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Šubula

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Šubula
Underworld god
Major cult centerṢupur-Šubula
Genealogy
SpouseTadmuštum
Equivalents
AmoriteĠalamu

Šubula(Shubula) was aMesopotamian god.He was associated with the underworld, and commonly appears in association withNergal,Ishum,Laṣand other deities of similar character. He was worshiped in small settlements such as Ṣupur-Šubula andLagaba,likely located in the proximity ofKutha,but also inSusaandUruk.

Character

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Šubula was a minor god.[1]It is assumed that the name is etymologically connected with the Akkadian wordābalu(m),"to dry" or "to be dry."[2]A less likely proposal instead derives it fromwābalu(m),"to carry."[2]He was most likely associated with theunderworld.[3]In known sources he is often mentioned alongside other gods of the underworld. In an offering list fromPuzrish-Daganfrom theUr III periodconcerned with rites ofKuthahe appears alongside Tadmuštum,Laṣand Meslamtaea.[3]On akudurru(boundary stone) ofMarduk-apla-iddina I(the "land grant to Munnabittu kudurru") he appears alongside Nergal, his wifeLaṣ,Šar-ṣarbati,the pairLugal-irra and Meslamta-eaandMammitum.[4]This is the only known kudurru inscription mentioning him, and he appears on the thirty third place among the deities invoked.[5]InŠurpuhe appears alongside Nergal,Ishumand Šar-ṣarbati (Bēl-ṣarbi).[6]In theNippurgod list, he appears after Nergal and Mammitum.[7]

Associations with other deities

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Many researchers assume that Šubula was Nergal's son. Among the supporters of this interpretation areAndrew R. George,[8]Frans Wiggermann[2]and Julia Krul.[9]It has been argued that such a connection could be a reflection of the location of his cult center, Ṣupur-Šubula, in the proximity of Nergal's city,Kutha.[10]However, as noted by Jeremiah Peterson, it is unclear if the god listAn = Anum,usually used to support this theory, recognizes him as Nergal's son, as the corresponding section contains a lacuna.[2]Another possible restoration would instead make him the son of Ishum.[2]Those two gods appear together very commonly in known sources, but the nature of the connection between them is not certain.[6]In one text, Ishum and Šubula are called the "gods ofTigrisandEuphrates."[6]

According to the god listAn = Anum,Šubula's wife wasTadmuštum,who was also an underworld deity.[11]

In abilingualAkkadian-Amoritelexical listdated to theOld Babylonian period,[12]Šubula's Amorite counterpart was Ġalamu (ḫa-la-mu), whose name is presumed to be a cognate ofUgariticġlm,literally "boy, youth", but as anepithetalso metaphorically "the noble".[13]Presumably this figure was a minor deity in theAmorite pantheon.[14]A connection with Ḫalmu and Ḫalamu, a pair of sparsely attested primordial ancestral deities known from the lexical listDirifrom Old BabylonianNippur,has been ruled out.[13]

Worship

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In theReallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie,Piotr Michalowski describes Šubula as "known only from Ur III and earlyIsinsources ",[3]but more recent publications show that he is also attested in documents from later periods.[15]He was still worshiped under the rule of theSeleucid Empirein the late first millennium BCE.[9]

The village Ṣupur-Šubula, located near Kutha, was a cult center of Šubula, and atemplededicated to him was located in it.[10]Locally he was invoked in oath formulas alongsideShamashandMarduk.[10]According to documents from the archive of Ubarum, a soldier who lived in Ṣupur-Šubula in theOld Babylonian period,the temple served as a place for signing contracts and resolving legal disputes for the local community.[16]There is also evidence that it was responsible for collecting taxes from the inhabitants on behalf of the ruler.[17]He was also worshiped inLagaba,[8]a small town located in northern Babylonia known only from records from the reigns ofHammurabiandSamsu-iluna.[18]It is possible that it was also located near Kutha, as deities worshiped in the later settlement, such as Laṣ, appear intheophoric namesfrom Lagaba.[18]A temple of Šubula is also mentioned in the so-calledCanonical Temple List,but its name and location are lost.[19]A feast of Šubula is mentioned in a document from Old BabylonianSippar.[20]

In SeleucidUruk,Šubula was worshiped during theakītufestival alongside Nergal.[9]However, he is absent from legal texts and no theophoric names invoke him.[21]There is also no evidence that he was worshiped there in theneo-Babylonian period.[21]Julia Krul proposes that he was only introduced to the pantheon of the city late and entirely due to his connection with Nergal, similar to Ishum and theSebitti.[22]

Šubula is attested as a family deity incylinder sealinscriptions.[1]A single reference to an unknown individual making his subordinates swear an oath by Šubula because he was his family god is known.[23]He appears in bothSumerianand Akkadian theophoric names, such as Šu-Šubula and Ur-Šubula.[3]One man bearing the latter name was a high-ranking official during the reign ofIshbi-ErraofIsin.[24]It is also present in model contracts which formed a part of scribal school curriculum in Old Babylonian Nippur.[2]Two theophoric names invoking Šubula are also known from documents from this city from theKassite period.[15]

Outside Mesopotamia

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Theophoric names attested in administrative documents indicate Šubula was also worshiped inSusainElamin the Old Babylonian period.[25]One known example of an Elamite theophoric name invoking him is Kuk-Šubula.[26]Ran Zadok proposes that like many other Mesopotamian deities worshiped in this city, he might have been introduced there from the "trans-Tigridian" orSealandregions of Mesopotamia.[25]

References

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  1. ^abToorn 1996,p. 80.
  2. ^abcdefPeterson 2009,p. 54.
  3. ^abcdMichalowski 2013,p. 241.
  4. ^Simons 2016,p. 9.
  5. ^Bartelmus 2017,p. 303.
  6. ^abcEdzard 1980,p. 213.
  7. ^Peterson 2009,p. 14.
  8. ^abGeorge 1993,p. 37.
  9. ^abcKrul 2018,p. 67.
  10. ^abcToorn 1996,p. 38.
  11. ^Krebernik 2013,p. 398.
  12. ^George & Krebernik 2022,p. 114.
  13. ^abGeorge & Krebernik 2022,p. 119.
  14. ^George & Krebernik 2022,p. 139.
  15. ^abBartelmus 2017,p. 311.
  16. ^Toorn 1996,pp. 37–38.
  17. ^Toorn 1996,p. 40.
  18. ^abLeemans 1983,p. 417.
  19. ^George 1993,p. 170.
  20. ^Földi 2021,p. 49.
  21. ^abKrul 2018,p. 72.
  22. ^Krul 2018,p. 75.
  23. ^Veenhof 2018,p. 53.
  24. ^Frayne 1990,p. 7.
  25. ^abZadok 2018,p. 155.
  26. ^Tavernier 2014,p. 62.

Bibliography

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