The Long Path of Nanāia from Mesopotamia to Central and South Asia

. In this paper we show that the Mesopotamian goddess Nanāia had some attributes (such as ‘warrior goddess’ and ‘sitting on a tiger/lion/standing with a lion/lions’) which were preserved in her worship from the period of Ur III (the second millennium BC) in Mesopotamia up to the period of the Ku ṣāṇ as and Kūšānšāhs (from the 1 st century AD to the late 4 th century AD), and even up to the period of later Nomadic dynasties of Northern India, such as the Kidarites and Hephthalites (from the 4 th century AD to the 8 th century AD) in Central and South Asia. In later stages we detect early Hindu images of Nanāia presented as Durgā as well as early Hindu images of the divine couple Oešo and Nanāia presented as Umāmaheśvara. So, the standard Indian iconographic motif of Durgā could be traced back to the Mesopotamian goddess Nanāia .


Introduction
The aim of this paper is to show how different Sumero-Akkadian beliefs revolving around the worship of d NA.NA.A ( d Nanaya, Nanā, Nanāia) influenced the worship of the eponymous female deity in Central Asia -(i) nny (Sogdian: Nanāia) in Sogdiana and Khoresmia (today's Tajikistan and the South of Uzbekistan); (ii) Ναναια (Greco-Bactrian: Nanāia), Νανα (Bactrian: Nanā) in Bactria (modern Afghanistan) and Gandhāra (present-day north-west Pakistan and north-east Afghanistan) -and through them even influenced some Hindu beliefs about Durgā in North India.On the one hand, the influence of Sumero-Akkadian Nanāia on Sogdian-Bactrian Nanāia is quite well-known. 3On the other hand, the claim about the possible impact of Sogdian-Bactrian Nanāia on the cult of Durgā needs special argumentation, which is presented in this paper.
Methodologically, there is a difference between reconstructing the cult of Nanāia in Mesopotamia4 and reconstructing the cult of Nanāia in Central Asia.In the first case, we have a lot of long textual fragments mentioning this goddess.So, we can extrapolate the dynamics of identification of the goddess by tracing her attributes in texts from Ur III (2112-2004 BC) to the Neo-Babylonian period in the late 7 th and 6 th centuries BC.In the second case, we deal with a few mentions of Nanāia in long texts, but there is a huge number of her images in paintings, sculptures, and coins with very short inscriptions.Therefore, we cannot analyse long texts but only visual attributes in her images and their dynamics.
Thus, in this paper we are going to trace and classify the identification of Nanāia/Nanā from the earliest mentions in Ur III (from the 22 nd to 21 st century BC according to the middle chronology) up to the possible influence of Nanā on Durgā in Northern India (from the 2 nd century BC to the 7 th century AD).In this tracing and classifying, we use the world-systems analysis introduced by Immanuel Wallerstein5 , and, thereby, we completely agree with the statement later made by André Gunder Frank6 that various regions have been linked to each other by close economic, social and political relations since ca.3000 BC, and, in this way, they have united into a kind of world-system.We show that Nanāia is a goddess whose worship has been a significant part of religious diffusion of this world-system since its inception.So, the world-systems analysis can be treated as an eternalistic approach to history, when each historical event is understood as unique, and there is only one history without repetitive processes with some historical laws holding for different societies or civilizations.For instance, the cult of Nanāia as mother goddess has an unbroken living tradition that goes back over 4,000 years and it is now preserved in the cult of Durgā in India.
