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44-500: Urash's name was usually represented by the cuneiform sign IB , typically prefaced by the so-called "divine determinative ", DINGIR , though phonetic syllabic spellings such as ur 5 -ra-aš or u 4 -ra-aš are also attested, in some cases, for example in the god list An = Anum , as glosses. The precise origin of the name is a matter of dispute, though it is agreed that regardless of whether it originated in Sumerian or Akkadian, it

88-463: A (c. 800 BC) destruction layer of Hasanlu , in northwest Iran . The mosaic glass beakers are thought to have been heirlooms, possibly for ritual use the find spot being a temple. The panes of glass used to create these images were very brightly colored, and closer analysis has revealed that they were bright green, blue, white, and red-orange. A Kassite text found at Dur-Kurigalzu mentions glass given to artisans for palace decoration and similar glass

132-464: A deity as the mother of Ishkur also places Urash in this role, which can be considered an extension of his well attested position as a son of Anu. Enki is addressed as a son of Urash and Anu in the hymn Ishme-Dagan E (all names of hymns given follow the ETCSL naming system), but while Anu is attested as his father elsewhere, with this one exception his mother was believed to be Nammu . Geshtinanna

176-573: A descendant of either Nammu or "eternal time". He suggests the primordial deities Dūri and Dāri, whose names, while attested in Sumerian texts, were loanwords derived from the Akkadian phrase "ever and ever", might have represented the latter concept. A number of texts treat Urash as a name of Anu himself, which is presumed to be related to the infrequent use of the word uraš to refer to heaven rather than earth, attested for example in Nabnitu , but

220-737: A few documents, and some technical terms related to horses and chariotry. What is known is that their language was not related to either the Indo-European language group, nor to Semitic or other Afro-Asiatic languages, and is most likely to have been a language isolate , although some linguists have proposed a link to the Hurro-Urartian languages of the Armenian highlands and Northern Mesopotamia . It has been suggested that several Kassite leaders bore Indo-European names, and they might have had an Indo-European elite similar to

264-681: A fragment of a historical epic). Many of those tablets have not yet been published, including hundreds held in the Ottoman Museum in Istanbul. About 100 Kassite tablets were found at Dur-Kurigalzu. A few inscribed building materials of Kurigalzu I were found at Kish. Several tablets dated to the reign of Agum III were found at the Dilmun site of Qal'at al-Bahrain . In total, about 12,000 Kassite period documents have been recovered, of which only around 10% have been published. There are also

308-495: A group of multiple gods fulfills the role which would normally belong to the parents. It is also possible that the fact that the male Urash worshiped in Dilbat was regarded as Anu's son was influenced by the relation between the latter with the former's female namesake. While Nanaya was referred to both as a daughter of Anu and as the "firstborn daughter of Urash", the male deity was meant in this case, and this epithet reflected

352-576: A number of building inscriptions, all but one written in Sumerian unlike the Akkadian typically used by the Kassites. A number of seals have also been found. Kudurrus , stone stele used to record land grants and related documents, provide another source for Kassite history. This practice continued for several centuries after the end of the Kassite Dynasty. Often situated on the surface, many were found early and made their way to museums around

396-527: A number of palaces and also temples to many Babylonia gods including Enlil, Ninlil, and Ninurta. The Kassites also extended their power into the Persian Gulf, including at Qal'at al-Bahrain . Being in close proximity the Assyrians and Kassites often came into political and military conflict over the next few centuries. For a time in the early reign of Tukulti-Ninurta I Assyria gained ascendancy, until

440-524: A number of seals from the Kassite period might also refer to Anu and Antu. However, the latter was not commonly understood as a divine representation of earth. As already attested in hymns traditionally attributed to Enheduanna , numerous deities could be regarded as the children or grandchildren of Urash and Anu. Examples include the medicine goddesses Ninisina and Ninkarrak , as well as Amurru , Bau and Ishtaran . The only source directly referring to

484-642: A political and military power in Mesopotamia. The fall of the First Sealand dynasty in 1460 BC created a power vacuum which the Kassites filled. After the destruction of the Mittani by the Hittites in the early 14th century BC Assyria rose in power creating a three way power structure in the region between the Kassites, Hittites, and Assyrians with Elam exerting influence from the east and Egypt from

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528-583: A reference to the Egyptian god Geb by Daniel David Luckenbill , but this proposal has been disproved and abandoned. In a fragmentary god list (KAV 52 // 54 // 71), Ku-Urash is paired with Alala , a figure attested among Anu's ancestors in An = Anum . A lexical list from the Old Babylonian period equates Urash with Antu , yet another goddess who could be paired with Anu. The formula AN URAŠ present on

