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Entemena Was the Fifth Ruler of the So-Called Urnanse Dynasty in The

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ON THE MEANING OF THE OFFERINGS FOR THE STATUE OF ENTEMENA TOSHIKO KOBAYASHI I. Introduction Entemena was the fifth ruler of the so-called Urnanse dynasty in the Pre- Sargonic Lagas and his reign seemed to be prosperous as same as that of Ean- natum, his uncle. After the short reign of Enannatum II, his son, Enentarzi who had been sanga (the highest administrator) of the temple of Ningirsu became ensi. Then, his son Lugalanda suceeded him, but was soon deprived of his political power by Uruinimgina. The economic-administrative archives(1) of Lagas which are the most important historical materials for the history of the Sumerian society were written during a period of about twenty years from Enentarzi to Urui- nimgina, and a greater part of those belong to the organization called e-mi (the house of the wife (of the ruler)). Among those, there exist many texts called nig-gis-tag-ga texts,(2) which record offerings to deities, temples and so on mainly on festivals. In those we can find that statues of Entemena and others receive offerings. I will attempt to discuss the meaning of offerings to these statues, especially that of Entemena in this article. II. The statues in nig-gis-tag-ga texts 1. nig-gis-tag-ga texts These are detailed account books of the kind and the quantity of offerings which a ruler or his wife gave to deities, temples and so on. We find a brief and compact summarization of the content at the end of the text, such as follows: DP 53, XIX, 1) ezem-munu4-ku- 2) dnanse-ka 3) bar-nam-tar-ra 4) dam-lugal- an-da 5) ensi- 6) lagaski-ka-ke4 7) gis be-tag(3) III "At the festival of eating malt of Nanse, Barnamtarra, wife of Lugalanda, ensi of Lagas, made the sacrifice (of them)." Though the agent who made the sacrifice in the texts is almost always a wife of a ruler, there remain four texts, BIN 8, 371; Nik. I, 151; 152; Fo. 128, in which 43 a ruler himself made the sacrifice, as far as I have investigated. All these texts except Fo 128 are dated to the first year of the reign of Lugalanda. We may be able to suggest that he made the sacrifice in commemoration of his enthrone- ment in spite of the lack of historical materials. Further, none except the ruler and his wife made the sacrifice to deities as far as I know. 2. Festivals We know festivals of the Pre-Sargonic Lagas from the economic- administrative archives such as: ezem-an-ta-sur-ra (the festival of Antasurra), ezem dba-ba6 (the festival of Baba)(4), (including ezem-kisal (the festival of kisal)(5)), ezem-dli9-si4(the festival of Lisi),(6) ezem-dlugal-urubxki-ka (the festival of Lugalurub), ezem-munu4-ku-dlugal-urubxki-ka (the festival of eating malt(7) of Lugalurub), ezem-dlugal-uru-bar-ka (the festival of Lugalurubar), ezem- munu4-ku-dnane (the festival of eating malt of Nanse), ezem-e-ku-dnane (the festival of eating barley of Nanse), ezem-munu4-ku-dnin-gir-su-ka (the festival of eating malt of Ningirsu), ezem-e-ku-dnin-gir-su-ka (the festival of eating barley of Ningirsu) and ezem-amar-a-a-si-ge-da (the festival ... water to a calf).(8) We have not known about the details of the festival of Lisi and the festival of eating malt of Lugalurub, though they are included in the month names.(9) As for the festival of Antasurra, we have only one text, Fo. 94, which records beer brought to temples, for example. Further on the occasions of the festival of Lugalurub, the festival of Lugalurubar and the festival of Baba without the festival of kisal ancestors receive offerings. Deimel grouped the texts which recorded offerings to ancestors to en-en-ne-ne texts,(10) which I will discuss in chapter III. Deities and temples received offerings on the occasions of the festival of Baba including the festival of kisal, the festival of eating barley of Nanse, the festival of eating malt of Nanse, the festival of eating barley of Ningirsu, the festival of eating malt of Ningirsu and the festival ... water to calf. We can not know the purposes, rituals and meanings of these festivals, because nig-gi-tag-ga texts are the account books which exclusively recorded the kind and the quantity of offerings and we have no religious text coming from the Pre- Sargonic period. 3. Deities In nig-gi-tag-ga text, the receivers of offerings are deities, temples, sacred precincts and so on. Deities are called by their name, such as Ningirsu, Nanse and Baba. They were regional and native ones, not Sumerian. Temples and sacred precincts are almost all in Lagas.(11) We have noticed four fixed circles into which deities, temples and so on were organized and of which Baba, Nanse, Ningirsu and Ninmar were the nucleus. The circle which 44 ORIENT ON THE MEANING OF THE OFFERINGS FOR THE STATUE OF ENTEMENA Nanse leads is the largest (see Table II). 4. Kinds of Offerings Festivals were celebrated over several days, and many deities and several temples received offerings on a specified day, when the central ritual must have been held. The offerings do not vary according to the festival. They (12)include zid (flour), kas-kal (naturitive beer), kas-gi6 (black beer), i (oil), zu-lum (date), gestin LAK 490 ziz (wine cheese emmer (?)(13)),ku6 (fish) and domestic animals, such as ox, sheep and goat.(14) The quantity of the offerings to each deity is nearly fixed. The quantity increases in proportion to the rank of the deity (see Table II). Further, offerings in en-en-ne-ne texts are different from the above mentioned. We have to give up the explanation about the offerings to ancestors for want of space. 5. DP 53 (see Table II) Since nig-gis-tag-ga texts are account books, we scarcely find the answer why the offerings were given and why the festivals were held, but we have six interesting texts(15) which briefly describe Barnamtarra taking a tour of Lagas's country to offer sacrificesduring the period of the above mentioned festivals of Nanse. We will take the case of DP 53 which talk about the offerings to statues at the festival of eating malt in the third year of the reign of Lugalanda. This festival is the largest. It lasts the longest and the number of deities involved is the largest. I,1) 1 mas 2) dnin-gir-su3) ba-gara 4) mi-gir-suki-ta5) gin-ni 6) i-tum 7) u4-l-kam "The woman who had came from Girsu brought a sheep to Nin- girsu of Bagara, (it was) the first day." Bagara is the temple which Urnanse built in Lagas (al-Hiba) district.(16) She must have been Barnamtarra, because we find the description that I, 6) PAB. PAB 7) gir-suki-ta 8) lagaski-se 9) gin-ni "PAB. PAB (the other name of Barnamtarra) had came to Lagas from Girsu" in RTC 47, which record the offerings(17) for the festival of eating barley of Nanse in the same year as DP 53. Further a-gal (the palace) had seemed to be in Girsu before it moved to NINA in the fifth year of the reign of Lugalanda(18) and e-mi must also have been in Girsu. At the first of the second day the offerings were brought to the Idambar (the canal of the marsh) by the chariot(19) and then comes Inanna of the Ibgal, Nanse of the Sapad and ki- a-nag(20) (the libation place) of lugal in Lagas (district). Further she moved in NINA where was the center of Nanse-worship. II, 13) 1 sila4 dnanle 14) mi- lagaski-ta 15) gin-ni 16) ka-e-P[A-k]a-ta(21) 17) [i-tum](22) "The woman who had came from Lagas went through the gate of e-PA and brought a lamb. Vol. XX 1984 45 (It was) the second day." The third day must have been the climax of the festival, because many deities, some sanctuaries, the statues of Urnanse and others received the of- ferings. As for the fourth day, we can scarcely know anything, because our tablet is damaged, but Nanie probably receives the offerings. On the fifth day she retured to Laga"s from NINA, and Ningirsu received the offerings. We know nothing about the sixth day, because it is badly damaged. At the last part of the seventh day we find the evening sacrifice offered to the Ganunmah.(23) We know nothing about the eighth day. We also find other religious observances made by the wife of the ruler in Fo. 5, which records the offerings at the festival of eating malt of Ningirsu. As we have shown above, the expression gis-tag "to make the sacrifice" which is written at the end of the text seems to be used to indicate the religious observances that actually took place. 6. The statues In nig-gis-tag-ga texts there exist eight identified statues and eight unidentified statue(24) in e-sa (the chancel of the temple (?)(25)). The identified statues are those of Urnanse, the founder of so-called Urnanse dynasty; Entemena, the fifth ruler of the dynasty; Ninhilisud, wife of Entemena; Lugalanda (two statues); Barnamtarra, wife of Lugalanda; Sagiag, wife of Uruinimgina; Irkununna, the unidentified. Sagiag had made the sacrifice to her own statue, because DP 54 which recorded the offerings to her own statue was written in the second year of the reign of Uruinimgina, lugal, and was summarized as follows: XV, 3) [sag5]-sag54) [dam-]uru-[inim]-gi-na 5) lu[gal] 6) lagaiki-ka-ke4 7) gis be-tag "Sagsag, wife of Uruinimgina, lugal of Lagas, made the sacrifice (of them)." Seven of the identified statues represent rulers and their wives, who had already passed away except Sagiag.
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  • Configuring the Roots of Zahak Myth According to the Elamites' Cylinder

