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BIBLIOTECA DELL’OFFICINA DI STUDI MEDIEVALI

16.2
 Religion in the histoRy
of euRopean CultuRe
Proceedings of the 9th EASR Annual Conference
and IAHR Special Conference, 14-17 September 2009, Messina (Italy)

edited by
Giulia Sfameni Gasparro - Augusto Cosentino - Mariangela Monaca

2013
Il volume è pubblicato con il contributo dell’Università degli Studi di Messina.

Religion in the History of European Culture : Proceedings of the 9th EASR Annual
Conference and IAHR special Conference, 14-17 September 2009, Messina (Italy) /
edited by Giulia Sfameni Gasparro, Augusto Cosentino, Mariangela Monaca. – Palermo :
Oficina di Studi Medievali, 2013.
ISBN 978-88-6485-050-4 (Intera opera)
(Biblioteca dell’Oficina di Studi Medievali ; 16.2)
1. Religione – Europa – Atti di Convegno – Messina - 2009
I. Sfameni Gasparro, Giulia
II. Cosentino, Augusto
III. Monaca, Mariangela
291.1 CDD-21
ISBN 978-88-6485-073-3 (vol. 2)

Cip: Biblioteca dell’Oficina di Studi Medievali

I saggi qui pubblicati sono stati sottoposti a “Peer Review” / The essays published here have been “Peer Reviewed”

Collana diretta da:

Armando Bisanti, Olivier Boulnois, José Martinez Gasquez, Alessandro Musco, Luca Parisoli, Salva-
dor Rus Ruino, Christian Trottmann, Pere Villalba i Varneda.

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Prima edizione, Palermo, aprile 2013

Stampa: FOTOGRAF – Palermo
Graica editoriale: Alberto Musco
Editing redazionale: Giuliana Musotto
 Index

Giulia Sfameni Gasparro

Easr Conference. Introduction .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . XVII

Gherardo Gnoli (Presidente SIRS)

Saluto ai Congressisti ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... XXXI

Lista autori ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .XXXIII

Session 1
“Religious Europe” in the Mediterranean context: between Asia
and Africa. Contacts and inluences / “Europa religiosa” nel con-
testo mediterraneo: tra Asia e Africa. Contatti e inluenze... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1

A1) Antiquity / Antichità ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1

Pia De Simone
Le opere straordinarie e la divinità: il rapporto tra ta; daimovnia e la
qeiovteς nel paganesimo e cristianesimo antico alla luce del Contra Celsum ... ... ... 3

Carlo Donà
La cerva cornuta ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..23

Giorgio Ferri
The Bond between Rome and Its Gods. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..39

Mariangela Monaca
Ugo Bianchi ed il metodo storico-comparativo: note di religione
greca e romana .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..61

Rita Rescigno
Note preliminari allo studio degli dèi domestici: Penates e Lares ... ... ... ... ... ... ..81

Sergio Ribichini
Religione fenicia e Storia delle religioni: una lunga stagione di studi . ... ... ... ... ..97
VIII Index

Pietro Mander
Hekate’s roots in the Sumerian-Babylonian Pantheon According to
the Chaldean Oracles ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 115

Carlo Santaniello
An Akkadian Myth and the Daimon’s Fault in Empedocles fr. 115 . ... ... ... ... ... 133

Emilio Suárez de la Torre

La religión en el espacio de la cultura griega: la multifuncionalidad de Apolo ... 147

Chiara Terranova
La religione come elemento uniicante nei rapporti tra popoli e cul-
ture: alcune osservazioni su tre aspetti del mito e del culto aniareo ... ... ... ... ... 159

Ina Wunn & Davina Grojnowski

The Religion of Ancient Malta – an Evolutionary Approach ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 173

A2) Late Antiquity / Età tardo-antica ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 185

Vincenzo Aiello
Conlitti religiosi nell’Africa vandala nelle pagine della Historia
persecutionis Africanae provinciae .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 187

Concetta Aloe Spada

Conversione e miracoli nella letteratura cristiana apocrifa... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 201

Rosalba Arcuri
Vescovi e barbari dinanzi alla crisi dell’impero: Orienzio e la Gallia
del V secolo ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 211

Maria Antonietta Barbàra

Prospero di Aquitania e la sua conoscenza della lingua greca.. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 231

Rossana Barcellona
Ebrei e cristiani così vicini così lontani. Alcuni aspetti della norma-
tiva antigiudaica occidentale nella tardo-antichità ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 241

Elena Caliri
Gregorio Magno e l’Africa ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 257
Index IX

Augusto Cosentino
Le origini dello gnosticismo: a quarant’anni dal Congresso di Messina (1966) 267

Lietta De Salvo
Teoderico e la “tolleranza” religiosa. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 283

David W. Kim
Thomasine Community and Its Textualization in Late Antiquity. ... ... ... ... ... ... 293

Claudia Neri
Ai primordi dell’Europa: il movimento monastico. Alcune conside-
razioni generali su modelli e funzioni... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 311

Teresa Sardella
Ebrei e cristiani tra somiglianze e dissimiglianze: cibo e sesso nelle
prime decretali .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 319

Giovanni Tosetti
Il valore teologico della bellezza poetica: la proposta di Gregorio
Nazianzeno fra innovazione e tradizione.. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 341

Marco Toti
Alcune osservazioni sul lessico e la prassi ascetica in ambito cristia-
no-orientale e stoico.. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 357

B) Middle Ages / Medioevo... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 369

Giuseppe Allegro
Fede, rivelazione, teologia in Pietro Abelardo.. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 371

Luciano Catalioto
Monachesimo greco e Chiesa latina nella Sicilia normanna: labora-
torio culturale e sperimentazione politica . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 383

Vincenzo M. Corseri
Nicola Cusano e Guillaume Dufay, ovvero l’armonia come dottrina.
Note per una comparazione tra pensiero religioso e musica nella pri-
ma metà del XV secolo . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 397
X Index

Fabio Cusimano
Il monachesimo benedettino come fattore uniicante per l’Europa
altomedievale ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 407

Paola D’Aiello
Una rilessione sulle Wªridªt wa Ṭaqdīsªt di SohravardÌ, tra neopla-
tonismo e zoroastrismo . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 417

Salvatore D’Agostino
L’Expositio super Apocalypsi di Arnau de Vilanova ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 425

Nuccio D’Anna
I monaci Culdei d’Irlanda . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 439

Carla Del Zotto

Dalla religione all’identità nazionale: i popoli del Nord .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 453

Saverio Guida
Il punto su trovatori e catarismo ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 469

Britt Istoft
Medieval Catharism as a Mediterranean Phenomenon? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 481

Pekka Tolonen
False prophets and corrupt Clergy. Drawing the Boundary of Sacred
in the Early Thirteenth Century Southern France . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 493

