#kassite

[whencyclopedfr]

Kassites

On pense que les Kassites seraient issus de groupes tribaux dans les monts Zagros, au nord-est de la Babylonie. Leurs chefs arrivèrent au pouvoir à Babylone après l'effondrement de la dynastie régnante de l'ancienne période babylonienne en 1595 av. J.-C.. Les Kassites conservèrent le pouvoir pendant environ quatre cents ans (jusqu'en 1155 av. J.-C.).

Lire la suite...

[whats-in-a-sentence]

Neither they nor the Kassites of western Iran, the Hittites of Anatolia,* the Hyksos of modern Israel and Jordan, and the Mycenaeans of Greece were as organized as Egypt or the Mesopotamian city of Babylon, but for a while that did not matter, because chariots gave these formerly peripheral peoples such an edge in war-making that they could plunder or even take over their older, richer neighbors.

*Ancient historians generally call the land that is now Turkey by the Greek name Anatolia (meaning "Land of the East"), since the Turks – who originally came from central Asia – settled Anatolia only in the eleventh century CE.

"Why the West Rules – For Now: The patterns of history and what they reveal about the future" - Ian Morris

[luutakiituri]

Palliserenaadi

[kattiperkele]

Mammuttimarkkinat ja kaikki viisi bussimatkustajaa istuu vessa- ja talouspaperirullien kanssa.

[bronzegods]

Siege of Aleppo comic script snippet

A brief view of Ninurta’s perspective regarding his adoption into the Assyrian pantheon (becomes quite relevant at the end of the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age - the Assyrian kings really like him!) and his experience in Kassite Babylon.

Adad is more ride or die for Assur, but they’ve also known each other since the Assyrian trading colony period.

[spiritsdancinginthenight]

Bronze nipple-footed beaker (situla); beaker has a cylindrical body tapering to a nipple base rendered as the centre of a chased rosette with 16 petals with rounded tips. Middle Babylonian, 10th century B.C. British Museum. 130905

[sheikahwarriork]

nobody will understand this but: FUCK YOU CUSAS 30 by van soldt

[along-the-silkroad]

Kudurru of Gula-ereš, Kassite Period, Babylonia. British Museum (ID: 102485).

A kudurru is an important Babylonian object that began to appear during the Kassite Period (c. 1500–1155 BCE). These objects were often made from black limestone and were typically placed near temples to ensure that the legal acts inscribed on them were protected by the gods.

[whencyclopedia]

Mesopotamian Art and Architecture

Ancient Mesopotamian art and architectural works are among the oldest in the world, dating back over 7,000 years. The works first appear in northern Mesopotamia prior to the Ubaid Period (c. 5000-4100 BCE) and then developed in the south during the Uruk Period (4100-2900 BCE) in Sumer which established the first historical civilization.

According to some scholars, the works of the Indus Valley Civilization (c. 7000 to c. 600 BCE) pre-date those of Mesopotamia, but the Indus Valley developments do not appear until the Early Harappan Period (c. 5500-2800 BCE) by which time Mesopotamian works were already established. Early artwork and construction are evidenced in northern Mesopotamia at sites such as Göbekli Tepe (c. 10,000 BCE) and Ҫatalhöyük (c. 7500 BCE), both in modern-day Turkey, and Tell Brak (c. 6500-5000 BCE), in Syria.

The development of these works then progressed through the following eras, though, owing to space limitations, the Hittite and Kassite periods will not be addressed:

Ubaid Period – c. 5000-4100 BCE

Uruk Period – 4100-2900 BCE

Early Dynastic Period – 2900-2334 BCE

Akkadian Period – 2334-2218 BCE

Ur III Period – 2047-1750 BCE

Old Babylonian Period – c. 2000-1600 BCE

Hittite Period – 1700-1200 BCE

Kassite Period – c. 1595 to c. 1155 BCE

Assyrian Period – c. 1307-912 BCE

Neo-Assyrian Period – 912-612 BCE

Neo-Babylonian Period – 626-539 BCE

Achaemenid Persian-Sassanian Persian Period – c. 550 BCE to 651 CE

Artworks included reliefs, sculpture, statuary cast in metal, ceramics, jewelry, cylinder seals, stele & monuments, obelisks, and wall paintings. Mesopotamian monumental architecture is epitomized by the ziggurat, but the Sumerians were also responsible for the first large-scale palaces and temples, as well as urban planning, the arch, canals, and aqueducts, landscaped gardens, and architectural ornamentation. These early innovations would become more refined in the region through succeeding periods and influence the works of other cultures in the Near East and Mediterranean regions.

