ニンギジッタ

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ニンギジッタ（Ningishzida、シュメール語：𒀭𒊩𒌆𒄑𒍣𒁕、DNIN-G̃IŠ-ZID-DA, おそらく「良い木の主」の意）は、メソポタミアの植物、地下世界、時には戦争を司る神であった。ニンギジッタは一般的に蛇と関連している。ドゥムジと同じく、1年のうちの一部の期間を死者の国で過ごすと信じられていた。また、父のニンアズと多くの機能を分担していた。

神話では通常、ニンギジッタは冥界に登場するが、アダパの神話では天空神アヌの門番の一人として描かれている。

名前[編集]

トーキルド・ヤコブセンは、シュメール語のニンギジッタという名前を「良い木の主」と説明することができると提唱した。この訳は、今日でもアッシリア学者達に受け入れられている[1][2]。dNi-gi-si-da, dNin-nigi-si-da, dNin-ki-zi-da, dNin-gi-iz-zi-da など、さまざまな音節の表記が知られている[3]。

「ニン（NIN）」は文脈によっては「女性」と訳されるが、シュメール語では文法的に中立であり、男性（ニンギジッタ、ニナズ、ニヌルタなど）と女性（ニンリル、ニンカシなど）の多くの神々の名前に見出すことができる[4]。ニンギジッタはギシバンダ（Gishbanda、小さな木）とも呼ばれる[5]。

機能[編集]

ニンギジッタの肩書は、植物や農業と結びついている[6]。また、家畜の飼料とされる草の話もよく出てくる[7]。植物の死は、彼が毎年冥界へ旅立つことと関連していた[8]。ウィルフレッド・G・ランバートなど一部のアッシリア学者によれば、彼の名前の「木」はブドウのことかもしれないとのことである。ニンギジッタとアルコール飲料（特にワイン）との関連はよく立証されており、例えばあるテキストでは、ビールの女神ニンカシと並んで彼を挙げており、彼の肩書きの一つは「宿屋の主」であった[9]。父であるニンアズと同様、ニンギジッタは蛇とも関連し、この蛇には神話のムシュス、ウシュムガル、バシュム、そして一説にはニラも含まれる[10]。また、冥界の神でもあり、その役割から「冥界の椅子持ち（侍従）」と呼ばれた[11]。


Ningishzida's titles connect him to plants and agriculture. He was frequently mentioned in connection with grass, which he was believed to provide for domestic animals.The death of vegetation was associated with his annual travel to the underworld.The "tree" in his name might be vine according to some Assyriologists, including Wilfred G. Lambert, and an association between him and alcoholic beverages (specifically wine) is well attested, for example one text mentions him alongside the beer goddess Ninkasi, while one of his titles was "lord of the innkeepers."

Like his father Ninazu, he was also associated with snakes, including the mythical mushussu, ushumgal and bashmu and in one case Nirah. He was also an underworld god, and in this role was known as the "chair bearer (or chamberlain) of the underworld." Frans Wiggermann on the basis of these similarities considers him and his father to be members of the group of "Transtigridian snake gods," who according to him shared a connection with the underworld, justice, vegetation and snakes.テンプレート:Sfn A further similarity between Ningishzida and his father was his occasional role as a warrior god, associated with victory (and as a result with the goddess Irnina, the personification of it).テンプレート:Sfn However, not all of their functions overlapped, as unlike Ninazu, Ningishzida never appears in the role of a divine healer.テンプレート:Sfn

According to Frans Wiggermann, Ningishzida's diverse functions can be considered different aspects of his perception as a "reliable god," well attested in Mesopotamian texts.テンプレート:Sfn

The constellation Hydra could serve as his symbol, though it was also associated with Ishtaran and Ereshkigal.テンプレート:Sfn

Worship[編集]

The worship of Ningishzida is attested for the first time in the Early Dynastic III period.テンプレート:Sfn His main cult center was Gishbanda,テンプレート:Sfn likely a rural settlementテンプレート:Sfn located somewhere between Lagash and Ur.テンプレート:Sfn His main temple was known simply as E-Gishbanda,テンプレート:Sfn "house of Gishbanda," and it was commonly listed alongside the main temple of his father Ninazu, E-Gidda.テンプレート:Sfn