C) Modern Ages / Età moderna ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 503

Carmelina Gugliuzzo
Popular Forms of Religious Association in Malta during Modern Age ... ... ... ... 505

Pietro Ioly Zorattini

Conversioni di «infedeli» a Venezia tra la ine della Repubblica ari-
stocratica e l’inizio della Restaurazione ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 519

Raffaele Manduca
Due centri una periferia. Strutture ecclesiastiche e dinamiche istitu-
zionali nella Sicilia spagnola ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 533
Index XI

Maria Luisa Tobar

Il teatro come addottrinamento religioso: il caso della Madonna del-
la Lettera di Añorbe y Corregel ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 543

D) Contemporary Age / Età contemporanea ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 557

Xicoténcatl Martínez-Ruiz
Entering the Heart (hṛdayam): Soteriology, sacred texts, and beco-
ming a temple of bliss in Abhinavagupta’s Mālinī-vārttika ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 559

Fabio Mora
Protestantesimo europeo e protestantesimo americano ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 571

Olga Breskaya
Christian Tradition and Contemporary Practice in Eastern Ortho-
doxy: How Human Values talk about Religion. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 583

Daniela Dumbravă
Theology and History of Religions in the Middle East.
A Brief Account: Fr. André Scrima, spiritual and peace mediator in
Libanon (1970-1980) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 597

VOLUME 2

Session 2
The History of the “History of Religions” / La storia della “Storia
delle Religioni”. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 611

A) A European “invention”? / Una “invenzione” europea? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 611
B) Relections on the religious phenomenon and theories of culture /
Rilessioni sul fenomeno religioso e teorie della cultura.. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 611

Leo Lestingi
Secolarizzazione e deprivatizzazione della religione: il contributo di
Peter L. Berger .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 613

Tiina Mahlamäki
The Reception of Emanuel Swedenborg in Finnish Newspapers in
the 19th Century . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 621
XII Index

C) Methodologies and theories on the origin and nature of religion:

the contribution of European culture and the current scientiic de-
bate / Metodi e teorie sull’origine e sulla natura della religione: il
contributo della cultura europea e l’odierno dibattito scientiico ... ... ... ... ... ... 631

Liviu Damian
The Cognitive and the Existential Dimension of Theology and Hi-
storiography and its Societal Implications in the Post-modern Epi-
stemological Dilemma .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 633

Rosella Faraone
Religione e ilosoia nel pensiero di Giovanni Gentile . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 645

Giusi Furnari Luvarà

Filosoia e religione nel pensiero di Benedetto Croce: una linea di lettura .. ... ... 661

Anita Stasulane
The Creating of Rituals: the Ritualized Behaviour of Theosophists ... ... ... ... ... 673

Session 3
Meetings and conlicts between peoples and cultures: the role of re-
ligions in the European scenario. From Antiquity to the present day
/ Incontri e scontri tra popoli e culture: il ruolo delle religioni nello
scenario europeo. Dall’antichità ai nostri giorni. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 687

Edgar da Silva Gomes - Elton de Oliveira Nunes

Storia delle religioni in Brasile: Un panorama dell’inluenza politi-
co-culturale europea.. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 689

Ney de Souza
L’inlusso della religione europea nella cultura brasiliana. Dalla reli-
gione magica alla religione critica ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 697

Salvatore Drago
Protestantesimo liberale e cattolicesimo conservatore? Il ruolo del-
le religioni per la formazione del pensiero economico nell’Europa
in età moderna ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 709
Index XIII

Sarah Ljubibratic
Jewish Slaves in the Mediterranean Sea in the context of the Roman
Inquisition in Malta (XVI-XVIIIth Centuries) . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 725

Andrei Oişteanu
Christians versus Jews in Central-Eastern Europe. Stereotypes and
accusations: from deicide to ritual infanticide .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 735

Barbara Sturnega
La missione profetica di San Francesco per il mondo musulmano: la
vita e le opere dell’islamologo italiano Padre Giulio Basetti Sani ... ... ... ... ... ... 751

Session 4
Europe: centre for the “diffusion” of religious traditions and pole
of “attraction”. From Antiquity to the present day / Europa: centro
per la “diffusione” delle tradizioni religiose e polo di “attrazione”.
Dall’antichità ai nostri giorni... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 761

Andrea Borella
Il Destino Americano di una Religione Europea: gli Amish. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 763

Giovanna Costanzo
Le radici cristiane dell’Europa in Paul Ricoeur ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 775

Shemsi Krasniqi
Ancient Beliefs in Modern Times – The Case of Kosovo ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 783

Lucrezia Lorenzini
Antigiudaismo religioso e antigiudaismo politico-sociale tra
silenzio e memoria futuri .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 793

Cesare Magazzù
Paolo VI e l’Europa... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 805

Lucrezia Piraino
Rahel Varnaghen: il paradosso dell’identità ebraica nei salotti
illuministici berlinesi ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 817
XIV Index

Session 5
Religion: Art and Archeology / Religione: Arte e Archeologia ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 825

Giancarlo Germanà Bozza

Le aree sacre presso i porti nelle città della Sicilia orientale ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 827

Lorenzo Guzzardi - Filippa Marchese - Simona Sirugo

Palazzolo Acreide (SR) – Chiesa Madre di San Nicolò. La
ricerca archeologica nella Chiesa di San Nicolò; nuovi dati
sulla tradizione religiosa ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 839

Valeria Kosiakova
Reconsidering St. Basil’s Cathedral Architecture: Between
Asia and Europe.. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 849

Panel 9
From One Side to the Other of the Mediterranean Sea in Late Antiq-
uity: Religious Traditions in Comparison / Da una sponda all’altra
del Mediterraneo nella Tarda Antichità: tradizioni religiose a confronto ... ... ... 855

Ennio Sanzi - Carla Sfameni

Introduzione .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 857

Angela Maria Mazzanti

Il lovgoı nell’uomo. Questioni antropologiche nelle opere
sulla creazione di Filone di Alessandria ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 861

Ilaria Ramelli
Bardaisan as a Christian Philosopher: A Reassessment of His Christology . ... ... 873

Maria Vittoria Cerutti

‘Le vie’ o ‘la via’? Tra identità nazionali e prospettive univer-
salistiche nel paganesimo tardoantico... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 889

Luther H. Martin
The Mithraic Diaspora and the Continuity of Cult Identity,
from Second to Fourth Century AD.. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 911
Index XV

Panayotis Pachis
The Use of Felicitas and Aeternitas in the Coins of the Roman
Empire: The Case of Isis/Sarapis Cult .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 923

Carla Sfameni
Immagini e identità religiose tra pagani e cristiani nella Tarda
Antichità: la documentazione di domus e ville . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 941

