Tutu (Mesopotamian god)

Tutu was a minor Mesopotamian god.[1] The meaning and origin of his name are uncertain.[2]

He was originally the tutelary god of Borsippa, near Babylon, and appears in the name of an ensi (governor) of the area from the Ur III period, Puzur-Tutu.[3] References to worship him are also known from Kish and Sippar,[2] and he seemingly appears in theophoric names from Larsa, Babylon and Dilbat,[4] though it is uncertain if every instance of a divine name written as DU-DU or tu-tu in personal names refers to the same deity.[3] Tutu is still attested as a distinct deity in the role of the tutelary god of Borsippa during the reign of Hammurabi.[5]

As evidenced by god lists he was syncretised with Marduk in later periods, similar to Asalluhi, a god of exorcisms and son of Enki, the agricultural god Enbilulu, as well as an otherwise unknown deity named Šazu.[6] In Enuma Elish, Tutu is one of the names bestowed upon Marduk,[6] seemingly one connected with Babylon's role as a center of refurbishing and ritually reviving damaged divine statues.[3] Tutu is also explained as a name of Marduk in an incantation from the Muššu'u series.[7] A reference to Tutu, treated as a name of Marduk, can also be found in the so-called Bird Call Text:

The cock is the bird of Enmešarra. Its cry is, "You sinned against Tutu."[8]

According to Wilfred G. Lambert the use of Tutu as a name of Marduk ceased in the first millennium BCE, when it started to be used to refer to Nabu instead.[8] However, according to Francesco Pomponio only a single neo-Assyrian text identifies Tutu as Nabu.[9] Nabu nonetheless started to be regarded as the tutelary god of Borsippa in the first millennium BCE.[10]