Shala

Shala (Šala) was an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of grain and the wife of the weather god Adad (Ishkur).^[3] She was most likely of northern origin, and it's been proposed that her name is derived from the Hurrian word šāla (daughter).^[4]

Shalash (Šalaš) or Shalush, a similarly named and possibly analogous goddess, was the wife of the Syrian god Dagan venerated in cities such as Tuttul and Terqa, which some researchers regard as evidence of him also being a weather god.^[5] However, there is no clear proof that Dagan fulfilled such a function.^[6]

Iconography and functions[]

Shala was commonly depicted as naked, holding symbols associated with rain,^[7] such as lightning bolts.^[8] Ear of corn was a symbol of her as well, and a star associated with her, Šer'u ("Furrow"), was depicted as a woman holding an ear of corn in a Seleuic astronomical tablet.^[9] Shala was often depicted standing on the back of a bull or lion-dragon chimera pulling her husband's chariot.^[10]

Grain was metaphorically regarded as the product of a sexual union between Shala and Adad, and some artwork depicts romantic scenes between Adad and Shala alongside humans ploughing their fields.^[11]

Texts frequently highlight her beauty,^[12] and she was known under the Sumerian name Medimša, "possessing lovely limbs."^[13]

Maurits van Loon proposed that a "gate" symbol accompanying the weather god and his wife on some seals could represent the rainbow, though he noted his theory doesn't take into account that there was a separate goddess of the rainbow, Manzat, independent from Shala and her husband.^[14]

Sometimes Shala's symbol was a bird.^[15]

It's possible that the daughters of Adad, Halbinunna (or Šubanuna^[16]), Namašmaš (or possibly Nabarbar; reading remains unclear^[17]) and Minunesi, were depicted in a fashion similar to their mother and shared her functions; groups of three Shala-like naked goddesses possibly representing them tend to be accompanied by sheep-like mythical creature of astral character whose name is presently unknown.^[18]

Attestations[]

The name Medimša appears already in sources from the Fara period though they don't provide any information about her role; Daniel Schwemer suggests that she was already viewed as the wife of Ishkur and can be assumed to be the "naked goddess" accompanying him in art.^[19]

Shala appears in contexts related to Ishkur's Akkadian counterpart Adad (at that point already fully conflated with the Sumerian god^[20]) as early as in the Old Babylonian period, when they received offerings together in Nippur. They are listed as a couple in god lists and other sources from Babylonia and Assyria through their entire later history. Shala appears in late Aramaic sources at well, for example in the bilingual Tell Fekheriye inscription.^[21]

A hymn to Nanaya which enumerates various goddesses regarded as wives of notable city gods mentions Karkar as in important site related to the cult of Shala.^[22] Indirect evidence indicates that Karkar was associated with the cult of Adad/Ishkur as early as in the Uruk period.^[23] In the first millennium BCE Zabban was the location of an important temple of Adad and Shala.^[24] She was also venerated in Guzana.^[25]

In Achaemenid and Seleucid Uruk Shala was said to be one of the goddesses accompanying Antu (rather than Ishtar) during a parade of deities celebrating the New Year festival.^[26]

In Elam[]

Shala was also worshiped in Elam alongside her husband. While names of purported Elamite weather deities (Kunzibami, Šihhaš and Šennukušu) appear in Mesopotamian god lists, so far none of them were found in inscriptions from Elam, and it is assumed that Adad and his wife were worshiped under their Mesopotamian names.^[27] They had a joint temple at Chogha Zanbil.^[28] However, most of the evidence for worship of the pair comes from the lowlands (especially Susa), and only the so-called Persepolis Fortification Archive from early Achaemenid times confirms the spread of Adad's cult further east.^[29]

Shala and Shalash[]

While researchers such as Frans Wiggermann consider the wives of Ishkur and Dagan to be two forms of one deity,^[30] Lluís Feliu argues they were originally fully distinct and only became partially conflated in Hurro-Hittite context and in Babylonian god lists. He proposes that for Hurrians and Hittites the source of confusion was the fact the final -š in the latter's name could be interpreted as a case ending in their languages. However, he also notes that the two were conflated or confused in god lists such as various versions of An-Anum. He nonetheless rejects the possibility that the two were originally the same, and especially that the confusion between them was caused by Dagan being a weather god himself and thus analogous to Adad.^[31] Daniel Schwemer also considers this to be impossible.^[32]

One Mesopotamian exegetical text refers to Shalash as "Shala of the western steppe."^[33]

Shalash was also viewed as the spouse of Hurrian god Kumarbi due to syncretism between him and Dagan in northern Syria.^[34] However she absent from Hurrian myths about Kumarbi.^[35]

In ancient Syria, the weather god (Adad or analogous Ugaritic Baal) was viewed as the son of Dagan^[36] and presumably his wife Shalash. Hebat is attested alongside Dagan and Shalash in a mourning ritual from ancient Aleppo^[37] and it's possible she was regarded as their daughter too alongside the storm god.^[38]

Modern astronomy[]

The Shala Mons, a mountain on Venus, is named after her.^[39]

References[]

External links[]

• Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses: Šala (goddess)