Zababa

Zababa /ˈzɑːbɑːbɑː/ (Sumerian: 𒀭𒍝𒂷𒂷 dza-ba4-ba4) was the tutelary deity of the city of Kish in ancient Mesopotamia. He was a war god.[1]

Iconography

Zababa's symbol was an eagle, and he was depicted in symbolic form as a standard with an eagle on top.[2]

Worship

Zababa's main temple was Edubba. located in Kish. References to him as the tutelary god of that city can be already found in texts from Ebla.[3] Emeteursag, commonly referenced in texts, was a cella dedicated to him rather than a temple.[4] A text from the reign of Artaxerxes I mentions the existence of a temple meant for an akitu festival connected to Zababa in Kish as well.[5] Zababa was also among the gods said to "arrive" in Babylon during the city's akitu.[6] Outside Kish, Zababa temples are attested in Ur (built by Warad-Sin of Larsa), in Tabira, a town near Babylon, and in Ashur.[7]

A number of texts praising Hammurabi mention Zababa. In a hymn, he's one of the deities enumerated as responsible for his success, following Anu, Enlil, Shamash, Adad and Marduk, and preceding Inanna. In another hymn, Zababa is referred to as the king's helper. A text from the reign of his successor Samsu-Iluna credits the king with rebuilding the walls of Kish with the help of Zababa and Ishtar, and states that these two deities helped him defeat his enemies. Wilfred G. Lambert notes that these sources are significant as evidence proving "there is no hint of any supremacy of Marduk within the pantheon" in the Old Babylonian period.[8] Walther Salaberger notes that it seems for Hammurabi Zababa, rather than Ninurta, seemed to be the primary warrior god.[9]

A boundary stone (kudurru) of Nebuchadnezzar I mentions Zababa in a sequence of gods, alongside Anu, Enlil, Marduk, Nabu, Ishtar, Ninurta, Gula, Nergal, Papsukkal, Ishara and "Anu Rabu" (a title of Ishtaran).[10]

Several ancient Mesopotamian kings were named in honor of Zababa, including Ur-Zababa ("man of Zababa") of Kish, famous due to his role in the so-called "Sumerian Sargon legend,"[11] and Zababa-shuma-iddin (a 12th-century BCE Kassite king of Babylon). In Kish, Zababa remained popular in theophoric names well into Achaemenid times.[12]

Genealogy and myths

Zababa's father was Enlil. His wife was either Ishtar or Bau.[13] According to Joan Goodnick Westenholz, Ishtar of Kish, spouse of Zababa, was regarded as a manifestation distinct from Ishtar/Inanna of Uruk. While she was eventually replaced by Bau (whose cult arrived in Kish from Lagash in the Old Babylonian period) in the role of Zababa's spouse, she continued to be worshiped in the area nonetheless. An early reference to Bau as Zababa's spouse can be found in Lamentation over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur.[14]

Neo-Assyrian ruler Sanherib referred to Zababa as a son of Ashur.[15]

Papsukkal was Zababa's sukkal, though he only achieved a degree of notability in the 1st millennium BCE, and due to conflation with Ninshubur (and by extension Ilabrat).[16] Frans Wiggermann notes that it would be plausible for Papsukkal to be Zababa's son, but also that various texts refer to him as son of Anu or Sin and as a descendant of Enmesharra.[17]

The myth "Enmešarra's Defeat" mentions Zababa in passing when cities are assigned to gods. His domain is stated to be Kish.[18]

Identification with other deities

Zababa and Ninurta shared many epithets, and references to Zababa using weapons normally associated with Ninurta or fighting his mythical enemies can be found in ancient texts. A reference to Zababa as "Nergal of Kish" is known too. However, there are also texts (ex. hymns and laments) where all 3 appear as distinct deities.[19]

A first millennium BCE god list identifies Zababa as "Marduk of the war."[20]

In Anatolia

According to Gwendolyn Leick, the Hittites applied the name ZABABA to various war gods, using their Akkadian writing conventions. Among these gods were the Hattian Wurunkatte; the Hittite and Luwian Hašamili, Iyarri, and Zappana; and Hurrian Aštabi, Hešui, and Nubadig.[1] However, according to Gernot Wilhelm Nubadig wasn't equated with Zababa,[21] while according to Alfonso Archi the logographic writing of Aštabi's name was NIN.URTA instead.[22] Zababa is nonetheless equated with "Aštabinu", presumably corresponding to Aštabi, in a Babylonian god list.[23]

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References
  1. Gwendolyn Leick (1991). A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology. Psychology Press. pp. 167–. ISBN 978-0-415-00762-7.
  2. W. Sallaberger, Zababa [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol. 15, 2017, p. 168
  3. W. Sallaberger, Zababa [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol. 15, 2017, p. 164
  4. W. Sallaberger, Zababa [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol. 15, 2017, p. 167
  5. G. J. P. McEwan, Late Babylonian Kish, IRAQ 45, 1982, p. 121
  6. W. G. Lambert, Mesopotamian Creation Myths, 2013, p. 282
  7. W. Sallaberger, Zababa [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol. 15, 2017, p. 168
  8. W. G. Lambert, Mesopotamian Creation Myths, 2013, p. 257-258
  9. W. Sallaberger, Zababa [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol. 15, 2017, p. 165
  10. W. G. Lambert, Mesopotamian Creation Myths, 2013, p. 271-272
  11. N. Rudik, Ur-Zababa [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol. 14, 2014, p. 501-502
  12. W. Sallaberger, Zababa [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol. 15, 2017, p. 166-167
  13. W. Sallaberger, Zababa [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol. 15, 2017, p. 164
  14. 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. 78
  15. W. Sallaberger, Zababa [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol. 15, 2017, p. 168
  16. 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. 94
  17. F. Wiggermann, Nin-subur [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol. 9, 2001, p. 493
  18. W. G. Lambert, Mesopotamian Creation Myths, 2013, p. 295
  19. W. Sallaberger, Zababa [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol. 15, 2017, p. 167
  20. B. Pongratz-Leisten, Comments on the Translatability of Divinity: Cultic and Theological Responses to the Presence of the Other in the Ancient near East [in:] C. Bonnet (ed.), Les Représentations des Dieux des Autres, 2010, p. 102
  21. G. Wilhelm, Lupatik, Nupatik [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol. 7, 1987, p. 173
  22. A. Archi, The West Hurrian Pantheon and Its Background [in:] B. J. Collins, P. Michalowski, (eds.) Beyond Hatti. A tribute to Gary Beckman, 2013, p. 10
  23. N. Ayali-Darshan, The Role of Aštabi in the Song of Ullikummi and the Eastern Mediterranean "Failed God" Stories, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 1(73), 2014, p. 98
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