male and female),[39]Bunene, Ninpirig,[40]Nabu and Muduggasa'a (in abilingual text where he occurs as the equivalent of the former),[41] and Innimanizi.[38] The number of references to each of them is not equal, and only Ninshubur is referred to as SAL.ḪÚB2 more than once or twice, with seven recorded instances currently known.[38] In one case, she was labeled as the "beloved SAL.ḪÚB2 of Inanna," and appears right afterDumuzi in an enumeration of deities associated with her mistress, before some of her family members, for example hersister in lawGeshtinanna.[36] In some cases, terms such as MUNUS.SUKKAL (for example in the case of Sililitum)[42] ornin-sukkal (in the case of Ninshubur andAmasagnudi) was used to indicate a sukkal was female.[43]
It has been argued that many sukkals simply represented the effect of their masters' actions: the fire godGibil was served by a deifiedflame, Nablum, while the weather godIshkur by a deifiedlightning, Nimgir.[21] Other seem to be personifications of specific commands, for example Eturammi ("do not slacken"), Nēr-ē-tagmil ("kill, spare not") orUgur ("destroy").[21] However, Frans Wiggermann points out that neither explanation is suitable for the sukkals of particularly well established deities: Ninshubur, Nuska, Bunene, Isimud and Alammuš, whose character was independent from that of their masters.[21]
It is sometimes argued that a sukkal had to match the gender for their master.[44] However,Namtar,Ereshkigal's sukkal, was male.[45] The sukkal of the medicine goddessGula, Urmašum, was a male deity too.[46] Amasagnudi, regarded as a goddess, appears as the sukkal ofAnu in a singlelexical text.[43]
Sukkals could act as intercessory deities, leading to comparisons between them and another class of minor deities,lamma, in modern scholarship.[47] Both of them could be depicted in similar scenes oncylinder seals, leading a human visitor to their divine master.[48] The goddessLammašaga was identified both as a sukkal and a lamma.[49] A third class of deities involved in intercession were wives of major gods,[50] and on occasion comparisons are made between them and sukkals too, for example the role of a mediator between a major deity and worshipers played by Ninshubur in the cult of Inanna has been compared to that played by the spouses of other major gods,Aya in the cult of Shamash orShala in Adad's.[51]
Sukkals have also been compared toangels in comparative scholarship, and some researchers, for example Jan van Dijk and Frans Wiggermann, tentatively label study of sukkals as "Sumerianangelology."[21] Similarly, it has been argued that the nature of Lamma deities can be compared to modern idea ofguardian angels.[52]
| Name | Corresponding major deity | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Alla Alla-Gula[53] | Ningishzida[54] | Alla has been described as a "little known deity withunderworld connections."[55] He could be referred to with the epithet Lugal-sapar,[54] "lord of thenet."[56] Nets are well attested as a weapon of gods in Mesopotamian literature.[56] He could be equated withDumuzi.[55] He is also attested in lists of so-called "seven conquered Enlils,"[57] deities associated withEnmesharra.[58] He was depicted as a bald, beardless man, without the horned crown associated with divinity.[59] Alla should not be confused withAllatum, the Mesopotamian name ofHurrian goddess Allani.[53] |
| Alammuš | Sin/Nanna[23] | Alammuš was closely associated with the cattle godNingublaga and the two of them could be referred to as twins.[60] They corresponded to the constellation called "Little Twins" inMesopotamian astronomy.[61] In addition to acting as Nanna's sukkal, Alammuš had a sukkal of his own.[23] Two writings of the latter deity's name are known,dUru3.gal anddUrux(EN).gal.[62] |
| Amasagnudi | Anu[43] | Amasagnudi was a goddess who was the sukkal of Anu according to a single lexical text from theOld Babylonian period.[43] Her name means "mother who cannot be pushed aside."[63] She was the wife ofPapsukkal according to the god listAn = Anum[64] and sources fromSeleucidUruk,[43] but very few attestations of her come from before the Seleucid period.[65] |
