38 Facts About Nuska

Nuska or Nusku, possibly known as Nasuh, was a Mesopotamian god best attested as the sukkal of Enlil.

Nuska was associated with fire and light, and could be invoked as a protective deity against various demons, such as Lamashtu or gallu.

Nuska's symbols included a staff, a lamp and a rooster.

Nuska's wife was the goddess Sadarnunna, whose character is poorly known.

Nuska could be associated with the fire god Gibil, as well as with various courtiers of Enlil, such as Shuzianna and Ninimma.

The main cult center of Nuska was Nippur, where he is already attested in the Early Dynastic period.

Nuska was worshiped both in temples of his own and in the Ekur complex.

Nuska is attested in various documents from the Kassite period, including oath formulas and inscriptions, as well as in theophoric names.

Some attestations of the worship of Nuska are available from outside Mesopotamia, including inscriptions from Chogha Zanbil in Elam and Aramaic documents from Elephantine in Egypt.

In known myths, Nuska is typically portrayed as a servant of Enlil.

Nuska appears in this role in two different narratives about his marriage, Enlil and Sud and Enlil and Ninlil, in Atrahasis, in the Anzu narrative, and in other compositions.

Nuska was considered the divine sukkal or sukkalmah of Enlil.

Nuska fulfilled all the functions usually assigned to this type of deities, namely acting as a doorkeeper and advisor of his master, overseeing his court, and mediating between him and human supplicants.

Nuska was believed to be the keeper of Enlil's secrets and was said to gladden his heart.

Nuska functioned as a protective deity at night, in absence of the sun god Shamash, and could be invoked against nightmares and demons.

Nuska appears in this role in Maqlu, on an amulet meant to protect the owner from the demon Lamashtu, and in a prayer invoking him against various demons, such as gallu.

Nuska is represented by a lamp symbol on a number of kudurru, inscribed boundary stones.

Nuska was considered to be a son of Enlil, and by extension a brother of Ninurta.

However, she notes Nuska retained the role of Enlil's servant in this context.

The earliest evidence of the worship of Nuska is a theophoric name attested in a text from Shuruppak.

Nuska was worshiped in Nippur since the Early Dynastic period and in the third millennium BCE was already considered one of the main deities in the local pantheon, next to Enlil, Ninlil, Ninurta and Inanna.

The worship of Nuska continued in Nippur in the Kassite period.

Nuska is attested in multiple dedicatory inscriptions and in oath formulas.

Nuska is overall the seventh most commonly occurring deity in them.

The names are more sparsely attested in the first millennium BCE, and while Nuska continued to be worshiped in Nippur, references to him have only been identified in some of the texts from the city, and he is absent altogether for example from the sandabakku archive from the eighth century BCE.

Nuska's temple was most likely a small independent sanctuary.

Nuska is attested in a single document from this city the Achaemenid period.

Nuska was incorporated into the pantheons of other cities in the first millennium BCE, including Ur, where he was venerated in the Egipar, the temple of Ningal, as attested in a brick inscription of Sin-balassu-iqbi.

Nuska had his own temple in this city, the Enunmah, "house of the exalted prince," attested in a topographical text.

Nuska is mentioned in a hymn dedicated to wartime exploits of Tiglath-Pileser I, in which he is one of the gods who help the king vanquish his enemies during military campaigns.

Nuska appears in the Takultu text from his reign, between Tashmetum and Ninurta.

Nuska was venerated in the Emelamanna, "house of the radiance of heaven," which might have been either an independent temple or a cella in the Ehulhul, "house which gives joy," the temple of Sin.

Arameans worshiped Nuska in Nerab near Aleppo, which was a cult center of their moon god Sahr, and in Elephantine in Egypt.

In myths, Nuska is usually portrayed as a servant of Enlil.

Nuska appears the myth Enlil and Sud, in which he is directly designated as a sukkal.

Nuska is told to carry it in his left hand, which according to Wilfred G Lambert might indicate that he carried a staff in his right hand as a badge of his office.

Nuska subsequently carries messages between Enlil and the rebellious worker gods.

In Ninurta's Return to Nippur, Nuska appears briefly to greet and praise the eponymous god when he approaches Ekur after vanquishing various enemies.