Aya (goddess)
Aya (rarely Nin-Aya)テンプレート:Sfn was an Akkadian goddess of dawn, and the wife of Shamash, the sun god. Her Sumerian equivalent was Sherida, wife of Shamash's equivalent Utu.テンプレート:Sfn
目次
Character
Aya's name means dawn in Akkadian.テンプレート:Sfn She was associated with morning light and the rising sun.テンプレート:Sfn In this role she was called "morning-maker."テンプレート:Sfn It has also been suggested that the Sumerian name Sherida was a loan from Akkadian šērtum, "morning."テンプレート:Sfn Gebhard Selz notes that this would make her one of the first deities whose name has Akkadian origin to be integrated into the pantheons of Sumerian-speaking areas.テンプレート:Sfn Other such examples are Suen,テンプレート:Sfn a name of the moon god,テンプレート:Sfn and Ishtaran, a divine judge.テンプレート:Sfn Further attested names of the sun god's wife include Ninkar, Sudaĝ and Sudgan.テンプレート:Sfn
Her another primary function was that of a divine bride, as exemplified by her epithet kallatum ("bride," "daughter in law").テンプレート:Sfn As Shamash's wife she was regarded as epitome of beauty and charm.テンプレート:Sfn Shamash and Aya are the divine couple most often invoked together in seal inscriptions from Sippar, followed by Adad and Shala and Enki and Damkina.テンプレート:Sfn Aya was also commonly invoked to intercede with her husband on behalf of human devotees.テンプレート:Sfn This function is also well attested for other divine spouses, such as Ninmug and Shala.テンプレート:Sfn It has also been pointed out that in the case of Inanna, her sukkal Ninshubur fulfilled a similar role.テンプレート:Sfn
In art Aya was commonly depicted frontally.テンプレート:Sfn Many depictions highlighted her beauty and sexual charm.テンプレート:Sfn On seals from Sippar she was often depicted wearing a type of garment which exposed her right breast, meant to emphasize her qualities as a charming and attractive bride.テンプレート:Sfn Ishtar and Annunitum (who in Sippar functioned as a separate goddess, rather than an epithet) were depicted similarly.テンプレート:Sfn The existence of an emblem representing Aya is mentioned in texts from Sippar, but no detailed descriptions of it are known.テンプレート:Sfn
Association with other deities
Aya was regarded as the wife of Shamash, and thus the daughter-in-law of his parents Suen and Ningal and sister-in-law of Ishtar.テンプレート:Sfn Their daughters were Mamu (or Mamud), the goddess of dreamsテンプレート:Sfn and Kittum ("truth").テンプレート:Sfn According to Joan Goodnick Westenholz another child of the sun god and his wife was Ishum.テンプレート:Sfn However, due to confusion between Sudaĝ (a title of Aya, "golden glow"テンプレート:Sfn) and Sud (the tutelary goddess of Shuruppak, equated with Ninlil) the latter appears in the role Ishum's mother in a single myth.テンプレート:Sfn Manfred Krebernik assumes that Sud and Sudaĝ were only confused with each other rather than conflated or syncretised.テンプレート:Sfn
A single god list dated to the Middle Babylonian period or later equates Lahar with Aya and explains that the former should be understood as "Aya as the goddess of of caring for things," da-a šá ku-né-e.テンプレート:Sfn This equation is regarded as unusual, as Lahar was consistently regarded as male otherwise, and the evidence for connections between both goddesses and mortal women with herding sheep, a sphere of life Lahar was associated with, is limited.テンプレート:Sfn
Hurrian reception
Outside Mesopotamia Aya was incorporated into Hurrian religion under the name "Ayu-Ikalti,"テンプレート:Sfn derived from the phrase Aya kallatu.テンプレート:Sfn In Hurrian sources she was also viewed as the spouse of a sun god, Šimige.テンプレート:Sfn She is one of the Hurrian deities depicted in the Yazılıkaya sanctuary, where a relief of her can be seen in a procession of goddesses, between Nikkal and a figure who might represent Shaushka.テンプレート:Sfn
