Kubaba
Encyclopedia
Kubaba is the only queen on the Sumerian King List
, which states she reigned for 100 years – roughly in the Early Dynastic III period (ca. 2500-2330 BC) of Sumerian history
. Most versions of the king list place her alone in her own dynasty, the 3rd Dynasty of Kish
, following the defeat of Sharrumiter of Mari
, but other versions combine her with the 4th dynasty, that followed the primacy of the king of Akshak
. Before becoming monarch, the king list says she was a tavern-keeper.
The Weidner Chronicle is a propagandistic letter, attempting to predate the shrine of Marduk
there to an early period, and purporting to show that each of the kings who had neglected its proper rites had lost the primacy of Sumer. It contains a brief account of rise of "the house of Kubaba" occurring in the reign of Puzur-Nirah of Akshak:
. In the Hurrian
area she may be identified with Kebat, or Hepat
, one title of the Hurrian Mother Goddess Hannahannah
(from Hurrian hannah, "mother"). Abdi-Kheba (= the servant of Kheba), was the palace mayor, ruling Jerusalem at the time of the Amarna letters
(1350 BC).
Kubaba became the tutelary goddess who protected the ancient Syria
n city of Carchemish
on the upper Euphrates
, in the late Hurrian – Early Hittite
period. Relief carvings, now at the Museum of Anatolian Antiquities, Ankara
, show her seated, wearing a cylindrical headdress like the polos and holding a circular mirror in one hand and the poppy capsule
or pomegranate
in the other. She plays a role in Luwian
texts, and a minor role in Hittite texts, mainly in Hurrian religious rituals.
According to Mark Munn (Munn 2004), her cult later spread and her name was adapted for the main goddess of the Hittite successor-kingdoms in Anatolia
, which later developed into the Phrygia
n matar (mother) or matar kubileya
whose image with inscriptions appear in rock-cut sculptures.
Her Lydia
n name was Kuvav or Kufav which Ionian Greeks
transcribed Kybêbê, not Kybele
; Jan Bremmer notes in this context the seventh-century Semonides, who calls one of her Hellene followers a kybêbos, and he observes that in the following century she has been further Hellenized by Hipponax
as "Kybêbê, daughter of Zeus
". The Phrygian goddess otherwise bears little resemblance to Kubaba, who was a sovereign deity at Sardis
, known to Greeks as Kybebe.
Sumerian king list
The Sumerian King List is an ancient manuscript originally recorded in the Sumerian language, listing kings of Sumer from Sumerian and neighboring dynasties, their supposed reign lengths, and the locations of "official" kingship...
, which states she reigned for 100 years – roughly in the Early Dynastic III period (ca. 2500-2330 BC) of Sumerian history
History of Sumer
The history of Sumer, taken to include the prehistoric Ubaid and Uruk periods, spans the 5th to 3rd millennia BC, ending with the downfall of the Third Dynasty of Ur around 2004 BC, followed by a transition period of Amorite states before the rise of Babylonia in the 18th century BC. The first...
. Most versions of the king list place her alone in her own dynasty, the 3rd Dynasty of Kish
Kish (Sumer)
Kish is modern Tell al-Uhaymir , and was an ancient city of Sumer. Kish is located some 12 km east of Babylon, and 80 km south of Baghdad ....
, following the defeat of Sharrumiter of Mari
Mari, Syria
Mari was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city, located 11 kilometers north-west of the modern town of Abu Kamal on the western bank of Euphrates river, some 120 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor, Syria...
, but other versions combine her with the 4th dynasty, that followed the primacy of the king of Akshak
Akshak
Akshak was a city of ancient Sumer, situated on the northern boundary of Akkad, sometimes identified with Babylonian Upi . Its exact location is uncertain. Classicalwriters located it where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers...
. Before becoming monarch, the king list says she was a tavern-keeper.
The Weidner Chronicle is a propagandistic letter, attempting to predate the shrine 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...
there to an early period, and purporting to show that each of the kings who had neglected its proper rites had lost the primacy of Sumer. It contains a brief account of rise of "the house of Kubaba" occurring in the reign of Puzur-Nirah of Akshak:
"In the reign of Puzur-Nirah, king of Akšak, the freshwater fishermen of Esagila were catching fish for the meal of the great lord Marduk; the officers of the king took away the fish. The fisherman was fishing when 7 (or 8) days had passed [...] in the house of Kubaba, the tavern-keeper [...] they brought to Esagila. At that time BROKEN[4] anew for Esagila [...] Kubaba gave bread to the fisherman and gave water, she made him offer the fish to Esagila. Marduk, the king, the prince of the Apsû, favored her and said: "Let it be so!" He entrusted to Kubaba, the tavern-keeper, sovereignty over the whole world." (lines 38-45)
Goddess
Shrines in her honour spread throughout 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...