Anna Multari
La componente magica nei papiri magico-medicali copti ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 963

Ennio Sanzi
Spigolature storico-religiose su testimonianze in lingua copta
relative agli dèi egiziani ed alla magia.. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 971

Panel 10
Mysteries, Dionysism, Orphism: analogies, tangencies and differences
/ Misteri, Dionisismo, Orismo: tra analogie, tangenze e differenze ... ... ... ... ... 983

Concetta Giuffré Scibona

Introduzione .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 985

Alberto Bernabé
Novità sul Papiro di Derveni. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 999

Paola Corrente
Paralleli di Dioniso con le divinità del Vicino Oriente . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..1011

Richard Gordon
On Typologies and History: “Orphic Themes” in Mithraism .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ..1023

Ana I. Jiménez San Cristóbal

Novità nelle laminette oriche ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..1049

Miguel Herrero de Jáuregui

Cristianizzazioni critiche e moderne dell’orismo: l’omofobia sacramentale .. ..1063

Francesco Massa
I rapporti tra Dioniso e il Cristianesimo nella storiograia reli-
giosa europea (XIX – XX sec.). ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..1073
XVI Index

Panel 15
History of religions as comparative history: West, the Other and the
origin of the religious fact / Storia delle religioni come storia com-
parata: il mondo occidentale, l’altro e l’origine del fatto religioso. ... ... ... ... ..1095

Marcello Massenzio – Paolo Scarpi

Introduzione .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..1097

Chiara Cremonesi
Religioni e conlitti: la comparazione oggi tra strategie retoriche e
prospettiva storico-religiosa.. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..1099

Marcello Massenzio - Andrea Alessandri

La verità del mito: materiali per un confronto tra Raffaele Pettazzoni
e Ernesto De Martino ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..1109

Rachela Permenter
The Persistence of the White Man’s Indian and the Ungraspable
Religious Fact ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..1117

Paolo Scarpi
Dalla Storia delle religioni alle Scienze delle religioni: dal metodo al
contenitore. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..1133

Paolo Taviani
‘Celtic’ religion in the studies of Raffaele Pettazzoni and Angelo
Brelich: a problem of deinition. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..1145
 Pietro Mander

Hekate’s roots in the Sumerian-Babylonian Pantheon According

to the Chaldean Oracles.

The character of the goddess Hekate in the Oracula Chaldaica is different from the one known in Greek
mythology, because in the Oracula she personiies the Anima mundi, as outlined in Plato’s Timeus: cf.
Johnston, Sarah Iles, Hekate Soteira: a Study of Hekate’s Roles in the Chaldean Oralces and Related
Literature, American Classical Studies 21. Atlanta, Scholar Press, 1990.
Parallels can be traced between the latter aspect and a Sumerian Mother-goddess, namely Ninhursanga.
She is given her name (previously she was known as Ninlil) by her victorious son, the warrior god
Ninurta. The peculiar features of this comparison are to be found in the Sumerian poem Lugal-e ud me-
lam-bi nirĝal, when Ninurta addresses his mother Ninlil as she appears in the battleield, where Ninurta
had just killed the demon Asag. Ninurta lists many reasons, by way of epithets, for which Ninlil may
assume the name of Ninhursanga: “lady of the foothill”. These epithets are relected in the fragments of
the Oracula Chaldaica describing Hekate.

1. Introduction

1.a. The goal of this study

The present research is an advance look at a broader project, aimed at singling

out the Mesopotamian “cuneiform” antecedents of the Chaldean Oracles.
It is well known that the adjective “Chaldean” was used in the second century
C.E. with a very speciic meaning1: it indicates the expert in those arts deriving from
and peculiar to Chaldea2. Nonetheless, the original, merely geographical meaning
is not to be ruled out. The contextual use of the other adjective, “Assyrian”, which
Jamblichus3 used to refer to the same cultural milieu, encourages us to overcome our
fears of having taken the wrong direction in looking for antecedents to the Chaldean
Oracles (henceforth: CO) in both Mesopotamian cuneiform literatures.

1
Majercik 1989, 1.
2
Saffrey 1990, 70 = 216.
3
Iamblichus, PERI TWN AIGIPTIWN MUSTHRIWN,I 2, VII 4, in Taylor 1821, Peterson 2000.
116 Pietro Mander

1.b. Generalities concerning Mesopotamian thought

Broadly speaking, Mesopotamian religious thought appears to be a cosmology

expressed in a mythological form. In this it is analogous to the religious universes of
other “traditional” cultures.
According to the principles of the Sumerian and Assyrian-Babylonian universe,
all realities are interrelated, forming a network. This cosmic network is arranged along
a vertical axis on which the various “heavens” and different worlds are superimposed
like the rungs on a ladder, following a hierarchical sequence from top to bottom.
The highest rung is the god An’s (Akkadian name: Anum) sky, which is in-
visible by itself, for it is stars that are visible. Below, the lowest level is the “great
city”, alias the netherworld. The gods constitute the knots of this net stretched on its
vertical axis, and they also represent the levels of the cosmos. For a more thorough
description of this scheme than we have time for in this paper, please see two works
of mine recently published4.
Writing appeared early in Mesopotamia, and this circumstance made for a
long and rich tradition of written literature. Such a long-standing tradition, thanks
to the efforts of scribes trained in schools and academies, guaranteed lasting stabi-
lity for the transmission of the manuscripts, as the older ones inluenced the deve-
lopment of religious thought, giving rise to a cultural conservatism. Moreover, due to
the same stability, Mesopotamian literatures were diffused beyond the geographical
limits of their area itself, as Mesopotamian literary or lexical texts found in Ebla
(twenty-fourth century B.C.E.), Hattuša and Ugarit (fourteenth to twelfth century
B.C.E.), or elsewhere, attest. It would not be surprising, therefore, to ind traces of
Mesopotamian religiosity in a bordering area, such as that of Syria, where the two
Julians to whom the CO are attributed lived and worked.