| Ara | Enki[66] | Ara (dŠA)[66] is attested as the sukkalmaḫ of Enki in the god listAn = Anum.[34] According to sources from theOld Babylonian period, she was a female deity, but later she was conflated withIsimud, who was male.[67] |
| Bašmu | Tishpak[68] | Bašmu shared his name with a type of serpentine mythical creature.[69] However, oncylinder seals a god who might be Tishpak is accompanied by a fully anthropomorphic attendant deity, possibly indicating that the name Bašmu in this case was only meant to point at the connection between this god and snakes.[69] |
| Belet-Seri | Ereshkigal[70] | Julia Krul proposes that inHellenistic Uruk Belet-Seri came to be seen as the vizier of Ereshkigal and perhaps Anu, as she received offerings alongside Papsukkal, well attested in such a role.[70] |
| Bizilla | Ninlil[71] | The tradition in which Bizilla was a sukkal of Ninlil, the wife of Enlil, is known from texts dealing with Ḫursaĝkalama.[71] In other sources, she was associated withNanaya andKanisurra.[72] It is also assumed that she occurs in the court ofManungal in some sources,[73] though Jeremiah Peterson considers it possible that there might have been two deities with similar names, one associated with Manungal and the other with Nanaya.[74] |
| Bunene Papnunna[9] | Utu/Shamash[75] | In Sippar, Bunene was regarded as the husband of Shamash's andAya's daughter, the dream goddessMamu (also spelled Mamud).[75] According to the so-calledCanonical Temple List, under the name Papnunna he was worshiped in his own temple, the E-kašbarsummu, "house which gives decisions."[76] |
| Dikum | Ninegal[77] | The name Dikum, whileAkkadian, is derived fromSumeriandiku, "judge," and on this basis it has been argued that the deity was likely regarded as responsible for administration of justice on behalf of Ninegal.[78] |
| Edinmugi | Šumugan[79] | Edinmugi (Sumerian: "he secured the plains") is attested as the sukkal of Šumugan in a seal inscription from Lagash.[79] Šumugan is himself addressed as a sukkal in an inscription ofGudea and as a sukkalmaḫ in a bilingual hymn to Utu known from a copy fromHattusa.[80] |
| Eturammi Eturame[81] | Birtum[81] | Eturammi's name means "do not slacken."[21] His master Birtum was a deification offetters and the husband of the Manungal, the goddess of prisons.[73] |
| Ili-mīšar Mišaru?[82] | Imzuanna[82] | Ili-mīšar, the sukkal of Imzuanna, is known from the god listAn = Anum.[83] It has been proposed that he can be identified withMišaru, a son ofAdad.[82] His mistress was the wife ofLugal-Marada,[84] the city god ofMarad.[85] Marten Stol argues that Ili-mīšar was instead one of the two sukkals of the latter, the other being Lugal-mea.[85] |
| Ilabrat | Anu[16] | Ilabrat was a god who either came to be associated with masculine Ninshubur, or whose name was written with Ninshubur's, treated as alogogram.[86] He was the sukkal of Anu, and appears in this role in the myth ofAdapa.[16] |
| Inimmanizi | Ninurta[87] | Inimmanizi means "his word is true" in Sumerian and initially was a common given name, but from the Old Babylonian period onward it is attested as the name of the sukkal of Ninurta.[87] He was worshiped in Ninurta's temple Ešmueša inNippur.[88] According to the god listAn = Anum he had a brother,Ninkarnunna, and a wife,Lamma, but according toWilfred G. Lambert it seems that in some copies Ninkarnunna is a female deity and Inimmanizi's wife, rather than brother.[87] |
| Ipahum Ippu[89] | Ningishzida,[59] possibly originallyNinazu[89] | Iphaum was aviper god.[59] While Ninazu had no sukkal of his own in any major god lists, Frans Wiggermann proposes that Ipahum was initially associated with him, rather than with his son Ningishzida.[89] |
| Ipte-bit Ipte-bitam[90] | Urash[91] | Ipte-bit means "he opened the temple."[90] He was worshiped in Dilbat.[90] An incantation fromDer lists him alongside Urash's sonLagamal.[92] A neo-Babylonian text refers to Ipte-bit as a female deity, one of the two "daughters of E-ibbi-Anni," the temple of Urash.[93] |