. In the Hurrian
Hurrians
The Hurrians were a people of the Ancient Near East who lived in Northern Mesopotamia and adjacent regions during the Bronze Age.The largest and most influential Hurrian nation was the kingdom of Mitanni. The population of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia to a large part consisted of Hurrians, and...
area she may be identified with Kebat, or Hepat
Hebat
Hebat, also transcribed Kheba or Khepat, was the mother goddess of the Hurrians, known as "the mother of all living".- Family :Hebat is the consort of Teshub and the mother of Sarruma. Originally, as Kheba or "Kubau" it is thought she may have had a Southern Mesopotamian origin, being the divinised...
, one title of the Hurrian Mother Goddess Hannahannah
Hannahannah
Hannahannah is a Hurrian Mother Goddess related to or influenced by the pre-Sumerian Goddess Inanna, although the similarity in name to the Biblical Hannah, mother of Samuel ; the Canaanite Anath, and the Christian St Anne are coincidental, the name Hannah in Hebrew having a different etymology...
(from Hurrian hannah, "mother"). Abdi-Kheba (= the servant of Kheba), was the palace mayor, ruling Jerusalem at the time of the Amarna letters
Amarna letters
The Amarna letters are an archive of correspondence on clay tablets, mostly diplomatic, between the Egyptian administration and its representatives in Canaan and Amurru during the New Kingdom...
(1350 BC).
Kubaba became the tutelary goddess who protected the ancient Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n city of Carchemish
Carchemish
Carchemish or Kargamış was an important ancient city of the Mitanni, Hittite and Neo Assyrian Empires, now on the frontier between Turkey and Syria. It was the location of an important battle between the Babylonians and Egyptians, mentioned in the Bible...
on the upper Euphrates
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
, in the late Hurrian – Early Hittite
Hittites
The Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...
period. Relief carvings, now at the Museum of Anatolian Antiquities, Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
, show her seated, wearing a cylindrical headdress like the polos and holding a circular mirror in one hand and the poppy capsule
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
or pomegranate
Pomegranate
The pomegranate , Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall.Native to the area of modern day Iran, the pomegranate has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. From there it spread to Asian areas such as the Caucasus as...
in the other. She plays a role in Luwian
Luwian language
Luwian is an extinct language of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family. Luwian is closely related to Hittite, and was among the languages spoken during the second and first millennia BC by population groups in central and western Anatolia and northern Syria...
texts, and a minor role in Hittite texts, mainly in Hurrian religious rituals.
According to Mark Munn (Munn 2004), her cult later spread and her name was adapted for the main goddess of the Hittite successor-kingdoms in Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
, which later developed into the Phrygia
Phrygia
In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...
n matar (mother) or matar kubileya
Cybele
Cybele , was a Phrygian form of the Earth Mother or Great Mother. As with Greek Gaia , her Minoan equivalent Rhea and some aspects of Demeter, Cybele embodies the fertile Earth...
whose image with inscriptions appear in rock-cut sculptures.
Her Lydia
Lydia
Lydia was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern Turkish provinces of Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian....
n name was Kuvav or Kufav which Ionian Greeks
Ionia
Ionia is an ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey, the region nearest İzmir, which was historically Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements...
transcribed Kybêbê, not Kybele
Cybele
Cybele , was a Phrygian form of the Earth Mother or Great Mother. As with Greek Gaia , her Minoan equivalent Rhea and some aspects of Demeter, Cybele embodies the fertile Earth...
; Jan Bremmer notes in this context the seventh-century Semonides, who calls one of her Hellene followers a kybêbos, and he observes that in the following century she has been further Hellenized by Hipponax
Hipponax
Hipponax of Ephesus and later Clazomenae was an Ancient Greek iambic poet who composed verses depicting the vulgar side of life in Ionian society in the sixth century BC...
as "Kybêbê, daughter of Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
". The Phrygian goddess otherwise bears little resemblance to Kubaba, who was a sovereign deity at Sardis
Sardis
Sardis or Sardes was an ancient city at the location of modern Sart in Turkey's Manisa Province...
, known to Greeks as Kybebe.