A trilingual Sumero-Hurro-Ugaritic god list from Ugarit attests the equivalence between Shamash (Utu), Šimige and the local sun goddess Shapash (Šapšu).テンプレート:Sfn Apparently to avoid the implications that Shapash had a wife, the scribes interpreted the name of Aya, present in the Sumerian original, as an unconventional writing of Ea.テンプレート:Sfn Instead of the Hurrian spelling of Aya, the name Eyan corresponds to him in the Hurrian column and Ugaritic one lists the local craftsman god Kothar-wa-Khasis.テンプレート:Sfn
Worship
While Aya is overall less well attested in textual records than major goddesses such as Ishtar, Nanaya, Ninlil or Ninisina,テンプレート:Sfn it is nonetheless assumed that she was a popular target of personal devotion,テンプレート:Sfn as she appears commonly in personal names and on seals.テンプレート:Sfn She was worshiped already in the Early Dynastic period,テンプレート:Sfn and appears in texts from Ur, as well as in the Abu Salabikh and Fara god lists.テンプレート:Sfn The name Sherida is already attested in theophoric names from Lagash from the same period, such as Ur-Sherida.テンプレート:Sfn In the Old Babylonian period Aya was one of the most popular goddesses,テンプレート:Sfn with only Ishtar appearing more often in sources such as personal letters.テンプレート:Sfn Ebabbar (Sumerian: "Shining white house"テンプレート:Sfn), Shamash's temple in Sippar, was the primary center of Aya's cult as well.テンプレート:Sfn In legal documents from that city, she often appears as a divine witness, alongside her husband, their daughter Mamu and Shamash's sukkal Bunene,テンプレート:Sfn the latter two also regarded as a couple.テンプレート:Sfn Manishtushu dedicated a mace head to "Nin-Aya" in Sippar.テンプレート:Sfn Samsu-iluna, one of the Old Babylonian kings, called himself "beloved of Shamash and Aya" and both renovated the Ebabbar and built walls around Sippar.テンプレート:Sfn
Naditu priestesses from Sippar were particularly closely associated with Aya: they addressed her as their mistress, commonly took theophoric names invoking her, and exclusively swore oaths by her.テンプレート:Sfn They were a class of women closely associated with Shamash.テンプレート:Sfn Their existence is particularly well attested in the Old Babylonian period,テンプレート:Sfn and it has been argued that the institution first developed around 1880 BCE, during the reign of Sumu-la-El of Babylon.テンプレート:Sfn Naditu lived in a building referred to as gagûm, conventionally translated as "cloister,"テンプレート:Sfn and Tonia Sharlach notes they can be compared to medieval Christian nuns.テンプレート:Sfn They are sometimes described as "priestesses" in modern literature, but while it is well attested that they were considered to be dedicated to a specific deity, there is little evidence for their involvement in religious activities other than personal prayer. It is not impossible they were understood as a fully separate social class.テンプレート:Sfn Family background of individual naditu varied, though they came predominantly from the higher strata of society.テンプレート:Sfn While many came from families of craftsmen, scribes or military officials, a number of them were daughters or sisters of kings.テンプレート:Sfn Both Zimri-Lim of Mari and Hammurabi of Babylon had naditu of Shamash among their female family members.テンプレート:Sfn
