Ekur

The Ekur (E₂-kur) is an ancient Mesopotamian super-constellation consisting of the group of the Standing Gods of the Ekur (^mulDIĜIR.GUB.BA^meš ) and the Sitting Gods of the Ekur ( ^mulDIĜIR.TUŠ.A^meš), both mentioned in MUL.APIN.

Dictionary (Provenance of the term)

Krebernik (2023)

see glossary of Hoffmann and Krebernik (2023):

^mulDIĜIR.GUB.BA^meš & ^mulDIĜIR.TUŠ.A^meš. The sumerograms are ambiguous, since the first sign can be read as DIĜIR “god” or AN “heaven”, and TUŠ can also be read DÚR (both meaning “to sit”) or KU. However, the addition of A makes the reading TUŠ virtually certain. In the same manner, BA confirms the reading of GUB.BA. The Sum. forms mean “seated, sitting” and “standing”, respectively.

The corresponding entries in the dictionaries are angubbû (AHw, CAD) and ankurû (CAD), antušû (AHw), respectively. The first sumerogram, which is much more common than the second, designates a type of priest and describes the function of certain (minor) deities in god lists. In the OB Ištar ritual from Mari, the DIĜIR^meš DIĜIR-gub-bu-ú are obviously (representations of) deities, who “sit down to the left of Ištar together with (the god) Latarak” (ii 1’-3’, see Ziegler 1997, 58). The usage in MUL.APIN, where the two expressions are connected with Enlil’s temple Ekur in Nippur (“The stars of the Standing/Sitting Gods of the Ekur”) seems to be comparable. In 5R 46: 15–16., the “Standing Gods of the Ekur” are interpreted as “Sîn and Nergal”, and the “Sitting Gods” as “Anu and Enlil”, which is not applicable to MUL.APIN. The same is true of [M]UL.DIĜIR.GUB].BA^meš DIĜIR.TUŠ.A^meš in Hg, where they are identified with Sîn and Šamaš (MSL 11, 41: 52). MUL.DIĜIR.GUB.BA^meš šu-ut É.KUR / MUL.DIĜIR.TUŠ.A^meš šu-ut É.KUR (after EN 21).

Kurtik with Hilder, Hoffmann, Horowitz, Kim

Sources	Identifications
MUL.APIN. (1) The stars of Enlil (no. 21): mulDINGIR.GUB.BAmeš šu-ut E2-kur "Standing Gods of the Ekur" (I i 23), for a parallel see. [Horowitz 1989-90, 116, BM 54817:10'].	The constellations of "The Ekur" in Stellarium and a schema overlay: The Sitting Gods are bluish, and the Standing Gods are darker gray. The two additional Non-Ekur divine "entities" with their entourage (Susanne M Hoffmann 2025).
MUL.APIN. The list of the stars of Enlil (no. 22): mulDINGIR.TUŠ.Ameš šu-ut E2-kur "Sitting Gods of Ekur" (I i 23), see also [Horowitz 1989-90, 116, BM 54817:10'].	The MUL.APIN-"The Ekur" in Stellarium and a schema overlay: The Sitting Gods are bluish, and the Standing Gods are darker gray. The two additional Non-Ekur divine "entities" with their entourage (Susanne M Hoffmann 2025).

additional

Deities of the Ekur

1. Standing Gods
   1. Enlil
   2. Enmešarra
   3. Lugalirra and Meslamtaʾea
   4. Alammuš and Ningublaga
   5. Anu
   6. Latarak
   7. Erua | Zarpanītum
   8. Enlil
2. Sitting Gods
   1. Tišpak
   2. Ninlil and her vizier
   3. Erra
   4. Aya
   5. Anu
   6. Damkianna
   7. The Heir of the Emaḫ-temple (could be Enlil's or Anu's son)

Historical Dictionaries

The historical dictionaries by Kurtik (2007) and Gössmann (1950) both don't include this term, as the discovery of the astronomical unit of The Ekur only happened in a series of papers later (Hoffmann and Krebernik 2023, Hoffmann and Horowitz 2023, and Hoffmann 2024)

References

• Kurtik's references