View source for Šumugan

{{Short description|Mesopotamian and Syrian god}}
'''Šumugan''', '''Šamagan''', '''Šumuqan''' or '''Šakkan'''{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=513}} (𒀭𒄊) was a [[List of Mesopotamian deities|god]] worshipped in [[Mesopotamia]] and [[ancient Syria]]. He was associated with animals.
==Character==
Šumugan was a shepherd god.{{sfn|Wiggermann|2010|p=331}} He was associated with various quadrupeds,{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=513}} especially [[donkeys]]{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=516}} or alternatively wild sheep.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=517}}  In Ebla he was associated with mules.{{sfn|Archi|2019|p=39}} In literary texts  he was also tasked with caring for their habitat and plants growing there.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=517}} In some texts his epithet is "shepherd of everything."{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=523}}  Other known epithets include "god of wool," "god of herd animals," "god of grass-eating animals" and "god of watering places."{{sfn|Wiggermann|2013|p=308}} He was regarded as responsible for prosperity and agricultural fertility, often in connection with grain deities (such as [[Ezina]]) and beer deities (such as [[Ninkasi]]).{{sfn|Wiggermann|2013|pp=308-309}} The name could also be metaphorically applied to a [[stallion]] of a herd.{{sfn|Wiggermann|2010|p=331}}
Due to the association between the steppe, where he was believed to dwell, and the [[Ancient Mesopotamian underworld|netherworld]], he sometimes appears in connection with the latter.{{sfn|Wiggermann|2013|p=309}} Texts attesting this connection include the poem ''Death of [[Gilgamesh]]'' and a number of incantations.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=516}}
His main attribute was a ram-headed crook.{{sfn|Wiggermann|2013|p=309}} Another of his attributes was likely a [[Fleece (sheep)|fleece]].{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=519}} The number 14 was regarded as connected to him, though it was also associated with [[Nergal]].{{sfn|Wiggermann|1998|p=222}}
==Worship==
Šumugan's cult had a limited scope in Mesopotamia, one exception being [[Assur]] in the [[Iron Age]].{{sfn|Wiggermann|2013|p=309}} He was worshiped there in the Urmashtur, "pen of lions and wild bests," alongside the god Urmah.{{sfn|George|1993|p=156}}  In earlier periods he is attested in documents from [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]], [[Ur]], [[Lagash]] and [[Shuruppak|Fara]].{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=513}}
Under the name Šamagan he was worshiped west of Mesopotamia, for example in [[Ebla]].{{sfn|Archi|2019|p=39}} A special type of sacrifice to him was carried out by the overseers of mules.{{sfn|Archi|2019|p=39}} His western cult center in the Ebla period was seemingly the settlement ME.NE, which belonged to the kingdom of [[Tell Brak|Nagar]].{{sfn|Archi|2019|p=39}} A king of Ibubu, a city east of [[Harran]], bearing the theophoric name Ilam-Šamagan is also known from a document according to which he swore allegiance to Ebla in the temple of the city god [[Kura (deity)|Kura]].{{sfn|Archi|2019|p=40}} Other people bearing similar names known from [[Eblaite language|Eblaite]] documents include [[Iku-Shamagan|Iku-Šamagan]], a king of Mari; Irmi-Šamagan, son of a king of [[Irridu|Irrite]]; and Puzur-Šamagan, possibly a chief of [[Ib'al]].{{sfn|Archi|2019|p=40}} Another western city where the cult of Šamagan flourished was [[Tell Beydar|Nabada]].{{sfn|Archi|2019|p=40}}
Based on the fact that the worship of Šamagan  was widespread in Syrian polities such Nagar and Mari, Alfonso Archi proposes that he initially developed in the same area, possibly among speakers of "proto-[[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]" language who introduced him to southern Mesopotamia.{{sfn|Archi|2019|p=41}}  According to the god list Anu ša amēli, Šamagan is equal to Sharshar, the god of the [[Suteans|Sutean]] nomads.
==Associations with other deities==
Šumugan's wife was Ellamesi, regarded as the goddess of wool,{{sfn|Wiggermann|2013|p=308}} though Frans Wiggermann notes that unlike another agricultural god, [[Dumuzid|Dumuzi]], he was generally not portrayed in romantic context.{{sfn|Wiggermann|2010|pp=331-332}} He was sometimes associated with [[Utu]]/Shamash, either as his son (for example in the god list ''[[An = Anum]]''){{sfn|Wiggermann|2013|p=308}} or as a courtier.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=517}} According to a seal inscription from Lagash, his [[sukkal]] (attendant deity) was Edinmugi (Sumerian: "he secured the plains").{{sfn|Wiggermann|2013|p=308}}
In the god list ''An=Anu ša amēli'' multiple gods are described as aspects of Šumugan, including [[Amurru (god)|Martu]] and Šaršar, described as "Šumugan of the [[Suteans]]."{{sfn|Wiggermann|2013|p=308}}
In the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'', the not yet civilized [[Enkidu]] is at one point described as "clothed (...) like Šakkan."{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=519}}
In [[Hittite mythology and religion|Hittite]] sources the logographic writing SUMUQAN (or GÌR) designates the deity {{ill|Miyatanzipa|de|Miyatanzipa}}.{{sfn|Klinger|2013|p=309}}
== References ==
{{reflist}}
===Bibliography===
*{{cite book|last=Archi|first=Alfonso|chapter=Šamagan and the Mules of Ebla. Syrian Gods in Sumerian Disguise|title=Between Syria and the Highlands: studies in honor of Giorgio Buccellati & Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati|url=http://urkesh.org/pages/911-SANEM3.htm|publisher=Arbor Sapientiae editore|publication-place=Rome|year=2019|isbn=978-88-31341-01-1|oclc=1137837171}}
*{{cite book|last=George|first=Andrew R.|title=House most high: the temples of ancient Mesopotamia|publisher=Eisenbrauns|publication-place=Winona Lake|year=1993|isbn=0-931464-80-3|oclc=27813103}}
*{{citation|last=Klinger|first=Jörg|entry=Sumuqan B. Bei den Hethitern|encyclopedia=Reallexikon der Assyriologie|entry-url=http://publikationen.badw.de/en/rla/index#11216|year=2013|language=de|access-date=2022-03-06}}
*{{cite book|last=Lambert|first=Wilfred G.|title=Babylonian creation myths|publisher=Eisenbrauns|publication-place=Winona Lake, Indiana|year=2013|isbn=978-1-57506-861-9|oclc=861537250}}
*{{citation|first=Frans A. M.|last=Wiggermann|entry=Nergal A. Philological|encyclopedia=Reallexikon der Assyriologie|entry-url=http://publikationen.badw.de/en/rla/index#8358|year=1998|access-date=2022-03-06}}
*{{cite book|last=Wiggermann|first=Frans A. M.|title=Gazing on the deep: ancient Near Eastern and other studies in honor of Tzvi Abusch|chapter=The image of Dumuzi. A diachronic analysis|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/503952|publisher=CDL Press|publication-place=Bethesda|year=2010|isbn=978-1-934309-26-1|oclc=495996749}}
*{{citation|last=Wiggermann|first=Frans A. M.|entry=Sumuqan A. In Mesopotamien · Sumuqan A. In Mesopotamia|encyclopedia=Reallexikon der Assyriologie|entry-url=http://publikationen.badw.de/en/rla/index#11215|year=2013|access-date=2022-03-06}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shumugan}}
[[Category:Mesopotamian gods]]
[[Category:Eblaite deities]]
[[Category:Agricultural gods]]
[[Category:Animal gods]]
[[Category:Donkey deities]]
[[Category:Lagash]]