| Iqbi-damiq | Kittum[94] | Iqbi-damiq's name means "she said 'it is fine!'"[95] Wilfred G. Lambert's earlier translation, "he spoke, it is pleasant," presumed Iqbi-damiq was male.[96] However, a text referring to her as a "daughter" is now known.[95] She is also attested in the god listAn = Anum and inŠurpu.[96] An illness called "hand of Iqbi-damiq" is mentioned in one medical text alongside "hand ofNanaya" and "hand ofKanisurra."[97] |
| Ishum | Nergal[98] | Ishum replacedUgur, the original sukkal of Nergal, after the Old Babylonian period.[98] He was regarded as a divinenight watchman.[99] |
| Isimud Usmu[100] | Enki/Ea[100] | The form Isimu(d) was Sumerian, while Usmu - Akkadian.[100] He was depicted with two faces.[100] The Akkadian wordusumia meant "two-faced," and was likely connected with the name of this god at least through afolk etymology.[100] |
| Kakka | Anu,Anshar[101] | Kakka acts as the sukkal of Anu in the mythNergal and Ereshkigal, but as the sukkal of Anshar inEnūma Eliš.[101] A female deity also named Kakka was also worshiped inMari as a healing goddess associated withNinkarrak andNinshubur.[51] |
| Kittum Niĝgina[102] | Utu/Shamash[102][94] | The position of Kittum in the court of Shamash varies between that of the oldest daughter and a sukkal between individual copies of the god listAn = Anum.[102] Her Sumerian counterpart was Niĝgina, whose name has the same meaning, "truth."[102] InAn = Anum Kittum is instead male and a brother of Niĝgina.[102] She had a sukkal of her own,Iqbi-damiq.[102] |
| Lammašaga | Bau[103] | Lammašaga's name means "goodlamma," lamma being a type of minor protective deity compared to aguardian angel.[49] Hymns dedicated to her are known.[103] |
| Lugal-ḫegalla | Lugalbanda[104] | Lugal-ḫegalla means "lord of abundance," and in addition to being the name of Lugalbanda's sukkal is also attested as a title ofAdad and as an ordinary given name.[105] |
| Lugal-mea | Lugal-Marada[85] | Wilfred G. Lambert proposed identifying Lugal-mea with Lugal-me, a disease demon representing thebennu disease, though he notes that both names were also ordinary given names in the third millennium BCE.[106] |
| Lugal-namtarra | Shamash[107] | Lugal-namtarra was a sparsely attested deity possibly analogous toNamtar.[108] In documents from the archives of theFirst Dynasty of Sealand, he appears alongside the deitydSUKKAL.[108] Odette Boivin proposes that he functioned as a sukkal of Shamash during his nightly journey through the underworld, whiledSUKKAL fulfilled the same role during the day.[107] None of Shamash's sukkals known from other sources are present in the Sealand texts.[108] |
| Mār-bīti | Nabu[109] | Mār-bīti, a god originally associated with the cities ofDer andMalgium,[110] is described as thelúSUKKAL GAL-u šadMUATI, "great vizier of Nabu", in a single text fromKalhu.[109] |
| ME-ḫursag Išib-ḫursag?[111] | Nin-Muru[111] | Manfred Krebernik proposes that the readingišib for the first sign of the name of the sukkal of Nin-Muru, the wife ofNinkilim.[111] Both Nin-Muru and her husband were worshiped in Muru, originally associated withNingirima.[112] |
| Meme | Ningal[113] | Meme, writtendMEkà-kàME, occurs as the sukkal of Ningal in the god listAn = Anum.[23] Richard L. Litke points out that the gloss is unlikely to indicate an otherwise unknown pronunciation of the sign ME, and proposes that an alternate version of the list had Kakka in the role of Ningal's sukkal.[113] He assumes the deity meant is the same one who the list equates with Ninkarrak,[113] distinct from the male messenger god.[114] A medicine goddess named Kakka is attested in theophoric names from Mari.[51] |
| Muduggasa'a | Asalluhi[20] | Muduggasa'a means "called with good name."[20] Late texts attest that similar to how Asalluhi was conflated withMarduk, his sukkal was conflated withNabu.[20] Wilfred G. Lambert goes as far as proposing that Nabu was selected by ancient theologians for the role of Marduk's sukkal because his name had similar meaning to Muduggasa'a's, as it is derived fromnabi'um, "called one."[20] |