1.c. The CO and the Orient

Based on the above considerations, I do not think it is unreasonable to search

for traces of continuity between the cuneiform tradition and the Greek literature that
lourished in the Hellenistic era, in particular in the phase in which it was more open
to Oriental ideas, from the second to the ifth century C. E., as scholars generally
agree. As proof of how heartfelt this trend was, it may be remembered that the most
outstanding philosopher of the age, Plotinus, actually enlisted in Gordian iii’s army
to gain access to the sources of Oriental knowledge.
It is important to note, however, when looking at the thinkers active around
the second century C.E., that religious and philosophical thought came together in

4
Mander 2009, 2010.
 Hekate’s roots in the Sumerian-Babylonian Pantheon According to the... 117

different ways. The religious framework of the CO may be compared with Mesopo-
tamian mythology on a cosmological level, which is their common ground.
I shall single out the peculiar features of the CO’s cosmology, leaving aside
the speculative mythologizing aspects of Platonic derivation, even if I am fully awa-
re that it is those aspects that are paramount in its structure. Perhaps one image will
serve as an illustration of what I mean. The cosmology of the CO is illuminated by
the sun of the Timeus, as has been rightly observed5, and the light of the sun obscures
that of the other stars, as inspirations or inluences of Mesopotamian origin could be
considered to be. To stick to my metaphor, only the pale moonlight of Mithraism6
itself is visible, and that just barely.
Nonetheless, something has not gone unnoticed.
Saffrey mentions a passage7 included in the fragments of the CO8, found in
Proclus, In Parmenidem, in which the name of the “One”, as the “true theologians”
(whom Saffrey identiies as the two Julians9) pronounced it, is revealed. The sound
of that name is Ad; therefore it follows that the Creative Intellect must assume his
own name by doubling the former, that is to say Ad-ad(-os). Saffrey then connects
this name to that of the god Hadad, and provides brief information on this god in
Hellenistic times10. Now, I must admit that Saffrey is referring to the Syrian god
Hadad, and not the Mesopotamian god who is his near-namesake, Adad11, but he
has convincingly proposed a signiicant connection with Near Eastern traditions that
may serve as a point of departure12.
After all, Johnston also conirms the role of the “popular religion” in the theur-
gy of the CO13, and this popular religion could well have been very easily inluenced
by the nearby Mesopotamia. It must be remembered that in the scribal schools found
inside the great temple complexes, cuneiform texts are reasonably believed to have
been copied up to the Sasanian period14.
Hekate is explicitly named ive times in the fragments, besides other occur-

5
Johnston 1990, 54, 71, 110; cf. Merlan in Johnston 1990, 72.
6
Albanese, in print, 5
7
Courtesy Prof. L. Albanese.
8
Saffrey 1990, 77 = 223.
9
Saffrey 1990, 78 = 224.
10
My Collegue and friend Prof. Riccardo Contini informs me that ad means “one” in Aramaic
(the language spoken in those times in Mesopotamia and Syria).
11
Written: A-da-ad (Deimel 1914, 43b) or, in personal names: Ib-na-da-ad, A-da-di-ni-ra-ri.
It should be noted that Adad, together with the sun-god Šamaš, is god of divination, bēl biri “lord of
omen”, that is of knnowledge of the divine.
12
A hermeneutical pun based on the ideographic meaning of the grapheme AD, “father” in
Sumerian, might be considered.
13
Johnston, VI, in partic. 89.
14
Geller 1997.
118 Pietro Mander

rences, which are clearly linked to this goddess. I have chosen Hekate as a starting
point, because we possess an ample understanding of her position and role in the CO,
thanks to Johnston’s exhaustive study on this topic15.

2. Hekate in mythology and in the CO

The role of the goddess in the CO is quite speciic, and it is rather different
from the one that emerges from Greek mythology.
While she is commonly held to be a goddess who has control over passages,
from whence her secondary connection with the entities of the netherworld, in the CO
she acquires a celestial nature, by which the Anima mundi (Cosmic Soul) is meant16.
If a common thread is to be found that links Mesopotamian culture with the
system of the CO, it is precisely that of Hekate’s speciically heavenly nature, which
is marginal in the Hellenic tradition.
Before going into this theme in greater depth, however, let us take a quick
glance at the related scholarly literature on the subject.

2.a. Hekate and the Mesopotamian tradition: the current status of research

In her 1990 book17, to which I refer, Sarah I. Johnston exhaustively studied the
relationship between Hecate in Greek mythology and Hecate in the CO. She clearly
outlined the historical development of the goddess from the very beginning, her
hypothetical Carian origin18.
Since then subsequent research has advanced our understanding; I shall men-
tion here two works only, which are relevant for the purposes of the present study.
In 1995 David R. West published his book, in which he proposed a Semitic
origin for the goddess, whom he related to the she-demon Lamaštu of the Assyrian-
Babylonian exorcist tradition19. This she-demon was widely held to be responsible
for the death of newborns20. A further study appeared in the Encyclopaedia of Reli-
gion in 200521, namely the article Hekate by Johnston herself.
David West’s research forged new ground in the direction with which we are
concerned here, in that the scholar carefully analyses the known features of both

15
Johnston 1990.
16
Johnston 1990, 21-48 and, most recently, De Filippo 2009
17
Johnston 1990.
18
Johnston 1990, 21-22 e 2005, 3900. Carian origin is rejected by West (1995, 228-231).
19
West 1995, 188-292.
20
On this divine igure, see: Farber 2007.
21
Johnston 2005.
 Hekate’s roots in the Sumerian-Babylonian Pantheon According to the... 119

divine igures, Lamaštu and Hekate, as well as similar Mesopotamian igures as-
sociated with them. As a result, there clearly appears to be a close afinity between
Hekate and Lamaštu, while the former’s benevolent aspects may be found in other
igures from Mesopotamian mythology, such as Gula (whom the author questionably
classiies as a she-demon), Lamassu, and Lamassatu22.
On the basis of this picture, West also proposes a Semitic origin for Hekate23,
by way of Ugarit24. Nonetheless, he cannot provide a satisfactory solution for the
etymology of her name25.
In her 2005 article, Johnston once again outlines a general picture of this di-
vine igure, in which she accepts, on the grounds of the Papyri Græcæ magicæ, the
connection between Hekate and Ereš-kigal, the queen of the Sumerian and Babylo-
nian netherworld, whose features closely resemble those of the Greek goddess26. In
a number of different studies, therefore, the scholarly literature conirms the connec-
tion between Hekate and the Mesopotamian cuneiform tradition.
Hekate and Anima Mundi are identiied for the irst time in the CO27. In mer-
ging with the Anima Mundi, Hekate’s character acquired a dominant “western” trait,
which derived from Platonic thought. On one hand, the ponderance of this trait
obscured any conceivable Eastern borrowings. On the other, the igure of Hekate, in
spite of her being fully hellenized and detached from any possible Eastern origins,
still showed similarities with Oriental mythical divinities, leaving the road open,
from this point of view, to connections with Eastern mythological systems.
Turning our attention from West’s and Johnston’s conclusions concerning
recognisable Mesopotamian inluences in the netherworld-related and demonic
aspects of Hekate’s nature, let us now examine the goddess’ celestial nature as a per-
soniication of the Anima mundi, because of her afinities with a central character in
Mesopotamian mythology, namely the great mother goddess, who is known by many
names, such as Ninhursanga28, Nintu, Bēlēt ilī, Aruru, Nintinuga29 etc. I add Ninlil to
the list as well, for reasons I will discuss next.
The central point of my inquiry is the imposition of the name Ninhursanga on
the goddess Ninlil, as a great mythological Sumerian-Akkadian poem tells us, and
which I will discuss in section § 3.b below. First, however, for those unfamiliar with
Mesopotamian religion, I will provide a concise outline of Ninhursanga’s characte-

22
Johnston 2005, 262-265.
23
Johnston 2005, 283-288.
24
Johnston 2005, 278-281.
25
Johnston 2005, 289-292.
26
Johnston 2005, 3900.
27
Johnston 1990, 49.
28
Jacobsen 1976, 104-110; Heimpel 1998-2001, 378-381.
29
Edzard 1998-2001, 506.
120 Pietro Mander

ristics, in order to explain the context of that mythical deed.

