Aya (goddess)
Encyclopedia
Aya in Akkadian mythology was a mother goddess
, consort of the sun god Shamash
. She developed from the Sumerian goddess Šherida, consort of Utu
.
n gods, attested in inscriptions from pre-Sargon
ic times, her name (as "Aya") was a popular personal name during the Ur III
period (21st-20th century BCE), making her among the oldest Semitic deities known in the region. As the Sumerian pantheon formalized Utu became the primary sun god, Šherida was syncretized
into a subordinate role as an aspect of the sun alongside other less powerful solar deities (c.f. Ninurta
), and took on the role of Utu's consort.
When the Semitic
Akkadians moved into Mesopotamia, their pantheon became syncretized to the Sumerian. Inanna
to Ishtar
, Nanna
to Sin
, Utu to Shamash, etc. The minor mesopotamian sun goddess Aya became syncretized into Šherida during this process. The goddess Aya in this aspect appears to have had wide currency among Semitic peoples, she is mentioned in god-lists in Ugarit
and shows up in personal names in the Bible
(Gen 36:24, Sam 3:7, 1 Chr 7:28).
and Sippar
.
By at latest the Neo-Babylonian period (and possibly much earlier), Shamash and Aya were associated with a practice known as Hasadu, which is loosely translated as a "sacred marriage." A room would be set aside with a bed, and on certain occasions the temple statues of Shamash and Aya would be brought together and laid on the bed to ceremonially renew their vows. This ceremony was also practiced by the cults of Marduk
with Sarpanitum, Nabu
with Tashmetum
, and Anu
with Antu.
Mother goddess
Mother goddess is a term used to refer to a goddess who represents motherhood, fertility, creation or embodies the bounty of the Earth. When equated with the Earth or the natural world such goddesses are sometimes referred to as Mother Earth or as the Earth Mother.Many different goddesses have...
, consort of the sun god Shamash
Shamash
Shamash was a native Mesopotamian deity and the sun god in the Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian pantheons. Shamash was the god of justice in Babylonia and Assyria, corresponding to Sumerian Utu...
. She developed from the Sumerian goddess Šherida, consort of Utu
Utu
Utu is the Sun god in Sumerian mythology, the son of the moon god Nanna and the goddess Ningal. His brother and sisters are Ishkur and Inanna and Erishkigal....
.
History
Šherida is one of the oldest MesopotamiaMesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
n gods, attested in inscriptions from pre-Sargon
Sargon
Sargon is an Assyrian name, originally Šarru-kin , which may refer to:- People :*Sargon of Akkad , also known as Sargon the Great or Sargon I, Mesopotamian king...
ic times, her name (as "Aya") was a popular personal name during the Ur III
Third Dynasty of Ur
The Third Dynasty of Ur, also known as the Neo-Sumerian Empire or the Ur III Empire refers simultaneously to a 21st to 20th century BC Sumerian ruling dynasty based in the city of Ur and a short-lived territorial-political state that some historians regard as a nascent empire...
period (21st-20th century BCE), making her among the oldest Semitic deities known in the region. As the Sumerian pantheon formalized Utu became the primary sun god, Šherida was syncretized
Syncretism
Syncretism is the combining of different beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term means "combining", but see below for the origin of the word...
into a subordinate role as an aspect of the sun alongside other less powerful solar deities (c.f. Ninurta
Ninurta
Ninurta in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology was the god of Lagash, identified with Ningirsu with whom he may always have been identical...
), and took on the role of Utu's consort.
When the Semitic
Semitic
In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages...
Akkadians moved into Mesopotamia, their pantheon became syncretized to the Sumerian. Inanna
Inanna
Inanna, also spelled Inana is the Sumerian goddess of sexual love, fertility, and warfare....
to Ishtar
Ishtar
Ishtar is the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, war, and sex. She is the counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the cognate north-west Semitic goddess Astarte.-Characteristics:...
, Nanna
Nanna
-Mythology:* Nanna or Sin , god of the moon in Sumerian mythology, also called Suen* Nanna , goddess and wife of the god Baldr in Norse mythology-People:* Nanna , a Scandinavian female name...
to Sin
Sin (mythology)
Sin or Nanna was the god of the moon in Mesopotamian mythology. Nanna is a Sumerian deity, the son of Enlil and Ninlil, and became identified with Semitic Sin. The two chief seats of Nanna's/Sin's worship were Ur in the south of Mesopotamia and Harran in the north.- Name :The original meaning of...
, Utu to Shamash, etc. The minor mesopotamian sun goddess Aya became syncretized into Šherida during this process. The goddess Aya in this aspect appears to have had wide currency among Semitic peoples, she is mentioned in god-lists in Ugarit
Ugarit
Ugarit was an ancient port city in the eastern Mediterranean at the Ras Shamra headland near Latakia, Syria. It is located near Minet el-Beida in northern Syria. It is some seven miles north of Laodicea ad Mare and approximately fifty miles east of Cyprus...
and shows up in personal names in the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
(Gen 36:24, Sam 3:7, 1 Chr 7:28).
In Myth
Aya is Akkadian for "dawn", and by the Akkadian period she was firmly associated with the rising sun, and with sexual love and youth. The Babylonian's sometimes referred to her as kallatu (the bride), and as such she was known as the wife of Shamash. In fact, she was worshipped as part of a separate-but-attached cult in Shamash's e-babbar temples in LarsaLarsa
Larsa was an important city of ancient Sumer, the center of the cult of the sun god Utu. It lies some 25 km southeast of Uruk in Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate, near the east bank of the Shatt-en-Nil canal at the site of the modern settlement Tell as-Senkereh or Sankarah.-History:According to...
and Sippar
Sippar
Sippar was an ancient Near Eastern city on the east bank of the Euphrates river, located at the site of modern Tell Abu Habbah in Iraq's Babil Governorate, some 60 km north of Babylon and 30 km southeast of Baghdad....
.
By at latest the Neo-Babylonian period (and possibly much earlier), Shamash and Aya were associated with a practice known as Hasadu, which is loosely translated as a "sacred marriage." A room would be set aside with a bed, and on certain occasions the temple statues of Shamash and Aya would be brought together and laid on the bed to ceremonially renew their vows. This ceremony was also practiced by the cults of Marduk
Marduk
Marduk was the Babylonian name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi , started to...
with Sarpanitum, Nabu
Nabu
Nabu is the Assyrian and Babylonian god of wisdom and writing, worshipped by Babylonians as the son of Marduk and his consort, Sarpanitum, and as the grandson of Ea. Nabu's consort was Tashmetum....
with Tashmetum
Tashmetum
Tashmetum is an Akkadian goddess, the consort of the god Nabu....
, and Anu
Anu
In Sumerian mythology, Anu was a sky-god, the god of heaven, lord of constellations, king of gods, Consort of Antu, spirits and demons, and dwelt in the highest heavenly regions. It was believed that he had the power to judge those who had committed crimes, and that he had created the stars as...
with Antu.