| Mummu | Apsu[115] | The name Mummu is most likely derived from the Akkadian wordmummu, a loanword from Sumerianùmun, meaning "skill" or "wisdom," which could function as an epithet of many deities.[116] The tradition presenting Mummu as a sukkal might have originated from theEnūma Eliš, and it is also known from scholarly lists of defeated mythical beings.[117] In this myth, his origin is not explained.[118] |
| Nablum | Gibil[119] | Nablum was the deification of flames.[120] He is attested as the sukkal of the fire god Gibil in the god listAn = Anum.[120] |
| Nabu | Marduk[121] | The tradition according to which Nabu was Marduk's sukkal is older than that presenting them as son and father.[122] In the earliest available sources, dating to the Old Babylonian period, he was not yet addressed as a sukkal, but instead as a scribe (dubsar), but he is already directly called a sukkal in the god listAn = Anum.[20] |
| Namtar | Ereshkigal,[45] sporadically Nergal[123] | Namtar's name means "fate."[124] He is first attested as a personified deity in the Old Babylonian period, and in literary texts often appears alongside Ereshkigal as a god of the underworld.[45] His mother was usually the goddess Mardula'anki, but in a single incantation he is instead a son of Ereshkigal and Enlil.[45] He could also function as a disease demon.[123] |
| Nēr-ē-tagmil | Id[125] | Nēr-ē-tagmil means "kill, spare not."[126] His master, Id, was a river god associated with judgment.[127] He is known from the god listAn = Anum, from a single fragment of an incantation,[126] and from an inscription ofShamshi-Adad V, which identifies him as one of the gods worshiped inDer.[127] A single text identifies the name Nēr-ē-tagmil as a title of Nergal rather than a distinct deity.[127] |
| Nigzida and Nigsisa | Utu/Shamash[128] | The names Nigzida and Nigsisa mean "law" and "order," respectively.[129] They are identified as the "vizier of the left" and "vizier of the right" in the god listAn = Anum.[128] Nigzida could be equated with Niggina, another goddess regarded as the sun god's sukkal.[102] |
| Nimgir | Ishkur/Adad[130] | Nimgir was the deification of lightning.[131] A single text (KAV 64) equates him withMartu.[131] An Old Babylonianeršemma song mentions a nameless sukkal of Ishkur in passing.[132] |
| Nindimgul | Nungal[73] | The name Nindimgul means "lady/lordmooring pole."[133] This deity was likely female.[73] She appears to play the role of a prosecutor in theHymn to Nungal.[133] |
| Ninĝidru inĝešduru[134] | Sud[135] | Ninĝidru fulfills the role of a sukkal in a hymn to Sud, the tutelary goddess ofShuruppak, where her task is said to be receiving the visitors arriving in the temple of her mistress.[135] She is mentioned alongside Sud in a fragment of an inscription from Shuruppak from the Sargonic period as well.[134] Christopher Metcalf refers to Ninĝidru as a male deity,[134] but other authors consider her to be a goddess.[136][135] It is possible she was the deification of thesceptre, and in known text she appears in association withNinmena, the deification of the crown.[135] |
| Ninpirig | Utu/Shamash[2] | While Utu had multiple sukkals, only Ninpirig was referred to as his sukkalmaḫ.[2] It has been proposed that his name might hint at a connection with light.[21] He is attested in multiple theophoric names, chiefly from Sippar.[137] Some researchers, including Antoine Cavigneaux and Manfred Krebernik, consider the reading of the second element of his name to be uncertain due to variable orthography, and transcribe it as Nin-PIRIG.[138] |