Earliest Sites & Base Materials

Although the Göbekli Tepe site is dated to c. 10,000 BCE, the first permanent settlements in that area are thought to have been established earlier, and, possibly, for the sole purpose of building the structure which most scholars believe was a temple. Göbekli Tepe is among the earliest sites, along with others such as Nevalı Çori (also in modern-day Turkey), to feature monumental architecture – including the oldest known megaliths in the world at Göbekli Tepe – as well as reliefs.

Architecturally, the site is comprised of circular areas and rectangular buildings with T-shaped pillars of limestone, some carved with images of wildlife in low and high relief. There is little evidence of human activity in the sculptures which seem to emphasize the natural world and, in some interpretations, the people's relationship with their gods. Some scholars associate the site with the later settlement of Ҫatalhöyük, though this claim has been challenged as the design of Göbekli Tepe, and the tools found there, differ from the later site.

Whatever purpose Göbekli Tepe originally served, it was a communal site associated with ritual, while Ҫatalhöyük was entirely residential. No public buildings have been found at the site which is comprised of tightly clustered mudbrick residences accessed by ladders or steps from a hole in the roof. Artwork from the site includes murals and statuary – such as the famous Seated Woman of Ҫatalhöyük – as well as ceramics. The artwork seems to focus on the natural world and the concept of fertility as several pieces represent female figures and erect phalluses.

The people of Ҫatalhöyük used clay, limestone, marble, and other materials for their statuary and paint created from natural substances. The figurines, statuary, and murals are usually interpreted as representing religious concepts, but this claim is not universally accepted. There is no evidence of urban planning at the site; it seems to have developed organically with buildings attached to each other and people using the rooftops for communal activities and movement as there are no streets, courtyards, or public squares.

Continue reading...

[thatshowthingstarted]

 Babylonian Map of the World, 8th or 7th Century B.C.

The Babylonian Map of the World (also Imago Mundi or Mappa mundi) is a Babylonian clay tablet with a schematic world map and two inscriptions written in the Akkadian language. It includes a brief and partially lost textual description.

The tablet describes the oldest known depiction of the known world. Ever since its discovery there has been controversy on its general interpretation and specific features. Another pictorial fragment, VAT 12772, presents a similar topography from roughly two millennia earlier.

The map is centered on the Euphrates, flowing from the north (top) to the south (bottom), with its mouth labelled "swamp" and "outflow". The city of Babylon is shown on the Euphrates, in the northern half of the map. Susa, the capital of Elam, is shown to the south, Urartu to the northeast, and Habban, the capital of the Kassites, is shown (incorrectly) to the northwest. Mesopotamia is surrounded by a circular "bitter river" or Ocean, and seven or eight foreign regions are depicted as triangular sections beyond the Ocean, perhaps imagined as mountains.

The tablet was excavated by Hormuzd Rassam at Sippar, Baghdad vilayet, some 60 km north of Babylon on the east bank of the Euphrates River. It was acquired by the British Museum in 1882 (BM 92687); the text was first translated in 1889. The tablet is usually thought to have originated in Borsippa. In 1995, a new section of the tablet was discovered, at the point of the upper-most triangle.

Clay, Height: 12.2 cm (4.8 in), Width: 8.2 cm (3.2 in)

Courtesy: British Museum

[kata4a]

so since attested akkadian texts span a period of almost three millenia (!), there's naturally quite a bit of dialectical variation both geographically ("assyrian" in the north, "babylonian" in the south), and diachronically (e.g., "old," "middle," and "late" babylonian)

but my favorite detail so far, per huehnergard:

Already during the Kassite period [when Middle Babylonian was spoken] Old Babylonian had come to be regarded as the classical period of Akkadian language and literature, and scribes in both Babylonia and Assyria attempted to duplicate it in a purely literary (i.e., unspoken) dialect that Assyriologists call Standard Babylonian (SB). The scribes' efforts to reproduce the classical language usually had mixed results, as their own language patterns frequently intruded. Standard Babylonian is the dialect in which such important works as Enūma eliš and the later, longer version of Gilgamesh are written, indeed, all of the literary texts of the late second and the first millenia, as well as many royal inscriptions.

