Enmesharra
Enmesharra was a Mesopotamian god associated with the underworld. He was regarded as a member of an old generation of deities, and as such was commonly described as a ghost or resident of the underworld. He is best known from various lists of primordial deities, such as the "theogony of Enlil," which lists many generations of ancestral deities.
Various fragmentary myths describe confrontations between him and deities such as Enlil, Ninurta or Marduk. The myth Enlil and Namzitara describes him as Enlil's paternal uncle, and alludes to a belief that he was the ruler of the universe in the distant past, possibly after usurping the position of his nephew. He has been compared with Anzu, who in the corresponding myth also steals Enlil's right to declare destinities for himself.
Texts commonly mention his children, usually identified as the "Seven sons of Enmesharra," analogous to the Sebitti. Specific deities who could be identified as his children or descendants were Shuzianna and Papsukkal, among others.
Character
Enmesharra's name means "lord of all me " in Sumerian. Henry W. F. Saggs assumes that he "had his origin in theological speculation rather than that he was an otiose deity of popular religion." Wilfred G. Lambert similarly concludes that he originated "solely from the theogony of Enlil," a term he uses to refer to lists of Enlil's ancestors and other primordial deities.Enmesharra is best attested as a primordial deity who was believed to be active long before the gods actively worshiped by the Mesopotamians. A prayer meant to be recited before the foundation of a temple refers to him as lord of the underworld. This title was also applied to other deities, including Ninazu, his son Ningishzida, Nergal and Nirah. A references to Enmesharra residing in the underworld is known from the Old Babylonian myth Death of Gilgamesh, where he is mentioned alongside the various ancestors of Enlil. Early Assyriologists viewed Enmesharra as "Akkadian Pluto," which lead to the incorrect notion that he was one and the same as Nergal.
It is presumed that most sources referring to Enmesharra understand him as a deceased deity. For example, a text makes references to Enmesharra being burned and existing in the form of a ghost. One text from Nippur mentions that he was "laid to rest" after a confrontation between him and either Enlil or Ninurta occurred in Shuruppak. However, a single source states that Enmesharra himself avoided death, and his sons died instead: "Enmesharra to save his own life, handed over his sons."
The myth Enmesharra's Defeat assigns a unique epithet to him, zi-mu-ú, and states that this quality was reassigned to Shamash after his defeat. Wilfred G. Lambert considers it a possibility that Enmesharra's association with light could have stemmed from the fact that Ninmesharra, the feminine equivalent of his name, was a title of Inanna, well known as a luminous deity due to her role as a representation of Venus. Inanna's luminous nature is described for example in a hymn which connects her various abilities, such as providing advice to humans or seemingly complementing evil with good with the light exuded by the corresponding celestial body. The name Ninmesharra, "lady of all me," is best known from a composition of Enheduanna, where it refers to Inanna, though it could also be applied as an epithet to Enlil's wife Ninlil. Occasional references to Ninmesharra as an independent figure, a companion of Enmesharra from lists of theogonic deities, are also known. In one case, Enmesharra and Ninmesharra are described as "father and mother of all the gods."
Frans Wiggermann initially assumed that Enmesharra might be understood as an abstract representation of the concept of kingship, based on a mythical episode where he passes the insignia of kingship on to Anu and Enlil. However, later he embraced the notion that being a primordial deity, he represented the "brainless old cosmos" predating the period of Enlil's "just rule."
One Babylonian text, a compendium explaining which deities correspond to various building materials, associates Enmesharra with gold, though in another similar text, presumed to be older, this metal is instead associated with Enlil. A plant called anameru was associated with him in sources from the first millennium BCE, as were two birds, the cock and the šuššuru.
Iconography
On this basis of Enmesharra's apparent luminous character in the myth Enmesharra's Defeat, Wilfred G. Lambert proposed that some figures on cylinder seals with rays of light emanating on their shoulders might be depictions of Enmesharra, rather than the sun god Shamash. Additionally, he proposed that a unique relief depicting a god stabbing a cyclops with rays emanating from his head might depict his defeat. Other interpretations of the figures on this artifact, originally excavated in Khafajah have been proposed too, including Marduk killing Tiamat and Ninurta killing Asag, though neither of these found widespread support, and art historian Anthony Green showed skepticism regarding them, noting art might preserve myths not known from textual record. According to Andrew R. George Akkadian omen texts from Susa and from the Sealand archives appears to indicate that one-eyed creatures were known as igidalu, igidaru or igitelû, possibly a loanword from Sumerian igi dili. He remarks that the only god associated with them in available sources is Nergal, who in an omen text is identified as the slayer of an igitelû. There is also evidence that the birth of one-eyed animals was regarded as an omen connected to Nergal.Frans Wiggermann proposes that the so-called "birdman" figure from cylinder seals might represent Enmesharra. Unlike the better known eagle-like Anzu, the "birdman" appears to have the lower body of a water bird. Wiggermann argues that the scenes involving this being might indicate he was imagined as challenging the divine authority. Since the same role belongs to Enmesharra in textual sources, he proposes that the two of them are one and the same, though he admits there is no indication in any known sources that the latter was ever regarded as bird-like.
