The Staff of Ninsubura

1997

1992

2007

Acta Sumerologica 14 (1992) 47-75

Kaskal, 2017

The scepter has always been a symbol of power and royalty within the social imagination, as well as a concrete expression of the power of a preeminent individual upon the masses. It takes the form of a staff or a baton, embellished or not, of precious or modest materials. In many cultures of the ancient world it was a symbol of military power, sexual vigor, and the connection between heaven and earth, among other meanings. Ancient Near Eastern civilizations constitute no exception, conferring a pivotal role upon this object in, and beyond, the realm of power. What follows aims to investigate the meaning and the significance of the word for scepter in Early Mesopotamia (§3). For the better understanding of the reader, this is preceded by a brief introduction to the role of this object in the ancient Near East (§1) and to its lexicon in Mesopotamian literature (§2), and followed by a short iconographical note (§4). The conclusions (summarized in §5) highlight the broad usage of the logogram PA for “scepter” in Early Mesopotamia and endorse its reading ĝidru according to lexical sources and sporadic glosses. Moreover, a thorough analysis of the occurrences of this word in divine names, temple names, and personal names explicates the implications of the scepter not only as a symbol of power, but also as insignia of the office of the vizier and as a deified object worshipped in several regions of the southern Mesopotamia. The reader will find a complete table of the Early Mesopotamian attestations of the word ĝidru in the Appendix.