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On Ninazu, As Seen in the Economic Texts of the Early Dynastic Lagas (1)

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On Ninazu, As Seen in the Economic Texts of the Early Dynastic Lagas (1) ON NINAZU, AS SEEN IN THE ECONOMIC TEXTS OF THE EARLY DYNASTIC LAGAS (1) Toshiko KOBAYASHI* Introduction In this paper, I will examine the image of Ninazu, as seen in the economic texts of the Early Dynastic Lagas. "The Collection of the Sumerian Temple Hymns"(1) computed by Enhedanna, daughter of Sargon, says that Ninazu had temples in Enegi and Esnunna. "The Za-mi Hymns"(2) which is thought to date from around ca. 2600 B. C. seems to indicate that he was enshrined in Enegi. The inscriptions of Gudea, ruler of the later Lagas, state that Ningiszida, his personal tutelar deity (called personal deity for short), was "a child of Ninazu."(3) Furthermore, he is said to be a chthonic deity(4) in later literature. As far as I know, he is never mentioned in the inscriptions of the rulers of the Urnanse Dynasty or in those of the following three rulers, Enentarzi, Lugalanda and Uruinimgina. Nor can his name be found in the inscriptions of the rulers of other cities from the Table A (_: offerings to Kiengi) * Lecturer, Rissho University Vol. XXVIII 1992 75 same period. As regards the Early Dynastic period, Ninazu appears only in the offering lists and is limited to a short period during the reign of Uruinimgina: From the year U 1 to the year U 4, his name is mentioned in nineteen places in thirteen texts as shown in Table A. All the texts are lists which Sagsag, the wife of Uruinimgina, offered either at festivals in Lagas or to Kiengi. Proper nouns containing Ninazu's name are always a person's name. As far as I have ascertained, his name is not included in the names of stores, fields or canals. Thus he does not seem to be closely connected with Lagas. As far as I know the only personal name is ur-dnin-a-zu, as follows: Table B As Urninazu can already be found in Lagas during the reign of Lugalanda, Ninazu was able to be incorporated in a person's name(6) as a deity wor- shipped by the people. Using the few records that remain, this paper will discuss why offerings were made to Ninazu. I will limit the analysis to the offering lists of festivals at Lagas to narrow the focus. An analysis of the lists of offerings to Kiengi will be covered in another paper. I Festivals of the Early Dynastic Lagas Festivals of the Early Dynastic Lagas are known from offering lists and other sources. The names of festivals, kinds and quantity of offerings, the names of deities and others that received offerings and fact that the wife of a ruler made offerings are known; however, rituals conducted during the festivals are obscure. The wife generally made offerings at festivals, although a few texts state that the ruler made a sacrifice.(7) Her offerings, 76 ORIENT ON NINAZU, AS SEEN IN THE ECONOMIC TEXTS OF THE EARLY DYNASTIC LAGAS (1) however, are interpreted as an official, not a private act, based on the will of the ruler. The city-state Lagas was composed of several districts. Festivals were celebrated in almost every district. Ningirsu, tutelar deity of Lagas city, was the chief deity of Girsu district, which contained Eninnu, his main temple. "The festivals of Ningirsu," the festival of Baba and the festival of the Antasurra were celebrated in that district. From Ningirsu on down, deities and others enshrined in the district and its environs received offerings. II "The festivals of Ningirsu" As mentioned above, the details regarding the festival of the eating barley of Ningirsu and the festival of eating malt of Ningirsu (called "the festivals of Ningirsu" for short) are unknown. It is known that offerings to deities and others was for one day during the reign of Enentarzi, while the festivals are believed to have been expanded to two days during the reign of Lugalanda, his son and successor, and to three or four days during the reign of the usurper Uruinimgina. The kinds of offerings are almost the same, and Ningirsu received the largest quantity of offerings. The deities in "the festival of eating barley" are the same as the ones in "the festival of eating malt," and they seem to be enshrined in and around Girsu. The quantity of offerings varies slightly, depending on the deity. Table 1 lists the order of the offerings to the deities, while Table 2 gives the kinds and quantity of offerings to the deities, that are necessary to make my argument clear. My discussion of the deities below generally follows the order of Table 1. 