Numushda

Numushda (, dnu-muš-da) was a Mesopotamian god best known as the tutelary deity of Kazallu. The origin of his name is unknown, and might be neither Sumerian nor Akkadian. He was regarded as a violent deity, and was linked with nature, especially with flooding. A star named after him is also attested. He was regarded as a son of Nanna and Ningal, or alternatively of Enki. His wife was the sparsely attested goddess Namrat. According to the myth The Marriage of Martu they had a daughter, Adgarkidu, who married the eponymous deity. Late sources associate Numushda with the weather god Ishkur. The oldest evidence for the worship of Numushda comes from the Early Dynastic period, and includes entries in god lists and offering lists and theophoric names. In addition to Kazallu, he was also associated with Kiritab and Inab, and he played an important role in Marad. A hymn dedicated to him was composed during the reign of one of the kings of Larsa, Sin-Iqisham, presumably during a period of peace between this city and his cult center. He is sparsely attested in sources postdating the Old Babylonian period, which is presumed to reflect the decline of Kazallu. Name and character The theonym Numushda was usually written in cuneiform as dnu-muš-da, with variants such as dnu-umuš.muš-da (known from Sargonic and Ur III periods) and nu-mu-uš-ta (found in a single Emesal text) being sparsely attested. Its meaning is unknown. Antoine Cavingeaux and note its resemblance to ME nu-MUŠ/BU-DU, a term attested in an Early Dynastic list of cultic personnel, though they ultimately conclude it is possible it had no Sumerian etymology. In a late Akkadian astrological text it is explained as nammaššu, a word which depending on the context can mean "people", "settlement" or "wild animals", though as noted by Jeremiah Peterson this is unlikely to be its original etymology. The only known hymn dedicated to Numushda and a number of other literary texts describe him as a god associated with wild nature, and compare him to both real animals, such as lions, and to mythical mušḫuššu. He was regarded as a violent deity, and in that capacity he was associated with flooding. The so-called List of Stars and Deities refers to him as the "roaring god" (ilu šāgimu). He could be also associated with warfare.