The 28 oracles of the corpus can be assigned, on the basis of the extant authorship indications, to 13 different prophets, four of whom are male and nine female (including two apparently bi- or asexual prophets, see below under Baya and Ilussa-amur). The comparatively high number of women is paralleled by the prominence of prophetesses and female ecstatics in Mari and OT prophecy, as well as in Gnosticism and early Christianity.[[258]] Eight of the prophets come from Arbela, two from Aššur, one from Calah, possibly one from Nineveh, and one from a town "in the mountains" (probably near Arbela).
The individual prophets are surveyed below in alphabetic order along with a brief discussion of their names, domiciles and oracles. Outside the corpus, only two more Assyrian prophets (one male and one female) are known by XLVIII name from contemporary texts. [[259]] The unnamed prophets and prophetesses (raggimānu raggimātu) honoured by the king in ABL 1216 = SAA 10 109:9 almost certainly largely consisted of prophets included in the following list. 260
1. Ahāt-abīša (wr. MÍ.NIN-AD-šá), "Sister of her father," a prophetess from Arbela (oracle 1.8). The name, also borne by a daughter of Sargon II (SAA 1 31 r.27, cf. Fuchs Sar. 124: 198), can be compared with such NA names as Rīšat-aboīša "Joy of her father" (ADD 1142:2 and Hadi-abīša "Delight of her father" (GPA 248:3), and is unlikely to be an assumed "prophet name" with religious connotations. In a marriage document from Calah (CTN 3 47:4) it is borne by the young girl to be married. The reading of the first element is assured by the NB syllabic spelling MÍ.a-hat- AD-šá (Tallqvist NBN, p. 3).
Ahat-abizša's short oracle refers to a prayer of Naqia to Ištar on behalf of her exiled son (see p. XLIII above) and closes with words recalling the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6: 13.
2. Bayâ, a prophet(ess) from Arbela (oracles 1.4 and [2.2]). The female determinative preceding the name of the prophet in 1.4 is clear on the tablet and is confirmed by MI.ba-ia-a listed as a "[servant of] Ištar of Huzirina" in STT 406 r. 10. On the other hand, the prophet is clearly defined as a "son" of Arbela (i.e., male) on the tablet, and there is no way of emending the cruciM sign DUMU "son" to DUMU.MÍ, "daughter." If oracle 2.2 also originates from Bayâ (see below), the masculine gentilic following the name there would confirm the male sex of the prophet. The female determinative would then imply that the prophet was a "man turned into woman" through an act of self-castration, see above, p. XXXIV. See also below, under Ilussa-amur.
The name of Bayâ is restored in oracle 2.2, but the suggested restoration perfectly fits the extant traces, the available space, and the content of the oracle. Note that 2.2 begins with the same words as 1.4 and shares with it the phrase "the future will be like the past" and the theme of "sixty gods," neither of which occurs in the other oracles of the corpus. Note also that Bayâ is not the only prophet represented by two oracles in the corpus. Collections 1 and 2 also contain two oracles by La-dagil-ili ( 1. 10 and 2.3), and these oracles likewise share common features not occurring in other oracles of the corpus (the beginning words, almost identically worded promises of safety and dynastic succession, and cultic demands). See also below on Sinqisa-amur, the author of oracles 1.2 and 2.5 (and possibly of 9 and 10).
Bayâ's oracles are important for their theological and doctrinal content. The Assyrian concept of God as the "sum total of gods" is clearly articulated in his oracles, which also contain the "Platonic" ship-of-state metaphor and an important Trinitarian allusion (see above p. XVIII). On the exhortation "Do not trust in man; lift your eyes, look to me" (1 .4) see below under La-dagil-ili.
3. Dunnaša-āmur(wr. MÍ.KALAG-šá-a-mur), "I have seen her power(?)," a prophetess from Arbela (nos. 9 and 10). The reading of the logographic element of the name is uncertain (cf. KALAG. GA = dunnu, SAA 3 39:34ff), and no syllabic spellings confirming it are available. It is not excluded that one actually has to read Sinqiša-amur ("I have seen her distress"), making this prophet identical with no. 11 below. Note that sinqu (= Bab. sunqu) in NA meant "hard times, distress" and could hence have been written logographically with the sign KALAG; cf. MI.KALAG.GA= dannatu "hard times, and sunqu = dannatu, LTBA 2 2:340ff.