badly aping archaic language to tell your myths is apparently about as old as mythology itself

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

The gold lyre from the Great Death-Pit, Ur of the Chaldees, excavations (1900) Excavations at Ur: A Record of Twelve Years' Work Now in present day Iraq, Ur was a city that rose from the "Mounds of Pitch" half way between Baghdad and the Persian Gulf, ten miles west of the Euphrates. Sir Leonard Woolley documents his experience as leader of the great expedition that carried on without interruption until 1934. Before its closure, this significant archaeological dig on the part of both museums established an image of Ur throughout its four thousand years in existence. Indeed, the excavators unearthed much more than they ever expected. These findings reveal the impressive history of Ur: its beginning, the flood, the Uruk and Jamdat Nasr periods, Al 'Ubaid and the first dynasty of Ur, the Dark Ages, the third dynasty of Ur, the Isin and Larsa periods, the Kassite and Assyrian periods, and finally Nebuchadnezzar and the last days of Ur. Abraham, a descendant of Noah through his son Shem, lived with his family in the city of Ur in Chaldea (today's Iraq).

[marigold-hills]

Dunes & Waters, part 29

PART 1 • PREVIOUS PART • NEXT PART

Things shift once they get back to Aswan.

Sirius stretches, and Remus remembers how he woke up in the night to their legs tangled together, knees touching knees, ankles crossed over each other.

Sirius scratches his fingers over his neck, absentmindedly, and Remus remembers how it looked when he transformed from Padfoot with the collar still on it.

Sirius speaks of the Museum and Remus thinks not of the progress they made but of the guard, and of the dog, and he’s scared of the next person he comes across because he wants to rip someone’s throat out.

Sirius does anything, anything, and Remus watches. Catalogues the way he would untranslated texts, each new movement a hieroglyph to be studied. Each word a rite or an incantation - something fleeting and spoken into the wind and Remus wants to be greedy and preserve it all.

Thinks of the morning they woke up together – Remus first, the light bright through the open window falling across Sirius’ features. How it felt watching it, sacred and sacrilegious, and how the sun touching Sirius was an opening and Remus thought Horus has opened your mouth for you, and your eyes.

But Sirius doesn’t notice any of this. He’s too excited with the new puzzle he’s found, a key to the Box he didn’t have before. Studies his notes late into the evenings, takes them to the hotel when Remus insists they finish for the day.

Sirius reads about Khonsu, says “I wouldn’t have figured it out if not for the statue, I don’t think, but it makes sense the moon would have been involved here.”

It’s two days to the full moon when they finally crack it.

It’s painstaking but Remus translates the scroll. Symbol by symbol, the story comes out.

I have made this for you to keep until you are ready, it reads, and to keep from others who would do you harm.

Speak to the deities who look upon your kind

Wolf-kind; of men with bodies of beasts

Beloved of my heart, speak to them and open what I have saved for you to keep

Speak to the four corners.

To the stars and to the moon, to your body and to your death and those who bring you to it.

To anyone encroaching here, heed this warning:

To lay in someone else’s grave is to die their death

To read words in someone else’s tongue is to take their fate

“Rites it is, then,” Sirius says, reaching for books on ceremonies.

Remus writes out notes he has on each of the lines of text. “I don’t know any rites to the UR.IDIM.”

“There must be something, there’s worship of it all the way back to the Kassite period.”

Sirius throws his legs onto the desk, balances on his chair the way he does when he’s deeply in thought, like battling gravity helps the process along.

“Make sure you don’t read any of them aloud.”

Sirius looks at him, confused.

“The warning. I never heard of lycanthropy being transmitted via spoken word, but let’s try not to test the theory today.”

“Why, Professor, don’t want to put a little wolf in me?” Sirius winks and grins and the whole display is just…

Remus chokes on his tongue.

NEXT PART

@tealeavesandtrash

@moon-girl88

@hoje--aqui

@cocoabutterandbooks

@onion-sliced-apples

@prancingpony42

@digital-kam

@remoonysiriusly

@sweetstarryskies

@a-sunset-outside-my-window

@procrastinatingstuff

@annaliza999

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(let me know if you do/don’t want to be tagged!)

