Gatumdug
Tutelary goddess of Lagash and divine mother of its kings.
Gatumdug was a Mesopotamian goddess who served as the tutelary deity of Lagash and was closely associated with its kings. She was initially worshiped only in Lagash and NINA, but a temple was built for her in Girsu during the reign of Gudea. She appears in literary compositions such as the hymn on the Gudea cylinders and the Lament for Sumer and Ur.
Quick Facts
- Deity of
- Tutelary goddess of Lagash
- Cult center
- Lagash
- NINA
- Girsu
Facts from the source article.
Name and character
Gatumdug was a Sumerian goddess, though the exact meaning of her name remains unclear. Her name in the emesal dialect was ma-ze2-ze2-be. She served as the patron deity of Lagash, described in early sources as the city's mother and, in a hymn from the Gudea cylinders, as its divine founder. Several early kings of Lagash, such as Enanatum I and Enmetena, called her their divine mother, while others, including Eanatum and Urukagina, assigned that role to the goddess Bau. The term ku3, meaning holy, sacred, lustrous, or shining, was used to describe her.
Associations with other deities
Scholars once thought Gatumdug and Bau were the same goddess, but Gebhard J. Selz finds this unlikely. Later texts sometimes merged them; the god list An = Anum directly equates the two. In an Old Babylonian hymn, Gatumdug is instead identified with the goddess Ninisina. The Gudea cylinders call her a child of An.
Worship
Gatumdug was worshiped in Lagash in the Early Dynastic period and appears in one of the Zame Hymns from Abu Salabikh as its tutelary goddess. In Early Dynastic sources from the state of Lagash, she received offerings in Lagash itself and in NINA during festivals of Nanshe, but not in Girsu. Construction of a temple dedicated to her is mentioned in inscriptions of Ur-Nanshe, Eannatum, and Entemena. Ur-Nanshe also erected a statue representing her, and Bendt Alster noted this inscription is the oldest known text to directly mention anthropomorphic statues of deities. Sources state Lugalzagesi set the temple on fire, stole precious metals and lapis lazuli, and destroyed statues. Despite her importance, she is sparsely attested in Early Dynastic sources and was not invoked in theophoric names. Her clergy included a sanga and a nin-dingir priestess. He dedicated a statue of himself as an architect to her, and according to another inscription she assigned a lamma to him. In the Ur III period, a temple dedicated to her continued to operate, and offerings included butter, cheese, flour, and dates. A bead dedicated to her for the life of king Ibbi-Sin by E-ḫegal is also known.
In literature
Gatumdug appears in the Gudea cylinders, a hymn about rebuilding Ningirsu's temple E-ninnu. The ruler Gudea first consults her about his dreams, calling her both his mother and father. She then supplies the bricks for his temple project. In the Lament for Sumer and Ur, she is among the goddesses who leave their cult centers during the catastrophe. A later indirect mention comes from a bilingual hymn to Shulgi, found at Nippur and attributed to Ur-Gatumdug, who is called an apkallu.
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