Sutītu

Information about Sutītu's character and her position in the Mesopotamian pantheon is scarce.[1] Her name can be translated as "the Sutean goddess".[2] The term "Sutean" (sutû) was used in Babylonia to refer to nomadic speakers of West Semitic languages, and in some contexts functioned interchangeably with the label "Aramean" (aḫlamû).[3] Sutītu has therefore herself been described as an "Aramean goddess" by Rocío Da Riva and Gianluca Galetti.[4]

In the god list An = Anum (tablet IV, line 135) the term Sutītu appears as one of the epithets of Inanna: ^dINANNA su-ti-it = Su-ti-tu.[5] However, according to Joan Goodnick Westenholz Sutītu understood as a distinct goddess only arose in the first millennium BCE as one of the new deities meant to personify specific ethnolinguistic groups.[6] Other examples include Kaššû ("the Kassite god"), Kaššītu ("the Kassite goddess") and Aḫlamītu ("the Aramean goddess").[2] Comparisons have also been made between them and the earlier god Amurru.[7] A non-Mesopotamian example of an analogous phenomenon was the creation of the goddess Roma, who is first attested during the reign of emperor Augustus.[6]

In Borsippa Sutītu was associated with Nanaya, specifically with Nanaya of Euršaba, who is considered distinct from the other form of this goddess worshiped in said city due to lack of a link between her and Nabu.[8] In a single case, Sutītu might be attested as an epithet of Nanaya as well.[9] An undated administrative document, BM 25849, pairs Sutītu with Mār-bīti,[10] a god who was also locally associated with Nanaya.[11] According to Joan Goodnick Westenholz, a group consisting of these three deities functioned as a "special sub-unit in the local pantheon of Borsippa".[12] A possible depiction of Sutītu (clad in robes decorated with crosses), Nanaya and Mār-bīti has been identified on a stela from Borsippa, VaS 1 36, dated to the reign of Nabu-shuma-ishkun.[13]

A late double column version of the Weidner god list, KAV 63, explains the names of two deities, Araḫtu and Ṣilluš-ṭāb, as ^dSu-ti-tum (Sutītu).[5] The former name referred to the river Euphrates, which was worshiped as a deity.[14] The latter is a goddess attested elsewhere alongside Katunna as one of the two "daughters of Esagil", the divine hairdressers of Zarpanit.[15]

Most of attestations of Sutītu are known from Borsippa, where she was already worshiped in the middle of the eighth century BCE.[1] It is presumed that her local cult had an official (rather than private) character.[2] Texts from the reign of Nabu-shuma-ishkun mention various members of clergy of this goddess, namely ērib-bīti, a class of priests, and a šangû, a temple administrator.[5] Based on the available evidence, it is presumed that Sutītu attained a degree of popularity in the Neo-Babylonian period.[1] Theophoric names invoking her, such as Ardi-Sutîti and Amti-Sutîti, have been identified in documents from the archives of the Ili-bani family.[2] The former of the two examples listed is masculine and the latter feminine.[9] Spelling the theonym with i as the final vowel reflects its genitive form.[5] A single letter, OECT 12, contains a blessing formula invoking Sutītu alongside Nanaya.[9] Various offerings to her are also mentioned in a number of texts from Borsippa, including beer, barley and meat of oxen.[8]

In the Neo-Babylonian period Sutītu apparently also had a chapel in the Esagil temple complex in Babylon, though since only a single text referring to it is known it is possible that it was not regarded as a permanent dwelling of the goddess, but merely as the location in which she was worshiped during festivals which involved her arrival in this city.[16] A ritual text presumed to be related to celebrations of the new year feast in the month Ninsan, BM 40790,[17] mentions the preparation of mirrors of Sutītu, Nanaya and Gula of Eulla in Esagil, presumably meant for a ceremony involving clothing of these three deities.[18] The functionaries responsible for it were ḫullālānītu, a class of priestesses.[19] The origin of this term is not certain, but in known texts bearers of this title were involved in the cults of a number of female deities and appear in association with singers.[4] Connections with various terms have proposed, including Akkadian ḫullānu, "shirt" or "coverlet", ḫulālu, a type of precious stone and ḫalālu, "to confine, shut away", or less plausibly Aramaic ḥll and ḥwl, "to dance around".[4]

A further attestation of Sutītu has been identified on at least one votive eye-stone of Ashurbanipal found in the treasury of Persepolis, with a second similar artifact being inscribed with a damaged theonym, ^dSu-, possibly also to be identified as a mention of this goddess.[9]