Our research within the framework of the world-systems approach is based on different combined methods, such as critical study of texts from Mesopotamia (e.g., royal inscriptions, myths, offering lists etc) and texts of coin legends from Central and South Asia.We use comparative analysis of textual sources in Sumerian, Akkadian, Bactrian, Sogdian and some other languages, philological analysis, and diachronic and synchronic analysis.This combination of methods is useful for examining a wide variety of sources from different genres, epochs and geographic scopes for reconstructing one intercultural religious tradition within the world-system.In order to combine these methods into one piece of research, we apply a general methodology developed within the structuralist analysis of mythemes founded by C. Lévi-Strauss 7 and V. Ya.Propp 8 .Let us recall that they proposed the methodology of analysing the mythological narratives of different languages, epochs and geographic locations.Following their approach, we distinguish between syntagmatic (horizontal) and paradigmatic (vertical) orders of mythemes.So, we distinguish between syntagmatic and paradigmatic orders of attributes of deity.According to the syntagmatic order of the first level, we obtain the following attributes of Nanāia in Mesopotamia 9 : The attribute 'crescent moon' (A1-1) is paradigmatically subordinated to A1, according to Old Babylonian texts 14 ; the attribute 'healing of epidemics' (A2-1) is paradigmatically subordinated to A2 and 'marriage (children)' (A2-2) to the same A2, according to Old Babylonian texts, too (STRECK 2012; VS 10, 215: 11); 'sitting on a lion' (A4-1) to A4 15 .The attribute 'four or many arms' (A4-2) was not mentioned in the Mesopotamian sources, but it occurs first in Kuṣāṇa and Sogdian images of Nanāia.It is subordinated to A4, also.First of all, according to numismatics 16 of the Kuṣāṇas, we can reconstruct all the Mesopotamian attributes of Nanāia in the Kuṣāṇa period in India and, additionally, A4-2.These attributes are as follows: Later these attributes were ascribed to Durgā -one of the main goddesses in Hinduismbut with some new attributes.So, using this structuralist methodology, we show the 7 LÉVI-STRAUSS, 1955. 8PROPP 1968. 9STRECK 2012. 10 DREWNOWSKA-RYMARZ 2008, 33;WEIDNER 1924, 1-18. 11 SIGRIST 1984, 147;DREWNOWSKA-RYMARZ 2008. 12 SIGRIST and WESTENHOLZ 2008, 667-704 13 KONSTANTOPOULOS 2015, 201. 14  for d Nanaya is a latecomer to the assembly of Sumerian gods; she appears from nowhere to become the greatest Mesopotamian goddess of all times -greater than the Sumerian Ninḫursaĝ, the highest lady of the Sumerian pantheon, more enduring than even the Semitic goddess par excellence, Ištar, who was worshipped from one end of the Near East to the other.d Nanaya was a goddess whose name was never lost on the pages of time. 17 Let us trace back some earliest mentions of this goddess.
There are some suggestions that Nanāia could originate from an Elamite word, e.g., the Elamite root nan(n) means "day, morning" 18 , but there is no direct proof of that 19 , although it is possible.We do not have any direct evidence in the early Mesopotamian sources from the Early Dynastic Period (2800-2335 BC) to the Old Akkadian Period (2334-2154 BC) that this goddess indeed existed at that time.
From Ur III, the Mesopotamian goddess Nanāia was the goddess of erotic love. 20We know that some offerings to Nanāia were performed during the reign of Šulgi (e.g., in the 33 rd or 32 nd regnal year); for example, we can find some information about this fact from the texts from Drehem. 21In Drehem, Nanāia was mentioned in different years of Šulgi 22 .Nevertheless, we know that offerings of lambs were performed in "various months, starting in the 44 th regnal year of Šulgi (2094-2047) and continuing until the second year of the rule of Ibbi-Sîn (2028-2004)". 23There were some other types of offerings, too, e.g., kid offerings (they were mentioned for the first time in the 35 th regnal year of Šulgi). 24DREWNOWSKA-RYMARZ 2008, 33. 24 MVN XVIII 56 = AnOr 7, 56, PDT 32, 998; DREWNOWSKA-RYMARZ 2008, 34.It is worth noting here that in the cities of Ur and Uruk, during the whole Ur III period, some texts describe that offerings were made for the following goddesses: Inanna, Nanāia, Bēlat-tirraban, Bēlat-suhnir, Ulmašītum and Annunītum, and others. 25According to W.G. Lambert, Ulmašītum and Annunītum are Ištar of Akkad and Ištar of Babylon, respectively. 26Hence, Nanāia was one of the highest deities mentioned together with Inanna and Ištar 27 , and one of her earliest main attributes was to be a 'mother goddess' (A1).Nanāia's name occurs in the Old Babylonian period as d na-na-a in Weidner's God List 28 , line 12: 29 'Love (fertility)' (A2) as one of her additional attributes is reconstructed from the analysis of the royal inscriptions since the early second millennium BC, i.e., since the Isin-Larsa period and Old Babylonian period (2000-1595 BC).This reconstruction is based on identifying Nanāia with Inanna.This identification took place at the time of Sîn-iqišam. 30For example, Būr-Sîn, ruler of Isin, begins his inscription by mentioning Nanāia, to whom he dedicated this text as a whole: Innana and Nanāia are mentioned in one inscription of Rīm-Sîn I but separately. 33Thus, we have another confirmation of the attribute 'love (fertility)' (A2).
