Sadarnunna
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Sadarnunna was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the wife of Nuska. Very little is known about her individual character. She was worshiped in Nippur, and appears alongside other deities of this city in texts from the Ur III period already. In later times she is also attested in sources from other locations, for example Harran and Uruk.
The meaning of Sadarnunna's name remains uncertain.[1] In the earliest texts she appears in, it is consistently written in cuneiform as dSa-dir(i)-nun-na, but in the Old Babylonian period dSa-dàr(a)-nun-na (𒀭𒊓𒁰𒉣𒈾) became the default spelling.[1] According to the Old Babylonian forerunner to the later god list An = Anum and to an emesal vocabulary, she could also be called Ninka'ašbaranki, "mistress who makes decisions for heaven and earth."[2] Further attested alternate names include Ninkiaĝnuna, "mistress loved by the prince," Ninmešudu, "mistress who perfects the me," and Dumu-abzu, "child of the Abzu."[1]
Very little is known about Sadarnunna's individual character.[3] A late explanatory text describes her as the "advisor of god and king."[4] A hymn dedicated to her refers to her multiple times as the "virtuous woman" (munus-zi).[3]
Associations with other deities
Sadarnunna was regarded as the spouse of Nuska.[5] She is already paired with him in the earliest available sources mentioning her.[1] They appear together in various god lists, including the Weidner god list, the Mari god list and an Old Babylonian forerunner of An = Anum.[4] However, in the Nippur god list she instead appears alongside Ninkarnunna, and in the poorly preserved Isin god list after Gatumdug and before Gazbaba.[4] According to Old Babylonian sources, a room in a temple of Nuska in Nippur was regarded as a bedchamber which belonged both to him and to Sadarnunna.[3]
Anu was regarded as Sadarnunna's father.[6] This tradition is attested in a hymn dedicated to her, and in sources from Uruk.[4]
Under the dialectical emesal form of the name Ninmešudu, Gašanmešudu, Sadarnunna appears alongside Umunmuduru (Ninĝidru) in lamentations.[4] In the incantation series Šurpu (tablet VIII, lines 31-33) she appears between Šulpae and Belet-ili in a sequence of deities implored to release a patient from a curse.[7]
The god list An = Anum states that the deity Ad-ḪI-nun (reading of the second sign remains uncertain) served as Sadarnunna's counselor.[3]