Jabru

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Not to be confused with Jabiru.
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Jabru (also known as Jabnu, Yabru and Yabnu) was an Elamite god.[1] According to Šurpu, Jabru's Akkadian counterpart was Anu.[2]

Jabru was only infrequently mentioned in texts and all references to him come from Mesopotamian sources.[3] Therefore, little can be said about his role in Elamite mythology with any certainty. Due to his presumed similarity to Anu, Heidemarie Koch speculates that he was the father of Humban, who was sometimes equated by Mesopotamians with Enlil, much like Anu was usually viewed as Enlil's father. She also proposed that the Elamite word tepti (lord; sometimes written with the divine determinative[4]) might be a title of Jabru used as a theophoric element of names.[5] However, Koch's theory regarding Jabru and Humban doesn't take into account that in at least one source Jabru was equated with Enlil rather than Anu.[6] Additionally, it rests on the assumption that the theory about some Elamite gods being merely taboo names for others (Kiririsha for Pinikir etc.) is correct; Wouter Henkelman refers to it as invalid in the light of modern research in a recent publication.[7]

In an Assyrian text known as The underworld Vision of an Assyrian Prince (VAT 10057), he was, alongside Humban and Napirisha, one of the gods guarding the corpse of a king.[8] Alexandre Lokotionov notes that this sequence of gods mirrors the reference to Jabru in Šurpu, and that its inclusion possibly indicates that to the Assyrians the underworld "could have simply been a repository for the exotic and the unusual."[9] While it is only certain that in Susa the gods Inšušinak, Išmekarab and Lagamal were connected to the afterlife, and many theories exist regarding potential funerary roles of other deities,[10] neither of the other two Elamite gods mentioned in The underworld Vision of an Assyrian Prince are usually assumed to have such character. It is therefore hard to determine if Jabru had any meaningful connection to the underworld outside this single Assyrian text, where it is portrayed as part of a broader role as a protector of royalty.

An Elamite town named Jabru, seemingly located near the border between Elam and Babylonia, could be connected to this deity,[11] but it is also possible it was instead related to the goddess Jabritu known from a late Assyrian Takultu text.[12][13]

Deities of the ancient Near East
Ancient Egyptian
Arabian
Eblaite and Syrian
Elamite
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Levantine (Canaanite and Ugaritic)
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Religions of the ancient Near East
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References[]

  1. ^ Manfred Lurker (29 April 2015). A Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons. Taylor & Francis. pp. 128–. ISBN 978-1-136-10628-6.
  2. ^ H. Koch, Theology and Worship in Elam and Achaemenid Iran, Civilizations of the ancient Near East 3, 1995, p. 1961
  3. ^ W. G. Lambert, Jabnu [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie, vol. 5, 1980, p. 229
  4. ^ R. Zadok, The Elamite Onomasticon, 1984, p. 49
  5. ^ H. Koch, Theology and Worship in Elam and Achaemenid Iran, Civilizations of the ancient Near East 3, 1995, p. 1961
  6. ^ W. G. Lambert, Jabnu [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie, vol. 5, 1980, p. 229: "Jabnu is equated with Enlil in BA 5 (1906) 655 8 (from which An = Anum 1162 may be restored)"
  7. ^ W. M. F. Henkelman, The Other Gods who are: Studies in Elamite-Iranian Acculturation Based on the Persepolis Fortification Texts, 2008, p. 354; see footnote 824 for details
  8. ^ K. van der Toorn, Humbaba, [in:] K. van der Toorn, B. Becking, P. W. van der Horst, Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, 1999, p. 431-432
  9. ^ A. Lokotinov, An “Egyptianising” Underworld Judging an Assyrian Prince? New Perspectives on VAT 10057, Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History 3(1), 2016, p. 15
  10. ^ M. Dara, Elamites’ Fear of the Underworld Judgment According to Elamite Texts [in:] K. Niknami, A. Hozhabri (ed.), Archaeology of Iran in the Historical Period, 2020, p. 80
  11. ^ W. G. Lambert, Jabnu [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie, vol. 5, 1980, p. 229
  12. ^ W. G. Lambert, Jabritu [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie, vol. 5, 1980, p. 230
  13. ^ D. O. Edzard, Jabru [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie, vol. 5, 1980, p. 230
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