The name of Nanāia also appeared in the "sacred marriage" of Rīm-Sîn I.This "sacred marriage" joined Rīm-Sîn I and Nanāia. 34In this context, we can reconstruct the following new attribute of Nanāia: to be a 'royal patron' (A3) granting forces and powers to kings.Nanāia has been mentioned in many inscriptions of Rīm-Sîn I, such as some inscriptions which are known from one bronze foundation canephore and three stone foundation tablets.They are devoted to the building of the temple of Nanāia by Kudur-mabuk and his son Rīm-Sîn I: d na-na-a nin ḫi-li še-er-ka-an-di nam-sa 6 -ga-ni gal diri dumu-zi-le-an-gal-la nin-a-ne-ne-er -"For the goddess Nanāia, lady adorned with voluptuousness, whose beauty is excessively great, comely daughter of great Anu, their lady." 35fortunately, the beginning of Hymn to Nanāia by Sargon II is destroyed, but we can reconstruct an invocation and celebration of Nanāia's military prowess 36 and her battle with Sebēttu -the seven evil demons of one mother and one father: The naked sword, [emblem of Nergal], the pointed axe, suited to the [Sebēttu] on (her) right and left battle is arrayed.The foremost of the gods, (she) whose play is battle, who goes ahead of the brotherhood of the Seven." 37Konstantopoulos accentuates that this reference echoes much earlier attestations of the Sebēttu as a group of brothers who form a context of battle within which Nanāia has been engaged.Hence, a clear connection between Nanāia, Ištar, and evil demons (Sebēttu) is visible here to trace the 'woman warrior' (A4) as a new attribute of Nanāia. 38As we know from the Akkadian literary text entitled Descent of Ištar to the Netherworld 39 , the goddess Ištar decides to visit the netherworld, but Ištar's sister, the goddess Ereškigal (the lady and queen of the netherworld), is jealous and she orders her gatekeepers (demons) to remove all of Ištar's clothing as she enters the netherworld, whereupon Ereškigal sets disease demons upon her, and Ištar dies. 40n Akkadian, the name of Nanāia was written syllabically in the following way: Na-na-a-(a). 41At the time of the early II millennium BC, Nanāia became very popular and was often mentioned in different texts, including some royal inscriptions of Mesopotamian rulers and hymns.For example, the king of Uruk Sîn-kášid (the 18 th century BC) organized the building of a temple devoted to the goddess Nanāia, where an inscription was found on a cone excavated at Uruk 1-9) d na-na-a nin-hi-li-sù nin-a-ni-ir d EN.zu-kà-šì-id nita-kala-ga lugal-unu.Ki-ga ib é-[šà]-hú1-1aka-na mu-na-dù -"For the goddess Nanāia, lady adorned with charm, his lady Sîn-kášid, mighty man, king of Uruk, built for her an oval in her E[sa]hula ['House of rejoicing']." 