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Kusibanda (Kusigbanda), also known under the disputed older reading of the name, Guškinbanda, was a Mesopotamian god regarded as the tutelary deity of goldsmiths and silversmiths. He was commonly grouped with other deities of similar character, such as Ninagal. He was also regarded as the husband of Ninimma, and was worshiped in her temple in Nippur. He is attested in texts describing the preparation of statues, as well as in a variety of documents from Uruk from the Seleucid period.

Name and character

Kusibanda's name was written in cuneiform as KUG.GI.BÀN.DA. According to Julia Krul, the other proposed reading, Guškinbanda, is no longer used today. Wilfred G. Lambert has nonetheless argued that since guškin is a common reading of the first two signs, the modern consensus might be incorrect. Lambert's position is also supported by Frank Simons.

Kusibanda was regarded as a divine goldsmith and silversmith. He served as the tutelary deity of both of these professions. In the Epic of Erra, he is described as the "fashioner of god and man, whose hands are consecrated". It is presumed this passage reflects his role in rituals focused on the fashioning of statues.

Associations with other deities

Kusibanda was one of the members of a group of Mesopotamian artisan deities, the so-called "gods of the craftsmen" (ilī mārē ummâni), which also included Ninagal, Ninkurra, Ninildu and other similar figures. He appears particularly often alongside the first of these deities, who was a divine blacksmith. In the god list An = Anum he is listed among the members of the court of Enlil, even though Ninagal and Ninkurra are listed with Ea. There is nonetheless evidence that he could be associated with the latter god, and in some cases he was outright equated with him. True to his character, he was specifically referred to as "Ea of the goldsmith". An incantation recited during temple renovations, When Anu had created the heavens (enuma anu ibnû šamê) mentions Kusibanda alongside Ninagal, Ninzadim and Ninkurra among deities created by Ea with clay from the Apsu.

According to An = Anum (tablet I, line 316) Kusibanda was the husband of Ninimma, though a tradition according to which this goddess was the spouse of Ninurta also existed. No earlier direct references to a spousal relation between them are known, though they do appear next to each other in a single older list. In a Neo-Assyrian incantation he is addressed as Ninimma's "beloved spouse".

Worship

Earliest attestations of Kusibanda come from the Ur III period. The Nippur Compendium lists him among the deities worshiped in the temple of Ninimma located in this city. He also often appears in texts describing the preparation of statues. The mîs-pî (literally "mouth washing") ritual, consecration of a new divine statue, mentions Kusibanda among the deities for whom offering tables should be set up during the ceremony. At one point, the formula "I did not make (the statue), (I swear) I did not make (it), , Kusibanda, who is Ea the god of the goldsmith made it" had to be recited as well. A prayer serving as the conclusion of the ceremony also reaffirms that the statue was made by Ninkurra, Ninagal, Kusibanda, Ninildu and Ninzadim.

A text describing the origin of the so-called "sun god tablet of Nabu-apla-iddina" lists Kusibanda among the deities whose skills were utilized by Nabu-nadin-šumi to complete this work of art. In an inscription of Esarhaddon describing the return of exiled gods to Babylon, Kusibanda is mentioned as one of the craftsman deities residing in Ekarzagina, the local temple of Ea, alongside Kusu, Ningirima, Ninkurra, Ninagal, Ninildu and Ninzadim. Nabonidus in an inscription commemorating the renovating of the temple Ebabbar and the preparation of a new crown for the god it was dedicated to, Shamash, states that after receiving instructions from him and Adad through extispicy, he had said accessory created through the craft of the deities Kusibanda and Ninzadim.

Kusibanda appears in texts from Uruk from the Seleucid period pertaining to the akītu festival as one of the deities possibly worshiped in the Bīt Rēš complex. He received offerings on the morning of its seventh day alongside Papsukkal. He is also invoked in a ritual connected to temple renovation. However, he is not attested in earlier, Neo-Babylonian sources from this city. His introduction to the local pantheon might have reflected his importance in the eyes of local āšipu and kalû clergy, which was related to his role as a divine craftsman.