Reading the name as Sinqiša-amur is supported by the fact that apart from 1.2 (from Sinqiša-amur), no. 9 is the only oracle in the corpus to use the verb ṭabāhu "to slaughter" to indicate the annihilation of the king's enemies. On the other hand, Dunnaša-amur would make sense as a "prophet name": the power of the Goddess is stressed several times in NA sources, e.g. oracle 9:3 and ABL 876:9.[[261]]
In no. 9 the prophetess identifies herself with Gilgamesh roaming the desert in search of eternal life, implying that ascetic denial of the body (lines 12- 15) played an important part in her own life, see above, pp. XXXIV and XLV. On this important oracle see further pp. XXI and LXXI, and nn. 18 and 2 1.
4. Ilūssa-āmur, "I have seen her godhead," a prophetess from the Inner City, i.e. Aššur ( oracle 1.5). The name implies a visionary experience of Is tar and hence probably is a "prophet name." It is otherwise attested only in KAV 121, a small fragment of unknown date from Assurur. The rarity of the name makes it likely that this text too refers to the prophetess, and the fact that she appears in the text as a recipient of provisions along with other women suggests that she was permanently attached to a temple (cf. above p. XLVII). Note that although the name is spelled with the feminine determinative in both 1.5 and KA V 121 (MÍ.DINGIR-sa-a-mur), the gentilic adjective in 1.5 is in the masculine gender. See the discussion under Bayâ.
The oracle of Ilussa-amur ends in the words "I am Mu[llissu]," but is otherwise almost completely destroyed.
5. Issār-bēli-da"ini, "Ištar, strengthen my lord!," a prophetess of unknown domicile (probably Arbela) defined as "a votary of the king" ( 1. 7). The name (where "my lord" certainly refers to the donor, in this case the king) may have been given or assumed at the moment of or after the donation. Non-royal votaries to the Goddess apparently did not have comparable names.[[262]]
Issar-beli-da" ini' s fragmentary oracle is addressed to Esarhaddon' s mother and is related in content to oracle 1 .8, by Ahat-abiša of Arbela, with which it is grouped in Collection 1.
6. Issār-Iā-tašīyat, "Do not neglect Ištar!," a prophet from Arbela (oracle 1. 1). The name is a hapax legomenon, but is clearly an equivalent of the contemporary Lā-teggi-ana-Issār "Do not neglect Ištar!"[263] If the meaning of the name is to be taken seriously, it suggests that the parents of this prophet had likewise been devotees of Ištar, cf. below under La-dagil-ili.
7. Lā-dāgil-ili "One who does not see God," a prophet from Arbela ( oracles 1. 10, 2.3, [3. 1-5]). As already observed by Banks, AJSL 14 ( 1897/8) 269, "While expecting those who form the mouth-pieces of the gods to bear names implying great piety, we are surprised that Ištar of Arbela spoke through one whose name testifies that he does not trust in God!" Indeed, La-dagil-ili is a surprising name for a prophet. It reminds one of the names given by the prophet Hosea to his children, Lo-ruhamah ("Not loved") and Lo-ammi ("Not my people"), explained as follows in Hos. 1:
The LORD ... said [to Hosea], Go, take a wanton for your wife and get children of her wantonness, for like a wanton this land is unfaithful to the LORD ... She conceived and bore a daughter, and the LORD said to him, Call her Lo-ruhamah, for I will never again show love to Israel, never again forgive them. After weaning Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son; and the LORD said, Call him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people, and I will not be your God.