It has been argued Aya was less prominent in the other city associated with Shamash, Larsa, where she doesn't appear in official lists of offerings.テンプレート:Sfn It is assumed that the Ebabbar in this city was nonetheless regarded as dedicated to her alongside Shamash.テンプレート:Sfn Some references are also present in texts from the Neo-Babylonian period, with one text mentioning the priests from Larsa sent jewelry of Aya and of the "divine daughter of Ebabbar" to Uruk for repairs.テンプレート:Sfn References to a "treasury of Shamash and Aya" are known too.テンプレート:Sfn Paul-Alain Beaulieu additionally proposes that a goddess only known by the epithet Belet Larsa ("Lady of Larsa"), who appears in Neo-Babylonian letters, might be Aya.テンプレート:Sfn
A sanctuary dedicated to Aya, Eidubba ("house of storage bins") also existed in Assur.テンプレート:Sfn A further house of worship dedicated to her, mentioned in the Canonical Temple List, was known as Edimgalanna ("house, great bond of heaven"), but its location is unknown.テンプレート:Sfn In Seleucid Uruk, she was among the goddesses celebrated during the New Year festival.テンプレート:Sfn
Aya was also worshiped outside Mesopotamia in Mari.テンプレート:Sfn She appears in theophoric names of women from this city with comparable frequency to her husband Shamash and Dagan, the head god of inland Syria,テンプレート:Sfn though less commonly than Annu, Ishtar, Ishara, Kakka (regarded as a goddess in this city), Mamma and Admu.テンプレート:Sfn Examples include Aya-lamassi, Aya-ummi and Yatara-Aya.テンプレート:Sfn
Uncertain attestations
Manfred Krebernik assumes that in texts from Ebla, the name Ninkar refers to the spouse of a sun deity, who he assumed was seen as male in this city.テンプレート:Sfn Alfonso Archi instead concludes that the deity was primarily female based on lexical evidence.テンプレート:Sfn Joan Goodnick Westenholz proposed that Ninkar in Eblaite texts should be interpreted as Ninkarrak rather than the phonetically similar but more obscure Mesopotamian Ninkar.テンプレート:Sfn Occasional shortening of Ninkarrak's name to "Ninkar" is known from Mesopotamian sources as well.テンプレート:Sfn The identification of Eblaite Ninkar with Ninkarrak is also accepted by Archi.テンプレート:Sfn
Mythology
Buduhudug, a mythical mountain where the sun was believed to set, was regarded as "the entrance of Shamash to Aya" (nēreb dŠamaš <ana> dAya) - the place where they were able to reunite each day after Shamash finished his journey through the sky.テンプレート:Sfnテンプレート:Sfn
In the "Standard Babylonian" version of the Epic of Gilgamesh, Ninsun during her prayer to Shamash asks Aya three times to intercede on behalf of her son Gilgamesh to guarantee his safety both during the day and the night.テンプレート:Sfn Ninsun states that the optimal time for Aya to appeal to her husband is right after sunset, when he returns home from his daily journey.テンプレート:Sfn
ウトゥ
ウトゥはイナンナの双子の兄でテンプレート:Sfnテンプレート:Sfn、イナンナは天の女主人で、彼女の領域には様々な力が含まれているテンプレート:Sfnテンプレート:Sfn。シュメールの文献では、イナンナとウトゥは非常に親密であったとされているテンプレート:Sfn。実際、彼らの関係はしばしば不倫に近いテンプレート:Sfnテンプレート:Sfn。ウトゥは通常、月の神ナンナとその妻ニンガルの子であるがテンプレート:Sfnテンプレート:Sfn、アンまたはエンリルの子として描かれることもあるテンプレート:Sfnテンプレート:Sfn。彼の妻は女神シェリダ（Sherida）で、後にアッカド語でアヤ（Aya）と呼ばれるテンプレート:Sfnテンプレート:Sfnテンプレート:Sfn。
シェリダは美しさ、出産と性愛の女神であるがテンプレート:Sfn、光は生まれつき美しいと考えられているか、あるいは農業の生育を促進する太陽の役割によると考えられるテンプレート:Sfn。彼らには二人の子供がいたと考えられている。女神キトゥ（Kittu）は「真理」を意味し、神ミシャル（Misharu）は「正義」を意味するテンプレート:Sfn。古代バビロニア時代（紀元前1830年頃-紀元前1531年頃）には、シェリダとそれに続くウトゥはテンプレート:仮リンクと関連づけられたが、これは自らの生命を神に捧げるクロイスター女性集団であったテンプレート:Sfn。ウトゥの車夫テンプレート:仮リンクは時々彼の息子として描かれるテンプレート:Sfnテンプレート:Sfn。ブネニは古代バビロニア時代、シッパルとウルクで正義の神として独立して崇拝されテンプレート:Sfnテンプレート:Sfn、アッシュルでも崇拝されたテンプレート:Sfnテンプレート:Sfn。夢の神テンプレート:仮リンクは彼の息子とも言われている[1]。 (wikipedia：ウトゥより）
