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The Gods Išum and Ḫendursanga: Night Watchmen and Street-Lighting in Babylonia

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The Gods Išum and Ḫendursanga: Night Watchmen and Street-Lighting in Babylonia The Gods Išum and Ḫendursanga: Night Watchmen and Street-lighting in Babylonia A. R. GEORGE, SOAS, University of London* The ancient Mesopotamian gods Išum and Ḫen- tion is given formal expression in god-lists and other dursanga have been studied separately and together.1 academic texts, such as the Old Babylonian (hereafter, It is not the purpose here to repeat the evidence and OB) Nippur god-list (SLT 123 iv 18′–19 and dupls.), ideas put forward in these studies, but to explore OB Diri Nippur 10: 10–11, the later Weidner god-list a role of these two gods that has repercussions for (KAV 63 iv 24 and dupls.), and Aa I/7 c 6′. These are our knowledge of the urban environment in ancient well known and will not be illustrated by quotation Mesopotamia. here. An additional attestation, however, is furnished by a fragmentary three-column list known from the library of the temple of Nabû at Nimrud,2 and an The Names of Išum unpublished Late Babylonian fragment documented From at least the Old Babylonian period, the two by copy and transliteration in the Nachlass of the late gods were identified as one deity, Ḫendursanga in W. G. Lambert (Folios 1693, 7522). The list gives Sumerian contexts, Išum in Akkadian. Their equa- four or five entries on Išum-Ḫendursanga and then his wife, Ninmug: * Abbreviations used in this article unless otherwise stated fol- CTN IV pl. 133 ND 5556 ii′ 12′–17′ low the CAD (The Assyrian Dictionary of the University of Chicago dPA [Chicago, 1956–2010]). ETCSL = The Electronic Text Corpus of ḫe-en-dur [ . .] dPA Sumerian Literature (http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk). i-šum [ . .] 1 E.g., D. O. Edzard, “Ḫendursanga,” RLA 4 (1972–75): MIN [dSILA . .] 324–45 and “Išum,” RLA 5 (1976–80): 213–14; D. O. Edzard and MIN [dNÍMGIR . .] C. Wilcke, “Die Ḫendursanga-Hymne,” in Kramer Anniversary Vol- dGUD ume ḫa-ra [ ? . .] , ed. B. L. Eichler et al. Alter Orient und Altes Testament 25 d (Kevelaer, 1976), 139–76, esp. 142–43; H. Sauren, “Hendursaga, nin-mu-u[g! nin-mug . .] Orientalia Lovaniensia Peri- Genius des Saturn, Gott des Todes,” BM 47009: 11′–15′ odica 10 (1979): 75–95; P. Attinger and M. Krebernik, “L’hymne [ḫe-e]n-dur dPA [. .] à Ḫendursaĝa (Ḫendursaĝa A),” in Von Sumer bis Homer. Festschrift dPA für Manfred Schretter, ed. R. Rollinger. Alter Orient und Altes Testa- ⸢i⸣-šum [. .] KI.MIN dSILA ment 325 (Münster, 2005), 21–104, esp. 21–33; F. Weiershäuser, [ ] [. .] “Weiser Išum, der du den Göttern vorangehst,” in Von Göttern und Menschen. Beiträge zu Literatur und Geschichte des Alten Orients: Fest- 2 D. J. Wiseman and J. A. Black, Literary Texts from the Temple schrift für Brigitte Groneberg, ed. D. Shehata, F. Weiershäuser, and of Nabû. Cuneiform Texts from Nimrud 4 (London, 1996), 32 K. V. Zand. Cuneiform Monographs 41 (Leiden, 2010), 351–76. no. 223. [JNES 74 no. 1 (2015)] © 2015 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 022–2968–2015/7401–001 $10.00. DOI: 10.1086/679387 1 2 ) Journal of Near Eastern Studies [KI.MIN] dNÍMG[IR] [. .] in which Ḫendursanga is (l. 85) called dumu dutu [ni-i]m-mug dn[in-mug] [. .] tu-da, “son born to Utu”; and second, the recovery of the third learned Sumerian name: dsila-a-gú-en- Other new information emerges from a fresh look na, “Headman in the Street.” As read here, the three at Tablet VI of the great god-list An = Anum, which names of Išum in An VI 17–19 flesh out the entries treats the netherworld deities, Nergal and his court. in the passage of the first-millennium god-list quoted The passage on Išum is ll. 16–21, the understand- immediately above: dPA, dSILA, and dNÍMGIR, but with ing of which now benefits from K 11197, a fragment the order adjusted to nimgir–PA–sila. identified as a source for An VI by W. G. Lambert in his manuscript edition of An = Anum (Folios 7268, 9772). Išum is followed by four learned names in Išum-Ḫendursanga as Night Watchman Sumerian and then his wife: As set out in An VI 17–20, Išum’s learned names di-šum d = sukkal-bi dumu utu-ke4 include, alongside Ḫendursanga, the epithet-names d.min[nimgir?]