Analogously, the name La-dagil-ili would refer to the Assyrian nation or mankind at large who did not seek ( or "see") God like the devotees, vision- aries and prophets of Ištar.[[264]] Note the exhortation "do not trust in men, look to me (dugulanni) !" in oracle 1 .4. A critical attitude to mankind is indeed evident in La-dagil-ili's oracle 2.3: "Mankind is deceitful; I (lštar) am one who says and does." The name of the prophet could thus be a "prophet name" assumed by La-dagil-ili at some point in his career, or given to him already at birth by prophet parents, as in the Hosea passage just quoted. Cf. the discussion under Issar-la-tašiyat above. [[265]]
In line with the implications of his name, La-dagil-ili appears to have been a very important prophet, comparable to the great biblical prophets. Like Na than, he administers the divine covenant with Esarhaddon, and unlike the other prophets of the corpus, he repeatedly demands humility from the kingand presents demands on behalf of the cult of Ištar. He has also left more - oracles than any other Assyrian prophet. In addition to l . 10 and 2.3, where his name is fully preserved, Collec.tion 3 in its entirety must also be attributed to him. [[266]]
Like the oracles of Bayâ and Sinqiša-amur, those of La-dagil-ili also contain characteristic elements not found in other oracles of the corpus. Both 1.10 and 2. 3 open with the same formula, unique to La-dagil-ili, and the concluding section of 1. 10 (also unique to La-dagil-ili) recurs almost verbatim in oracle 2.3, lines 1 1 -1 4.
8. Mullissu-kabtat, "Mullissu is honoured," a prophetess of unknown domicile, possibly Nineveh ( oracle 7).
The name of the prophetess as well as the fact that she delivers an oracle of Mullissu suggests that she belonged to the temple of Mullissu in Nineveh, Emašmaš, and thus may have been one of the "goddesses" who nurtured Assurbanipal in his childhood (see above, p. XXXIXf). This would account for the content of her oracle, one of the longest in the corpus, which strikes one as an exceptionately affectionate and tender expression of support for the prince.
9. Nabû-hussanni, "Nabû, remember me! ," a prophet from Aššur (oracle 2.1). Names ending in hussanni, "remember me," are rare; besides Nabû, only Aššur is attested as the theophoric element in Neo-Assyrian sources. [[267]] As restored, the name of the prophet recalls the words of the criminal in Luke 23 :42, "Jesus, remember me when you come to your throne (var. , come in royal power)." Indeed, its connotation is exactly the same: Nabû is here invoked as the saviour exalted beside his father's throne, to pass judgment on the living and the dead.[[268]] Restoring the theophoric element as Aššur does not change the basic connotation of the name. It has to be kept in mind that, after all, Nabû was just an aspect of Aššur, see p. XXI and nn. 7ff above. In his fragmentary oracle, Nabû-hussanni appears to take a position in favour of the restoration of Esaggil.
10. Rēmutti-Allati, "Granted by Allatu," a prophetess from a mountain town, Dara-ahuya (oracle 1 .3). Allatu was a name of the Mesopotamian netherworld goddess, Ereškigal.[[269]] Accordingly, the name, which is a hapax legomenon, looks like an assumed "prophet name" referring to its bearer as a person released from the power of the netherworld, that is, the "world." In her short two-line oracle, the prophetess speaks for the whole community of devotees in Arbela.
11. Sinqīša-āmur, "I have seen her distress," a prophetess from Arbela (oracles 1.2 and [2.51). The name of the prophetess is a hapax legomenon and is clearly an assumed "prophet name" ; like the name Ilussa-amur, it refers a visionary revelation of Ištar, specifically as the Creatrix agonizing over the fate of mankind perishing in the deluge.[[270]] That the suffix -ša in the name indeed refers to Ištar is proved by the name Sinqi/Siniq-lssār "Distress of Ištar," frequent in contemporary texts.[[271]] Note that apart from Aššur, Ištar is the only deity combined with the word sinqu "distress" in names.[[272]]
The corpus contains at least two oracles by Sinqiša-amur. The authorship note of the other has been lost, but its attribution to Sinqiša-amur is certain. Both oracles share the same unique address formula and the promise to "bring enemies in neckstocks and vassals with tribute before the king's feet," which does not occur in other oracles of the corpus. In addition, both oracles are largely identical in thematic structure.[[273]]
The oracles of Sinqiša-amur are important for their doctrinal content: no. 2.5 clearly articulates the concept of the interconnection of the "kingdom of heaven" and the Assyrian empire (see nn. 25 and 204), and the doctrine of Ištar as the power linking the world of gods with the world of men (see nn. 48, 89 and 133). For the possibility that Sinqiša-amur is identical with the author of oracles 9 and 10 see above, under Dunnaša-amur. If so, she would be the only Assyrian prophet known to have remained active for a period of over 31 years.