572-541: Is ambiguous. They are thought to originate from the Zagros Mountains . Kassites were first reported in Babylonia in the 18th century BC, especially around the area of Sippar . The 9th year name of king Samsu-iluna (1749–1712 BC) of Babylon , the son of Hammurabi mentions them ie. ("Year in which Samsu-iluna the king (defeated) the totality of the strength of the army / the troops of the Kassites"). As

616-418: Is built in a 'rectangular box form', sitting upon a long horizontal stroke. It contains the 2-verticals at right and 1-vertical at left. Three other signs are similarly built, cuneiform ur is the mirror image of "ib"/"ip", but with the two verticals at left. The "lu (cuneiform)" sign is identical to "ib", but instead of 1-short vertical in the center, lu contains 3-short verticals in the center. Another sign

660-403: Is described as a daughter of Urash and Anu in the hymn Shulgi P , and by extension the king, addressed as her brother, also implicitly shares this ancestry. However, elsewhere the mother of this goddess is identified as Duttur . The hymn designated as Nisaba A refers to the eponymous goddess as her daughter, but she had no fixed parentage. Urash might also have been regarded as the mother of

704-499: Is not certain whether he or the earth goddess is meant. In An = Anum both deities appear in separate sections. Wilfred G. Lambert has additionally suggested that a possible phonetic variant of the term uraš , supplied with the prefix nin , is the second element of the theonym Ninurta . Urash is well attested as a spouse of Anu . Frans Wiggermann outright refers to her as his most commonly recognized wife. She appears particularly commonly in association with him in texts from between

748-527: Is often used for English "all", or "all (of us)", Akkadian language , gabbu . (Amarna letters EA 153 , EA 287 , EA 288 , and EA 267 ) Kassite period The Kassites ( / ˈ k æ s aɪ t s / ) were people of the ancient Near East , who controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire c.  1531 BC and until c.  1155 BC ( short chronology ). They gained control of Babylonia after

792-436: Is regarded as a Language Isolate and is not accepted to be Semitic or Indo-European . The Kassite religion is also poorly known. The names of some Kassite deities are known. The chief gods, titular gods of the kings, were Shuqamuna and Shumaliya which are distinct from Sumerian, Semitic and Indo-European gods. As was typical in the region, there was some cross pollination with other religions. After Babylon came within

836-518: Is similar to lu , but has only 1-vertical, left and right, ku (cuneiform) , and the Amarna letters is usually so compact, that hardly any of the individual strokes can be easily identified. Another sign is similar in this group to cuneiform ur , but the center is replaced by 2 stokes, one angled down, and the other a wedge (at extreme right vertical), and is the gáb sign. In the Amarna letters it

880-400: Is that Urash only represented the arable surface of earth, rather than its totality. In a god list known from late Assyrian copies and a number of other sources the double name Ki-Urash ( ki-uraš , 𒀭𒆠𒅁 ) appears, which indicates the two could be combined into a single designation for earth as a primordial being. The double name was initially misread as ki-ib and thus misinterpreted as

924-523: The Akkadian and Old Babylonian periods. In some cases, it is impossible to tell if the writing AN IB refers to Urash alone ( uraš ) or Anu and her as a pair. As Anu's spouse, Urash could be addressed as bēlet-ilī , "queen of the gods", though in this context this name was only used as a descriptive epithet reflecting her position in the Mesopotamian pantheon and it did not imply an equation with

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968-492: The Akkadian language . Cuneiform ib also can be found as sumerogram URTA , (a capital letter ( majuscule )), and for example it is used in the Epic of Gilgamesh for the god's name: Ninurta , spelled NIN.URTA. Cuneiform ib has other sub-uses in the Epic of Gilgamesh . The following can be found: eb --(4) times, ep --(9), ib --(114), ip --(45), and URTA --(4) times. The cuneiform ib cuneiform character (no. 535)

1012-485: The Hittite sack of Babylon in 1531 BC, and established a dynasty generally assumed to have been based first in that city, after a hiatus. Later rule shifted to the new city of Dur-Kurigalzu . By the time of Babylon's fall, the Kassites had already been part of the region for a century and a half, acting sometimes with Babylon's interests and sometimes against. There are records of Kassite and Babylonian interactions, in

