This paper is written as part of a more extensive study of the early history of the study of constellations in Mesopotamia, and is an attempt to obtain an additional criterion for determining the time of allocation of constellations in ancient Mesopotamia.

It is well known that Inanna, the Sumerian goddess of love and strife, was identified in Mesopotamia with the planet Venus as the morning and evening star. It is possible, however, to assume that the astral characteristics of the goddess Inanna were not originally inherent in her. Initially, Inanna was worshipped in Mesopotamia only as the local goddess of the city of Uruk, with the characteristics of a city deity that also included the functions of a fertility deity (1).The identification of Inanna with Venus occurred later(2).

We assume that the identification of Inanna with the planet Venus chronologically preceded the identification of the first Mesopotamian constellations, which were worshipped as deities in Mesopotamia(3). If this is true, then the very fact of identification can be used as an alternative.-

* This study was carried out with the financial support of the Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation (project code N 96-03-04591).

(1) See in this connection: Goff B. L. Symbols of Prehistoric Mesopotamia. New Haven - London, 1963. P. 86; Jacobsen Th. The Treasures of Darkness. History of Mesopotamian Religion. New Haven-London, 1976, as well as I. M. Diakonov's objections in the notes to the Russian edition of this book by T. Jacobsen (Yakobsen T. Treasures of Darkness / Translated from English M., 1995. pp. 6, 40), concerning the possibility of identifying Inanna with the "goddess of sacred bins".

(2) We thus assume that in the case of Inanna there was an identification of an originally non-astral deity with a celestial luminary. The opposite point of view is formulated in the work of W. Heimpel, who believes that the well-known image of Inanna was formed as a result of the addition of anthropomorphic features to the originally astral deity (Heimpel W. A Catalog of Near Eastern Venus Deities // Syro-Mesopotamian Studies. 1982. V. 4. Issue 3. P. 12). While accepting this hypothesis as possible for the Sun, we cannot accept it for Venus. As far as we know, all the deities identified in Mesopotamia in the 11-1 millennium BC with constellations or individual stars (planets), initially had a non-astral "terrestrial" prehistory. Inanna is no exception in this respect.

This does not negate the possibility that during the astralization of the image of Inanna, two deities - the non-astral (Inanna) and the astral-were combined into a single image. However, only astral deities in Mesopotamia are unknown.

(3) Identification in order from the larger heavenly bodies to the smaller ones seems most natural. It is obvious that the larger luminaries should correspond to more significant deities in their position. This is exactly the situation in Mesopotamia. The deities identified with the Sun, Moon, and Venus (Utu, Naina, and Inanna) were far superior in their position in the pantheon to those identified with the constellations. From this we can conclude that the identification of Inanna with the planet Venus was chronologically at the very beginning of the process of astralisation of Mesopotamian deities.

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Figure 1. Inanna symbols on seals from Uruk (late IV-early III millennium BC): a-ritual feeding of the temple flock, according to Amiet. La glyptique. Fig. 638; b-c-transportation of an altar decorated with a pair of Inanna symbols, according to Amiet. La glyptique. Fig. 653, 655; d-ritual scene: the symbol of Inanna is transferred by taking the "scythe", according to Amiet. La glyptique. Fig. 649; d) - paired images of the symbol of Inanna as a "gatepost" at the sacred cattle pen, according to Amiet. La glyptique. Fig. 623

It can be used as a reference point that allows us to determine the epoch with the onset of which (immediately or after some time) symbolic images of deities and related objects and animals, mostly known from sources of the II-I millennium BC, began to project into the celestial region, which led to the development of ideas about constellation systems.

When was the goddess Inanna identified with the planet Venus in Mesopotamia? Unfortunately, as we will see later, it is not possible to answer this question unambiguously, since the sources of the late IV - early Sh millennium BC associated with Inanna allow for contradictory, sometimes contradictory interpretations in this point.

