Irnina

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Deities of the ancient Near East
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Irnina was the Mesopotamian goddess of victory.[1] Her name additionally functioned as a title of other deities.

As an independent deity[]

In the An-Anum god list, Irnina appears among the courtiers of Ningishzida, a god associated with snakes and vegetation who spent a part of each year in the underworld according to Sumerian texts. In the Weidner god list she likewise appears in a context indicating a connection to the underworld.[2] A partially preserved alternate spelling of her name used the sign MUŠ (serpent).[3]

Assyriologist Frans Wiggermann assumes that the reason behind connecting these two deities was the perception of Ningishzida as a "reliable god," which extended to all spheres of his activity - including agriculture, but also judicial proceedings and war. As such he was a god who could secure victory in battle, which was therefore personified as his courtier.[4]

As a title of other deities[]

Irnina was an epithet of Ishtar,[5] though the name could also function as a title of the similar goddess Nanaya[6] and even Damkina.[7]

A syncretistic hymn to Marduk, which otherwise features only male gods, includes Irnina among the deities listed as his aspects.[8]

References[]

  1. ^ J. M. Asher-Greve, J. G. Westenholz, Goddesses in Context: On Divine Powers, Roles, Relationships and Gender in Mesopotamian Textual and Visual Sources, 2013, p. 114
  2. ^ F. Wiggermann, Transtigridian Snake Gods [in:] I. L. Finkel, M. J. Geller (eds.), Sumerian Gods and their Representations, 1997, p. 42
  3. ^ F. Wiggermann, Nin-giszida [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol. 9, 1998, p. 369
  4. ^ F. Wiggermann, Nin-giszida [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol. 9, 1998, p. 371
  5. ^ J. G. Westenholz, Legends of the Kings of Akkade: The Texts, 1997, p. 78
  6. ^ M. P. Streck, N. Wassermann, More Light on Nanāya, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie vol. 102, 2012, p. 184
  7. ^ F. Wiggermann, Transtigridian Snake Gods [in:] I. L. Finkel, M. J. Geller (eds.), Sumerian Gods and their Representations, 1997, p. 42
  8. ^ J. M. Asher-Greve, J. G. Westenholz, Goddesses in Context: On Divine Powers, Roles, Relationships and Gender in Mesopotamian Textual and Visual Sources, 2013, p. 113-114
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