Aratta

Aratta is described as follows in Sumerian literature:

• It is a fabulously wealthy place full of gold, silver, lapis lazuli and other precious materials, as well as the artisans to craft them.{{harvp|Cohen|1973|p=55}} notes: "Aratta became a epithet for "abundance" and "glory"."
• It is remote and difficult to reach.
• It is home to the goddess Inana, who transfers her allegiance from Aratta to Uruk.
• It is conquered by Enmerkar of Uruk.

Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.8.2.3# |title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature |website=Etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 December 2018}} - The goddess Inanna resides in Aratta, but Enmerkar of Uruk pleases her more than does the lord of Aratta, who is not named in this epic. Enmerkar wants Aratta to submit to Uruk, bring stones down from the mountain, craft gold, silver and lapis lazuli, and send them, along with "kugmea" ore to Uruk to build a temple. Inana bids him send a messenger to Aratta, who ascends and descends the "Zubi" mountains, and crosses Susa, Anshan, and "five, six, seven" mountains before approaching Aratta. Aratta in turn wants grain in exchange. However Inana transfers her allegiance to Uruk, and the grain gains the favor of Aratta's people for Uruk, so the lord of Aratta challenges Enmerkar to send a champion to fight his champion. Then the god Ishkur makes Aratta's crops grow.

Enmerkar and En-suhgir-ana{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.8.2.4# |title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature |website=Etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 December 2018}} - The lord of Aratta, who is here named En-suhgir-ana (or Ensuhkeshdanna), challenges Enmerkar of Uruk to submit to him over the affections of Inanna, but he is rebuffed by Enmerkar. A sorcerer from the recently defeated Hamazi then arrives in Aratta, and offers to make Uruk submit. The sorcerer travels to Eresh where he bewitches Enmerkar's livestock, but a wise woman outperforms his magic and casts him into the Euphrates; En-suhgir-ana then admits the loss of Inanna, and submits his kingdom to Uruk.

Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.8.2.1#|title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature|website=Etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk|access-date=30 December 2018}} - is a tale of Lugalbanda, who will become Enmerkar's successor. Enmerkar's army travels through mountainous territory to wage war against rebellious Aratta. Lugalbanda falls ill and is left in a cave, but he prays to the various gods, recovers, and must find his way out of the mountains.

Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.8.2.2# |title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature |website=Etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 December 2018}} - Lugalbanda befriends the Anzud bird, and asks it to help him find his army again. When Enmerkar's army is faced with a setback, Lugalbanda volunteers to return to Uruk to ask the goddess Inana's aid. He crosses through the mountains, into the flat land, from the edge to the top of Anshan and then to Uruk, where Inana helps him. She advises Enmerkar to carry off Aratta's "worked metal and metalsmiths and worked stone and stonemasons" and all the "moulds of Aratta will be his". Then the city is described as having battlements made of green lapis lazuli and bricks made of "tinstone dug out in the mountains where the cypress grows".

