View source for Dingir

{{Short description|Cuneiform sign of deities and sky}}
{{About|a Sumerian cuneiform sign|the Rings of Saturn album|Dingir (album)}}
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[[File:Cylinder seal MET ss1985 357 9.jpg|thumb|250x250px|The dingir sign worshiped by two figures on a [[cylinder seal]] from [[Mitanni]], 16th–14th century BC]]
'''''Dingir''''' ⟨{{Script|Xsux|𒀭}}⟩, usually [[transliteration of cuneiform|transliterated]] DIĜIR,<ref>By [[Assyriological]] convention, capitals identify a cuneiform sign used [[Sumerogram|as a word]], while the [[phonemic]] value of a sign in a given context is given in lower case.</ref> ({{IPA|sux|tiŋiɾ}}) is a [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] word for 'god' or 'goddess'.  Its [[Cuneiform script|cuneiform]] sign is most commonly employed as the [[determinative]] for religious names and related concepts, in which case it is not pronounced and is conventionally transliterated as a superscript ⟨d⟩, e.g. {{lang|sux-Latn|italic=no|<sup>d</sup>[[Inanna]].}}
The Sumerian cuneiform sign by itself was originally an [[ideogram]] for the Sumerian word ''an'' ('sky' or 'heaven');<ref name="JLH">Hayes, 2000</ref> its use was then extended to a [[logogram]] for the word {{transliteration|sux|diĝir}} ('god' or 'goddess')<ref name="DOE">Edzard, 2003</ref> and the supreme deity of the Sumerian pantheon [[Anu]], and a [[Phonogram (linguistics)|phonogram]] for the syllable {{IPA|/an/}}. [[Akkadian cuneiform]] took over all these uses and added to them a logographic reading for the native ''[[El (deity)|ilum]]'' and from that a syllabic reading of {{IPA|/il/}}.  In [[Hittite language|Hittite]] orthography, the syllabic value of the sign was again only [[Hittite cuneiform#VC|''an'']].
The concept of divinity in Sumerian is closely associated with the heavens, as is evident from the fact that the cuneiform sign doubles as the ideogram for 'sky', and that its original shape is the picture of a star. The eight-pointed star was a chief symbol for the goddess Inanna. The original association of 'divinity' is thus with 'bright' or 'shining' hierophanies in the sky.
==Cuneiform sign==
===Sumerian===
[[File:Cuneiform sumer dingir.svg|70px|Middle Bronze Age form of the sign]]
The Sumerian sign DIĜIR ⟨{{Script|Xsux|𒀭}}⟩ originated as a star-shaped ideogram indicating a god in general, or the Sumerian god [[Anu]], the supreme father of the gods. ''Dingir'' also meant 'sky' or 'heaven', in contrast with [[Ninhursag|''ki'']] which meant 'earth'. Its [[emesal]] pronunciation was ''dimer''. (The use of ''m'' instead of ''ĝ'' {{IPA|[ŋ]}} was a typical phonological feature in emesal dialect.)
The plural of {{transliteration|sux|diĝir}} can be {{transliteration|sux|diĝir-diĝir}}, among others. [[File:Cuneiform sumer dingir.svg|30px]][[File:Cuneiform sumer dingir.svg|30px]]
=== Assyrian ===
[[File:Assyrian cuneiform U1202D MesZL 10.svg|50px|Late Bronze Age to Iron Age form of the sign]]  The [[Assyrian cuneiform|Assyrian]] sign DIĜIR (ASH  ⟨{{Script|Xsux|𒀸}}⟩ and MAŠ ⟨{{Script|Xsux|𒈦}}⟩, see could mean:
* the Akkadian nominal stem ''[[ilah|il-]]'' meaning 'god' or 'goddess', derived from the Semitic ''[[El (deity)|ʾil-]]''
* the god Anum (An)
* the Akkadian word {{transliteration|akk|šamû}}, meaning 'sky'
* the syllables ''an'' and ''il'' (from the Akkadian word god: An or Il, or from gods with these names)
* a preposition meaning "at" or "to"
* a [[determinative]] indicating that the following word is the name of a god
According to one interpretation, DINGIR could also refer to a priest or priestess although there are other Akkadian words {{transliteration|akk|ēnu}} and {{transliteration|akk|ēntu}} that are also translated priest and priestess.  For example, ''nin-dingir'' (lady divine) meant a priestess who received foodstuffs at the temple of Enki in the city of Eridu.<ref>Margaret Whitney Green, ''Eridu in Sumerian Literature'', PhD dissertation, University of Chicago (1975), p. 224.</ref>
=== Encoding ===
The cuneiform sign was encoded in [[Unicode]] 5.0 under its name AN at the code point U+1202D {{cuneiform|𒀭}}.
==See also==
{{Portal|Asia}}
{{Wiktionary|𒀭}}
* [[Divine name]]
* [[Mesopotamian mythology]]
* [[Anunnaki]]
* [[Tengri|Tenger]]
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
==References==
*{{cite book|last=Edzard|first=Dietz Otto|title=Sumerian Grammar|publisher=Society of Biblical Literature|location=Atlanta|year=2003|series=Handbook of Oriental Studies|volume=71|isbn=1-58983-252-3}}
*{{cite book|last=Hayes|first=John L.|title=A Manual of Sumerian Grammar and Texts|publisher=Undena Publications|location=Malibu|year=2000|edition=Second revised|series=Aids and Research Tools in Ancient Near Eastern Studies|id={{Listed Invalid ISBN|0-89003-508-1}} }}
[[Category:Mesopotamian deities]]
[[Category:Sumerian words and phrases]]
[[Category:Cuneiform determinatives]]