3. The goddess Ninhursanga, Nintu, Bēlet ilī and Ninlil

3.a. Generalities concerning the goddess Ninhursanga

For this broad overview of the igure of this goddess, we must be grateful to Ja-
cobsen for exhaustive description he provided in his The Treasures of the Darkness30,
to which I direct the reader for further study.
As we have seen above, this goddess has many names31; here I shall use the
most characteristic one, Nin-hursanga, but it must be considered that she is someti-
mes given different names in the same text; here I will discuss the most important
ones. Nin-hursanga in Sumerian means “Lady of the foothill”32, and this term refers
to the hills at the foot of the Zagros mountains. The Zagros chain lanks the Meso-
potamian plain, and there wildlife, both plant and animal, lourishes (and, for the
Ancients, mineral as well). The goddess’ love for open spaces needs to be understo-
od in this context; indeed, her shrines can be found in minor settlements spread out
over a wide area33.
Another name for the goddess is Nin-tu(r), or “Lady giving birth / Lady birth
hut”34. There is a pun based on the homophony of two ideograms, tur5 “to generate”
and tur3 “cowpen (/ sheepfold)” (that is, the place breeders brought the animals to
give birth), both pronounced /tu/, and this pun closely linked the goddess’ name to
the generation of all living beings.
She is also named Nin-mah “August Lady”, due to her importance among the
great gods. In fact, she is also known as “mother of the gods” [ama-dingir-re-ne(+k)]
and “mother of all the sons” [ama-dumu-dumu-ne(+k)], both epithets underlying her
precedence in the hierarchy of the pantheon and the generative sphere. As such, she
plays a decisive role in the anthropogonic myths, as documented in the Sumerian
“Enki e Nimah” and in the related Akkadian “Atram-hasīs”35.
Moreover, the multiplicity of names for the goddess corresponds to the mul-
tiplicity of her roles as the bride of different gods: she is Enlil’s bride in “Dispute of
Summer against Winter (Emeš against Enten)” and also in the poem “lugal-e”, which
recounts deeds of Ninurta in his struggle against the demon Asag (for more on which,

30
Jacobsen 1976, 104-110.
31
The list of these names is to be found in Krebernik 1993-1997, 502 e 503-507.
32
Jacobsen 1976, 104 s.
33
Heimpel 1998-2001, 381.
34
Jacobsen 1976, 107.
35
Kikawada 1983.
 Hekate’s roots in the Sumerian-Babylonian Pantheon According to the... 121

see below). But she is also Enki’s bride in “Enki and Nin-hursanga”; and Šulpaea’s as
well, since this god is the father of equids and goats of the desert. However, in other
literary compositions she is unmarried. Jacobsen36 tried to single out the moments or
phases in which two or more divine igures merged to form one individual.
He reached the conclusion that when it was time for animals to give birth in
spring, the location of the cowpen or sheepfold hut had to be in the semi-arid step-
pe in the foothill (hur-sanga) zone, in the goddess’ domain. I prefer a more supple
distinction between creatures so different, yet still endowed with similar features,
because this multiplicity of forms evinces a principle, a power acting on the co-
smos37, an energy that becomes perceptible by means of different aspects that may
be considered individually (hence the many names and forms of the goddess) or
amalgamated into a single igure (the mother goddess).
Another myth deserves closer scrutiny here. It is the Sumerian poem Eridu
Genesis38, which tells how the goddess Nintu took the initiative in bringing civiliza-
tion to mankind at a time when men lived like animals. Regrettably, large parts of
the text are missing, but the plot may be summarised as follows: the goddess Nintu,
worried about the fact that humanity had been living like animals since the time
when An, Enlil, Enki, and Ninhursanga herself created it, intended to “civilize” man.
To this end, she gave instructions to introduce cults and to found cities, so that she
could enjoy refreshing shade in the shadow of the temples. The key to realising her
project was the institution of kingship, which she made derive from heaven.
Finally, we should take an iconographic aspect into account. It is the so-called
“omega” (Ω)39, occurring as a symbol of the goddess. Among various interpretations,
I prefer that of Jacobsen, who saw it as the representation of a womb40. As a matter
of fact, Jacobsen pinpoints the aspects connected to it. He observes that the goddess
had names such as Ša3-tur and Šassūrum (respectively Sumerian and Akkadan for
“womb”), Nin-mug2 “Lady vulva”, and epithets like bēlēt rēmi “Lady of the womb”,
nin-dim2 “Lady fashioner”, dNagar-ša3-ga(+ak) “Carpenter of (i. e. in) the innards
(heart / womb)”, and, above all, ša3-zu-dingir-re-ne(+k) “Midwife of the gods”.
As far as the goddess Ninlil is concerned, she can only be partially distingui-
shed from the whole group of the divine igures headed by Ninhursanga; for our
purposes it is important to note that along with her husband Enlil, king of the gods
and of the universe, Ninhil was banned to the netherworld while pregnant with her
son, the moon-god Nanna41. In order to prevent Nanna from remaining there, toge-

36
Jacobsen 1973, 285 s.
37
Pettazzoni 2005, 157-158.
38
Jacobsen 1987, 145-150.
39
Black-Green 1992, 146-147.
40
Jacobsen 1973, 274-298, in partic. 280 f.
41
Behrens 1978.
122 Pietro Mander

ther with his own parents, Enlil impregnated Ninlil three times, with the result that
she gave birth to three gods who, according a well-known law of the netherworld,
would substitute the couple and the unborn child. Enlil and Ninlil would come up to
the sunlight, while their son Nanna, due to his gestation in the underworld, would be
invisible as the new moon every month.