| Ninshubur | Inanna, later also Anu[139] | Ninshubur's role as the sukkal of Inanna is regarded as primary, while her association with Anu as a secondary development.[139] The former is already attested in one of the Early DynasticZame Hymns.[86] Additionally, either Ninshubur or Ilabrat appears as the sukkal ofPinikir in a single source from a Hurrian corpus written in Akkadian.[140] InGirsu, Ninshubur was the spouse of Meslamtaea,[141] a name used to refer toNergal in early sources from southern Mesopotamian cities.[142] Frans Wiggermann notes that the pairing of Nergal with Ninshubur is unusual, as she was the only goddess sometimes regarded as his wife who had a well defined role other than that of his spouse, the other exception beingEreshkigal.[143] He assumes that since many of Nergal's occasional spouses, such asMammitum orAdmu, were possibly associated with the earth,[144] this role of Ninshubur was tied to her function as "lady of the earth."[98] No other examples of Ninshubur being regarded as another deity's wife are known.[145] A single source refers to Ninshubur as Nergal'ssukkal rather than wife.[98] InIsin, Ninshubur was seemingly incorporated into the entourage of the medicine goddessNinisina.[146] |
| Nusku Nuska[33] | Enlil[147] | Nuska was either a son of Enlil, or instead of his ancestorsEnul and Ninul.[33] InHarran in the first millennium BCE he came to be viewed as a son of the moon god Sin instead.[148] Through syncretism with Gibil, he could be regarded as a son or sukkal of Anu.[148] He also had a wife,Sadarnunna.[147] In myths he commonly appears as the sukkal and helper of Enlil, for example inEnlil and Sud he is responsible for preparing his marriage to the eponymous goddess.[29] In addition to his role as a sukkal, he was also a god of fire and light.[149] |
| Papsukkal | Zababa,[25] Anu andAntu[150] | The name Papsukkal is a combination of the wordspap, "older brother," and sukkal.[150] Papsukkal was originally the sukkal of Zababa, the tutelary god ofKish, but later acquired the role of the sukkal of Anu by assimilating Ninshubur.[25] InSeleucid Uruk he was the sukkal of Anu and Antu.[151] His symbol was a walking bird.[27] A prayer refers to him as "offspring of Enmesharra,"[152] and they appear next to each other in a list of various vanquished mythical figures.[57] |
| Qudma | Ištaran[153] | It is uncertain if Quadma and Qadma are two spellings of the name of a single god or two closely related gods.[153] Both names belong to divine judges.[153] It is uncertain if the god Zīzānu was a son of Qudma or of Ištaran.[154] While the godNirah was frequently associated with Ištaran, he was hisšipru ("messenger"), rather than sukkal.[155] |
| Sililitum | Manzat[156] | Sililitum is only known from a single copy of the god listAn = Anum, similar to the rest of the circle of Manzat.[157] Her name is likelySemitic in origin.[157] She shared her name with the tenth month in the local calendar ofSusa[42] and according to Wilfred G. Lambert with a type of bird (šinūnūtu).[157] The possibility that Sililitum was related toSilili, a deity known exclusively from a single passage in theEpic of Gilgamesh, has been deemed unlikely byAndrew R. George.[158] |
| Šumaḫ | Ninisina[159] | Šumaḫ was one of the three children of Ninisina and her husbandPabilsag, the other two beingGunura andDamu.[160] His name means "the one with the mighty hand."[159] In the god listAn = Anum, he is one of the fiveudug (protective spirits) of Egalmah, his mother's temple.[161][159] A ritual text states that his duty was cleaning and purifying the streets of Isin for his mother.[162] A goddess with a similar name, Ama-šumaḫ, was the housekeeper (abarakkat) ofEkur according to the incantation seriesMuššu'u, and seemingly was associated both with Ninisina and with another medicine goddess,Nintinugga.[159] |
| dSUKKAL | Shamash[107] | dSUKKAL is known from documents from the archives of the First Dynasty of Sealand, and was possibly analogous to the male version of Ninshubur.[108] Odette Boivin proposes that he functioned as a sukkal of Shamash during his daily journey through the sky, while Lugal-namtarra fulfilled the same role during the night in the underworld.[107] None of Shamash's sukkals known from other sources are present in the Sealand texts.[108] |