42sides the royal inscriptions and other texts, Nanāia also often played an important role in cultic texts (hymns).For instance, there is the Hymn to Nanāia 43 which ends in a conclusion consisting of a blessing for the king.It is important to note that the structure, vocabulary and content are quite similar to the Hymn to Ištar.Thus, in this hymn we see the four attributes of Nanāia simultaneously: 'mother goddess' (A1), 'love (fertility)' (A2), 'royal patron' (A3), and 'woman warrior' (A4).These attributes occur in different Old Babylonian texts 44 : A1 ('mother goddess'): Nanāia is the daughter of An (VS 10, 215: 17f.; UET 6/2, 404: 5); she is the most powerful goddess among the Igigi (VS 10 215); the mistress of the world (VS 10, 215: 23); the mighty in the world (UET 6/3 889 ii 14); A1-1 ('Sun and/or Moon'): Nanāia is luminous; she is the sun of the people (VS 10, 215: 1); like the moon to behold (VS 10, 215: 3); endowed with brilliance (VS 10, 215: 4); people look upon her light (VS 10, 215: 24; UET 6/2, 404: 1f); A2 ('love/fertility'): Nanāia is full of songs of love (VS 10, 215: 5-8; VS 10, 215: 16); A2-1 ('giving life / curing of epidemics'): Nanāia brings well-being and life (VS 10, 215: 11); 40 FOSTER 1996, 402. 41 POTTS 2001, 24;RAINER 1974, 222, n. 8. 42 RIME 4, Sîn-kāšid E4.4.1.10,FOSTER 1996, 72. 44 STRECK 2012.Indented Niches at Ai-Khanoum (Afghanistan) and in the semi-Hellenistic and semi-Mazdean Oxus Temple at Takht-i Sangin (Tajikistan), then on the coins of the Kuṣāṇa rulers with the same main attribute -to be accompanied by a lion -but her name Ναναια (Nanāia) was also mentioned explicitly in Greek legends, which connects Cybela to Nanāia.At that time, she was the main royal patron of the Kuṣāṇa dynasty -she was depicted on the coins as holding the royal diadem as a sign of Kuṣāṇa power.So, the 'royal patron' (A3) was her main attribute there.These Kuṣāṇa rulers used Bactrian (one of the Eastern Iranian languages) as one of the official languages (most probably, together with Gāndhārī) and reigned over the territory of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and North India at least up to Varanasi at the height of their power.This dynasty existed from the early 1 st century AD to the late 4 th century AD.Initially, they used Greek as their official language, but the situation changed after the reform of the Kuṣāṇa emperor Kaniṣka (Bactrian: Κανηþκι), presumably in 127 AD, the main aim of which was changing the official language of the Kuṣāṇa Empire from Greek to Bactrian (called "Aryan").The text of this reform is known as the Rabatak inscription 53 , and after the reform all the legends on the Kuṣāṇa coins were written only in Bactrian, and the goddess was called Νανα (Nanā).So, after 127 AD, the spelling of the name of the goddess changed in Bactria and Gandhāra (it became Nanā) but remained the same in Soghd: nny (Nanāia).
We can add that the attributes of Hārītī/Nanāia such as 'mother goddess' (A1) and 'giving life / curing of epidemics' (A2-1) were preserved in the folklore of different Caucasian peoples, e.g., in Georgian folklore in ritual songs against Batonebi (children's infectious diseases such as measles, whooping cough, chicken pox, etc.).Nana (Georgian: ნანა) was regarded as the Great Mother of Georgians and their children (BARDAVELIDZE 1957, 81), and reciting her name protects against any illness.The rituals are performed during child sickness and include singing special songs and walking around the sick person carrying gifts and offering apologies (BARDAVELIDZE, 1957, 85).