The first information about the worship of Inanna as a goddess in Mesopotamia dates back to the era of archaic Uruk (late IV millennium BC). The symbol of Inanna on seals and ceramic products during this period is a sign that resembles a tightly tied, vertically placed sheaf or bundle of reeds (reeds), in which the upper end is twisted into a ring, and the excess descends 1) (4).It is first found on seals in the layers of Uruk IV-III, and is also known from later images of Uruk origin(5). This symbol served as the basis for the sign MUS3 = INANNA, which denoted the name of the goddess in archaic and later texts (Fig. 2-3). According to E. Van Buren, solo artists-

(4)" Schilfringbiindel " (lit. "a bundle of reeds (in the form of a) ring", according to Falkenstein A. Archaische Texte aus Uruk. Lpz, 1936. S. 59 (hereinafter-ATU); Wilcke S., Seidi U. Inanna / / RdA. 1976. Bd. 5. Lief 1-2. S. 75, or " beribboned standart "("decorated with ribbons standart"), according to Goff. Op. cit.

(5) Amiet P. La glyptique mesopotamienne archai'que. P., 1962. Fig. 620-625, 627, 636-B, 637-B, 638, 643-644, 646, 648, 650-655. Р1. 48 bis. A; Goff. Op. cit. P. 85. Fig. 244, 248-250, 252, 269-270, 285-286 etc. The earliest such image (though without the "scythe"), P. Amier dates the Uruk era V-IV, see Amiet. La glyptique... Fig. 186. The origin of some of the images has not been established, so in principle it is possible that some of them are connected not only with Uruk. See in this connection: Goff. Op. cit. Р. 85; Frankfort Н. Stratified Cylinder Seals form Diyala Region. Chicago, 1955. Fig. 854.

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2. History of the sign MUS 3, which in cuneiform texts denoted the name of the goddess Inanna, according to Lahat R. Manuel d'epigraphie akkadienne. Paris, 1976. P. 84-85, N 103

3. Various forms of the MUS 3 sign in archaic texts from Uruk, according to ATU, N 208

4. Archaic texts from Uruk: image of a star next to the symbol of Inanna and the signs of sunrise or sunset, according to ATU, S. 58, texts N 602 III, 606 Rs. 2

images of this symbol represented the goddess Inanna directly(6). However, on seals and ceramics, such symbols are often found in pairs-symmetrically at the entrance to the sanctuary or behind it, symbolizing the "gate posts" (Fig.(7), and also as part of a portable altar (?) placed on the back of a bull (Fig. 1h, c). The object that became the symbol of Inanna had undoubtedly a ritual purpose: it was carried during processions, transported by ship (Fig. 1h, c, d) (8).

The well-known images of this symbol on seals and ceramics do not contain elements that could be interpreted as evidence of the astral meaning of Inanna(9).

(6) Van Buren ED. Symbols of the Gods in Mesopotamian Art. Roma, 1945. P. 44.

(7) "Gate post with streamer" ("a gatepost with a pennant"). According to E. According to Van Buren and other researchers, a pole was passed through the rings of pillars, on which a mat was attached to block the entrance to the sanctuary, see Van Buren. Op. cit. P.43; however, we are not aware of any images in which such a structure would be explicitly represented.

(8) Amiet. La glyptique... Fig. 648-655; Goff. Op. cit. Fig. 282, 347. In some images, participants in processions carry an object that has become a symbol of Inanna, grabbing it by the "braid" descending from the ring (Figure 1, d), which is hardly possible if it was actually a "braid" or "ribbon".

(9) We know of only two exceptions. The cylinder seal from archaic Uruk shows the symbol of Inanna, the symbols of sunrise and sunset, a star, a bull, above it three stars, in front of it a figure resembling a "drum", see Nissen N. J., Damerow P., Englund R. K. Friihe Schrift and Techniken der Wirtschaftsverwaltung im alten Vorderen Orient. V., 1991. P. 45. Fig. 5a; this work is cited by us according to the publication: Vayman A. A. Drevneyshie pismennye i izobrazhitel'nye testified ob astronomicheskikh znanii v Sumer i Elam [Ancient written and visual evidence of astronomical knowledge in Sumer and Elam]. Ermitazhnye chteniya pamyati B. B. Piotrovsky, St. Petersburg, 1998, pp. 13-17. The meaning of this image probably has a lot in common with the pictographic texts that we will discuss below.