He also had a temple in Lagash, the E-badbarra, "house, outer wall."テンプレート:Sfn Yet another one was built in Girsu by Gudea, though its name is unknown.テンプレート:Sfn This ruler considered him to be his personal god.テンプレート:Sfn In one of his inscriptions, Ningishzida is named a participant in a festival celebrating the marriage between Ningirsu and Bau.テンプレート:Sfn In another, he is credited with helping Gudea with building new temples.テンプレート:Sfn In a later incantation which served as a part of temple renovation rituals, referred to as The First Brick by Wilfred G. Lambert,テンプレート:Sfn Ningishzida is mentioned in a similar context alongside many other deities, such as Lisin, Gukishbanda, Kulla, Lahar and Ninshar.テンプレート:Sfn

In Ur he was worshiped in the temple E-niggina, "house of truth," known from an inscription of Sin-Iqisham stating it was rebuilt during his reign.テンプレート:Sfn He is attested in offering lists from that city from the Ur III and Old Babylonian periods, sometimes alongside Ningubalaga.テンプレート:Sfn In later sources, up to the reign of the Persian emperor Darius I, he sometimes appears in theophoric names, likely due to association with Ninazu, who retained a degree of relevance in the local pantheon.テンプレート:Sfn Much like in the case of his father, some of them used the dialectical Emesal form of his name, Umun-muzida.テンプレート:Sfn It is presumed that the cause of this was the role lamentation priests, who traditionally memorized Emesal compositions, played in the preservation of cults of underworld gods in Ur.テンプレート:Sfn

As early as in the Ur III period Ningishzida was introduced to Uruk.テンプレート:Sfn He was also present in Kamada, possibly located nearby, as attested in documents from the reign of Sin-kashid.テンプレート:Sfn During the reign of Marduk-apla-iddina I he was worshiped in a chapel in the Eanna complex, originally built during the reign of Old Babylonian king Anam.テンプレート:Sfn He continued to appear in theophoric names from neo-Assyrian, neo-Babylonian and Hellenistic Uruk, though only uncommonly.テンプレート:Sfn

Ningishzida was also worshiped in Isin, which was primarily the cult center of the medicine goddess Ninisina, but had multiple houses of worship dedicated to underworld deities as well, with the other examples being Nergal, Ugur, and an otherwise unknown most likely chthonic goddess Lakupittu who according to Andrew R. George was likely the tutelary deity of Lagaba near Kutha.テンプレート:Sfn

Further locations where he was worshiped include Umma, Larsa, Kuara, Nippur, Babylon, Eshnunna and Kisurra.テンプレート:Sfn From most of them evidence is only available from the Ur III or Old Babylonian periods, though in Babylon he still had a small cult site in Esagil in the neo-Babylonian period.テンプレート:Sfn A single object inscribed with a dedication to Ningishzida is also known from Susa, though it might have been brought there as booty from some Mesopotamian polity.テンプレート:Sfn

Associations with other deities[編集]

Ningishzida was the son of Ninazu and his wife Ningiridda.テンプレート:Sfn One of the only references to goddesses breastfeeding in Mesopotamian literature is a description of Ningirida and her son.テンプレート:Sfn His sisters were Amashilama and Labarshilama.テンプレート:Sfn

References to Ningishzida as a "scion" of Anu are probably meant to indicate the belief in a line consisting out of Anu, Enlil, Ninazu and finally Ningishzida, rather than the existence of an alternate tradition where he was the son of the sky god.テンプレート:Sfn

Multiple traditions existed regarding the identity of Ningishzida's wife, with the god list An = Anum listing two, Azimua (elsewhere also called Ninazimuaテンプレート:Sfn) and Ekurritum (not attested in such a role anywhere elseテンプレート:Sfn), while other sources favor Geshtinanna, identified with Belet-Seri.テンプレート:Sfn However, Azimua shared Gesthinanna's role as an underworld scribe,テンプレート:Sfnand her name could also function as a title of Geshtinanna, attested in contexts where she was identified as Ningishzida's wife.テンプレート:Sfn At the same time, Belet-Seri could also function as an epithet of Ashratum, the wife of Amurru, or of her Sumerian counterpart Gubarra, in at least one case leading to conflation of Amurru and Ningishzida and to an association between the former and Azimua and Ekurritum.テンプレート:Sfn In one case Ekurritum was simply identified as an alternate name of Ashratum as well.テンプレート:Sfn The tradition in which Gesthinanna was Ningishzida's wife had its origin in Lagash, and in seals from that city she is sometimes depicted alongside a mushussu, symbol of her husband, to indicate they're a couple.テンプレート:Sfn One inscription of Gudea refers to her as Ningishzida's "beloved wife."テンプレート:Sfn

