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Aratta
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aratta was an ancient state formation of renown somewhere in the Middle East or South Asia, since ca. 2500-2100 BC. It is mentioned in the oldest Sumerian legends, particularly Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, as being a wealthy, mountainous, up-river country ruled by a king called Ensuh-keshdanna, who is engaged in competition with Enmerkar, ruler of Uruk. The two main candidates for Aratta's identity are the mountainous region of later Urartu - mount Ararat[1], and the newly-discovered Jiroft civilization in southeast Iran.
Aratta was known for its stone, metals, craftsmen and artisans. [2] It was also a source of silver, gold and lapis lazuli.[citation needed] The goddess Inanna is said to have transferred her allegiance as consort, from Aratta to Uruk, playing a role something like that of a kingmaker.
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Etymology
The name Aratta translated from Sumerian means earth, land, massive, heavy, high, hard[3].
Mentions in Sumerian literature
There are four Sumerian texts describing the conflicts between Aratta and Uruk.
- Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta tells how Enmerkar of Uruk fails to convince the Lord of Aratta to send him tribute to construct the ziggurat in Eridu, causing Inanna to abandon Aratta for Enmerkar.
- Enmerkar and Ensuh-keshdanna describes a similar contest between Enmerkar of Uruk and Ensuh-keshdanna, the Lord of Aratta.
- Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave and Lugalbanda and the Anzu Bird (also known as Lugalbanda I & II) describe when Lugalbanda, listed as Enmerkar's successor, was among the troops arrayed against Aratta.
In these epics, the heralds from Uruk are depicted as passing through Susin and "the seven mountains of Anshan" to deliver Enmerkar's proclamations to other inhabited lands while en route to Aratta. Anshan was the name of a particular Elamite city lying within the Zagros mountains, that was far to the east, which would seem to fit the theory identifying Aratta with the Jiroft civilization. However, a more northerly location is also feasible by such a route, if "the mountains of Anshan" are taken to mean the Zagros range in general[4].
Location hypotheses
Several locations have been suggested as probable idenfitications of Aratta. Samuel Kramer (1963) placed it in northwest Iran near the Caspian Sea, and Georgina Herrmann (1968) put it south of the Caspian, while S. Cohen (1973) favoured the Anshan-Hamadan area of western Iran. Hansman (1978) and G. Gnoli (1980) have suggested the Shahr-i Sokhta site (Sistan) as a potential candidate.
References
- ^ Newberry, John Strong (2004). The Rainbow Bridge: A Study of Paganism 1934. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1417980400.
- ^ Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat, Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia p. 95
- ^ Waddell, L. Austine (2004). A Sumer Aryan Dictionary. Kessinger Publishing, p. 17. ISBN 0766193233.
- ^ Cambridge History of Iran p.410; S. Cohen "Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta"
Bibliography
- Hansman, J. F. (1978). The Question of Aratta. Journal of Near Eastern Studies.
- Majidzadeh, Yousef (1976). The Land of Aratta. Journal of Near Eastern Studies.