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The sign MUS 3 is also found in many archaic texts (10), especially in texts from Uruk, which is not surprising, since this city was the center of worship of Inanna and it regularly performed sacred rites associated with this goddess. In texts, the MUS3 sign is usually used only once and is often combined with the star sign, the names of churches and holidays (Fig. 5).

5. One of the earliest images of an eight-pointed star from the Jem det Nasr period (beginning of the third millennium BC), by Goff. Op. cit. Fig. 415

J. Szajinska identifies three forms of writing the name of the goddess in the Uruk texts, which, in her opinion, are associated with three groups of sacrifices:

dInana-nun "The Royal Inanna",

dInana-ud / hud2 "Morning Inanna",

dInana-sig "Evening Inanna" (11).

The second and third forms have, in her opinion, a clear astronomical meaning: sacrifices to the goddess Inanna are performed in the morning and evening because the goddess herself is identified with the planet Venus, which was regularly observed as a morning or evening star (12).

In this connection, a symmetrical image on a plaster feeding tray from Uruk, dating from the era of Jemdet Nasr (beginning of the third millennium BC), is also of interest: in its center we see two symbols of Inanna with "ribbons" inside, then two lambs (one on the right and left), then two eight-petaled rosettes, to which the lambs ' heads are turned (Fig. 4). The image can be interpreted astral if the rosettes on it have the meaning of a celestial, and not a vegetable symbol. However, the latter seems unlikely to us. The same period dates back to a number of images that differ in detail, which represent the "ritual feeding of the temple flock" (this is the interpretation of this plot adopted in the work: Goff. Op. cit. pp. 61-62. Fig. 247-251): a shepherd (priest in the role of shepherd) holds out a plant to the lambs, on which the characteristic eight-petaled rosettes are visible; one or more (usually two or three) Inanna symbols are located next to it (Fig. 1b). The connection between the Inanna symbol and the rosettes in these images is certainly not astral. Since the same symbols are displayed on the tray, we can assume that they do not have an astral meaning on it either.

(10) Green M. W. Nissen N. J. Zeichenliste der Archaischen Texte aus Uruk. V., 1987. N 374 (hereinafter-ZATU); England R. K.. Gregoire J.-P. The Proto-Cuneiform Texts from Jemdet Nasr. V., 1991. P. 126 (hereinafter-MSVO I); Englund R. K., Nissen H. J. Die lexikalischen Listen der archaischen Texte aus Uruk. V., 1993. S. 259 (hereinafter-LATU); Ur Excavations Texts. V. II. Archaic Texts / By E. Burrows. L? 1935. N 249 (hereinafter-UET II).

(11) See Szarzyhska K. Offers for the Goddess Inana in Archaic Uruk / / RA. 1993. 87. N 1. P. 8 and 9. The signs UD and SIG represent pictograms of sunrise and sunset (hudz is a phonetic version of the sign UD). UD is the sun disk appearing from the arc of a larger circle located below it, SIG is the sun disk appearing from the arc of a larger circle above it; the two signs seem to represent two points when observing the Sun from inside the temple through a round window; in the first case, the window faces east, in the second - to the west.

It is also possible that the arc in the sign UD, from which the disk of the Sun rises, is a symbolic image of two mountains, between which the anthropomorphic figure of the solar deity appears in images in the glyptic of a later time. See, for example: Boehmer P. M. Die Entwicklung der Glyptik warend der Akkad-Zeit. B? 1965. Abb. 392-438.

(12) K. Szarzynska notes that although these three epithets of Inanna do not appear together later in Sumerian literature, however, it contains many similar expressions that characterize the astral status of Inanna, see Szarzmska. Op. cit. P.9.