3.b. How the goddess Ninlil became Ninhursanga (the poem lugal-e)

The Sumerian poem Lugal-e42 was considered one of the most important, so
much so as to be provided with an interlinear Akkadian translation, from a certain
period on. Its existence is documented from at least the end of the third millenium
B.C.E., and it was copied in many manuscripts from various cities. It was more than
700 verses long and recounted the deeds of the heroic god Ninurta, who confronted
the demon Asag (Akkadian: Asakku) and his army of rebel stones in battle. Ninurta
was the son of Enlil, the king of the gods and master of universe, and it was on his
father’s behalf that he accomplished this dificult feat.
After his hard-won victory over Asag, Ninurta turned to another important
task, which would prove crucial to the stability of the cosmic order. He created the
slope of the mountains, in order to make the waters of the Tigris low down to the
plain, with the goal of making agriculture possible43. Once this was done, the god in-
troduced the cultivation of cereals, horticulture and trade, greatly pleasing the gods,
who heaped praise on the god Enlil44.
It was at this point that the god’s mother, the goddess Ninlil / Ninmah, who was
Enlil’s bride as well, sorely missing her son, went to see him. As soon as Ninurta saw
his mother, he turned his “gaze of life” on her and, evidently touched by his mother’s
presence on the battleield where he had just won his important victory, he dedicated
his exploit to her and changed her name to “Lady of the foothills”, Nin-hursanga45.
The following verses provided in translation below refer to Ninurta’s actions
after changing his mother’s name: they tell of how he decided the future of the fo-
othills so they would spontaneously produce plants, metals, and animals46.

This is what the text says (verses 397-410); Ninurta is speaking to his mother.

May aromatic grass grow for you on its (of the foothill) lawns / may its slopes
give you wine and honey / may cedar, cypress, boxwood grow for you around

42
Van Dijk 1983.
43
Heimpel 1987.
44
Van Dijk 1983, 96-97 (verses 360-367); Jacobsen 1987, 253.
45
Verses 389-396.
46
Verses 397-405.
 Hekate’s roots in the Sumerian-Babylonian Pantheon According to the... 123

it / as if it (the foothill) were a garden, may it be adorned with fruits / may the
foothill release its divine scents / may the foothill make gold and silver dug
for you and may it be done […] / may it melt copper and tin, by which it will
bring you tribute, / may the mountain make goats and equids multiply for you,
/ may the foothill make the animals give birth! / You are the queen! You are
my equal, and, like heaven, you inspire fear! / Exalted goddess, who disdains
magniloquence / just woman, queen, foothill, virgin, Nintu, pass through fresh
places, come to me, queen, I have given you the sublime essences (me), may
you be exalted!47

Therefore, this is the destiny that her victorious son preordained for the god-
dess. We shall now see how this destiny, which comprises all the features of the Mes-
opotamian mother goddess, its in with the igure of Hekate in the context of the CO.

4. Comparison between myths featuring Ninlil and the CO

4.a. The triad

The morphology of the mythological episode found in the lugal-e, when the
victorious Ninurta, now order-giver, blesses his mother Ninlil and entrusts her with
generating life in the foothills, is articulated in the following way:
a) A supreme god, Enlil; motionless, it is on his behalf that his son ights.
b) A lower-ranking deity (being Enlil’s son), who spontaneously fulills the
former’s power to establish order: Ninurta.
c) A goddess who absorbs the accomplishments of the latter god and exploits
their potential by multiplying living beings; this goddess is the latter god’s
mother.
The same morphology may be observed in four fragments of the CO.

Fr.s 2648 and 2749 explain the hierarchical pattern of the triads50, of which the
one mentioning Hekate is not the irst (see below). The triadic monad (fr. 26: mou-
navda ... triou§con), the modality for the father god, is the source of creation. This
triad “commands” the second one (fr. h|ς [of the triad] mona;ς a[rcei).
Fr. 351 conirms the father’s inapproachability (oJ path;r h{rpassen ejautovn);

47
Translation (slightly changed) by van Dijk 1983, I 101-103 and Jacobsen 1987, 254-255.
48
CO, 58-59. «For the world, seeing you as a triadic Monad, has honored you».
49
CO, 58-59. «For in every world shines a triad, ruled by a Monad».
50
Albanese, in print, 14.
51
CO, 48-49. «[…] the Father snatched himself away, and did not enclose his own ire in his
intellectual power».
124 Pietro Mander

he is not, therefore, the direct artiicer of Creation52.

Enlil’s position is analogous to that of the Father in the CO , as far as his inap-
proachability is concerned: he is neither directly touched by Asag’s revolt, nor does
he intervene, despite having all the necessary strength to do so.
This is seen clearly at the height of the battle, when Ninurta sends his trusty
weapon Šar2-ur3 to Nippur to Enlil, to seek his counsel – in this case “counsel” me-
ans superior, divine strength53. The topos of the journey to seek out a superior entity,
in order to borrow needed energy from the divinity, in order to overcome an obstacle,
or deal adequately with one’s ordinary affairs, runs through Mesopotamian religion,
taking many forms54.
Moreover, it is stated in fr. 3155 that what appears to be the irst triad is not the
irst at all (for that matter, neither is the triad Enlil, Ninurta, and Ninlil, according to
the Mesopotamian pantheon). In that triad, fr. 31 states, the intelligibles are subjected
to measure56 (ou| ta; nohta; metrei§tai). Consistent with this, fr. 2357 shows how the
triad encompasses every reality, “measuring all things” (kata; pa;nta metrou§sa).
In the CO, the single realities are arranged in an orderly fashion, according to
the mathematical-musical principles expounded in Timaeus, and it is from this text
that the use of the verb metrevw58 comes. Indeed, the exhaustive list made by Ninurta
when blessing his mother expresses the same concept of orderly and harmonious
subdivision of matter Ninurta puts into practice by letting Ninlil unleash a tide of
fecundity in the cosmos.
At this point, I feel I should mention the myth of the katabasis of Enlil and
Ninlil, who was expecting her son, the moon-god Nanna: in this myth, too, a triad
(Enlil–Ninlil–Nanna) is to be found. For the purposes of the present study, what
is relevant here is the relationship between Ninlil and Nanna, comparable to that
between Hekate and the Moon. In fact, like the Moon in the Hellenic and middle Pla-
tonic tradition59, Nanna also symbolises a border, because he is the father of the sun-
god Utu / Šamaš and the goddess of the planet Venus, Inana / Ištar, both divinities of
light. In this context, we ind a god who is initially invisible (given that the month in
Mesopotamia started with the new moon) and whose shape is always changing; he
is the begetter of visibility. By contrast, the gods placed at a higher level than Nanna

52
Albanese, in print, 7-8.
53
Cf. van Dijk 1983 I, 76-79, verses 191-227.
54
Mander 2010b.
55
CO, 58-61. «From both of these lows the bond of the irst triad, which is not truly irst, but
where intelligibles are measured».
56
Johnston 1990, 55-59; Albanese, in print, 15.
57
CO, 56-57. «In order that a triad might connect the All while measuring all things».
58
Johnston 1990, 55.
59
Johnston 1990, 29-48, 57 fn 27, 71 et passim.
 Hekate’s roots in the Sumerian-Babylonian Pantheon According to the... 125

are all invisible, in one way or another60; this function of Nanna’s may be inluenced
by neo-Platonism, as I have proposed elsewhere61.

