Papsukkal was a Mesopotamian god regarded as the sukkal of Anu and his wife Antu in Seleucid Uruk.
16 Facts About Papsukkal
1.
2.
Papsukkal was originally the sukkal of Zababa, the tutelary god of Kish.
3.
Papsukkal's name is a combination of the Sumerian words pap, "older brother," and sukkal.
4.
Papsukkal's eventual rise to prominence at the expense of other similar figures, such as Ninshubur, as well as Kakka and Ilabrat, was likely rooted simply in the presence of the word sukkal in his name.
5.
Papsukkal was a protector of the parakku, the seat of Anu.
6.
Frans Wiggermann proposes that Papsukkal was initially viewed as the son of Zababa.
7.
In one case, Papsukkal is listed right behind Enmesharra in a list of vanquished gods.
8.
PAP, written without a "divine determinative" sign, is first attested as a name or title of queen Baranamtara, wife of Lugalanda, and it is not impossible that the name of the daughter of Papsukkal was derived from it.
9.
However, the conflation of Ninshubur and Papsukkal was only finalized in the Seleucid period in Uruk.
10.
The late syncretic Papsukkal was not regarded as the sukkal of Anu and Ishtar like Ninshubur, but rather of Anu and his wife Antu.
11.
Papsukkal takes Ninshubur's role in an Akkadian adaptation of Inanna's Descent, but unlike her he is not directly designated as Ishtar's servant, and the text states that he serves "the great gods" as a group.
12.
The oldest evidence for the worship of Papsukkal comes from Kish from the Old Babylonian period.
13.
Papsukkal was worshiped in Uruk, but he was only introduced there in the Seleucid period, when the entire pantheon of this city was restructured.
14.
Papsukkal proposes that Anu's rise was the result of Babylon losing its influence after Persian conquest, which resulted in the development of a new local theology relying on the god list An = Anum, meant to enhance local pride.
15.
In Seleucid Uruk, Papsukkal was believed to guard the main gate of Bit Res, the temple complex of Anu.
16.
Theophoric names invoking Papsukkal are well attested from the Neo-Babylonian period.