| Tašme-zikru | Išḫara[163] | Tašme-zikru means "She answered my word" or "She answered the word".[163] She is attested in the Isin andAn = Anum god lists.[163] |
| Ugur | Nergal[164] | Ugur was originally the sukkal of Nergal, though he was replaced in this role by Ishum after the Old Babylonian period.[98] In Mesopotamian sources his name was used to logographically represent the name of Nergal at least from the Middle Babylonian period onward.[142] However, he continued to be worshiped as a war god by the Hurrians.[165] In Hurrian sources he formed a triad withNupatik andAštabi.[165] InEmar he was worshiped alongsideShuwala, a Hurrian goddess connected with the underworld.[166] |
| Ungasaga and Hamun-ana | Nisaba[167] | According to the god listAn = Anum, Ungasaga and Hamun-ana were the two sukkals of Nisaba.[167] |
| Urmašum,dUR and Uršbidga | Gula[168] | According to the god listAn = Anum, Urmašum,dUR (explained as analogous to Urmašum) and Uršabiduga were the three sukkals of Gula.[169] In one case Urmašum was associated with the "Lamma star" (mullam-ma), usually the astral symbol of Bau's sukkalLammašaga.[169] It is possible he was envisioned as a canine being, as his name starts withur, a sign present in the wordsurgi (dog),urmah (lion) andurbarra (wolf).[46] The signmaš means "twin", which lead Manfred Krebernik to propose that he was derived from a pair of dog figures guarding a gate.[169] In a single source, Urmašum's name contains amorpheme indicating the deity was seen as female, and in one further case it is unclear, though not impossible, that the name ends in the feminine-tum.[170] A god with the same name appears among underworld deities in theWeidner god list, but his relationship with Gula's sukkal is unclear.[169] Uršabiduga's name can be translated as "dog whose flsesh is good (for an illness)".[171] |
| Ushumgal | Ninkilim[172] | The name Ushumgal could, depending on thedeterminative used, refer either to the sukkal of Ninkilim or to a mythical snake associated with the legendarysage Lu-Nanna.[173] It is also attested as an epithet ofMarduk,Dumuzi,Ninurta andShamash.[174] |
| Uznu and Ḫasīsu | Damgalnuna[175] | According to the god listAn = Anum, Uznu ("ear") and Ḫasīsu ("wisdom") were the sukkals of Damgalnuna, wife of Enki.[175] They also occur together in a single incantation.[175] |
| Zigarra | Meslamta-ea[172] | Meslamt-ee in mention is one of the gods forming the pair Lugal-Irra and Meslamta-ea, associated with the cities Kisiga and Durum.[176] Zigarra and Zimu, the sukkal of Lugal-irra, functioned as a pair, and in a single source they are equated with their masters.[177] |
| Zimu Ziminigi[172] | Lugalirra[172] | Zimu and Ziggara, the sukkal of Meslamta-ea, functioned as a pair, and in a single source they are equated with their masters.[177] |
In addition to the sukkals listed above, according to the god listAn = Anum the following deities had sukkals whose names are either not preserved or only partially preserved in known copies: Dingirmah, a goddess fromAdab conflated withNinhursag,[178] Gishhuranki, the wife ofAshgi,[179]Šulpae,Panigingarra,[180] andNinsun.[104] An offering list fromUmma from theUr III period mentions a nameless sukkal of the artisan goddessNinmug.[181] Frans Wiggermann argues that based on iconographic evidence it can be assumed that sukkals associated withNanshe andNingirsu also existed, though their names are unknown.[9]
The concept of sukkal was also incorporated intoHurrian religion.[182] TheHurrian spelling of this word wasšukkalli.[182] All of the majorHurrian gods were believed to have their own sukkals.[183]
| Name | Corresponding major deity | Culture | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ḫupuštukar | Ḫešui[184] | Hurrian[185] | Ḫupuštukar was the sukkal of Ḫešui, a Hurrian war god.[184] His name is derived from the Hurrian verbḫub-, "to break."[185] In one ritual text, he appears alongside the sukkals of other deities: Immanzizi, Undurumma, Tenu, Lipparuma and Mukišanu.[186] |