1 Ningirsu and his family The offerings begin with Ningirsu, who received by far the largest quantity of offerings. In almost every case, animal sacrifices are involved. He also received offerings on the second day and on the following days although the offerings are not as large as on the first day. The Antasurra temple and the temple in Tiras mentioned near the end of the first day are Ningirsu's. These temples lay near the canal on the Umma border, and Uruinimgina repeatedly mentions their founding in his inscriptions.(8) Baba is the wife of Ningirsu. The inscriptions of Gudea, a later ruler, state that Sulsagana was his "eldest son,"(9) and that Igalim was his Vol. XXVIII 1992 77 "child,"(10) i. e., his second son. As far as I know, there are almost no direct references during the Early Dynastic period to the family and lineage of deities, but Baba is almost always all second, following Ningirsu, in the lists. Moreover, Sulsagana and Igalim received the same amount of offe- rings and Igalim's name always follows that of Sulsagana, the "eldest son" except in Fo. 5; that is, the order of eldest son and second son seems to have been obeyed. 2 Lama, Hegir and Ninmu The name Lama is interpreted as a functional name,(11) not a proper noun in the strict sense of the word. She was called "his blinders Lamasaga."(12) Lamatarsirsir(ra), in Fo. 5 and DP54 (see Table 3), seems to be the same as Lama enshrined in Etarsirsirra,(13) the temple of Baba, in Uruku(14) of Girsu. She was enshrined in two places in Girsu. As the Early Dynastic inscriptions do not mention concrete actions(15) by Lama, in spite of her mention in the inscriptions of Gudea, it is unknown whether Lama is the same as, or different from, personal deities such as Sulutul. The aspects she had during the Early Dynastic period are also unclear. Hegir, whose full name is Hegirnunna, is called "beloved lukur-priestess of Ningirsu"(16) in the inscriptions of Uruinimgina, but is referred to as a daughter(17) of Ningirsu and Baba in the later inscriptions of Gudea. In the order in which offerings were made, Hegir follows Lama and Ninmu untill the year L 2, but is followed by them from the year L 3 on. The reason for the change is obscure because of the lack of materials. Ninmu is called "the butcher of Ningirsu"(18) in the inscriptions of Uruinimgina, but her name is not found in the inscriptions of Gudea and the rulers of his time. The three goddesses received the same quantity of food and drink as Sulsagana and Igalim, but there is no mention of domestic animals, being offered to them. Deities who were offered domestic animals may be regarded as more important than ones without them, since Ningirsu and Baba received such offerings. The use of domestic animals as an offering distinguishes between the two gods and three goddesses; that is, the latter did not seem to be more important than the former. The above-mentioned deities are Ningirsu and his family and household. As shown in Table 3, Uruinimgina has repeatedly written about building temples for these seven deities in his inscriptions. As shown in Table 5, the five deities 78 ORIENT ON NINAZU, AS SEEN IN THE ECONOMIC TEXTS OF THE EARLY DYNASTIC LAGAS (1) excluding Ningirsu and Baba are not ones who grant virtue to a ruler; however, the seven deities enshrined in Girsu were regarded by the rulers, as being important from Enentarzi onward. 3 The Abzulagabtum(19) temple and Nansekisalla Besides the Abzulagabtum, there are four temples to which the name "Abzu" is prefixed: Abzubanda,(20) Abzudanigin,(21) Abzuguika(22) and Abzu'urusigga(23) in Table 1. Abzumah(24) also appears in "the festivals of Nanse." Furthermore, there are temple names containing the prefix "Abzu," besides the above-mentioned ones, in the inscriptions(25) and economic texts(26) of the Early Dynastic Lagas. Enki is not found in "the festivals of Ningirsu," although offerings are made to him along with the Abzumah in "the festivals of Nanse." As the deity presiding over "Abzu" is Enki, called "lugal of Abzu"(27) in the Early Dynastic inscriptions, he is the leading deity of the temples containing the prefix "Abzu." The quantity of offerings differd from temple to temple, but the reason for the differece is obscure. The Abzudanigin followed Lugalemus in the order of offerings and received offerings of domestic animals in the same quantity as Sulsagana and other deities. As shown in Table 1, the Abzubanda, Abzuguika and Abzu'urusigga do not appear in the every text, but received the same quantity of offerings as Lugalemus. The Abzulagabtum and Nansekisalla, which followed it in the order of the offerings, received the same quantity of offerings, about half what Nansesesegarra, shown below, was offered. Furthermore, they did not receive domestic animals.
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