• Praise Poem of Shulgi (Shulgi Y):{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.4.2.25&display=Crit&charenc=gcirc&lineid=t24225.p4#t24225.p4 |title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature |website=Etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 December 2018}} "I filled it with treasures like those of holy Aratta."
• Shulgi and Ninlil's barge:{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.4.2.18&display=Crit&charenc=gcirc&lineid=t24218.p2#t24218.p2 |title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature |website=Etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 December 2018}} "Aratta, full-laden with treasures"
• Proverbs:{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.6.2.2&display=Crit&charenc=gcirc&lineid=t622.p7#t622.p7 |title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature |website=Etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 December 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.6.1.09&display=Crit&charenc=gcirc&lineid=t6109.p3#t6109.p3 |title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature |website=Etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 December 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.6.1.10&display=Crit&charenc=gcirc&lineid=t6110.p3#t6110.p3 |title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature |website=Etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 December 2018}} "When the authorities are wise, and the poor are loyal, it is the effect of the blessing of Aratta."
• Unprovenanced Proverbs:{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.6.2.5&display=Crit&charenc=gcirc&lineid=t625.p59#t625.p59 |title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature |website=Etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 December 2018}} "When the authorities are wise, and the poor are passed by, it is the effect of the blessing of Aratta."
• Hymn to Hendursanga (Hendursanga A):{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.4.06.1&display=Crit&charenc=gcirc&lineid=t4061.p8#t4061.p8 |title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature |website=Etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 December 2018}} "So that Aratta will be overwhelmed (?), Lugalbanda stands by at your (Hendursanga's) behest."
• Hymn to Nisaba (Nisaba A):{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.4.16.1&display=Crit&charenc=gcirc&lineid=t4161.p5#t4161.p5 |title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature |website=Etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 December 2018}} "In Aratta he (Enki?) has placed E-zagin (the lapis lazuli temple) at her (Nisaba's) disposal."
• The building of Ninngirsu's temple (Gudea cylinder):{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.1.7&display=Crit&charenc=gcirc&lineid=t217.p85#t217.p85 |title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature |website=Etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 December 2018}} "pure like Kesh and Aratta"
• Tigi to Suen (Nanna I):{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.4.13.09&display=Crit&charenc=gcirc&lineid=t41309.p4#t41309.p4 |title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature |website=Etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 December 2018}} "the shrine of my heart which I (Nanna) have founded in joy like Aratta"
• Inana and Ibeh:{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.3.2&display=Crit&charenc=gcirc&lineid=t132.p9#t132.p9 |title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature |website=Etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 December 2018}} "the inaccessible mountain range Aratta"
• Gilgamesh and Huwawa (Version B):{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.8.1.5.1&display=Crit&charenc=gcirc&lineid=t18151.p5#t18151.p5 |title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature |website=Etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 December 2018}} "they know the way even to Aratta"
• Temple Hymns:{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.4.80.1&display=Crit&charenc=gcirc&lineid=t4801.p18#t4801.p18 |title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature |website=Etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 December 2018}} Aratta is "respected"
• The Kesh Temple Hymn:{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.4.80.2&display=Crit&charenc=gcirc&lineid=t4802.p2#t4802.p2 |title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature |website=Etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 December 2018}} Aratta is"important"
• Lament for Ur:{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.2.2&display=Crit&charenc=gcirc&lineid=t222.p66#t222.p66 |title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature |website=Etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 December 2018}} Aratta is "weighty (counsel)"

Early 20th century scholars initially took Aratta to be an epithet of the Sumerian city Shuruppak related to its local name for the god Enlil;Langdom, Stephen H. "{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20111005104910/http://www.third-millennium-library.com/readinghall/UniversalHistory/THE_OLD_WORLD/Cambridge_Ancient_History/VOLUME_I/CHAPTER_10.htm Early Babylonia and its Cities]}}." Cambridge Ancient History. Accessed 19 Dec 2010. however that is no longer seen to be the case. Although Aratta is known only from myth,{{harvp|Cohen|1973|p=61}}. Cohen states: "it is indeed strange that the name of such an important trade center should as yet remain unknown to us from any economic, administrative or other non-literary texts from the Ur III or Old Babylonian period".

some Assyriologists and archaeologists have speculated on possible locations where Aratta could have been, using criteria from the myths:{{harvp|Kramer|1963}}; {{harvp|Gordon|1967}}; {{harvp|Cohen|1973}}{{harvp|Herrmann|1968}}; {{harvp|Hansman|1972}}; {{harvp|Hansman|1978}}; {{harvp|Majidzadeh|1976}}

1. Land travelers must pass through Susa and the mountainous Anshan region to reach it.
2. It is a source of, or has access to valuable gems and minerals, in particular lapis lazuli, that are crafted on site.
3. It is accessible to Uruk by watercourse, yet remote from Uruk.
4. It is close enough to march a 27th-century BC Sumerian army there.

In 1963, Samuel Noah Kramer thought that a "Mount Hurum" in a Lugalbanda myth (which he titled "Lugalbanda on Mount Hurrum" at the time) might have referred to the Hurrians, and hence speculated Aratta to be near Lake Urmia.Kramer (1963) p. 275.

However, "Mount Hurum", "hur-ru-um kur-ra-ka", in what is now called Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave, is today read "mountain cave",see e.g. Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave, ETCSL (2006) [http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=c.1.8.2.1&display=Crit&charenc=&lineid=c1821.A.102#c1821.A.102 line 102, etc.];

Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie (1990) vol. 7, [https://books.google.com/books?id=UqbsSRgBRloC&q=hur-ru-um p. 121];

Black (1998) [https://books.google.com/books?id=6Mn5g1JaZ-4C&dq=hur-ru-um&pg=PA136 p. 136];

Vanstiphout (2003) [https://books.google.com/books?id=STV52CawmiAC&dq=hur-ru-um&pg=PA110 p.110-111, etc.]