12. Tasmētu-ēreš, "Tasmetu desired," a prophet from Arbela (oracle 6). The name of the prophet is not attested elsewhere and thus may be an assumed "prophet name".[[274]]
The oracle of Tašmetu-ereš is largely destroyed and contains an intriguing reference to prophetic activity.
13. Urkittu-šarrat, "Urkittu is queen," a prophetess from Calah (oracle 2.4). In Sargonid Assyria, Urkittu ("the Urukite [Ištar]") was simply an appellative of Mullissu/Ištar (cf. SAA 3 13:3-22 and r.2f, and 5:8-20), so the name actually extols Mullissu as the supreme goddess, "queen of heaven." Though the name thus suits the prophetess well, it is not necessarily a "prophet name," for names extolling Urkittu were not uncommon in contemporary Assyria.[[275]]
Note that although the prophetess comes from [the Ištar temple of] Calah, she proclaims the word of "Ištar of Arbela and Queen Mullissu." Her long oracle is political throughout and portrays Ištar as a power directing the course of world history.
258 See Durand, ARM 26 (1988) 386 and 396; Rudolph Gnosis, p. 212ff; Ex. 15:20f, 2 Kgs. 22:14, Neh. 6:14, Isa. 8:3, etc.
259 See ABL 149 = LAS 317:7ff, a Jetter to Esarhaddon reporting on a prophetess (ra-gi-in-tu) named Mullissu- abi-uṣri ("Mullissu, protect my father!"; see n. 214 above), and SAA 7 9 = ADD 860 r. i 23, an administrative text listing a prophet (LÚ.rag-gi-mu) named Quqî in military company (cf. n. 243 above).
260 See p. On this letter and its dating see Parpola, LAS II p. 50 and CRRAI 26 (1980) 179.
261 Note also dunnaša lulli/ luštašni "let me extol her (Ištar's) power," VS 10 214 i 4 and 8 (see B. Groneberg, RA 75 [1981] 107-134).
262 See Iraq 15 56 ND 2316:1-6 and Iraq 16 pl.7 ND 2309:3-9 for two votaresses of Mullissu, acquired and dedicated to the Goddess by officials of the royal harem, and IM 76882 = TIM 11 14:25 for a married and divorced votaress of Ištar of Arbela; see also LAS 158 = SAA 10 194 r.8ff and the discussion in LAS II p. 138.
263 ADD 63 r.10, 105 r.2, 111 r.5 and CTN 3 9:2; note also the name Lā-teggi-ana-Nanāya, "Do not neglect Nanaya!," ADD 173:2.
264 Note that the prophet/diviner Bileam is referred to in the Deir Alla inscription as "man who sees the gods" ('š ḥ[z]h 'lhn) and see above on the interrelationship of prophecy and visionary experiences (diglu).
265 The name La-dagil-ili was also borne by individuals who were not prophets: an oil-presser with this name is known from ADD 775:5, and one La-dagil-ili with no indication of profession occurs as a witness in several legal documents from Calah spanning the period 666-662 BC (see ND 2334:9, ND 3420 r.5, ND 3422 r.22, ND 3423 r. 24, ND 3430 r.14, ND 3435 r.18, ND 3444 r.12, ND 3449 r.14, ND 345 I r.9, ND 3461 r. 10, ND 3462 r.10, ND 3463 r.3 I, and ND 3464 r.18). Since both of these individuals appear to have lived a generation after the prophet, it is not excluded that they were named after him.