-sila = MIN Nimgir-sila, “Herald of the Street,” Silaa-guenna, dPA-{b[il]}-sag = MIN “Headman in the Street,” and Šul-gia-dudu, “Hero dsila-a-gú-en-na = MIN who Goes about at Night.” These epithet-names ac- d MIN ⸢šul⸣-gi6-⸢a-du⸣-du = cord with one of the main functions attributed to dnin-mug = dam-bi-munus Išum and Ḫendursanga in Sumerian and Babylo- nian literary texts of the second and first millennia, His (Nergal’s) minister, son of Šamaš particularly incantations and related texts. As most ditto recently documented by L. Sassmannshausen,6 P. At- ditto 7 8 ditto tinger and M. Krebernik, and F. Weiershäuser, these ditto sources attribute various titles and epithets to Išum His (Išum’s) spouse and Ḫendursanga. Among them the following are particularly relevant to the present purpose: An VI 16–213 // CT 24 38 K 11197 i′ 4′–8′ Ḫendursanga The first learned name (l. 17) is restored to match nimgir-(gal) “(chief) herald” (Old Babylonian)9 d Išum’s function, as recorded on amulets: i-šum ḫayyāṭu sūqi “watchman of the street” 4 nāgir(nimgir) sūqi(sila), “I., herald of the street.” nūr nišī izi-gar lú-u18-lu // “lamp of the people” The second learned name is unlikely to be Pabilsag (l. 18, one ms. only), for he does not belong in the Ḫendursanga // Išum nāgiru rabû rābiṣu ṣīru netherworld and is entered elsewhere in An = Anum, nimgir-gal maškim-maḫ // 5 “chief herald, high constable” at V 125, after his spouse Gula. R. L. Litke and others d nimgir sila (sìg-ga) // nāgir sūqi (šaqummi) “her- have accordingly suspected that PA-bil-sag is here an d ald of the (silent) street” error for PA-sag, i.e., Ḫendursanga. Such an emen- nimgir gi -ù-na // nāgir mūši šaqummi “herald of dation is made more likely by the fragment K 11197, 6 which has (i′ 5′) [. .-g]á, for in lists Pabilsag does not the (silent) night” carry the terminal -gá: the entry is more convincingly 6 [dḫendur-sag-g]á than [dpa-bil-sag-g]á. Other new L. Sassmannshausen, “Funktion und Stellung der Herolde (nigir/nāgiru) im alten Orient,” Baghdader Mitteilungen 26 information brought by K 11197 is, first, the identi- (1995): 85–194, esp. 145–46. fication of Išum’s father as the sun-god, in agreement 7 Attinger and Krebernik, “L’hymne à Ḫendursaĝa,” 23–29. with the Old Babylonian narrative fragment CT 15 6 8 Weiershäuser, “Weiser Išum,” 353–55. vii 8′ (quoted below) and the Sumerian Nanše hymn, 9 To attestations of Ḫendursanga as nimgir “herald” in Old Babylonian Sumerian incantations (Sassmannshausen, “Funktion und Stellung der Herolde”: 186) add MS 3088 iv 2′–5′ (miswritten 3 Ed. R. L. Litke, A Reconstruction of the Assyro-Babylonian God- dḫendur-BIL-gá), and MS 3056: 4; in both the key phrase sila si-ga Lists, AN: dA-nu-um and AN: Anu šá amēli. Texts from the Baby- “silent street” also occurs, with reference to the quiet of night, lonian Collection 3 (New Haven, CT, 1998), 201. and in the former the night watchman’s torch (iv 3′: gi-izi!-lá) is 4 E.g., E. Reiner, “Plague amulets and house blessings,” JNES mentioned. Both tablets will be published in A. R. George, Meso- 19 (1960): 151. The restoration is provisional; Lambert read d.min qù- potamian Incantations and Related Texts in the Schøyen Collection [ud-ma]TAR (Folio 7270). (forthcoming), as nos. 9 and 40. For the incantation TIM IX 74, 5 E.g., M. Krebernik, “Pabilsaĝ(a),” RLA 10 (2003–2004): 162. addressed to Ḫendursanga in his function as nimgir, see below. The Gods Išum and Ḫendursanga ) 3 Išum Erra and Išum,15 in which Išum’s role is to decry Erra’s sukkal sūqi “minister of the street” random violence and to wage just war.16 The poem’s nāgir ilī bēl sūqi “herald of the gods, lord of the opening invocation to Išum, which addresses him in street” his Sumerian name of Ḫendursanga, clearly envisages muttalliku “walking about” him as a night watchman patrolling the streets: den-gi -du-du bēlu mut- tal-lik mu-ši mut- An additional first-millennium passage is Marduk’s 6 (en) ⸢ ⸣ Address to the Demons II 108, dḫendur-sag-gá mut- tar-ru-u ru-bé-e t[aš-rab-bi-ṭu šá ri-ba-a-tú], “Ḫ. who wanders the ša eṭ-la u ar-da-tu ina šul-⸢mi⸣ i[t-t]a-nar-ru-ú thoroughfares.”10 Most eloquent in defining the gods’ ú-nam-ma-ru kīma(gim) u4-mi role as benign watchmen are the first-millennium Erra and Išum I 21–22 amulet-type tablets that invoke “Išum, herald of the O lord En-gi-dudu, who patrols at night, gods, lord of the street,” to protect the house and its guiding the nobleman, occupants as he goes about his rounds (KAR 35: 7–8, who guides man and woman in safety, shining a KAR 37: 111). In brief, Išum-Ḫendursanga is “herald” light bright as day. (town-crier-cum-constable) and night watchman who patrols the streets.12 As is well known, the epithets of l. 21 arose from The last of Išum’s learned names in An VI, dšul- literal and speculative interpretations of Sumerian en- 17 gi6-a-du-du, “Hero who Goes about at Night,” is an gi6-du-du.
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