1056-915: The Mitanni . Over the centuries, however, the Kassites were absorbed into the Babylonian population. Eight among the last kings of the Kassite dynasty have Akkadian names. It has also been suggested that the first element in Kudur-Enlil 's name is derived from Elamite but that is disputed. The Kassites produced a substantial amount of pottery. It is found in many Mesopotamia cities including Eridu and Tell Khaiber . Archaeologists divide it into three periods, Early Kassite (before c. 1415 BC), Middle Kassite (c. 1415–1225 BC), and Late Kassite (c. 1225–1155 BC). Many small pottery kilns, generally no bigger than 2 meters in diameter with domed tops, were found in

1100-572: The Arrapha district. The Babylonian and Assyrian king lists mention eight or nine early Kassite rulers whose names are not fully known and who precede the following kings. Another Kassite king, Hašmar-galšu, is known from five inscriptions from the Nippur area. Note that the relative order of Kadashman-Turgu and Kadashman-Enlil II have been questioned. The Kassite language has not been classified . The few sources consist of personal names,

1144-408: The Babylonian city of Dilbat . Goblets and wavy sided bowls are commonly found in Kassite pottery deposits. Other ceramic goods, such as traps for small animals and vessels commonly thought to be fruit stands were found also. Kassite pottery deposits have been found as far away as Al Khor Island in the Persian Gulf area. Remnants of two Kassite glass beakers were found during the 1964 excavation in

1188-472: The Babylonian empire weakened in the following years the Kassites became a part of the landscape, even at times supplying troops for Babylon. The Hittites had carried off the idol of the god Marduk , but the Kassite rulers regained possession, returned Marduk to Babylon, and made him the equal of the Kassite Shuqamuna. Babylon under Kassite rulers, who renamed the city Karanduniash , re-emerged as

1232-735: The Elamites under Kidin-Hutran III intervened. This period is marked by a building hiatus at Babylon, similar to the one after the fall of the First Babylonian dynasty . The Elamites of the Shutrukid dynasty conquered Babylonia, carrying away the Statue of Marduk , in the 12th century BC, thus ending the Kassite state. According to the Assyrian Synchronistic Chronicle, which is not considered reliable,

1276-541: The Kassite dynasty was overthrown in 1155 BC, the system of provincial administration continued and the country remained united under the succeeding rule, the Second Dynasty of Isin. The origin of the Kassites is uncertain, though a number of theories have been advanced. Several suspected Kassite names are recorded in economic documents from the Ur III period (c. 2112–2004 BC) in southern Babylon , but their origin

1320-408: The Kassite period were Larsa , Sippar and Susa . The Kassites were very active at Ur . At the site of Isin , which had been abandoned after the time of Samsu-iluna, major rebuilding work occurred on the religious district including the temple of Gula . The work at Isin was initiated by Kurigalzu I and continued by Kadashman-Enlil I, and after a lapse, by Adad-shuma-usur and Meli-Shipak II. After

1364-416: The Kassite sphere of control its city-god, Marduk was absorbed into the Kassite pantheon. Documentation of the Kassite period depends heavily on the scattered and disarticulated tablets from Nippur, where thousands of tablets and fragments have been excavated. They include administrative and legal texts, letters, seal inscriptions, private votive inscriptions, and even a literary text (usually identified as

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1408-469: The city of Nippur", who had a temple in this location, should be considered a form of the female Urash. Ib (cuneiform) The cuneiform sign ib , (or ip ) is a common-use sign in the Epic of Gilgamesh , the Amarna letters , and other cuneiform texts. Its common usage is syllabic for ib (or ip ), or alphabetic for i or b / p ; the "i" is also exchanged for "e" when spelling specific words in

1452-503: The context of military employment, during the reigns of Babylonian kings Samsu-iluna (1686 to 1648 BC), Abī-ešuh , and Ammī-ditāna . The origin and classification of the Kassite language , like the Sumerian language and Hurrian language , is uncertain, and, also like the two latter languages, has generated a wide array of speculation over the years, even to the point of linking it to Sanskrit , however like these other languages it

1496-452: The details of these developments are unknown. It has been noted that the fact that in addition to Urash Anu could be paired with another earth deity, Ki , could sometimes lead to confusion, though ultimately the two were separate figures. It has been proposed that Anu paired with Ki represented heaven and earth as a unity prior to their cosmological separation, with Anu and Urash reflecting their later separated state instead. Another proposal

1540-409: The existence of two separate traditions about her parentage, rather than descent from the couple Urash and Anu. While uncommon, offerings to Urash and Anu as a pair are attested in documents from the Ur III period . Urash is also attested in a number of Old Babylonian letters, though she does not appear commonly in this context. According to Joan Goodnick Westenholz , the deity Urash-Nibru, "Urash of