References

1. ^ Cavigneaux & Krebernik 1998, p. 326.
2. ^ Krul 2018, p. 66.
3. ^ Simons 2018, p. 132.
4. Lambert 2013, p. 378.
5. George 2016, p. 63.
6. ^ Focke 1999, p. 109.
7. Foster 2005, p. 888.
8. Walker & Dick 1999, p. 62.
9. ^ Cavigneaux & Krebernik 1998, pp. 325–326.
10. Lambert 2013, p. 377.
11. Simons 2018, pp. 133–134.
12. Metcalf 2019, p. 51.
13. ^ Focke 1999, p. 108.
14. Walker & Dick 1999, p. 57.
15. Walker & Dick 1999, p. 79.
16. Walker & Dick 1999, p. 97.
17. Walker & Dick 1999, p. 99.
18. Woods 2004, p. 85.
19. George 1992, pp. 302–303.
20. Weiershäuser & Novotny 2020, pp. 124–125.
21. Weiershäuser & Novotny 2020, p. 129.
22. Krul 2018, p. 150.
23. Pongratz-Leisten 2015, p. 442.
24. Krul 2018, p. 72.
25. Krul 2018, p. 75.

Bibliography

• Cavigneaux, Antoine; Krebernik, Manfred (1998), "Nin-agala", Reallexikon der Assyriologie (in German), retrieved 2022-12-05
• Focke, Karen (1999). "Die Göttin Ninimma". Archiv für Orientforschung (in German). 46/47. Archiv für Orientforschung (AfO)/Institut für Orientalistik: 92–110. ISSN 0066-6440. JSTOR 41668442. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
• Foster, Benjamin R. (2005). Before the muses: an anthology of Akkadian literature. Bethesda, Md.: CDL Press. ISBN 1-883053-76-5. OCLC 57123664.
• George, Andrew R. (1992). Babylonian Topographical Texts. Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta. Departement Oriëntalistiek. ISBN 978-90-6831-410-6. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
• George, Andrew R. (2016). Mesopotamian incantations and related texts in the Schøyen Collection. Bethesda, Maryland. ISBN 978-1-934309-66-7. OCLC 936548667.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Krul, Julia (2018). The Revival of the Anu Cult and the Nocturnal Fire Ceremony at Late Babylonian Uruk. Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004364943_004. ISBN 9789004364936.
• Lambert, Wilfred G. (2013). Babylonian creation myths. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns. ISBN 978-1-57506-861-9. OCLC 861537250.
• Metcalf, Christopher (2019). Sumerian Literary Texts in the Schøyen Collection. Penn State University Press. doi:10.1515/9781646020119. ISBN 978-1-64602-011-9. S2CID 241160992.
• Pongratz-Leisten, Beate (2015). Religion and Ideology in Assyria. Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Records (SANER). De Gruyter. ISBN 978-1-61451-426-8. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
• Simons, Frank (2018). "The Goddess Kusu". Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale. 112 (1). CAIRN: 123–148. doi:10.3917/assy.112.0123. ISSN 0373-6032.
• Walker, Christopher; Dick, Michael B. (1999). "The Induction of the Cult Image in Ancient Mesopotamia: The Mesopotamian mis pî Ritual". Born in Heaven, Made on Earth. Penn State University Press. pp. 55–122. doi:10.1515/9781575065120-003. ISBN 9781575065120.
• Weiershäuser, Frauke; Novotny, Jamie (2020). The Royal Inscriptions of Amēl-Marduk (561–560 BC), Neriglissar (559–556 BC), and Nabonidus (555–539 BC), Kings of Babylon (PDF). Penn State University Press. doi:10.1515/9781646021178. ISBN 978-1-64602-117-8.
• Woods, Christopher E. (2004). "The Sun-God Tablet of Nabû-apla-iddina Revisited". Journal of Cuneiform Studies. 56. American Schools of Oriental Research: 23–103. doi:10.2307/3515920. ISSN 0022-0256. JSTOR 3515920. S2CID 163512399. Retrieved 2022-12-04.

• Mesopotamian gods
• Smithing gods