Nahhunte

Multiple writings of the name are known. In Elamite documents, the attested forms include Nahhunte, Nahhute, Nahiti and ^dPÍR.[1] Forms attested in Akkadian texts include Naḫḫude, Naḫunde, Nanḫunde, ^dUTU and, exclusively in theophoric names, -nande and -ḫundu.[1]

According to Matthew Stolper, the name Nahhunte is a compound noun, but its precise etymology is impossible to ascertain.[2] He proposes that it was a cognate, and possibly a homonym, of the Elamite word for the sun.[3] In curse formulas, his name functioned as a metonym for the sun itself.[3]

In texts from Susa, Haft Tepe and Malamir the name of the sun god was usually written logographically as ^dUTU and it is uncertain when it should be read as Nahhunte rather than Shamash.[3] It is possible that in legal texts, when ^dUTU occurs next to Inshushinak, Ruhurater or Simut, the logogram should be read as Nahhunte.[4]

The oldest attestation of Nahhunte is the so-called "Treaty of Naram-Sin," in which the name is spelled as Nahiti.[3] Nahhunte occurs as the fifth of the invoked divine witnesses, right before Inshushinak, and a number of further mentions of him are present in the text.[3]

Nahhunte was worshiped mostly in the west of Elam, in the proximity of Susa, similar to deities such as Pinikir, Manzat, Lagamal,[5] Adad and Shala,[6] However, direct references to worship of Nahhunte are rare in known texts.[3] For example, there is no evidence that oaths were sworn in his name, while offerings to him are not listed in any administrative texts.[7] Many theophoric names invoking him are nonetheless known, as attested in Elamite texts, texts from Elam written in Akkadian, and in Mesopotamian texts written in Akkadian or Sumerian.[7] Both men and women could bear Nahhunte names.[7] Examples include kings Shutruk-Nahhunte and Kutir-Nahhunte, as well as Nahhunte-utu, wife of Shilhak-Inshushinak.[8]

Attahushu, who reigned in the eighteenth century BCE, erected a statue dedicated to Nahhunte in a marketplace to make sure the prices will remain just.[9]

An inscription of Shilhak-Inshushinak mentions Nahhunte, labeled as "lord who protects," after Inshushinak, Kiririsha, Humban and Nannar,[3] the last of these deities being a name of the Elamite moon god derived from Mesopotamian Nanna.[10] The same king used the unique title "servant of Nahhunte, beloved of Inshushinak."[3]

A shrine[3] of Nahhunte existed in the temple complex built by Untash-Napirisha at Chogha Zanbil.[11] It housed a golden statue of the god, according to an inscription from the site dedicated jointly to Nahhunte and the Mesopotamian moon god Sin.[11] He was also worshiped in Gisat, a settlement most likely located in the Fahliyan region, though the local sanctuary was dedicated to multiple deities, including Napirisha.[12] Nahhunte is listed among various other deities in what is assumed to be cursing or blessing formulae in a neo-Elamite document from this location.[13]

Nah, mentioned in the Persepolis Fortification Archives, might be the same deity as Nahhunte according to Wouter Henkelman.[14]

While the Mesopotamian god list An = Anum does mention Nahhunte, he is not explicitly listed as a counterpart of the sun god, Utu/Shamash, but only as a member of a group called the "Divine Seven of Elam," associated with the goddess Narundi.[7]

He is also present in two incantations, in one as a deity connected with childbirth and in another possibly as a demon.[7] Additionally, a commentary on the former text erroneously identifies him as a moon god and Narundi as a sun deity, explaining their names as, respectively, Sin and Shamash.[7]