Elamātum

^(mul)Elamāt(t)u(m) occurs as an appellation of the goddess Ištar as the planet Venus, 'Ištar Elamātum, generally understood as 'Ištar, the Elamite-one.' The earlier interpetation as a designation of an asterism is rejected.

Venus is a planet of our solar system and observable with the naked eye. It is the brightest one of the planets, but never separates more than 60° from the Sun. Thus, Venus is only visible short after sunset or short before sunrise - never in the middle of the night - and in temperate latitudes these hours are twilight while close to the equator, Venus at maximum elongation could be seen in darkness.

Images of Venus (Naked Eye Appearance)

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  Venus above Sahara (Nov. 2005, Susanne M Hoffmann)

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  Venus above campfire (Sahara 2008, SMH)

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  Moon and Venus in morning twilight above Austrian mountains (CC BY Susanne M Hoffmann 2016).

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  Venus and Pleiades above a mountain at Dawn in Europe (SMH 2020)

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  Venus above the rocks at Petra, Jordan (SMH 2023), it's already rather dark (not really dusk any more).

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  Venus above the Gate to the Shaolin Temple (China 2024, SMH)

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  Venus and Moon at Dusk (Europe, SMH 2025)

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  Saturn, Venus and Moon at Dusk (SMH 2025)

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  Moon and Venus in tropical dusk in Indonesia (Karimunjawa, SMH 2024).

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  Moon and Venus at Dusk (SMH 2025).

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  Venus and Moon at Dusk, 2025 (SMH)

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  Venus above houses, evening star, (SMH 2025)

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  Venus and Pleiades at Dusk in Europe (SMH 2020), for comparison of brightness

Dictionary

Krebernik (2023)

(in combination with Ištar). Name of an asterism and of a goddess. The reading is confirmed by syllabic spellings (e.g., E-la-ma-tum, Astrolabe B 15). The name is usually rendered as “Elamite (Ištar)”. Note, however, that the Akk. word for “Elamite” is Elam(m)ītu whereas Elam(a)tum is “Elam”. Furthermore, the filiation “daughter of Enlil” contradicts Babylonian mythology where Inanna/Ištar is either the daughter of An/Anum or the daughter of the moon god Nanna/Sîn (who is a son of Enlil and Ninlil). It seems possible that the name is of a different origin, and its association with Elam based on folk etymology.

The Old Babylonian mythological text “Girra and Elamattum” tells us that a creature named Elam(NIM)-ma-tum was slain by the fire god Girra and placed in the midst of heaven. In the Old Babylonian “Prayer to the Gods of the Night”, E-la-ma-tum is mentioned after the “Bow(-star)” (AO 6769: 17). ^dIš-tar NIM.MA-tu₄ (AN 12r).

Kurtik with Hilder, Hoffmann, Horowitz, Kim

The asterism Elamatum appears in the Old Babylonian prayer to the Gods of the Night AO 6769 e-la-ma-tum is listed as one of 10 names of astral gods and asterisms addressed by the speaker [Dossin 1935, 181:17; Kurtik 2017, 827]. An Old Babylonian myth tells of the creation of the constellation Elamatum by the supreme deity Enlil:

• u₃ elam-ma-tum ša ˹te˺-ne-ru-ši-i-ma / ˹li-ṣi˺-a-˹am-ma˺ i-na ˹qa-ab-li˺-tu ša-ma-i / [xxx] x li-iz-zi-iz-ma
• "And let Elamatum whom you killed, / rise and in the middle of heaven / [. ...] let her stand." [Walker 1983, BM 78962:36-38].

Earlier, this word was interpreted as a definition in the expression qaštum elamātum "Elamite Bow". [AHw, 196; CAD Q, 152; Weidner 1957-59, 73] and was identified with the constellation ^mulPAN, considered an astral incarnation of Ishtar of Elam, see (Kurtik b06) PAN as well as [Cooley 2013, 124-129]. Here taking qaštum elamātum as a single asterism would reduce the number of asterisms in the prayer to 9, which is unacceptable given the fact that parallel ERM 15642 lists 10 asterisms, including qaštum on its own Horowitz 2014: 118-119). Further, Elamātum is not the form of the fem. adjective, which would be elamītum for 'Elamite Bow.' Therefore, the earler interpretation of qaštum in the Prayer to the Gods of the Night can be rejected.

This does not preclude later confusion with the manifestation of Ištar (Venus) as the Elamite Bow (Kurtik q01, Qaštu).

There is only one hint of a deity (perhaps the Elamite Ištar) next to the constellation PAN, the Bow, which is mentioned in the GU-text as the "left leg" at the Arrow. If this is the leg of a deity next to the double-constellation of Bow and Arrow, a deity that holds bow and arrow, it may - perhaps - be the Elamite Ištar who can be interpreted as the Egyptian Satis (also with bow and arrow), as depicted on the circular Dendera zodiac.

Historical Dictionaries

Kurtik (2022)

Gössmann (1950)

= «Женщина Элама»(?); отождествление не установлено. I. Источники. «Молитвы ночным богам». Старовавилонская молитва AO 6769 содержит e-la-ma-tum в списке имен астральных богов [Dossin 1935, 181:17; Куртик 2017, 827]. Ранее это слово интерпретировалось как определение в выражении qaštum elamātum «Эламский Лук» [AHw, 196; CAD Q, 152; Weidner 1957–59, 73] и отождествлялось с созвездием mulBAN, считавшимся астральным воплощением Иштар Эламской, см. b06BAN, а также [Cooley 2013, 124–129]. «Гирра и Эламатум». Старовавилонский миф повествует о сотворении созвездия Эламатум верховным божеством Энлилем: u3 elam-ma-tum ša ˹te˺-ne-ru-ši-i-ma / ˹li-ṣi˺-a-˹am-ma˺ i-na ˹qa-ab-li˺-tu ša-ma-i / [xxx] x li-iz-zi-iz-ma «И пусть Эламатум, которую ты убил, / восходит и в середине небес / [...] пусть она стоит» [Walker 1983, BM 78962:36–38]. Хотя миф «Гирра и Эламатум» свидетельствует как будто о том, что название «Эламатум» связано со светилом, не совпадающим с созвездием Лук, однако более ранняя интерпретация elamātum как определения при qaštum в молитве ночным богам, не может быть, по нашему мнению, безусловно отвергнута.

Example

References

• Kurtik's references