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Lagamar or Lagamal was a Mesopotamian deity, worshiped chiefly in Dilbat,[1] modern Tell al-Deylam,[2] but prominent in Terqa on the Euphrates and in Susa in Elam as well.[2]

Character[edit]

Lagamar's name means "no mercy" in Akkadian.[3] He was associated with the underworld.[3][4]

Wouter Henkelman describes Lagamar as fulfilling the role of advocatus diaboli in the beliefs pertaining to judgment of souls in the afterlife documented in texts from Susa.[5]

Despite Lagamar's character, the theophoric name Lagamar-gamil, "Lagamar is the one who spares," is attested on seals from Dilbat.[2]

Gender[edit]

In the majority of known sources Lagamar is a male.[2]

Walter Hinz, an early researcher of Elamite sources, believed Lagamar to be a female deity,[6] but this conclusion is regarded as incorrect by authorities in the field such as Wilfred G. Lambert.[6]

The only location where Lagamar was regarded as a goddess rather than a god was Terqa.[2]

Association with other deities[edit]

Lagamar was regarded as the son of Urash, the tutelary god of Dilbat (not to be confused with the earth goddess).[7] In a neo-Babylonian god list from the temple of Nabu in Babylon Lagamar appears after Urash and his wife Ninegal.[8]

The god list An-Anum equates Lagamar with Nergal.[7]

In Elam Lagamar was associated with Ishme-karab[7] and the underworld judge Inshushinak.[9][4]

Cult[edit]

A temple dedicated to Lagamar was located in Dilbat,[10] and displays of personal devotion, such as using the formula "servant of Lagamar" in documents, are common in documents from this location.[11]

Terqa in Syria was another city where the cult of this deity was widespread.[2] A letter from Mari records a cultic journey of a statue of Lagamar, alongside that of the god Ikshudum, to Terqa.

Statues of Lagamar are attested in documents from Ur during the reign of the Third Dynasty of Ur.[3]

Theophoric names containing Lagamar's name are attested commonly in Dilbat as early as in the Old Babylonian period,[11] but were uncommon elsewhere in Mesopotamia, with the only known examples attested in Sippar (7 attestations; 1 likely referring to a man from Dilbat), Larsa (2), Mari (3 attestations, 2 of them likely referring to one person) and Kisurra (1).[11] Artifacts belong to a man bearing the name Lagamar-gamil, a servant of the king Sumu-la-El,[12] were also found during excavations in Tilmen Höyük in Turkey.[13]

In Elam[edit]

Outside Mesopotamia Lagamar is also attested in Elamite sources from Susa.[2] He was introduced there in the second millennium BCE.[4] He was worshiped in a so-called siyan husame,[14] a type of temples which likely had funerary functions.{sfn|Henkelman|2008|p=442}} One of such structures dedicated to him (jointly with Inshushinak) was located in Bit Hulmi.[15]

Shilhak-Inshushinak according to his inscriptions restored a temple of Lagamar in Susa.[16]

An inscription of Shutruk-Nahhunte II mentions an individual bearing the theophoric name Shilhana-hamru-Lagamar,[17], likely a younger brother of king Hutelutush-Inshushinak and possibly an Elamite ruler in his own right.[18]

Ashurbanipal mentioned a statue of Lagamar among these he carried off from Susa as booty.[7]

Later relevance[edit]

It has been proposed that the name of the biblical Elamite king Chedorlaomer is a corrupted form of a hypothetical theophoric name invoking Lagamar.[7]

References[edit]

  1. ^ van der Toorn 1995, p. 368.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Marchesi & Marchetti 2019, p. 5.
  3. ^ a b c Lambert 1983, p. 418.
  4. ^ a b c Henkelman 2008, p. 330.
  5. ^ Henkelman 2008, p. 61.
  6. ^ a b Jahangirfar 2018, p. 109.
  7. ^ a b c d e Lambert 1983, p. 419.
  8. ^ Behrens & Klein 1998, p. 346.
  9. ^ Wiggermann 1997, p. 45.
  10. ^ Marchesi & Marchetti 2019, pp. 5–6.
  11. ^ a b c Marchesi & Marchetti 2019, p. 6.
  12. ^ Marchesi & Marchetti 2019, p. 9.
  13. ^ Marchesi & Marchetti 2019, p. 4.
  14. ^ Henkelman 2008, p. 443.
  15. ^ Henkelman 2008, p. 444.
  16. ^ Potts 1999, p. 238.
  17. ^ Malbran-Labat 2018, pp. 470–471.
  18. ^ Potts 1999, p. 255.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Behrens, Herman; Klein, Jacob (1998), "Ninegalla", Reallexikon der Assyriologie, retrieved 2021-08-12
  • Henkelman, Wouter F. M. (2008). The other gods who are: studies in Elamite-Iranian acculturation based on the Persepolis fortification texts. Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten. ISBN 978-90-6258-414-7.
  • Jahangirfar, Milad (2018). "The Elamite Triads: Reflections on the Possible Continuities in Iranian Tradition". Iranica Antiqua. 53: 105–124. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  • Lambert, Wilfred G. (1983), "Lāgamāl", Reallexikon der Assyriologie, retrieved 2021-08-11
  • Malbran-Labat, Florence (2018). "Elamite royal inscriptions". The Elamite World. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315658032-24.
  • Marchesi, Gianni; Marchetti, Nicoló (2019). "A babylonian official at Tilmen Höyük in the time of king Sumu-la-el of Babylon". Orientalia. 88 (1): 1–36. ISSN 0030-5367. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  • Potts, Daniel (1999). The archaeology of Elam: formation and transformation of an ancient Iranian state. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-511-48961-7. OCLC 813439001.
  • van der Toorn, Karel (1995). "Migration and the Spread of Local Cults". Immigration and emigration within the ancient Near East: Festschrift E. Lipiński. Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters en Departement Oriëntalistiek. ISBN 90-6831-727-X. OCLC 33242446.
  • Wiggermann, Frans A. M. (1997). "Transtigridian Snake Gods". In Finkel, I. L.; Geller, M. J. (eds.). Sumerian Gods and their Representations. ISBN 978-90-56-93005-9.
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