266 See p. LXIIIf and the commentary p. 27; note further the cultic demands in 3.5 (otherwise paralleled only by 1.10 and 2.3), the phrase atta ana aiāši in 3 iii 25 (which recurs only in 2.3:21), and the rhetorical question in 3 iii 20-24, which has a close (albeit differently phrased) parallel in 1.10:3-9.
267 For other attestations of the Nabû-hussanni, see ADD 238 r.5, 239: 17, ADD 491 r.9 (all texts from Nineveh). The name Aššur-hussanni is attested only in texts from Assur.
268 See p. XVIII with nn. 7 and 196f and the commentary on 1.4 below, p. 6). Incidentally, not only the words of the criminal but the last words of Christ as well have striking parallels in Assyrian sources, again in contexts involving Nabu, the equivalent of the archangel Michael. For Mt. 27:46 and Mk. 15:34, "My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" cf. SAA 3 12 r.10f, "I have reached the gate of death; Nabû, why have you forsaken me? Do not abandon me, my lord"; for Lk. 23:46, "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit" cf. SAA 3 13:20f, "Please, Nabû, do not abandon me; my life is written before you, my soul is deposited in the lap of Mullissu." Regarding the latter passage see also nn. 10 and 106 above.
269 Cf. dEREŠ.KI.GAL = dal-la-tum, CT 25 4:24 and 8:8; da/-la-tum dU.GUR/ PAB ina É da/-la-tum Menzel Tempel 2 T 149:49f).
270 See p. XXIV and nn. 49, 88 and 114 above; note also Lambert-Millard Atra-hasis, pp. 94 iii 32ff ("the Goddess= saw it as she wept..."), 96 iv 4ff ("Nintu was wailing [unabba]"), and 100 vi 2-4 ("Let [these] flies be the lapis around my neck / that I may remember it [every] day [and for ever]"), and see A. Draffkorn Kilmer, "The Symbolism of Flies in the Mesopotamian Flood Myth and Some Further Implications," Festschrift Reiner (1987), pp. 17 5-180. The agony of the Goddess (because of the fate of her sinful creatures) is to be compared with the suffering of the Shekhinah for the sins of mankind in Kabbalah, cf. n. 144 above. For the Japis lazuli flies as a means of self-laceration and mortification (in sympathy for the Goddess), see my remarks in LAS 11 (1983) p. 315f.
271E.g., ADD 76:4; 110:3, r.2, 4; 742:6 and 18; 743 r.5; AO 2221 :5, 9, 13; PSBA 30 111: 14, 112: 13.
272 The only exception is the name Sinqi-Aššur (AO 2221 r.14) where Assur replaces Ištar. See above, pp. XX and XXVI, on the homoousia of Aššur and Ištar, and n. 13 on the interchange of Aššur, Ištar and Ilu "God" in personal names.
273 Cf. oracle 1.2:3 lf (slaughtering the king's enemies) with 2.5:21f; 1.2:35 (rearing the king) with 2.5:27; and l.2:6f (defeating the king's enemies) with 2.5:32.
274 In SAA 3 14, Tašmetu, the bride of Nabû, plays a role similar to that of the bride (= God in His beauty) of the Song of Songs. Her yearning for Nabû (= the mystic struggling to conquer sin) reminds one of the Jewish parable of the daughter of the King ( = God), who, locked high up in the palace, gazes out of a window, yearning to unite with her lover (= the mystic) down on the street. That this parable was current already in Assyrian times is suggested by the "Lady in the Window" motif of the Ancient Near Eastern art (for illustration see, e.g., SAA 3 fig. 11), whose distribution was identical with that of the "calf-suckling cow" (see p. XXXVIII above).
275 E.g., "Urkittu is my god," ADD 232:7; "Urkittu is my wall," ADD 779:2; "Urkittu is able," ADD 619:9; "My heart is with Urkittu," ND 5550:5.
Simo Parpola
Simo Parpola, 'The Prophets of the Corpus ', Assyrian Prophecies, SAA 9. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 1997; online contents: SAAo/SAA09 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2021 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa09/assyrianprophecy/theprophetsofthecorpus/]