Ekišnugal

The Etemenniguru of Ur - view from the southeast.

The Mesopotamian sanctuary Ekišnugal (also Ekischnugal ; older Ekišširgal ; spellings: É.KIŠ.NU.GÁL and É.GIŠ.NU.GÁL) of Ur was a large temple complex of Nanna . It consisted of the Etemenniguru and a large courtyard, the function of which has not yet been clarified. The name of the temple means something like house: The (great) light , which is also an epithet of nannas.

Location and history

Southeast of the Ekišnugal was the Egipar - the temple of the Ningal and residence of the Entu priestess -, the Ganunmah - the center of the temple economy and the Ehursag - the palace and temple of Šulgis . The first mention of Ekišnugal is found under Utu , engal , but the cult of the moon god is older. A text attributed to En-hedu-anna , but only received in later copies, also mentions the name of the temple.

Great construction work on Ekišnugal was carried out by Ur-Nammu and other kings of the III. Dynasty carried out by Ur . But also under the kings of Isin and Larsa , the Kassites under Kuri-galzu I , up to Nabu-kudurri-usur II and Nabonid in the 6th century BC. Was worked on the temple.

Priests and cults

The buildings around the Ekišnugal housed various priesthood estates . The high priestess (“zirru”) and wife (“dam”) of Nannas have been venerated in Ekišnugal since the sargonic period . The supervision of the plant was incumbent on the "supervisor" ("ugula-mach"), whose title was changed to "property manager" in the original III period according to the extended powers. The "snake charmers" took on another important cultural function.

Cult purification priests are only sporadically documented in the Ur-III period; increased later in the old Babylonian epoch. In Ekišnugal, the plaintiffs, unknown in the early III period, also only appear in the Old Babylonian Chronicle.

Other gods were also worshiped in Ekišnugal, for the ancient Babylonian period the following can be identified: Alamuš , Baba , Enlil , Inanna , Nanâ , Nanna'atah , Nanna'igidu , Ninmintabba , Ninegala , Ningalanda , Ningišzida , Ningublaga and Ninuruamundu .

literature

• Erich Ebeling : Ekišširgal . In: Erich Ebeling, Bruno Meissner (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Aräologie . Vol. 2: Ber – Ezur . Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / Leipzig 1938, p. 322.
• AR George: House Most High. The Temples of Ancient Mesopotamia (= Mesopotamian Civilizations . Volume 5). Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake 1993, p. 114.
• Manfred Krebernik: moon god. A. I . In: Dietz-Otto Edzard (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Aräologie . Vol. 8: Meek mythology . Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1993–1997, ISBN 3-11-014809-9 , p. 368.
• Thomas Richter: Investigations into the local Panthea of ​​South and Central Babylonia in Old Babylonian times (= Old Orient and Old Testament . Volume 257). 2nd edition, Ugarit-Verlag, Münster 2004, ISBN 3-934628-50-8 , pp. 416-432.
• Walther Sallaberger , F. Huber Vulliet: Priest. A. I . In: Dietz-Otto Edzard (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Aräologie . Vol. 10: Oannes - priest disguise . Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-018535-0 , p. 638.
• Åke W. Sjöberg: The moon god Nanna-Suen in Sumerian tradition. Part I: Texts . Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm 1960, pp. 121-131.
• Åke W. Sjöberg: The Collection of the Sumerian Temple Hymns (= Texts from Cuneiform Sources . Volume 3). JJ Augustin , Locust Valley 1969, p. 75 f.
• Marc van de Mieroop: Society and Enterprise in Old Babylonian Ur (= Berlin contributions to the Middle East . Volume 12). Dietrich Reimer, Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-496-00438-X .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Marc van de Mieroop: Society and Enterprise in Old Babylonian Ur . P. 39f.
2. ↑ Åke W. Sjöberg: The moon god Nanna-Suen in Sumerian tradition. Part I: Texts . P. 125.
3. ^ Marc van de Mieroop: Society and Enterprise in Old Babylonian Ur . Pp. 38-43.
4. ↑ Manfred Krebernik: Moon God. A. I . P. 368.
5. ^ Åke W. Sjöberg: The Collection of the Sumerian Temple Hymns . TH No. 8.
6. ^ AR George: House Most High. The Temples of Ancient Mesopotamia . P. 114.
7. ^ Walter Sallaberger, F. Huber Vulliet: Priester. A. I . P. 638.
8. ↑ Thomas Richter: Investigations into the local Panthea of ​​southern and central Babylon in ancient Babylonian times . P. 432.