| Impaluri | The sea (Kiaše)[187] | Hurrian[188] | Impaluri was the sukkal of the Hurrian sea god.[187]Volkert Haas notes that the suffix -luri appears not only in his name, but also in these of other Hurrian deities, such as the mountain goddessLelluri and the primordial giantUpelluri, as well some mountain and stone names.[188] |
| Izzummi | Ea[189] | Hurrian[189] | Izzummi is the Hurrian name of Isimud or Ushmu, the sukkal of Ea, who was incorporated into the Hurrian pantheon alongside his master.[189] |
| Lipparuma | Šimige[190] | Hurrian[190] | Lipparuma[191] or Lipparu was the sukkal of the Hurrian sun god, Šimige.[190] In a bilingual Sumero-Hurrian version of theWeidner god list fromEmar Šimige's sukkal is instead the Mesopotamian Bunene (transcribed in Hurrian asdWu-u-un-ni-nu-wa-an).[192] Lipparuma and Bunene could be treated as equivalents.[191] |
| Mukišānu [de] | Kumarbi[183] | Hurrian[183] | Mukišānu was the sukkal of Kumarbi.[193] His name was derived fromMukiš, a geographic name designating the area around the city of Alalakh,[193] where a large percentage of the population spoke Hurrian.[194] |
| Takitu | Hebat | Hurrian/Syrian[195] | Takitu (dqt in theUgaritic alphabetic script; multiple spellings alternating betweenta andtu andda anddu are attested from Hurro-Hittite sources) was the sukkal of Hebat.[195] In the Yazılıkaya sanctuary she appears right behind her.[195] It has been proposed that her name might be derived from the Semitic rootdqq, "small."[195] In a myth preserved on the tablet CTH 346.12 she is described as traveling through the lands of Mitanni to distant Šimurrum on behalf of her mistress.[196] She also appears in the Song of Ullikummi, where Hebat tasks her with finding out the fate of her husband after his initial confrontation with the eponymous monster.[197] |
| Tapšuwari | possiblyKušuḫ[198] | Hurrian[198] | According to Meindert Dijkstra Tapšuwari was the sukkal of the Hurrian moon god, Kušuḫ,[198] but Volkert Haas instead identifies him as a member of the circle of Kumarbi.[199] He appears in a fragment of the Hurrian version ofSong ofUllikummi, and in a further literary fragment also involving the sun and moon gods.[199] |
| Tašmišu | Teshub[200] | Hurrian[201] | Tašmišu was the sukkal and brother of Teshub, the Hurrian weather god.[189] His wife was the goddessNabarbi.[202] The etymology of his name is uncertain,[203] though it has been proposed thattašmi meant "strong" inHurrian.[201] While he was associated with theHittite godŠuwaliyat, he never acquired the latter's association with vegetation.[204] |
| Tenu | Teshub[200] | Hurrian[205] or Syrian[206][200] | Tenu was a god who appears as the sukkal of Teshub in ritual texts in place of Tašmišu.[200] Daniel Schwemer proposes that this situation might indicate he belonged to the pantheon of Aleppo (Halab).[200] Gary Beckman also attributes Syrian origin to him.[206] However, Alfonso Archi assumes that he had Hurrian origin.[205] |
| Tiyabenti | Hebat[207] | Hurrian[208] | Tiyabenti was a deity of unclear gender from the circle of Hebat, regarded as her sukkal.[207] The name means "he who speaks favorably" or "she who speaks favorably."[208] In myths, the role of Hebat's sukkal instead belongs to Takitu,[209] whose name might have Semitic, rather than Hurrian, origin.[195] However, the two of them coexist in ritual texts, where both can accompany Hebat, which means that theories according to which one of them was merely an epithet of the other are unsubstantiated.[209] |
| Undurumma | Šauška[210] | Hurrian[210] | Undurumma was, according to the single source attesting the existence of this deity, the sukkal of Šauška.[210] It is uncertain if Unudurupa/Unduruwa, associated with the underworld goddessAllani in another document, was the same deity.[210] In most rituals and in myths, Šauška was instead accompanied by the musician goddessesNinatta and Kulitta.[211] |
| Primordial beings | _-_EnKi_(Sumerian).jpg) | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary deities | ||
| Other major deities | ||
| Minor deities | ||
| Demons, spirits, and monsters | ||
| Mortal heroes | ||