In the myth of Inanna's descent into the underworld, the goddess Inanna is represented as follows to the guardian guarding the gate: "I am Inanna, on the way to the place of death.",

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Thus, in his interpretation of these texts, the author assumes that:

1) the sign of the star in them has the meaning of the determinative of the deity before the name of the goddess Inanna (13); 2) the morning and evening festivals of Inanna in Uruk of the corresponding period correlated with the appearance of Venus as the morning or evening star(14).

If the hypothesis of K. Szarzynska is correct, then the question raised in the title of this article can be considered solved: the goddess Inanna was identified with the planet Venus at the end of the IV millennium BC.In our opinion, however, these texts from Uruk also allow for a non-astral interpretation.

In fact, if the image of a star standing next to the sign of the goddess Inanna is determinative, then we have to state that there are no direct indications of the astral character of the goddess Inanna in the texts. The time of the celebration (morning/ afternoon /evening) could not be related to observations of celestial bodies, as was undoubtedly the case in many other cases. Reconstructing the path that led to the identification of Inanna with the planet Venus, we can assume that there was a period when the morning and evening festivals of Inanna were regularly held, but the goddess herself was not yet identified with Venus. These texts probably date back to this period. This is all the more likely because during the Uruk III period we do not find any extra-textual evidence indicating the astral character of Inanna.

However, it is legitimate to ask: why is Inanna's name written with a determinative in the Uruk III period? The MUS3 sign cannot be confused with any other sign. Why do I need a determinative?

At the time when these texts were written, the system of determinants was probably already quite widespread(15). The question of using images of a star as a determinant, however, is not entirely clear. The names of some deities in this period and later continued to be recorded without a determinative(16). An exception is the name of the goddess Inanna, although this is not entirely clear(17).

where the sun rises" (me-e a-Sa-an-na kiutu-e-a-as), see Kramer S. N. Inanna's Descent to the Nether World / / JCS. 1951. 5. 1. P. 1-17, line 80, see also Heimpel. Op. cit. p. 10, p. 4. How in the archaic texts from Uruk the position of Inanna is related here to the sunrise.

(13) Similarly, the meaning of images of the star in texts from Uruk is interpreted by M. Green (Green M. W. Animal Husbandry at Uruk in the Archaic Period / / JNES. 1980. 39. 1. P. 8, p. 34; ZATU. N 31.), П. Хубер (Huher P.Н. Early Cuneiform Evidence for the Planet Venus // Scientists Velikovsky / Ed. D. Goldsmith. Ithaca - London, 1977. P. 120-121) и Р. Энглунд (England R.K. Administrative Timekeeping in Ancient Mesopotamia//Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. 1988. 31. 2. P. 167, п. 39). According to M. Green, these texts are a shortened version of the entry: UDEZENINANNA "day / morning (holiday) of Inanna", or SIGEZENINANNA "evening (holiday) of Inanna".

However, according to A. A. Wyman, the image of a star next to the symbol of Inanna means an, i.e. "heavenly", see Wyman. Uk. soch. p. 13 el.

(14) It follows that the morning star and the evening star in archaic Uruk were already considered as one luminary, which in itself could be of considerable interest to astronomy.

(15) This is evidenced by the content of lexical texts from Uruk, where the signs ku (; = "fish", KI = "land", MUSEN = "bird", GIS = "tree", etc. Accordingly, lists of fish, cities and geographical names, birds, trees and wooden objects are written as if they were determinants, see LATU. pp. 230-231, 245-246, 249-250, 260. They stand in the string at the place (at the beginning or at the end) where they should stand in the determinative function.

