Irnina

Irnina was the Mesopotamian goddess of victory.[1] Her name additionally functioned as a title of other deities.

Deities of the ancient Near East
Ancient Egyptian
Arabian
Eblaite and Syrian
Elamite
Hurrian
Levantine (Canaanite and Ugaritic)
Mesopotamian
Religions of the ancient Near East

As an independent deity

In the An-Anum god list, Irnina appears among the courtiers of Ningishzida, a god associated with snakes and vegetation who spent a part of each year in the underworld according to Sumerian texts. In the Weidner god list she likewise appears in a context indicating a connection to the underworld.[2] A partially preserved alternate spelling of her name used the sign MUŠ (serpent).[3]

Assyriologist Frans Wiggermann assumes that the reason behind connecting these two deities was the perception of Ningishzida as a "reliable god," which extended to all spheres of his activity - including agriculture, but also judicial proceedings and war. As such he was a god who could secure victory in battle, which was therefore personified as his courtier.[4]

As a title of other deities

Irnina was an epithet of Ishtar,[5] though the name could also function as a title of the similar goddess Nanaya[6] and even Damkina.[7]

A syncretistic hymn to Marduk, which otherwise features only male gods, includes Irnina among the deities listed as his aspects.[8]

References
  1. J. M. Asher-Greve, J. G. Westenholz, Goddesses in Context: On Divine Powers, Roles, Relationships and Gender in Mesopotamian Textual and Visual Sources, 2013, p. 114
  2. F. Wiggermann, Transtigridian Snake Gods [in:] I. L. Finkel, M. J. Geller (eds.), Sumerian Gods and their Representations, 1997, p. 42
  3. F. Wiggermann, Nin-giszida [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol. 9, 1998, p. 369
  4. F. Wiggermann, Nin-giszida [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol. 9, 1998, p. 371
  5. J. G. Westenholz, Legends of the Kings of Akkade: The Texts, 1997, p. 78
  6. M. P. Streck, N. Wassermann, More Light on Nanāya, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie vol. 102, 2012, p. 184
  7. F. Wiggermann, Transtigridian Snake Gods [in:] I. L. Finkel, M. J. Geller (eds.), Sumerian Gods and their Representations, 1997, p. 42
  8. J. M. Asher-Greve, J. G. Westenholz, Goddesses in Context: On Divine Powers, Roles, Relationships and Gender in Mesopotamian Textual and Visual Sources, 2013, p. 113-114
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