Aya (goddess)

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Aya
Goddess of dawn
Major cult centerSippar
Personal information
ConsortShamash; Šimige (only in Hurrian religion)
ChildrenIshum, Kittum, Mamu
Equivalents
Sumerian equivalentSherida

Aya (rarely Nin-Aya)[1] was an Akkadian goddess of dawn, and the wife of Shamash, the sun god. Her Sumerian predecessor was Sherida, wife of Shamash's equivalent Utu.[2]

Her name means dawn in Akkadian.[3]

Character and functions[]

Aya was associated with morning light and the rising sun.[2] In this role she was called "morning-maker."[4]

Her another primary function was that of a divine bride, as exemplified by her epithet kallatum ("bride," "daughter in law").[4] As Shamash's wife she was regarded as epitome of beauty and charm.[4] Shamash and Aya are the divine couple most often invoked together in inscriptions, followed by Adad and Shala and Enki and Damkina.[5] Aya was also commonly invoked to intercede with her husband on behalf of human devotees.[3]

Association with other deities[]

Aya was regarded as the wife of Shamash, and thus daughter in law of his parents Suen and Ningal and sister in law of Ishtar.[4] Their daughters were Mamu (or Mamud), the goddess of dreams [6] and Kittum ("truth").[7]

According to Joan Goodnick Westenholz another child of the sun god and his wife was Ishum.[8] However, due to confusion between Sudaĝ (a title of Aya, "golden glow"[9]) and Sud (the tutelary goddess of Shuruppak, equated with Ninlil) the latter was said to be Ishum's mother in a single mythical text.[8] Manfred Krebernik assumes that Sud and Sudaĝ were only confused with each other rather than conflated or syncretised.[10]

Outside Mesopotamia Aya was incorporated into Hurrian religion under the name "Ayu-Ikalti."[11] In Hurrian sources she was also viewed as the spouse of a sun god, Šimige.[11]

Iconography[]

In art Aya was commonly depicted frontally.[2]

Many depictions of Aya highlighted her beauty and sexual charm.[12] On seals from Sippar she was often depicted wearing a type of garment which exposed her right breast, meant to emphasize her qualities as a charming and attractive bride.[12] Ishtar and Anunitu (in Sippar a separate goddess, rather than an epithet) were depicted similarly.[12]

The existence of an emblem of Aya is mentioned in texts, but no detailed descriptions of it are known.[13]

Worship[]

While Aya is overall less prominent in textual record than major goddesses such as Ishtar, Nanaya, Ninlil or Ninisina,[14] it's nonetheless assumed that she was a popular object of personal devotion,[14] as she appears commonly in personal names and on seals.[4]

She was worshiped already in the Early Dynastic period,[4] and appears in texts from Ur, as well as in the Abu Salabikh and Fara god lists.[2]

Ebabbar ("Shining white house"[15]), Shamash's temple in Sippar, was the primary center of Aya's cult as well.[16] In legal documents from that city, she often appears as a divine witness, alongside her husband, their daughter Mamu and Shamash's sukkal Bunene,[5] the latter two also regarded as a couple.[17] However, she was far less prominent in the other city associated with Shamash, Larsa, where she doesn't appear in official lists of offerings.[4]

Naditu priestesses from Sippar were particularly closely associated with Aya: they addressed her as their mistress, commonly had theophoric names invoking her, and exclusively swore oaths by her.[18]

Manishtushu dedicated a mace head to "Nin-Aya" in Sippar.[19]

In the Old Babylonian period Aya was one of the most popular goddesses,[4] with only Ishtar appearing more often in sources such as personal letters.[20] Samsu-iluna, one of the Old Babylonian kings, called himself "beloved of Shamash and Aya" and both renovated the Ebabbar and built walls around Sippar.[21]

In Seleucid Uruk, Aya was among the goddesses celebrated during the New Year festival.[22]

Mythology[]

Buduhudug, a mythical mountain where the sun was believed to set, was regarded as "the entrance of Shamash to Aya" (nēreb dŠamaš <ana> dAya) - the place where they were able to reunite each day after Shamash finished his journey through the sky.[23]

References[]

  1. ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 7.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 258.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 119.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 259.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 257.
  6. ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 262.
  7. ^ Krebernik 2012, p. 602.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 77.
  9. ^ Krebernik 2013, p. 241-242.
  10. ^ Krebernik 2013, p. 242.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Taracha 2009, p. 127.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b c Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 269.
  13. ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 264.
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 267.
  15. ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 255.
  16. ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 110.
  17. ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 260.
  18. ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 261.
  19. ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 64.
  20. ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 251.
  21. ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 256.
  22. ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 126.
  23. ^ Woods 2009, p. 187.

Bibliography[]

  • Asher-Greve, Julia M.; Westenholz, Joan G. (2013). Goddesses in Context: On Divine Powers, Roles, Relationships and Gender in Mesopotamian Textual and Visual Sources (PDF). ISBN 978-3-7278-1738-0.
  • Krebernik, Manfred (2011), "Sonnengott A. I. In Mesopotamien. Philologisch", Reallexikon der Assyriologie (in German), retrieved 2021-08-08
  • Krebernik, Manfred (2013), "Sudaĝ", Reallexikon der Assyriologie (in German), retrieved 2021-08-08
  • Taracha, Piotr (2009). Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Harrassowitz. ISBN 978-3447058858.
  • Woods, Christopher (2009). "At the Edge of the World: Cosmological Conceptions of the Eastern Horizon in Mesopotamia". Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions. 9 (2): 183–239. doi:10.1163/156921109X12520501747912. ISSN 1569-2116. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
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