(16) Например: ENLIL, см. ATU. S. 36. Anm. 1; Green M.V. A Note on an Archaic Period Geographical List from Warka // JNES. 1977. 36. 4. P. 293-294; LATU. S. 210. In texts from Ur, the name of the moon god NANNA was written without a determinative. According to Burroughs, in texts from Ur that do not belong to the school category, the image of a star was used to identify objects related to the deity, but not before the names of the deities themselves, which were well known to everyone, UET II. p. 5, 20. The star before the names of deities as a mandatory element appears for the first time only in texts from Farah See Krehernik M. Die Gotterlisten aus Fara / / ZA. 1986. Bd 76. Halbband II. S. 161-204.

(17) In Uruk texts, the sign MUS3 is sometimes written without a determinative (ZATU. N 374), and in texts from Jemdet Nasr-always without a determinative (MSVO I. P. 126). In texts from Ur, the sign MUS3 = INANNA =

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Perhaps the image of a star is used in these texts not as a determinative, but in its direct meaning MULo = "star, luminary"? Then, instead of the previously suggested variants, it would be possible to read: ud-(ezen)-mul () - inanna "morning (holiday) of Inanna, (when a) star is observed" and SIG - (EZEN)-MULo-INANNA "evening (holiday) of Inanna, (when a) star is observed". This interpretation, of course, presupposes a certain connection between Inanna and the planet Venus as the morning and evening stars; it may correspond to a time period when the relationship between the deity and the planet was still being established(18).

We have considered three possible interpretations of these texts from Uruk, in which the image of a star stands next to the sign of Inanna and the signs of sunrise or sunset: a) the image of a star is the determinative of the deity, Inanna is identified with the planet Venus; b) the image of a star is the determinative of the deity, Inanna has no astral meaning; c) the image of a star denotes a star, a luminary, indicating the connection of Inanna with the planet Venus; two of them suggest an astral interpretation of the texts, one - a non-astral one. Unfortunately, it is impossible to make an objective choice between them, since there are no data necessary for this purpose dating back to the corresponding period.

Two groups of sources - images on seals and ceramics that do not contain astral signs, and pictographic texts that do not contain such signs-may reflect two images of the goddess Inanna that existed in Mesopotamia in parallel at the end of the IV-beginning of the III millennium BC: the first emphasized the agricultural role of Inanna as the goddess of fertility (or any other function related to its fertility), in the second - its connection with the evening and morning appearances of the planet Venus.

Consider the more recent evidence related to the astral significance of the Sumerian goddess Inanna and her Akkadian equivalent Ishtar.

The latest depiction of the Inanna symbol in the form of a "gate post with a pennant" (a terracotta fragment of a mosaic "frieze" from Uruk) refers to the end of the Early Dynastic period (19). In the future, the symbols of Inanna are, on the one hand, an eight-pointed star (with or without a circle).(20), on the other hand, anthropomorphic images (21).

The eight-pointed star is one of the earliest Mesopotamian astral symbols. As an independent grapheme that can't be confused with other images,

= NINNI is given sometimes with the deity determinative, and sometimes without it (UET II. p. 27-39. N 230-253). Obviously, we are dealing here with a notation system that has not yet been established.

(18) As we have already said, it is possible that this is not just a star as a luminous object in the night sky, but a deity associated with the star, which later merged with the image of the goddess Inanna.

(19) E. Van Buren dates it to the Uruk I era, which corresponds approximately to the middle of the third millennium BC or a little later, see Van Buren. Op. cit. p. 44; however, according to Goff, this image belongs to the Jemdet Nasr era, see Goff. Op. cit. P. 116. Fig. 484.

(20) The circle (radiant disk) is a natural symbol of the Sun. Since the Akkad dynasty (XXIV-XXII centuries BC), the four-pointed star in a circle has been a standard symbol for the Sun god Utu (Shamash) on seals, and later also on boundary stones (kudurru), see Seidi U. Die babylonischen Kudurru-Reliefs // Deutsches Archaologisches Institut, Baghdader Mitteilungen. 1968. Bd 4. S. 98-99. From the same period, the eight-pointed star, the astral symbol of Inanna, is also often enclosed in a circle. What is the reason for this? The answer is probably found in some poetic works of the New Sumerian period (XXII-XXI centuries BC), for example, in the hymn of Iddin Dagan dedicated to Inanna, where her radiance in the night is compared with the light of day or the Sun (stk. 5, 13, 113, etc.), see Reisman D. Iddin-Dagan's Sacred Marriage Hymn / JCS. 1973. 25. 4. P. 185-202; the solar attribute is transferred to Inanna, so the solar circle becomes her symbol.

