View source for Enamtila

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{{Mesopotamian myth (7)}}
'''Enamtila''' ({{langx|sux|{{cuneiform|𒂍𒉆𒋾𒆷}}}}) is a [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] term meaning "house of life" or possibly "house of creation".<ref name="George1993">{{cite book|author=A. R. George|title=House most high: the temples of ancient Mesopotamia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=31miWZGVevMC&pg=PA112|accessdate=9 June 2011|year=1993|publisher=Eisenbrauns|isbn=978-0-931464-80-5|pages=112–}}</ref><ref name="George1992">{{cite book|author=A. R. George|title=Babylonian topographical texts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zw0TQ1MrhOkC&pg=PA306|accessdate=9 June 2011|year=1992|publisher=Peeters Publishers|isbn=978-90-6831-410-6|pages=306–}}</ref> It was a sanctuary dedicated to [[Enlil]], likely to have been located within the [[Ekur]] at [[Nippur]] during the [[Akkadian Empire]]. It also referred to various other [[temple]]s including those to later versions of Enlil; [[Marduk]] and [[Bel (god)|Bel]] as well as one to [[Ea (Babylonian god)|Ea]]. It was likely another name for [[Ehursag]], a temple dedicated to [[Shulgi]] in [[Ur]].<ref name="Westenholz(Jerusalem)1996">{{cite book|author1=Joan Goodnick Westenholz|author-link=Joan Goodnick Westenholz|author2=Muzeʼon artsot ha-Miḳra (Jerusalem)|title=Royal cities of the Biblical world|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d7LYAAAAMAAJ|accessdate=9 June 2011|year=1996|publisher=Bible Lands Museum|isbn=978-965-7027-01-1}}</ref> A hymn to [[Sin (mythology)|Nanna]] suggests the link ''"To Ehursag, the house of the king (we go), to the Enamtila of prince Shulgi we go!"'' Another reference in the [[Inanna]] - [[Dunmuzi]] text translated by [[Samuel Noah Kramer]] references the king's palace by this name and possibly makes references to the "sacred marriage": ''"In the Enamtila, the house of the king, his wife dwelt with him in [[wikt:joy|joy]], in the Enamtila, the house of the king, Inanna dwelt with him in joy. Inanna, rejoicing in his house ..."''.<ref name="Michalowski1989">{{cite book|author=Piotr Michalowski|title=The lamentation over the destruction of Sumer and Ur|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=te_g2xGYIFEC&pg=PA81|accessdate=9 June 2011|year=1989|publisher=Eisenbrauns|isbn=978-0-931464-43-0|pages=81–}}</ref> A fire is reported to have broken out next to the Enamtila in a [[Babylonian astronomical diary]] dated to the third century BC.<ref name="Boiy2004">{{cite book|author=T. Boiy|title=Late Achaemenid and Hellenistic Babylon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1frplXFGf4sC&pg=PA90|accessdate=9 June 2011|year=2004|publisher=Peeters Publishers|isbn=978-90-429-1449-0|pages=90–}}</ref> The Enamtila is also referred to as a [[palace]] of [[Ibbi-Sin]] at [[Ur]] in the [[Lament for Sumer and Ur]], ''"Its king sat immobilised in his own palace. Ibbi-Suen was sitting in anguish in his own palace. In E-namtila, his place of delight, he wept bitterly. The flood dashing a hoe on the ground was levelling everything."''<ref>[http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.2.3&charenc=j# "Lament for Sumer and Ur"], Translation, [[Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature]]</ref>
==See also==
* [[Debate between Winter and Summer]]
* [[Ekur]]
* [[Hursag]]
* [[Hubur]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
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[[Category:Mesopotamian religion]]
[[Category:Sumerian words and phrases]]
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