4.b. The dividing and transmitting element

As we have seen above, in the lugal-e myth the goddess acts as an interme-
diary. A corresponding role may be observed in the CO, where she divides the irst
god and the second god, yet connects them at the same time; she then divides the
second god from the cosmos and simultaneously unites them. This, at least, is the
claim set forth in the fr.s 6 (in all likelihood) and 5062, which clearly shows Hekate’s
role as an intermediary between the two fathers, yet one who also separates them
(see also fr. 18963, which consists of a single word only, ajmfiprovswpoς64). In fr. 6,
an unnamed entity, believed to be Hekate65, divides the irst god from the second one,
like a membrane (uJmh;n), like a belt (uJpezwkwvς active participle of uJpozwvnnumi “to
encircle below”, a word also used in fr. 3566), and the same concept is stated in fr. 3867
(the rolled-up ire assumes the shape of a belt), by means of a verb that is semanti-
cally not dissimilar (eijlumevnon from eijluvw “to wrap” ). Moreover, the “centre” of
Hekate is explicitly identiied with “the centre of the fathers” in fr. 50 (mevsson tw§n
patevrwn). Allow me to quote fr. 31 once more; besides providing the concept of
“measure”, it highlights the linking function (“makes the bond low”, devma) between
the elements constituting the triad (“which is not the irst one”, see above).
Lastly, the role of the lightning is of paramount importance as a representation
of the intelligible world and the Platonic idea68. These thunderbolts (respectively:
prhsthvr and keraunoi;) in fr.s 3469 and 35 are received in Hekate’s womb (“womb”,
respectively: koilwvmasi and klovpoi).

60
Mander 2000, 641 s.
61
Mander 2001, 109-110.
62
Albanese, in print, 9, 22. Respectively CO, 50-51. («For as a girdling, intellectual membrane,
he separates the irst and the other ire which are eager to mingle») and CO, 68-69 («the center of Hek-
ate is borne in the midst of the fathers»).
63
CO, 120-121. «Faces on all sides».
64
Johnston 1990, 59-61.
65
Cf. Johnston 1990, 53, Albanese, in print, 9.
66
CO, 60-61. «For Implacable Thunders leap from him and the lightning-receiving womb of the
shining ray of Hekate, who is generated from the Father. From him leap the girdling lower of ire and
the powerful breath (situated) beyond the iery poles».
67
CO, 62-63. «These are the Thoughts of the Father, after which my ire is rolled up».
68
Albanese, in print 16.
69
CO, 60-61. “From there (i.e., “Source of Sources”), the birth of variegated matter leaps forth.
From there, a lightning-bolt, sweeping along, obscures the lower of ire as it leaps into the hollows of
the worlds. For from there, all things begin to extend wonderful rays down below”.
126 Pietro Mander

In the lugal-e myth, Ninurta’s attack is described as a storm. In particular, let

us observe verses 83-86:

«Before the hero (Ninurta) went a huge tempest, / it stirred up the dust, and
deposited it again, / levelling hills and dales, illing in hollows, / coals it rained
down, lames scorched, ire burned everybody».70

This image is re-evoked at another point in that tale, when the demon Asag is
depicted as a sand-storm which shockes the approaching Ninurta71. It was then that
the god – following his father’s advice which had been brought to him, as we have
seen above, by his weapon Šar2-ur3 – unleashed the hurricane. These are the words
with which the weapon Šar2-ur3 exhorts Ninurta to battle, using Enlil’s speech:

(verses 235-236) «Storm for the rebel country, which grinds the highland as it
were lour, Ninurta, ighter of Enlil, go! hold not back!»72.

It should be noted that the term translated here as “ighter”73 is the Sumerian
kišib-la2, the meaning of which is “seal bearer”74, and it is an epithet for Ninurta75. In
the later bilingual version, kišib-la2 is translated umāšu “wrestler, strength”76, hence
the choice I have made here. In any case, it is reasonable to think that between the
original Sumerian version, much older, and the bilingual one, as well as on many
other occasions, misunderstandings of various kinds must have occurred77. There is
no need to linger on this topic, nonetheless we cannot fail to notice the noero;n tuvpon
of the fr. 3778 line 6, which might be compared more closely to kišib-la2 “seal bearer

70
Translation (slightly changed) by van Dijk 1983, I 62-63 e Jacobsen 1987, 240-241.
71
Jacobsen 1988, 228.
72
Translation (slightly changed) by van Dijk 1983, I 80-81 e Jacobsen 1987, 247.
73
Van Dijk 1983 translates it “lutteur”, and Jacobsen 1987, 247 “bruiser”.
74
http://psd.museum.upenn.edu
75
http://etcs.orinst.ox.ac.uk
76
Black – George – Postgate 1999, 421.
77
Cooper 1978, 117.
78
CO, 62-63. «The Intellect of the Father, while thinking with its vigorous will, shot forth the
multiformed Ideas. All these leapt forth from one Source, for from the Father comes both will and
perfection. But the Ideas were divided by the Intelligible Fire and allotted to other intelligibles. For the
Ruler placed before the multiformed cosmos an intelligible and imperishable model from which, along
a disorderly track, the world with its form hastened to appear, engraved with multiform Ideas. There is
one Source of these, from which other terrible (Ideas), divided, shoot forth, breaking themselves on the
bodies of the worlds. Those which are borne around the frightful wombs like a swarm of bees – lashing
here and there in various directions – are the Intelligible Thoughts from the Paternal Source, which
pluck in abundance the lower of ire from the acme of sleepless Time. The irst self-perfected Source
of the Father spouted forth these primordial Ideas».
 Hekate’s roots in the Sumerian-Babylonian Pantheon According to the... 127

(of Enlil!)», according to certain interpretative hypotheses79. I myself would venture

to suggest understanding the Akkadian translation as one ad sensum. Just as the act
of sealing expresses the projection of the owner’s personality on the object that is
sealed, so the man who ights on someone’s behalf – bear in mind, however, that
umāsu can also mean “strength” – imposes his master’s will on the external world.