The number of rays of the star that served as the symbol of Inanna could sometimes differ from eight, see, for example, Figure 8.

(21) For a collection of anthropomorphic images of Inanna (Ishtar), see Barrelet M.-Th. Les deesses armees et ailees // Syria. 1955. Vol. 32. N 3 -. P. 222-260.

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Figure 8

Fig. 6. Sign of an eight-pointed star (rosettes?) among the monstrous creatures on the seal from Shuruppak (Fara) (XXVI century BC), by CS. P1. XI b

7. Solar disk, moon, and eight-pointed star next to anthropomorphic images of Inanna on the lion (s), Susa (mid-3rd millennium BC), by Amiet. La glyptique. Fig. 1363

Figure 8. Solar disk, month, star (five-ray!) and the sunrise sign next to images of monstrous creatures (mid-3rd millennium BC), by Amiet. La glyptique. Fig. 1019

it appears in archaic texts from Uruk (22), and on seals - in the layer of Uruk III and in the period of Jemdet Nasr (Fig. 5) (23). In the future, the number of such images increases(24). It is unclear, however, when they acquired the meaning of a symbol of the goddess Inanna.

Images of an eight-pointed star and an eight-petalled rosette at the end of the fourth and beginning of the fourth millennium BC are sometimes interpreted as one sign, .symbolizing Inanna (25). However, in our opinion, they should not be confused; they are different symbols, although both were undoubtedly associated with Inanna. The eight-petaled rosette is a non-astral symbol in its origin; however, later, due to the proximity of the characters, their meanings could be confused(26).

On the presence of the symbol of Inanna (Ishtar) we can only speak with confidence if the image shows three astral symbols at once: a month, a solar disk, or a four-ray star in a circle and without it, and another star, usually an eight-ray star, in a circle or without it. A free-standing star (even an eight-point star!) it may not be related in any way to Inanna (27), the combination "month-star" may be

(22) ZATU. N31.

(23) Amiet. La glyptique... Fig. 212; Goff. Op. cit. Fig. 415. This symbol has been depicted on the walls of some temples, including the Temple of Eanna in Uruk, see Barrelet. Op. cit. p. 243, p. 5.

(24) Images of eight-pointed stars are still quite rare in the Early Dynastic period and are not always easily distinguishable from rosette images, see Amiet. La glyptique ... Fig. 720, 725, 792, 802, 894, 899, 935, 937, 1017, 1082, 1226 etc. In the era of the Akkad dynasty, they become significantly more numerous.

(25) Barrel. Op. cit. P. 243, p. 5.

(26) Van Buren. Op. cit. P. 84.

(27) It may have the meaning of a deity determinative (DINGIR) or a "heavenly determinative" (AN).,

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Figure 9. Solar disk, moon, star, and scorpion among monstrous creatures on a seal from Eshnunna (mid-3rd millennium BC), by Amiet. La glyptique. Fig. 1041

10. Eight-pointed star, moon, scorpion among images of monstrous creatures (mid-3rd millennium BC), by Amiet. La glyptique. Fig. 1017

Fig. 11. Ritual scene, month and sun as a star (beginning of II millennium BC), according to CS. p. 243. Text-fig. 74

The Moon and the Sun(28) are represented, and only three adjacent astral symbols can be considered indisputable proof of the presence of the symbol of Inanna (Ishtar) in the image. Such images appear for the first time in Mesopotamia from the middle of the third millennium BC or a little later (Figs. 8-10) [29].