The same attributes of Nanāia 'mother goddess' (A1) and 'giving life / curing of epidemics' (A2-1) occur in Armenian mythology where Nane (Armenian: Նանե) is associated with Anahit (Armenian: Անահիտ), the goddess of fertility and healing.It is worth noting that Nanāia is associated with the Mazdean goddess Anāhitā by the Kūšānšāhs, too.As we see, Nanāia with the same name was popular among different peoples in different territories controlled in former times by different Iranian tribes from the Persians to the Indo-Scythians and the Kuṣāṇas.We can assume that the name nanā started to mean 55 BIVAR 1970, 19. 56 JOSHI 1986.son of) Aw-xsarth" or "Awxsarth (the son of) Nanaivandak".
The attribute 'sitting on a lion' (A4-1) was borrowed from western goddesses such as Cybele/Rhea or Ištar due to the spread of Hellenism in India, while her name and iconography were initially Mesopotamian (AZARAPAY 1981, 132-139).This attribute occurs differently in the Kuṣāṇa period: a lion on which the goddess sits, a lion without the goddess, a sceptre ending with a lion's protome held by the goddess in her hand.8][9] In heaven and on earth you roar like a lion and devastate the people.Like a huge wild bull you triumph over lands which are hostile.Like a fearsome lion you pacify the insubordinate and unsubmissive with your gall. 57 the late period of Mesopotamian history, namely in the Neo-Babylonian period, it is well-known iconography of Ištar Gate (built in 575 BC by King Nebuchadnezzar II 58 of Babylon) where lions are also depicted. 59Of course, many other examples of Ištar's (Inanna's) connection to lions can also be mentioned.Nanāia as the 'mother goddess' (A1) was first very popular in Bactria and Gandhāra (from the 2 nd century B.C. to the 8 th century AD) and later in Sogdiana and Khoresmia (from the 2 nd century AD to the 9 th century AD). 60Her attribute 'sitting on a lion' (A4-1) occurs in different forms.So, in the mural from Jartepa II Temple (Sogdiana) dated to the 4 th or early 5 th century AD, she is depicted as sitting on a throne with legs shaped like lion protomes. 61On Kuṣāṇa coins, she is depicted as a lion or a woman holding a lion protome, see Table 2. On these coins, her name is spelled as Ναναια (Nanāia), Νανα (Nanā), or Ναναþαο (Nanā-šah, "Nanā, the ruler").
57 ETCSL translation: t. 1.3.2Inanna and Ebih, lines 7-9, ETCSL, https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr132.htm(accessed 18.11.2021). 58Ruled 605-562 BC. 59 WATANABE 2015. 60 TANABE 1995;DE JONG 1997, 268-284;POTTS 2001. 61 BERDIMURADOV andSAMIBAEV 2001, 59.Sometimes Nanāia appears on the coins of the Kūšānšāhs too.The Kūšānšāhs are a branch of the Kuṣāṇa dynasty, who become satraps of the Sasanian rulers.So, on the coins of Pērōz I (Bactrian: Πιρωσο κοϸανο ϸαηο), dated from ca. 245-275 AD, we can see Nanāia having a nimbus and a crescent on the top of her head, appearing in the form of a female bust surmounted on an altar.On both sides of the bust, there is the Bactrian inscription Baγo Nανο "the goddess Nanā".Her attribute here is presented by a 'crescent moon' (A1-1) on the top of her head. 62This attribute is paradigmatically subordinated to the attribute 'mother goddess' (A1).This image of a bust on an altar was borrowed on a Bukharan coin. 63anāia was a patron goddess of the Kuṣāṇa dynasty (see Table 2) and later of the Kūšānšāhs.As we see, her attribute 'royal patron' (A3) was very significant at that time.The same attribute has been reconstructed in Sogdiana as well.So, in Panjikent city of Sogdiana, Nanāia was a patron goddess; she is also represented as the most significant deity in several private houses (III/7; VI/26: VI/41; XXI/2; XXIII/50; XXV/12). 64Her image appears not only on the coins of the Kuṣāṇas and the Kūšānšāhs but also on the coins of Sogdiana -on the coins minted during the reign of Dhēwāshtīch (died in 722 AD) with the Sogdian legend pncy nn(δ)-βnpn-wH "Nanāia, the Lady of Panč". 65orshipping Nanāia as the 'mother goddess' (A1) among the Iranian speaking peoples at least from the 2 nd century BC is mentioned in the following two sources: (i) the Sasanian king Šāpūr II (reigned from 309 to 379 AD) ordered his general converted to Christianity to worship the Sun, the Moon, Fire, Zeus, Bel, Nebo and Nanai -"the great goddess of the world" 66 ; (ii) in the Syriac version of The Alexander Romance, we find a mention of a temple in Samarkand dedicated to "the goddess Rhea whom they call Nani". 67This reference is of particular interest, because it identifies Cybele/Rhea with Nanāia.