[yamayuandadu]

What do you mean by an ishtar type goddess

I’ve picked this term up from Gary Beckman’s late 1990s articles Ištar of Nineveh Reconsidered and The Goddess Pirinkir and Her Ritual from Hattusa (CTH 644). In both of them he makes a point that across the “cuneiform world” (so, in modern terms roughly from the middle of Turkey to the west of Iran) multiple deities could be designated by the same logogram - IŠTAR, to be specific - and that this broadly reflects all of them having certain shared features , and indicates the existence of a category encompassing all of them in the imagination of ancient theologians. At the same time, he stresses that each of such deities will also have unique features which become evident when enough sources become available. He demonstrated it on examples like Shaushka, Pinikir and the Kizzuwatnean “goddess of the night” (the correct reading of her own name remains unknown). As far as I know Beckman was more or less the first to advance views like that equally successfully, but other studies using a similar methodology soon followed. For example Barbara Nevling Porter has managed to prove in the early 2000s that it is safe to say there are multiple fully distinct goddesses named Ishtar in Neo-Assyrian sources, and that they could even be portrayed interacting with each other (see her Ishtar of Nineveh and Her Collaborator, Ishtar of Arbela, in the Reign of Assurbanipal for more details).

These views are fairly mainstream today, though popular understanding very clearly lags behind. Tonia Sharlach in her excellent Ox of One’s Own. Royal Wives and Religion at the Court of the Third Dynasty of Ur (a fantastic book even if you’re not very interested in Mesopotamia) calls the names Inanna and Ishtar “umbrella terms” (p. 269). Spencer L. Allen dedicated an entire monograph to the phenomenon of one name often designating multiple functionally fully separate deities, The Splintered Divine. A Study of Ištar, Baal, and Yahweh. Divine Names and Divine Multiplicity in the Ancient Near East. There are numerous other examples, but these are what I’d consider the best introduction. The classification of (some) deities as exemplars of bigger “types” is not limited to Ishtar(s) and is overall fairly standard in Assyriology, see ex. the discussion here, pp. 298-299. The precedents for this sort of systematization are quite common in primary sources. We know that the scribes employed by the Ur III court essentially saw Ninisina as a “type” since despite the two being distinct, Gula could be referred to as “Ninisina of Umma” by them. God lists will sometimes have entries like “Enlil of Subartu” or “the Kassite Adad” and so on. “Type” is just the term I’m used to because Beckman was my introduction to this idea but I’ve also seen phrases like  “Nergal figure”, “lesser Nergal” etc. employed by Frans Wiggermann, for instance.

[sag-dab-sar]

I saw you have a link in your pinned post about where to start with hellenic polytheism. Do you have anything like that for Sumerian polytheism?

Unfortunately no, I never had the energy to make one that intense for Sumerian. So here is the best I can do now.

I used "Mesopotamian" over Sumerian here because research cannot be parsed out to "just Sumerian" it will always include Akkadian and all time periods. However, in this post, when it comes to Gods, I am discussing their role in the Sumerian pantheons. Not later Akkadian with Babylonian Marduk or Assyrian Aššur as king. "Mesopotamian Religion" is kind of a misnomer, there were multiple religions, pantheons, and related but distinct cultures. These are usually broken up in academia based on time period for example Ur III vs Neo-Assyrian; by city Uruk vs Isin; and by the ruling "ethnic group" such as Amorites vs the Kassites. It is a maze of information, you don't have to be concerned about it in the beginning but I just wanted to mention that there is a large variety of religious traditions.

Diĝir Sumerian for God/Goddess. Diĝirene is plural.

🌾 To begin I suggest:

Learn a bit, even just reading Oracc's information, on the Diĝir.

Get some water (or other drink, especially beer) for them.

Offer them up some words of praise, tell them the liquid is for them.

"Holy An, Unalterable Decision Maker, Who Determines The Place of all Diĝir. May this water show my reverence for your power."

Pour the water out.

Tah dah you worshiped a Diĝir.

Now go learn some more.

Rinse repeat adding to your worship as you learn.

Practicing and learning can be side by side events, doing both at once.

Your research doesn't need to be academically intense like your taking a course. Go at your own pace when researching information, and don't force yourself to read things you won't understand. But don't neglect it either it's still important to learn, especially about the Diĝirene themselves.

