Imzuanna

The name of the goddess Imzuanna could be written as either ^dnin-zu-an-na or ^dim-zu-an-na.[2] The former is known for example from an Old Babylonian god list[3] and from Lament for Sumer and Ur, while the latter from An = Anum and in a Neo-Babylonian theophoric name, Imzuanna-emqet.[2]

According to Richard L. Litke, it should be assumed that the cuneiform sign IM was read as ni in the name of this goddess, and the form Imzuanna is incorrect,[4] but Antoine Cavigneaux and Manfred Krebernik disagree with this conclusion, as one of the ancient commentaries on the Weidner god list affirms that the name could be pronounced as Imzuanna.[2] They suggest that this might reflect a form in which the initial consonant in the form "Ninzuanna" was not pronounced.[2] This proposal is accepted by Daisuke Shibata.[5] As of 2022, the spelling Imzuanna remains accepted in Assyriological literature.[6]

Imzuanna was regarded as the wife of Lugal-Marada (also spelled Lugalmarda[7]), the tutelary god of Marad.[3] They are frequently attested alongside each other in known sources.[2] According to an Old Babylonian god list, they were two of the three main deities of Marad, the third being Lulu, initially distinct but later conflated with Lugal-Marada.[3]

According to Richard L. Litke[8] and Wilfred G. Lambert, the god list An = Anum indicates that Imzuanna had her own sukkal (divine vizier), Ili-mīšar.[9] Marten Stol, relying on the same source, instead argues this deity was one of the two sukkals of Lugal-Marada, the other being Lugal-mea.[3] Litke proposes identifying Ili-mīšar with Mīšaru, a minor god regarded as a son of Adad.[8]

An association between Imzuanna and the medicine goddess Gula is also attested[7] in a Neo-Assyrian version of the Weidner god list.[5] According to Daisuke Shibata, the commentary provided outright equates the two goddesses, as well as their respective spouses Lugal-Marada and Ninurta.[5]

An offering list from the Ur III period mentions Imzuanna alongside Lugal-Marada.[2]

In the incantation series Šurpu (tablet VIII, lines 31–33) Imzuanna appears after Lugal-Marada in a sequence of deities implored to release a patient from a curse.[10] They are followed by Ninimma, Shuzianna, Šulpae, Sadarnunna, Belet-ili, Sud, Sirash and Ningishzida.[10]

Imzuanna (under the name Ninzuanna) appears in the composition Lament for Sumer and Ur.[11] The circumstances described in this work make her and her Lugal-Marada leave their city, prompting her to lament her fate and the destruction of her dwelling.[11] The section dedicated to them is placed between these focused on Numushda and his wife Namrat from Kazallu and Ninisina from Isin.[12]

In the trilingual Sumero-Hurro-Ugaritic version of the Weidner god list from Ugarit, Imzuanna (im-zu-an-na) corresponds to Hurrian Teshub (te-eš-ša-ab) and local Baal (ba-a-lu), who were both weather deities.[7] It has been suggested that the equation with Teshub might have been already present in the earlier bilingual Sumero-Hurrian edition known from a copy from Emar.[13] Daniel Schwemer notes that no known Mesopotamian sources associate Imzuanna with the Mesopotamian weather god, Ishkur/Adad, and therefore concludes that Jean Nougayrol's assumption that the equivalence between the three deities was a result of scribal confusion caused by the common usage of ^dIM as a logogram representing the names of weather deities is most likely correct.[7] This view is also accepted by other researchers.[2][1] Aaron Tugendhaft agrees that the list is not an accurate representation of the theological position of Baal and Teshub, but argues it is possible that the equation is not a result of confusion, but conscious scribal word play.[13]

It is generally assumed that the character of Imzuanna was not similar to that of Baal and Teshub,[13] though unlike other authors Irene Sibbing-Plantholt in a recent publication describes her as a storm deity.[6]

• Translation of KAV 046, a copy of the annotated Neo-Assyrian edition of the Weidner god list, on the Oracc website