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Itaran (god)
The male patron deity of Der, who is associated with
justice.
Functions
Itaran is a male deity associated with justice. This role can be
inferred from his assertion of theborders of Umma and Laga, while
Gudea (ca. 2144-2124 BCE), the ruler of Girsu, said ofhimself, "I
justly decide the lawsuits of my city like Itaran" (ETCSL 2.1.7,
line 273). In the poemspraising the Ur III king, ulgi (2094-2047
BCE), his justice is "comparable to that of Itaran"(ETCSL 2.4.2.02,
line 264), and a song to Nergal praises the god thus: "Like Itaran
... you reachcorrect judgments" (ETCSL 4.15.3: 41).
There is a suggestion of an ophidian nature of Itaran.
Depictions from the Akkadian period showa snake-like form, an
element which may have later split off and become Nirah,
Itaran'smessenger, whose logogram was dMU, ordMU.TUR, 'snake' and
'little snake' respectively(Wiggerman 1998-2001a). Further, a
Kurigalzu dated brick from Der shows a snake above the
inscription, which mentions Dagan (see below).
Divine Genealogy and Syncretisms
Itaran is often equated withAnu rab "GreatAnu", and in the
Babylonian Chronicles relating toEsarhaddon (680-669 BCE) the usual
writing for his name is replaced with AN.GAL. Both thesefactors
place Itaran high in the pantheon. In the god listAN = Anum Itaran
is assigned a vizierQudmu, a counsellor Rasu, a son Zizanu, and two
'standing gods' Turma and Itur-matiu(Lambert 1976-80a). While the
god-listAN = Anum does not attest a spouse, arrat-Deri, "Queenof
Der", or Deritum, seems to be Itaran's wife at the time of
Esarhaddon (Reiner 1958: II 160).Itaran also had a minister, Nirah,
"Little snake", a minor male chthonic deity, who carried thetitle,
"the radiant god, the son of the house of Der" (Wiggerman
1998-2001a).
Cult Place(s)
Itaran was the chief deity ofDer(Logogram: BAD3.ANki), Tell
al-'Aqar, near modern Badra,
which is on the ancient border between Mesopotamia and Elam. A
stamped brick of the Kassiteking Kurigalzu II (1332-1308 BCE),
which was found near Badra, records the renewal of a templeof
Itaran, the -dim-gal-kal-am-ma, "House, great bond of the land"
(Clayden 1996: 112), and inthe Sumerian text The Temple Hymns,
Itaran's temple is similarly said to be located in DerETCSL 4.80.1,
lines 416-423). In the Early Dynastic period (2900-2350 BCE) there
may havebeen a cultic installation on the border between Umma and
Laga because the border betweenthese two regions was said to be
fixed "in accordance with the command of Itaran" (Sollberger1959:
344).
Time Periods Attested
In Early Dynastic Laga and Umma Itaran is invoked in personal
names. This practicecontinues through the third millennium, e.g.,
Simat-Itaran, "Symbol of Itaran", the sister of theUr III king
u-Suen (2037-2029 BCE) (Zettler 2003: 16). Similar attestations are
found until theend of the Kassite Dynasty (1374-1159 BCE) (Lambert
1976-80a). As mentioned earlier, Itaran's
cult in Der is attested in the Babylonian Chronicle's references
to the time of Esarhaddon(Grayson 1975: 84), and the cult at Der
may have continued into the Seleucid period (312-63BCE) (Lambert
1976-80a).
Iconography
http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#lambert1976-1980ahttp://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#sollberger_1959http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#sollberger_1959http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#sollberger_1959http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#clayden_1996http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#wiggermann_1998-2001ahttp://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#lambert-1976-1980ahttp://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/an/http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#wiggermann_1998-2001ahttp://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.4.2.02#http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.1.7#http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#lambert1976-1980ahttp://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#grayson_1975http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#lambert_1976-1980ahttp://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#zettler_2003http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#sollberger_1959http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/images/Lagash.jpghttp://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/images/Umma.jpghttp://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.4.80.1#http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/images/Der.jpghttp://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#clayden_1996http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/images/Der.jpghttp://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#wiggermann_1998-2001ahttp://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#reiner_1958http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#lambert-1976-1980ahttp://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/an/http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#wiggermann_1998-2001ahttp://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.4.15.3#http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.4.2.02#http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.1.7#
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There are references to this deity's beautiful face in Sumerian
literature, "Itaran of the brightvisage" (ETCSL 1.7.3, line 6),
while other depictions reflect his snake-like nature
(Wiggerman1998-2001a).
Name and Spellings
The reading of the logographic writing dKA.DI is now well
established as Itaran, but it was
previously misread Gusilim and Sat(a)ran. Itaran has an Emesal
variant Ez(z)eran, and anAkkadian variant Iltaran (Lambert
1976-80a).
Written forms:dKA.DI
Normalised forms:Itaran, Itaran (incorrect, outdated readings:
Gusilim, Sataran, Satran)
http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#lambert_1976-1980ahttp://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#wiggermann_1998-2001ahttp://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.7.3#