It is possible, however, that among the astral images of an earlier period there are also single images of Inanna as stars or paired images of Inanna and the lunar month, as, for example, in Fig. 6, 7, 11(30). However, we will never be able to reliably distinguish them from images of the Sun as just a star or stars as the determinative of the deity, as well as from the astral pair "sun - moon".

Anthropomorphic images of Inanna with presumably astral signs also appear no earlier than the middle of the third millennium BC. e. On one of these (sculptural) images from Susa, dating from the Akkad dynasty, the sign of an eight-petaled rosette is placed at the base of her throne(31). On the image on pe-

indicates that the character shown next to it belongs to a celestial region, or simply a star as an element of the landscape.

(28) Images of the Sun as a star (four-, six-, five -, and eight-rayed) were quite common in the second half of the third millennium BC, see Amiet. La glyptique... Fig. 1017, 1063, 1249; Porada Е. Corpus of Ancient Near Eastern Seals in North American Collections. Washington, 1948. Fig. 195, 241; Seidl. Op. cit. S. 98-99; in one of the hymns dedicated to the sun god Utu and dating from the Akkad dynasty, Utu is directly referred to as the " heavenly star "(mul-ana (= AN)), see Sjoberg A. W., Bergmann SJ. The Collection of the Sumerian Temple Hymns. Locust Valley. N.Y., 1969. P. 45.

(29) The formulated criterion for the selection of the Inanna symbol on seals is proposed by E. Van Buren, see Van Buren. Op. cit. p. 82.

(30) See also Amiet. La glyptique ... Fig. 899, 937, 1017; Frankfort N. Cylinder Seals. L., 1939. PI. XIV e, g; XV k; XVI f, h; XX a, b; XXI b, f, etc. (hereinafter referred to as CS).

(31) Barrelet. Op. cit. P. 254. Fig. 20; Hartner W. The Earliest History of the Constellations in the Near East and the Motif of the Lion-Bull Combat // JNES. 1965. 24. 1. Fig. 9a. P. 3-4, n. II]. Hartner interprets it as an astral symbol, but the rosette, as we have already said, may have a non-astral meaning.

This sculpture is in fact an image of the Elamite goddess Narunde (see Hinz V.

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12. Winged armed goddess Inanna next to the solar deity Utu appearing among two mountains, Akkad period (XXII-XXIV centuries BC), by Goff. Op. cit. Fig. 720.

chati originating from Susa, Inanna (Narunde?) it sits on a lion (s), and next to it are the solar disk, the moon, and the eight-pointed star (Fig. 8) (32). Seals of the Akkadian dynasty often depicted the sunrise of the Sun god Utu (Sha-masha); in one of these images, a bearded man with a saw in his hand, symbolizing the solar deity, rises between two mountains, in close proximity to him on the edge of the mountain is depicted a winged, armed, female figure(33). Her wings indicate that she belongs to a celestial region; apparently, this is Inanna(Figure 12).

An additional source on this issue can be found in the names and epithets of Inanna found in later Sumerian texts. However, as Gelb has shown, the variants of Inanna's name that involve astral interpretation (such as Nin-an-na, in-na-an-na, GaSan-an-na, which means "Lady of Heaven") are all quite late; the most ancient forms of her name (nnin, n-nin, n-ni-na, etc.) do not contain astral components[34]. In the collection of temple hymns attributed to Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon the Ancient (XXIV-XXIII centuries BC), and partly dating back to Sargon or even pre-Sargon times, only the name of the temple of Inanna in Uruk, e-ap-pa, is written using the formant-ap-pa, indicating the connection of the object with the celestial region(35). It may reflect the celestial status of the goddess.

Since the New Sumerian period (XXI century BC), the status of Inanna (Ishtar)has been used in literary and religious texts as a morning star is defined by the expression U4-zal-le, and as an evening star-by expressions using the word usan (36). Such definitions apparently had earlier prototypes dating back to the mid-third millennium.