4.c. Ensouler of the cosmos

This function of Hekate’s is dedicated ample attention in the CO. In this con-
text, her womb (kovlpoς) is mentioned in fr.s 2880, 3281 (zw/ogovnon ... kovlpon), 37
(peri; kovlpouς smerdalevouς), 5682, besides the above-mentioned fr.s 34 (hollows of
the worlds: kovsmwn ejvnqrw/vskwn koilwvmasi) and 35 (keraunoi; kai; prhsthrodovcoi
kovlpoi).
Besides recalling the broad outlines of the igure of Ninhursanga, and recal-
ling in particular the symbol of the womb (the Ω) and certain names for the goddess,
such as Ša3-tur and Šassūrum, the adjective zῳogόnoς its well in the context of
Ninurta’s blessing, just as the praise the god directs at his mother (like heaven, you
inspire fear!) expresses the same concept we came across, most explicitly, in fr. 37
of the CO (frightful wombs, kovlpouς smerdalevou").
These signs of that awe, that terrifying and fascinating attraction to holiness
that is deined as mysterium tremendum et fascinosum in Rudolf Otto’s terminology,
are coupled with the concept of intangibility of the goddess who gives life to every
single being: Hekate does not give up her virginity (to; parqevnon ouj proi>ei§sa), fr.
5283. In a similar way, Ninlil, renamed Ninhursanga, is greeted by her son Ninurta
with the epithet “virgin” (Sumerian: ki-sikil84).
A further element to be taken in consideration is the chronological priority of
the goddess, which is a token of her hierarchical superiority in the pantheon. This
concept is meant to express the anteriority of the principle of the Anima mundi com-

79
Cooper 1978, 117.
80
CO, 58-59. «For in the womb of this triad all things are sown».
81
CO, 60-61. «It is a worker, (that) it is the dispenser of life-giving ire, (that) it ills up the
life-giving womb of Hekate (and) … pours on the Connectors a force of fruitful and very powerful ire».
82
CO, 70-71. «Truly Rhea is the source and stream of blessed intellectual (realities). For she,
irst in power, receives the birth of all these in her inexpressible womb and pours forth (this birth) on
the All as it runs its course».
83
CO, 68-69. «In the left lank of Hekate exists the source of virtue, which remains entirely
within and does not give up its virginity».
84
The later Akkadian interlinear translation of this word is [aš-r]i el-li, “pure place”, a phrase
that literally corresponds to ki-sikil (ki = ašrum “place”; sikil = ellum “pure”) but ki-sikil in Sumerian
is used to indicate a young unmarried woman, a virgin. We may have here another case as the former
kišib-la2 translated umāšu.
128 Pietro Mander

pared with individual souls. In the CO Rhea occurs as an alternative name for Hekate
(fr. 56: “source and stream of blessed intellectual (realities)”, noerw§n makavrωn85),
paralleling epithets such as “mother of the gods” [ama-dingir-re-ne(+k)], “midwife
of the gods” [ša3-zu-dingir-re-ne(+k)], bēlet ilī “lady of the gods” and lastly Nimah
“august lady”, which highlight Ninhursanga’s equal importance in the Mesopota-
mian tradition.
I shall conclude this topic with Heipel’s observation concerning the spread of
places of worship dedicated to Ninhursanga throughout the country (die Göttin hatte
eine Afinität zum offenen Land86), which constituted the physical manifestation, on
the topographic level, of the “transmission of noetic material to the sensible world”87,
a transmission symbolised by planetary divinities in the fr. 5688 itself.
The CO explicitly praise Hekate as enlivener, as can be seen in fr.s 5189, 52,
53, 96 , 17491. Both aspects of Hekate, the enlivener and ensouler of the universe (fr.
90

51), and at the same time a goddess who remains intangible and immutable in the
face of a process that she herself set in motion (fr. 52), correspond to her position in
relation to the thoughts of the Father, who is perhaps the Second Intellect92 here (fr.
5393). The power of this Second Intellect is transmitted to her, because she is the lady
life-giver (fr. 96). Indeed, she bestows life on herself as well, in her role as Anima
mundi (fr. 174).
Ninlil, Enlil’s wife and Ninurta’s parent, is the feminine element between two
masculine divinities, and is identiied by her function, according to the very words
of her victorious son, who calls her “foothill” (the Sumerian term hur-sang, which
occurs in the compound word Ninhursanga), and declares he gave her the supre-
me essences, the mes. A parallel may thus be drawn between the “thoughts” (fr. 37
e{nnoiai noerai;, e{nnoiai patro;ς, and 53 dianoivaς) of the OC with the essentiæ,
the mes of the Sumerian tradition. Since this is generally a lesser known aspect of
the Sumerian religion, the following is an outline I myself provided in another study:

‘Few terms have tested Assyriologists’powers of interpretation like this short

85
Johnston 1990, 68-69.
86
Heimpel 1998-2001, 381.
87
Johnston 1990, 68-69
88
Albanese, in print, 23.
89
CO, 68-69. «Around the hollow of her right lank a great stream of the primordially-generated
Soul gushes forth in abundance, totally ensouling light, ire, ether, worlds».
90
CO, 86-87. «Because the Soul, existing as a radiant ire by the power of the Father, remains
immortal. It is the mistress of Life and possesses full measures of the many wombs <of the world>».
91
CO, 114-115. «To others she provides life; to herself, far more».
92
Albanese, in print,22-23.
93
CO, 68-69. «[…] after the Paternal Thoughts I, the Soul, am situated, animating the All with
my heat».
 Hekate’s roots in the Sumerian-Babylonian Pantheon According to the... 129

little Sumerian word: me.’ Currently there are scholars who understand it to be
an ancient relexive pronoun, which came to mean the intrinsic potentialities of
a cosmic function, while others – including myself – correlate this substantive
me to the Sumerian verb me ‘to be’, and understand the term as ‘essence’. As a
matter of fact, these mes sometimes occur in lists, the most signiicant of which
is the list of the mes the goddess Inana stole from the god Enki (Inana and
Enki). The goddess carries these mes to her town, Uruk, as a possession that
will ensure her a cosmic function94, since Enki himself had precluded her from
performing any function of that kind in the myth Enki and the World Order.
Picchioni keenly compared the mes to the lexical lists95, on the grounds that
just as – in ancient thought – words are essentia rerum, in the same way the
mes (‘essences’, as we have seen above) and words share an almost identical
function.96

- List of the quoted fragments of the Oracula Chaldaica

3 § 4a
6 § 4b
23 § 4a
26 § 4a
27 § 4a
28 § 4c
31 § 4a
32 § 4c
37 § 4b, 4c
34 § 4b, 4c
35 § 4b, 4c
38 § 4b
50 § 4b
51 § 4c
52 § 4c
53 § 4c
56 § 4c
96 § 4c
174 § 4c
189 § 4b

94
Glassner 1992.
95
Picchioni 1981.
96
Mander 2009, 51-52.
130 Pietro Mander

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