1584-412: The goddess usually designated by it, Ninhursag . A tradition in which Urash was an ancestor of Anu is also known, for example from the god list An = Anum . A genealogy of Anu which Wilfred G. Lambert refers to as the "Theogony of Anu" mentions the pair Urash, here a male cosmogonic earth deity, and Ninurash, his female counterpart. Lambert speculated that in this context Urash might have been viewed as

1628-505: The hero Lugalbanda , though the evidence is indirect and limited to a single passage in the Old Babylonian poem Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave , and in other compositions an emphasis is instead put on the absence of his parents. Additionally, evidence exists for Ninsun being regarded as Urash's daughter, though Jan Lisman argues that based on an Early Dynastic myth her parents should be considered unknown, as during her marriage

1672-811: The last Kassite king, Enlil-nadin-ahi , was taken to Susa and imprisoned there in 1155 BC, where he also died. The annals of the Assyrian king Sennacherib detail that on his second, eastern, campaign of 702 BC he campaigned against the land of the Kassites, that being along the Diyala River between the Jebel Hamrin and the Darband-i-Khan. The Kassites took refuge in the mountains but were brought down and resettled, in standard Assyrian practice, in Hardispi and Bit Kubatti, which were made part of

1716-1549: The seals into wet clay. ( Shamshi-Adad dynasty 1808–1736 BCE) (Amorites) Shamshi-Adad I Ishme-Dagan I Mut-Ashkur Rimush Asinum Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi (Non-dynastic usurpers 1735–1701 BCE) Puzur-Sin Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi ( Adaside dynasty 1700–722 BCE) Bel-bani Libaya Sharma-Adad I Iptar-Sin Bazaya Lullaya Shu-Ninua Sharma-Adad II Erishum III Shamshi-Adad II Ishme-Dagan II Shamshi-Adad III Ashur-nirari I Puzur-Ashur III Enlil-nasir I Nur-ili Ashur-shaduni Ashur-rabi I Ashur-nadin-ahhe I Enlil-Nasir II Ashur-nirari II Ashur-bel-nisheshu Ashur-rim-nisheshu Ashur-nadin-ahhe II Second Intermediate Period Sixteenth Dynasty Abydos Dynasty Seventeenth Dynasty (1500–1100 BCE) Kidinuid dynasty Igehalkid dynasty Untash-Napirisha Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt Smendes Amenemnisu Psusennes I Amenemope Osorkon

1760-604: The south. A number of the Amarna Letters are correspondence between the respective rulers (including 14 between the Pharaoh and the Kassite ruler). An International System came into place between these parties connected by widespread trade, treaties, and intermarriage between the ruling classes (especially between the Kassites and Elamites). A typical treaties include the Egyptian–Hittite peace treaty (c.1259 BC) and

1804-484: The treaty between the Kassite ruler Karaindash and the Assyrian ruler Ashur-bel-nisheshu (c. 1410 BC). At the peak of their power the Kassites, under Kurigalzu I in the mid 14h century BC, conquered Elam and sacked the capital of Susa . That ruler initiated significant building efforts in Ur and other southern Mesopotamia cities. The most notable of these efforts was the construction of a new city, Dur-Kurigalzu. It contained

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1848-410: The world. The ancient city of Nippur was a major focus for the Kassites. Early on, refurbishments were conducted of the various religious and administrative buildings, the first of these datable to Kurigalzu I. Major construction occurred under Kadashman-Enlil, Kudur-Enlil, and Shagarakti-Shuriash, with lesser levels of repair work under Adad-shuma-usur and Meli-Shipak. Other important centers during

1892-576: Was found there. Other similar glass dated 1500 BC was found at Tell al-Rimah . Seals were used widely across the Near Eastern kingdoms during the Kassite rule. They were used to mark official items and ownership. The images created by these seals were unique to each seal, but many shared the same subject matter. Bearded men, religious symbols, horned quadrupeds, and fauna are often shown in these images. The seals were generally made of stone, glass, or clay. The images were made by stamping or rolling

1936-565: Was understood as "earth" or " tilth ". Urash was accordingly considered the deification of the earth. She has been characterized as a primeval deity, comparable in that regard to Anu or Nammu . In some cases, Urash could be inserted into texts dealing with the Enki-Ninki deities , the ancestors of Enlil , due to shared association with the earth. Urash was also the name of a male agricultural deity worshiped in Dilbat , and in some cases it

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