The State of Elam / Translated from German M., 1977. pp. 44-45; Amiet P. L'art d'agade. P., 1976. pp. 38-39), which was close to Inanna in some of its features (for example, militancy). The lions depicted at the base of her throne and the eight-petalled rosette were also among Inanna's attributes.

(32) Amiet. La glyptique... Fig. 1363; CS. P. 233. Fig. 71.

(33) Barrelet. Op. cit. PI. XXI; CS. PI. XIX a; Goff. Op. cit. Fig. 720.

(34) Gelb I. J. The Name if the Goddess INNIN / / JNES. 1960. 19. 2. P. 72-79; Gelb suggests that the various forms of the name of the goddess Inanna (Innin, Ninanna, Innina) actually belong to different goddesses, who later merged into a single image. The image of Inanna as an astral goddess is certainly not the earliest. See also Jacobsen in this connection. U k op. s. 159-160. The syncretic character of Inanna is also considered in: Vanstiphout H. L. J. Unanna/Ishtar as a Figure of Controversy / / Struggles of Gods. Papers of the Groningen Work Group for the Study of the History of Religion. B.-N.Y., 1984. P. 225-238.

(35) Sjffberg, Bergmann. Op. cit. P. 13, Hymn N 16.

(36) For an overview of sources that refer to Inanna as the morning or evening star, see Bruschweiler F. La deesse triomphante et vaincue dans la cosmologie sumerienne. Leuven, 1987. This work is known to us only as mentioned in Szarzihska. Op. cit. p. 9, p. 4.

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37) Inanna's most famous epithet is Ishtar as the planets of Venus of the end of the third and beginning of the second millennium BC-Nin-(an)-si4-an-na "Shining (?) lady of heaven"(38).

We summarize the results obtained.

The earliest known evidence of the astral significance of Inanna dates back to the turn of the fourth and third millennia BC, but they are subject to different interpretations. The astral significance of the goddess for this period cannot be considered conclusively proven.

The connection of Inanna with the planet Venus is reliably attested in images dating back to the middle of the third millennium BC. During this period, global changes in her status took place: the symbolism associated with the role of Inanna as the goddess of fertility gradually fell out of use, and astral symbolism replaced it. Although the religious and literary images of Inanna (Ishtar) are by no means limited to her role as a celestial goddess, nevertheless, the astral symbolism associated with her has become extremely widespread since the end of the 500th millennium BC.

If the identification of Inanna with the planet Venus took place already at the end of the IV millennium BC, then this means that there is actually no historical period confirmed by sources when the goddess was not identified with Venus. The fact of identification goes back to prehistoric antiquity, and the proposed criterion for determining the lower possible limit for the era when constellations began to be distinguished in Mesopotamia is not applicable in this case.

If Inanna began to be identified with Venus from the middle of the third millennium BC, as some images on the seals indicate, and our initial assumption is correct, then we can conclude that the process of identifying constellations in Mesopotamia did not begin until the middle of the third millennium BC.

In either of these two cases, the identification of Inanna with the planet Venus is consistent with what we know about the early history of the Mesopotamian constellations.

THE IDENTIFICATION OF INANNA WITH THE PLANET OF VENUS AS A CRITERION FOR THE DATING OF THE FORMATION OF THE CONSTELLATION SYSTEM IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA

G.Ye. Kurtik

The article is a part of a research in the early history of Mesopotamian constellations. The identification of the goddess Inanna" with the planet of Venus is attested by some seals of mid-Ill mill. ВС. The author assumes that the process of the formation of the constellation system must have begun in mid-III mill. ВС. All prior evidence (late IV - early III mill. ВС) for the astral symbolism of Inanna seems to be ambivalent.

(37) See in this connection: Alster V. On the Earliest Sumerian Literary Tradition / / JCS. 1976. 28. 2. P. 116.

(38) The earliest known example dates back to the third Dynasty of Ur, see Sallaberger W. Der kultische Kalender der Ur III-Zeit. Leil 1-2. V.-N.Y., 1993. S. 104. Anm. 464, see also Heimpel in this connection. Op. cit. P. 11.

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