Don't fear making mistakes. If you do something you think is a mistake simply say sorry and give a libation, that is enough. Thus don't be afraid to start despite little knowledge — the Diĝirene will not be mad at you so long as you are a sincere worshipper.

🌾 Learning

Use a combination of Frayne, Black, Leick's dictionaries and Oracc to learn about a specific Diĝir (linked below). Sources will conflict with each other. This can be due to multiple reasons: publication timing & something being out of date; differences of opinions/interpretations of the academics; differences in translations by academics; and honestly I think Assyriologists just enjoy fighting each other...that is only half a joke.

In other words, be willing to combine the things you learn into your own composite view of information on any Diĝir. Actually basically any topic in Mesopotamia.

My Post on Resources for Researching — Link

Some tips:

Make sure it's a reliable source. Vetting sources — Link

Focus on academics of various disciplines especially Assyriologists; but also archeologists; anthropologists specializing in that region; historians whose topic is related.

Websites specifically designed for Mesopotamian History by academics / academic institutions.

Check the publication date. If the date is newer it probably is more accurate. Unless the concept is 100% novel, in which case they will usually explain why this new interpretation is more accurate.

Use three sources. If source A and B conflict. Search for source C and see if it agrees with A or B. ... sometimes it'll agree with neither.

Being real for a second as a worshipper: sometimes something from an academic will just resonate with you and sometimes it just won't. For example Jacobsen's view of Inana did (link); while Boterro's view of religion lacking love did not (link). Despite both being Assyriologists.

Links to Dictionaries, Websites, Online Books etc — Link

Not available online but I highly suggest:

A Handbook To Life in Ancient Mesopotamia by Stephen Bertman 2005 for general Mesopotamian history — Google Books 43 pages available

Introduction to Ancient Mesopotamian Religion by Tammi Schneider 2011 — Google Books 33 pages available

Both are written for the average reader not academically thick.

❗️If you can't do a lot of research for whatever reason (disability, education level, access to information etc) then I suggest reading Jeremy Black's dictionary cover to cover like a book. Some info is outdated, but if it's all you can manage it's a good way to have a base of knowledge for your practice.

For more information about learning see the part about Inana below.

🌾 Prayer & Praise

In Mesopotamian cultures giving praise to a Diĝir is important. Period. Even if it's "you're awe inspiring" or something else simple.

For prayers you can say what you feel comfortable with in the moment, you can write your own, you can adapt from the ETCSL or other reliable translations. I suggest reading through the ETCSL hymns or other reliable translation to get a feel for how the Diĝirene were praised even if you don't use those hymns directly.

Something specifically about that Diĝir, or lines taken from the ETCSL hymns to that Diĝir, add an extra touch to show your appreciation for them in my opinion.

Based on artwork praying position was either hands up, bent at the elbow so hands are level with your shoulders, and palms facing outwards. Or hands clasped together at your sternum. The first one is easier if you have a cup in your hand.

ETCSL Hymns — Link

How to end Mesopotamian prayers — Link

Prayer to a personal Diĝir adapted from ETCSL, can be replaced with a named Diĝir — Link

🌾 Offerings & Libations

I do not have a historical example of a Mesopotamian libation or offering incantation or prayer so I use the steps I outlined in the first section.

Say a prayer, designate the offering as for that Diĝir/Diĝirene then:

Any libations should be poured out and made "unrecoverable"

Food is eaten

Objects offered can either be used or set aside on an altar/shrine.

Incense is lit and let burn to the end if possible.

Mesopotamian Offerings — Link

Historical Incense — Link

Low Spoon / No Spoon offerings — Link

🌾 Altar / Shrine

The most important thing to Mesopotamian religious cult was the animated cult statue. While you don't need an altar/shrine I do suggest having a spot for them with a representation if you can. The Word Cult — Link

There were also street shrines located in the city for the average (acceptable) citizen to use, but I don't know anything about them except that they existed. So I stick to what is known about temple cults.

The representation doesn't have to be a statue it could be anything so long as it is chosen thoughtfully, is clean, and specifically set aside as a representation for them not used for anything else. For example for me: Gibil is a candle, Dumuzid is beads, Ninazu is a pendant, Damu is a snake ring that I will not wear... so on.

Assuming you don't have to worry about being secret: Put the representation in a clean spot, and you would add something like an incense holder to light some (alternatively a good smelling candle), or a bowl/cup to use for libations.

