Zababa

Zababa (𒀭𒍝𒂷𒂷, ^dza-ba₄-ba₄, /ˈzɑːbɑːbɑː/) was a Mesopotamian god. He was the tutelary deity of the city of Kish and was regarded as a god of war. He was initially seen as a son of Enlil, though in Assyria during the reign of Sennacherib, he started to be viewed as a son of Ashur instead. The goddess Bau came to be viewed as his wife after her introduction to Kish in the Old Babylonian period.

The worship of Zababa is first documented in sources from the Early Dynastic period, including texts from both Kish and other cities in Mesopotamia, for example the Zame Hymns from Abu Salabikh. His importance declined in the Sargonic and Ur III period, but he regained a more prominent position in the Old Babylonian period. Through the first millennium BCE he was worshiped both in Babylonia and in Assyria.

No myths focused on Zababa are known, though he is referenced in an UD.GAL.NUN composition about the construction of Enlil's temple, in a number of legends about rulers of the Akkadian Empire, and in texts known from late copies such as Urash and Marduk and Enmesharra's Defeat.

Zababa's name was written in cuneiform as ^dza-ba₄-ba₄. In Early Dynastic sources the spelling ^dza₇-ba₄-ba₄ also occurs, though it is agreed za₇ was only an early form of the sign za. According to Gonzalo Rubio, the name has no plausible Sumerian or Semitic etymologies, and can be compared with other structurally similar theonyms such as Alala or Bunene. Piotr Steinkeller assumes he was originally worshiped by Akkadians, but states his name cannot be necessarily classified as originating in Akkadian or another Semitic language. However, such an origin has been proposed as a possibility by Gebhard J. Selz [de], though without a specific etymology.

Explanatory texts could provide Zababa's name with artificial Akkadian etymologies likely based on homophony, alternate readings of signs or literary allusions, such as "crusher of stones" (dā’iš abnī) or "lord of the lands" (bēlu mātātum).

Zababa was regarded as a war god. However, inscription on kudurru (decorated boundary stones) and lists of deities in treaties indicate his importance was often considered secondary compared to Ninurta and Nergal. In texts from the reign of Hammurabi of Babylon Zababa, rather than Ninurta, appears as the primary war god, which according to Walther Sallaberger represents a development reflecting the proximity between Babylon and his cult center, Kish. His warlike character was reflected in the epithet qarrādum rabium, "great hero", though qarrādum ("hero") was routinely used to refer to many warrior deities.

The eagle was considered Zababa's symbolic animal, though it is unclear how the nature of this connection was understood. On kudurru he was represented by a staff topped with an image of this bird.

A constellation named after Zababa was recognized in Mesopotamian astronomy, and its individual stars, presumed to correspond to parts of modern Aquila, Ophiuchus and Serpens, could be referred to as parts of his body and clothing, with some of the attested examples including "Crown of Zababa", "Eye of Zababa" (Eta Ophiuchi), "Shoulder of Zababa", "Middle of Zababa" (Nu Ophiuchi), "Shin of Zababa" (Eta Serpentis) and "Foot of Zababa" (Lambda Aquilae).