Ningishzida's sukkal was Alla,テンプレート:Sfn a minor underworld god,テンプレート:Sfn depicted as a bald beardess man, without the horned crown associated with divinity.テンプレート:Sfn Wilfred G. Lambert notes that he was most likely another Dumuzi-like deity whose temporary death was described in laments.テンプレート:Sfn He is also attested in lists of so-called "seven conquered Enlils,"テンプレート:Sfn deities associated with Enmesharra.テンプレート:Sfn Another deity also identified as Ningishzida's sukkal was Ipahum or Ippu, a viper god, also known as the sukkal of his father Ninazu.テンプレート:Sfn Other deities who belonged to his court include Gishbandagirizal, Lugalsaparku, Lugalshude, Namengarshudu, Ushegテンプレート:Sfn and Irnina.テンプレート:Sfn

Ningishzida could be associated with Dumuzi, on account of their shared character as dying gods of vegetation.テンプレート:Sfn A lamentation text known as "In the Desert by the Early Grass" lists both of them among the mourned deities.テンプレート:Sfn The absence of both of them was believed to take place each year between mid-summer and mid-winter.テンプレート:Sfn The association is also present in astrological treatises.テンプレート:Sfn Some lamentations go as far as regarding Ningishzida and Dumuzi as one and the same.テンプレート:Sfn As dwellers of the underworld, both of them could be on occasion associated with Gilgamesh as well.テンプレート:Sfn

Another temporarily dying god Ningishzida could be associated with was Damu.テンプレート:Sfn

In some inscriptions of Gudea, Ningishzida was associated with Ningirsu, with one of them mentioning that he was tasked with delivering gifts for the latter's wife Bau.テンプレート:Sfn Such a role was customarily associated with trusted associates and close friends in ancient Mesopotamian culture, indicating that despite originally being unrelated, these two gods were envisioned as close to each other by Gudea.テンプレート:Sfn

Mythology[編集]

In the Middle Babylonian myth of Adapa, Ningishzida is one of the two doorkeepers of Anu's celestial palace, alongside Dumuzi.テンプレート:Sfn This myth appears to indicate that these two gods are present in heaven rather than underworld when they are dead, even though other Sumerian and Akkadian myths describe Ningishzida's journey to the underworld.テンプレート:Sfn Little is known about the circumstances of his annual return, though one text indicates an unidentified son of Ereshkigal was responsible for ordering it.テンプレート:Sfn

A reference to Ningishzida is present in the Epic of Gilgamesh.テンプレート:Sfn The eponymous hero's mother Ninsun mentions to Shamash that she is aware her son is destined to "dwell in the land of no return" with him.テンプレート:Sfn In another Gilgamesh myth, Death of Gilgamesh, the hero is promised a position in the underworld equal to that of Ningishzida.テンプレート:Sfn

Gallery[編集]

  • Serpent god Ningishzida on the libation vase of Gudea, circa 2100 BCE.jpg

    Ningishzida on the libation vase of Gudea, circa 2100 BCE

  • Girsu Gudea libation vase.jpg

    The "libation vase of Gudea" with the dragon Mušḫuššu, dedicated to Ningishzida, circa 2100 BCE (short chronology). The caduceus-like symbol (right) is interpreted as a representation of the god himself. Inscription: "To the god Ningiszida, his god, Gudea, Ensi (governor) of Lagash, for the prolongation of his life, has dedicated this"

  • Name of God Ningishzida on an inscription on a statue of Lagash ruler Ur-Ningirsu.jpg

    The name Ningishzida inscribed on a statue of Ur-Ningirsu.

  • Seal of Gudea, led by Ningishzida.jpg

    Seal of Gudea depicting him being led by Ningishzida (figure with snakes emerging from his shoulders)

  • Detail, headless statue dedicated to the Sumerian deity Ningishzida, 2600-2370 BCE. Iraq Museum.jpg

    Detail, headless statue dedicated to Ningishzida, 2600-2370 BCE. Iraq Museum.

Bibliography[編集]

External links[編集]

関連項目[編集]

  • 天狗（中国）：天の門番である点が、性質が一致している。

参照[編集]

  1. ↑ Wiggermann, 1998, p368
  2. ↑ Vacín, 2011, p253
  3. ↑ Wiggermann, 1998, p368
  4. ↑ Asher-Greve, Westenholz, 2013, pp6-7
  5. ↑ Wiggermann, 1998, p369
  6. ↑ Wiggermann, 1998, p369
  7. ↑ Wiggermann, 1998, pp369-370
  8. ↑ Wiggermann, 1998, p370
  9. ↑ Wiggermann, 1998, p370
  10. ↑ Wiggermann, 1998, p370
  11. ↑ Wiggermann, 1998, p371
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