Product Code Database
Isimud (also Isimu; ; ) was a Mesopotamian god regarded as the divine attendant (sukkal) of the god Enki (Ea). He was depicted with two faces. No references to temples dedicated to him are known, though ritual texts indicate he was worshiped in Uruk and Babylon. He was also incorporated into Hurrian religion and Hittite religion. In myths, he appears in his traditional role as a servant of Enki.
As a sukkal, Isimud was believed to act as an advisor, messenger and doorkeeper of his master. However, as noted by Frans Wiggermann, similarly as the sukkals of other major city gods (for example Alammuš or Nuska) he most likely did not originate as a personification of a specific sphere of influence of his master, in contrast with deities such as Nimgir, deified lightning regarded as the sukkal of Ishkur.
In art, Isimud was depicted as a figure with two faces, either standing alone or in introduction scenes with his master. While most sukkals can only be identified in art because of their badge of office, a staff, Isimud on the account of his two faces is an exception, and it has been noted that he does not always hold this attribute. His appearance has been compared to Roman Janus. Depictions are known from between the Akkadian Empire and Kassite period periods. According to , examples from the earliest period from which certain attestations are available are the most common. Examples are also known from outside Mesopotamia, from Syria and the Hittite Empire.
In the first millennium BCE, Isimud received offerings in building rituals. He was also one of the deities belonging to the local pantheon of Uruk in the Seleucid Empire. It is not certain if he was already worshiped in this city in the Neo-Babylonian period, though this possibility is accepted by Julia Krul. According to Paul-Alain Beaulieu, the attestations are limited to two possible references in ritual texts, but the reading of the theonym is uncertain. He speculates that since no references to a separate sanctuary dedicated to him have been identified, he might have been worshiped in the Eanna complex like many other minor deities. Later on, a cella dedicated to him existed in the Bīt Rēš, a newly built temple dedicated to Anu and Antu. It was likely located near the main gate, but as there is no agreement which of the entrances fulfilled this role, two separate rooms discovered during excavations have been identified as Isimud’s dwelling, 48 and 79b (the latter alternatively assumed to be the cella of Kusu). He might have been regarded as one of the divine guards of the temple complex, alongside Nuska, Papsukkal and Pisangunug. While absent from legal texts and , he is attested in ritual texts. He is mentioned for example in descriptions of the Akitu ceremony. In this context, he forms a trio with Nuska and Papsukkal.
Either in the Neo-Babylonian period or later, Isimud was also worshiped in Babylon, and appears in a ritual text in which priests follow him to various temples. He is mentioned in a text describing a procession taking place on the fourth day of the month Kislīmu, which involved a slave riding on the back of a bull.
|
|
