Kura (deity)

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Deities of the ancient Near East
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Kura was the main god in the pantheon of Ebla in the 3rd millennium BCE. Like many other of the Eblaite deities (for example Hadabal, Ishara and Aštabi), he was most likely part of a pre-Semitic (and pre-Hurrian) substratum.[1]

Kura and his spouse Barama were seemingly almost exclusively worshiped within the boundaries of the city,[2] and disappeared from records after its fall.[3]

Character[]

Kura was a god of royalty in Ebla,[4] and the main god of the city.[5] He was not worshiped outside it. Alfonso Archi describes him as a "deity of prosperity" and notes he never received weapons as offerings, which indicates he was not a warrior god.[6]

The proposal that both Kura and Hadabal were not distinct gods but merely epithets of a weather god Hadad is regarded as unconvincing.[7][8]

Worship[]

Kura is the god appearing most frequently in Eblaite administrative texts (130 mentions), with Hadabal being the only other deity appearing comparably often (105 mentions).[9] Unlike the other "substratum" deities he appeared frequently in theophoric personal names.[10]

After a royal wedding, the newlyweds were obliged to take part in a pilgrimage dedicated to Kura and Barama. Its most important part was a visit in the royal mausoleum, during which the king and queen represented the deities Kura and Barama. According to the ritual texts from Ebla, when they leave it they become "the new Kura, the new Barama, the new king, and the new queen."[11] The marriage between Kura and Barama was considered to be renewed each time the pilgrimage took place.[12]

An important aspect of the worship of Kura was the annual offering of 1 mina (around 470 grams) of silver from which a new face mask was manufactured for his statue.[13]

References[]

  1. ^ A. Archi, Il in Personal Names, Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 91, 1996, p. 139
  2. ^ L. Ristwet, Travel and the Making of North Mesopotamian Polities, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 361, 2011, p. 11
  3. ^ A. Archi, The Gods of Ebla [in:] J. Eidem, C.H. van Zoest (eds.), Annual Report NINO and NIT 2010, 2011, p. 6
  4. ^ L. Ristwet, Travel and the Making of North Mesopotamian Polities, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 361, 2011, p. 9-
  5. ^ A. Archi, Il in Personal Names, Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 91, 1996, p. 143
  6. ^ A. Archi, Ritualization at Ebla, Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 13, 2013, p. 215
  7. ^ D. Schwemer, The Storm-Gods of the Ancient Near East: Summary, Synthesis, Recent Studies: Part I, Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 7(2), 2007, p. 154
  8. ^ A. Archi, Ritualization at Ebla, Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 13, 2013, p. 227
  9. ^ A. Archi, Il in Personal Names, Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 91, 1996, p. 139
  10. ^ A. Archi, Il in Personal Names, Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 91, 1996, p. 141
  11. ^ L. Ristwet, Travel and the Making of North Mesopotamian Polities, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 361, 2011, p. 9-10
  12. ^ A. Archi, Il in Personal Names, Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 91, 1996, p. 142
  13. ^ A. Archi, Ritualization at Ebla, Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 13, 2013, p. 214-215
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