Hence, the Mesopotamian attributes of Nanāia ( d Nanaya), 'mother goddess' (A1) and 'royal patron' (A3), were continued in Central and South Asia.An additional attribute was represented by 'woman warrior' (A4) with the subattribute 'sitting on a lion' (A4-1).'Love (fertility)' (A2) as the Mesopotamian attribute of Nanāia ( d Nanaya) was well expressed by her subattribute 'marriage (children)' (A2-1) in Central and South Asia.So, according to the Rabatak inscription 68 , Nanāia can be associated with her manifestation Oμμα/Oμμo (Umā), the wife of the bodhisattva Maheśvara: subordinated to 'woman warrior' (A4).This attribute first appears in some rare images at the time of the Kuṣāṇas, such as their gold coins.The canonical image of Nanāia with four arms sitting on the lion is recognized in Khoresmia, too -among the Khoresmian bowls. 77

Conclusion
To sum up, in Bactria, Gandhāra, Sogdiana, Khoresmia, and Northern India, we observe a smooth transformation of the main attributes of the mother goddess starting from the Hellenistic goddess Cybele/Rhea (associated with the Mesopotamian Nanāia/Nanaya) and finishing in the final stages fixed on the paintings of Sogdiana, where we see the early Hindu images of Nanāia presented as Durgā as well as the early Hindu images of Wēšparkar/Oešo and Nanāia/Oμμo presented as the divine couple of Umāmaheśvara.Meanwhile, their cult was a part of Gandhāran Buddhism at that time.In other words, we have the following strong sequence: (1) the earliest realistic images of mother goddess in Northern India since the 2nd century BC which belong to Cybele/Rhea → (2) the earliest occurrences of Cybele/Rhea's attributes with the inscription Ναναια (Nanāia) since the 1st century AD → (3) the new attribute 'four or many arms' (A4-2) of Nanāia since the 2 nd century AD → (4) the smooth iconographic transformation of Nanāia into Umā (Durgā), first of all, in Bactria and Sogdiana.Thus, Durgā as a 'woman warrior' (A4), 'sitting on a tiger' (A4-1-1) with 'four or many arms' (A4-2) is well traced back to the Mesopotamian goddess Nanāia with the attributes of 'woman warrior' (A4) and 'sitting on a lion' (A4-1), although the Mesopotamian goddess did not have four arms, and the motive of four arms is not common in Ancient Near East.So, we applied the world-systems analysis and structuralist methodology to show that some religious practices, such as the worship of Nanāia, developed along with the development of the world system as such through its diffusion.As a result of this expansion, Nanāia obtained some new attributes in addition to the old ones.

A1-1 A2-1 A2-2 A4-1 A4-2 dynamics
of the main attributes of Nanāia from the Mesopotamian goddess d Nanaya in the 2 nd millennium BC to the Hindu goddess Durgā in the 7 th century AD.

Table 2 .
Obverse: the helmeted bust of king at right, the Greek legend at left Caπaδβιζηc.Reverse: the lion standing at right, tamgha above, the same Greek legend at left and at right Ναναια.