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  • Chapter 6 - This Is Not a Name

  • Edited by Corinne Bonnet, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa
  • Translated by Ralph Häussler
  • Preface by Ian Rutherford, University of Reading
  • Book:
    The Names of the Gods in Ancient Mediterranean Religions
    Published online:
    23 February 2024
    Print publication:
    07 March 2024, pp 111-128

  • Summary

    The divine beings of the ancient Near East were complex entities, endowed with numerous prerogatives. In light of their multiplicity, this chapter investigates the narrative and symbolic strategies used by the inhabitants of ancient Mesopotamia to describe and conceptualise the divine. Firstly, it focuses on how the polysemy and polyphony typical of cuneiform writing were skillfully used to express the multiple features of gods and goddesses. Subsequently, the text focuses on some of the oldest cuneiform sources ever known: the god lists, in which the many names and onomastic attributes of the divinities were listed, following a specific conceptual order. Finally, the importance of the name for the definition of a deity is investigated by examining the case of Marduk and Aššur, two gods who established their supremacy precisely through the accumulation of theonyms.