Again, this isn't absolutely necessary. However, with the importance of temples and cult statues in Mesopotamian history, combined with the fact that we don't have a dedicated priesthood at a temple in our cities/towns to diligently worship the Gods, I think its a good way to adapt a very important aspect of the religion to the modern world.

There is no difference between altar vs shrine. The Sumerian dictionary gives 18 results for "shrine" and 2 results for "altar." So usage of those words is defined by yourself.

🌾 Good Diĝir to Start With

An — Sky, Heaven, Highest Authority. He received some worship, but importantly he was frequently invoked in the worship of other Diĝirene. For example, Inana is made significantly important by An's power. He might be a good stepping stone to give your first libations to if you really don't know where to start, since he is the highest of them all and gave them their authority. His symbol 𒀭 was the divine marker in cuneiform; written at the beginning of (almost) all divine names.

Enlil — King of Gods. Since he is literally king I suggest worshipping him along side an intercessor Diĝir such as his wife Ninlil or sukkal Nuska. Then again that advice could go for any high ranking Diĝir.

Enki — He is significantly more involved with humanity than An or Enlil is. He is usually the Diĝir willing to help humans in myth (like the flood myths), or willing to help other Diĝir that have deemed unworthy of help (like Inana in her descent myth). In one myth he is also the Diĝir who brings order to the world. He is also in some ways the source of life as he is fresh water.

Utu — The Sun and Justice

Nanna/Suen — The Moon and Cycles (time, the tides, etc); also fertility of cows.

Iškur — Storm God

Gula — Goddess of Health

Inana — See below.

Dumuzid* — [Edit] Shepherd, Milk, Agriculture, Spring Vegetarian, (later) Power of Grain

*Treasures of Darkness by Thorkild Jacobsen (1976) Chapter 1 is a very good resource for this, even if his opinions on Inana are not always agreed upon, I have found his conclusions on "Dying Gods of Fertility" to be accepted in academic literature — Google Books [Edit] I messed up with wording and used "Dying and Rising God" which is an archetype idea proposed by James Frazer in 19th century and his iteration of this concept is rejected. I meant to write what Jacobsen uses "Dying God of Fertility" which discusses his death and possible return outside Frazer's archetype framework and based on an amalgamation of different local cultus and ancient texts. Frayne's Dictionary p 75-77 is also a good overview of his roles.

🌾View of The Diĝirene

A pantheon of over three thousand gods seems too large to consist solely out of distinct, well defined natural and cultural agents, and in fact it didn't. The most important agencies are covered by a relatively small and stable core pantheon of some ten to twenty deities of nature, in the texts summarized as the seven or twelve "Great Gods". These few great gods, the ones that "determine destiny", constitute an overarching national pantheon, while the many lesser gods, the "gods of the land", head local city panthea, or serve the courts of the great gods in specialized functions: spouse, child, vizier, herald, deputy, messenger, constable, singer, throne, weapon, ship, or harp. — The Mesopotamian Pandemonium by Frans Wiggerman Link

There are many more Diĝir, even extremely important ones. Those I listed are very straight forward in my opinion and thus good options for someone just beginning. Except perhaps Dumuzid where I messed up.

In Mesopotamian Religions we are not equal to the Diĝirene we are below them, that is undisputed. Unless you are an Ur III king... and even then those divine Kings were below the cosmic Diĝir.

Serving the Gods was of high importance. My opinion, based on ancient texts, about how modern individuals can "serve the Gods" without temples, theocracy, or religious tax etc is to maintain 'The Order' — Link.

While Mesopotamians feared their Gods I don't suggest adding that into your religious mindset until you can really understand it and divorce it from anxiety, self-esteem, self-doubt, trauma, etc— which I doubt is easy.

The important part is: their love is not unconditional for example you could lose their favor if: you cheat on your partner, snub the poor, or purposely try to curse a God (which occasionally happens on TikTok). Additionally, they embody the forces of nature including destruction.

You can lament to them about dire situations and seek their help and guidance; lamentation is said to sooth their hearts. But again divorce this from "Gods are mad at me"

🌾 A Word About Inana

Usually spelled Inanna, I use ETCSL proper noun spelling. She probably has the most available information but also the most misinformation unfortunately. Straight up disinformation as well in my opinion.