Associations with other deities
Ancient commentaries at times equate Enmesharra with other, usually cosmogonic, figures: Lugaldukuga, Anu, Qingu, Alala and otherwise largely unknown Ubnu.Enmesharra belonged to the group of ancestral gods associated with Enlil, though he held a special status within it. Lists of ancestors of Enlil, who are matching En- and Nin- pairs much like Enlil and his wife Ninlil, could be followed by Enmesharra, listed without a spouse and not labeled as an ancestor directly. Enumerations of such figures start with the pair Enki-Ninki, and sometimes they were referred to simply as "Enkis and Ninkis," dEn-ki-e-ne dNin-ki-e-ne. Texts from Fara and Abu Salabikh from the Early Dynastic period already attest the existence of these pairs. References are also known from Ebla, where in one text Enki and Ninki are linked with roots of the tamarisk. While it is consistent that Enki and Ninki were the oldest generation of Enlil's ancestors, the rest of the family tree was not fixed, and various pairs of En- and Nin- deities appear in known sources. Enki, the ancestor of Enlil, is not to be confused with the god Enki/Ea, who is a distinct and unrelated figure. The ancestral Enki's name means "lord earth" while the meaning of the name of the god of Eridu is uncertain but not the same, as indicated by some writings including an amissable g.
Similar lists of ancestors of Anu are also known, but it is assumed that they were not of equal importance in Mesopotamian theology.
According to the myth Enlil and Namzitara, Enmesharra was Enlil's uncle, the brother of his father. Multiple traditions regarding Enlil's father are known, with Anu or Lugaldukuga being particularly commonly listed. The latter could also be regarded as his grandfather. The god list An = Anum inserts him between Enmesharra and his seven sons. According to Wilfred G. Lambert, while it is likely that traditions where Enmesharra himself played this role also existed, direct statements confirming this are not presently known from any texts.
Lugaldukuga could be associated both with Enmesharra and by extension with a group of defeated gods called "the seven conquered Enlils," to which the latter belonged. His name points at his association with the duku, a cosmic mound from the theology of Nippur, which was sometimes also associated with Enmesharra according to Frans Wiggermann. The duku was the place where destinites were determined, and a primordial dwelling of the gods. The name Lugaldukuga was independently also used as an epithet of Ea, but due to absence of evidence for the view that Ea was the father or grandfather of Enlil it is assumed that these two applications of it did not overlap.
Enmesharra was usually believed to have seven sons, though exceptions are known. A source from Kish mentions eight, while a single incantation references fifteen of them. In a neo-Babylonian inventory of divine statues, the Sebitti are identified as seven of the fifteen sons of Enmesharra. The seven sons and Sebitti often functioned as synonyms, though the latter were also equated with other groups of seven deities, for example the so-called "Divine Seven of Elam," a Mesopotamian grouping of Elamite gods. Different identities of the Sebitti could be sometimes merged, for example the Elamite goddess Narunde, in Mesopotamia identified as a sister of the Divine Seven of Elam, in at least one ritual appears alongside Sebitti labeled as "sons of Enmesharra." This term could also denote the asakku demons, though they were called "sons of Anu" as well. While the suggestions that seven sons of Enmesharra can be identified as the seven apkallu were present in early scholarship, this theory is not considered credible today.
Frans Wiggermann proposes that a single text commenting on magical formulas meant to protect a house from supernatural invaders confuses Enmesharra with the goddess Išḫara, as it identifies Sebitti as her children, an otherwise unknown genealogy.
Shuzianna, a goddess associated with Enlil sometimes identified as his concubine or as the nurse of his son Sin appears in enumerations of the seven children of Enmesharra. In this context she appears in a ritual text from Hellenistic Uruk.
A prayer to the messenger god Papsukkal calls him "supreme vizier, offspring of Enmesharra." In one case, Papsukkal is listed right behind Enmesharra in a list of defeated gods.
Alfonso Archi considers it possible that the name of Namšara, one of the so-called "primordial gods," divine ancestors inhabiting the underworld in Hurrian mythology, was derived from Enmesharra.