    Configuring the Roots of Zahak Myth According to the Elamites' Cylinder

    Vol.14/ No.56/ Feb 2018 Received 2017/07/07 Accepted 2017/12/16 Persian translation of this paper entitled: بن مایه های کهن اسطوره ضحاک در ایران براساس نقوش روی مهر دوره عیﻻمی)هزاره سوم قبل از میﻻد( is also published in this issue of journal. Configuring the Roots of Zahak Myth according to the Elamites’ Cylinder Seals (3rd Millennium B.C.) Bita Mesbah* Abstract What is different about Iranian art is the use of hybrid motifs which is a characteristic of the Iranian art. The hybrid forms show the impact of the mythological beliefs. These beliefs also have changed a lot so it is hard to recognize the exact meaning of these motifs. Shahnama is the source of great myths in Iran and is the main source for tracing myths between the Islamic periods and the mythological beliefs before Islam. This research is based on studying the snake-man which is known as Zahak in Shahnama. The research focuses on three cylinder seals (the impressions found) which show the snake-man. These cylinder seals were found in Susa, Tepe Yahya and Tepe Shahdad. All three date back to the third millennium B.C. The snake- man which has two snake or dragons on the shoulders was well-known in Iran and Mesopotamia. The god of the dead is basically showed by this motif in Mesopotamia. Especially, Ningišzida is a Mesopotamian deity of the underworld. His name in Sumerian is translated as “the lord of the good tree”. The city of Lagash had a temple dedicated to Ningišzida, and Gudea, patesi of Lagash in the 21st century BC, was one of his devotees.