She was a Goddess that spread far and wide geographically and is found in basically every time period of Mesopotamian history, and spread to many neighboring cultures. She absorbed many local Goddesses and covered many aspects of life, depending on which culture, location, and time. Most well known for fertility, love/lust, great power, and war.

While she is a very utilitarian Goddess, I only suggest starting with her if you know how to parse out the disinformation and misinformation spread about her. Which can be done but it will take a bit more diligence when researching.

Good ways to do that:

🔹Stick to academic sources where the author is an Assyriologist or historian in a related field like ancient literature or archeology.

Good book specifically for her would be Ishtar by Louise M Pyrke (2017) Google Books 57 Pages Available

If you're willing to learn about numerous Goddesses at the same time the book: Goddesses in Context by Julia Asher-Greve and Joan Goodnick Westenholz (2013) PDF Book Full

Do not use neo-pagan, new age, occult, witchcraft, by polytheists-for-polytheist, books about her.

Don't use books written by Jungian Analysts. My beef with them is A.) Jungian archetypes specifically are inherently Euro-centric western and try to shove all world cultures into them. B.) Every single piece of information on Mesopotamia I have ever read from these authors is always inaccurate C.) Education/Degree/License as a Jungian Analyst is not an academic credential for Ancient Mesopotamian resources. | If you work with archetypes in your religion that is up to you, but as sources of accurate information these authors are not useful.

People often try to find sources on a singular Mesopotamian God, but thats very uncommon. If you want to learn about any Diĝir in-depth you will end up reading articled and books on a variety of ancient religious topics.

🔹Utilize translations by academics not other sources:

ETCSL Inana Entries: Inana Myth — Link • Inana & Dumuzid Myth — Link • Hymns to Inana — Link • Hymns to Inana & Dumuzid — Link

The Harps that Once by Jacobsen (1987), Google Books 109 Pages Available

Enheduana by Sophus Helle (2023), Google Books 58 Pages Available. Companion Website Link, he offers up other translations for the same compositions too.

Not Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth by Diane Wolkstein. A good story but not fully faithful to the ancient story as it shoves compositions together leaving out entire sections of those compositions. It then presents those 3 hacked up compositions as if they were one story and changes the meaning of some. All of the actual compositions are available on the ETCSL in order of how she used them: Inana-Dumuzid A 4.08.01; Dumuzid and Enkimdu 4.08.33; Dumuzid-Inana I 4.08.09. Her "Introduction" barely goes a sentence without misinformation.

Not Lady of The Largest Heart by Betty De Shong Meador, no translator credentials. Shes also a Jungian Analyst.

Nor anyone else that doesn't have direct credentials to translate Sumerian or Akkadian.

.▪️.

I hope this is helpful in some way.

-Dyslexic, not audio proof read-

[meret118]

around 530 BCE, princess and priestess Ennigaldi-Nanna of the Neo-Babylonian empire curated the world's first known public museum.

Situated in Ur, or modern-day Dhi Qar Governorate of Iraq, this museum contained artifacts belonging to Southern Mesopotamia. Many of the pieces that were exhibited were actually excavated by Ennigaldi-Nanna's father, King Nabonidus, or collected by the former King Nebuchadnezzar. Ennigaldi-Nanna helped organize all of these objects to inform and share the history of the empire.

Born sometime before 547 BCE, Ennigaldi-Nanna was the daughter of King Nabonidus, ruler of the Neo-Babylonian empire. Her name means “Nanna requests an entu” and was likely given to her after she assumed the role of entu, or high priestess, of Ur. She was the first entu in six centuries and held significant importance in Ur.

While most of her duties revolved around serving as a “human wife” to the moon god Sin, she also oversaw a school for priestesses and managed part of the temple complex of Ur.

. . .

This museum contained artifacts excavated by Nabonidus and some that were collected by Nebuchadnezzar II. They included a ceremonial mace head, a Kassite boundary marker called a kudurru, and part of a statue of the Sumerian king Shulgi, among many other objects, the oldest of which dated to around the 20th century BCE. Ennigaldi-Nanna was believed to have curated all of the artifacts and assigned labels to the collections. In fact, these ancient “museum labels” were inscribed onto clay cylinders in three different languages, one of which was Sumerian. There was even an early form of museum catalogs that were inscribed on tablets.

More at the link.