and Kramer subsequently introduced the title "Lugalbanda, the Wandering Hero" for this story.Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie (1990) vol. 7, [https://books.google.com/books?id=UqbsSRgBRloC&q=hur-ru-um p. 121]

Other speculations referred to the early gem trade route, the "Great Khorasan Road" from the Himalayan MountainsThe only source of lapis lazuli for the ancient world was Badakhshan, Afghanistan (see Clark (1986) [https://books.google.com/books?id=dUrsDklHqLIC&dq=lapis+lazuli&pg=PA68 p. 67]).

to Mesopotamia, which ran through northern Iran.{{harvp|Gordon|1967|p=72}}, note 9. The Sanandaj area.{{harvp|Herrmann|1968|p=54}}. South or southeast of the Caspian Sea (cited in {{harvp|Majidzadeh|1976}}).{{harvp|Cohen|1973|p=60}}. The Hamadan area.

Anshan, which had not yet been located then, was assumed to be in the central Zagros mountain range.e.g. {{harvp|Gordon|1967|p=72}} note 9. Kermanshah; {{harvp|Mallowan|1969|p=256}}. Bakhtiari territory (cited in {{harvp|Mallowan|1985|p=401}}, note 1).

However, when AnshanIn contrast to Aratta, Anshan is well documented beyond literary texts (c.f. Hansman (1985) [https://books.google.com/books?id=BBbyr932QdYC&q=anshan+malyan pp. 25-35]).

was identified as Tall-i Malyan in 1973,Reiner, Erica (1973) "The Location of Anšan", Revue d'Assyriologie 67, pp. 57-62 (cited in {{harvp|Majidzadeh|1976}}, {{harvp|Hansman|1985}}). it was found to be 600 km south-east of Uruk, far removed from any northerly routes or watercourses from Uruk, and posing the logistical improbability of getting a 27th-century BC Sumerian army through 550 km of Elamite territory to wage war with Aratta.{{harvp|Cohen|1973|p=59}} Cohen also notes that the farthest east that any Assyrian king ever went was Hamadan.

Nevertheless, there have been speculations referring to eastern Iran as well.Hansman, John F. (1972, 1978). Shahr-e Sukhteh.{{harvp|Majidzadeh|1976}}: Shahdad; {{harvp|Majidzadeh|2004}}: Jiroft. Dr. Yousef Majidzadeh believes the Jiroft culture could be Aratta.

By 1973, archaeologists were noting that there was no archaeological record of Aratta's existence outside of myth, and in 1978 Hansman cautions against over-speculation.{{harvp|Hansman|1978}}: "In the case of Aratta, where no inscriptions or texts are currently available to favor any one site, the mechanics of identification depend largely on inductive inquiry. At best such methods provide indications from which a location may be postulated as being reasonable or possible. But one cannot assume too much, for then the hypothesis becomes subjective rather than objective."

Writers in other fields have continued to hypothesize potential Aratta locations. A "possible reflex" has been suggested in Sanskrit Āraṭṭa or Arāṭṭa mentioned in the Mahabharata and other texts.Michael Witzel ([http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/%7Ewitzel/Lingsit.pdf Aryan and non-Aryan Names in Vedic India 1999, p. 8] People.fas.harvard.edu[http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/%7Ewitzel/EJVS-7-3.pdf "Autochthonous Aryans? The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts"] EJVS 2001, p. 18-19

Alternatively, the name is compared with the toponym Ararat or Urartu.{{cite book|first=David |last=Rohl |author-link=David Rohl |title=Legend: The Genesis of Civilisation |publisher=Century Publishing |date=1998 |isbn=0-7126-8017-9}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Black |first=Jeremy |title=Reading Sumerian Poetry |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Mn5g1JaZ-4C&q=hur-ru-um |isbn=0-8014-3339-8 |page=136}}
• {{cite web |last1=Black |first1=J.A. |last2=Cunningham |first2=G. |last3=Ebeling |first3=J. |last4=Flückiger-Hawker |first4=E. |last5=Robson |first5=E. |last6=Taylor |first6=J. |last7=Zólyomi |first7=G. |name-list-style=amp |title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=1998–2006 |url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/ |access-date=2008-03-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411161013/http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/ |archive-date=11 April 2008 |url-status=live}}
• {{cite thesis |first=Sol |last=Cohen |title=Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta |type=Ph.D. |publisher=University of Pennsylvania |year=1973 |pages=55–61 |id={{ProQuest|302716331}}}}
• {{cite journal |last=Gordon |first=Edmund I. |title=The Meaning of the Ideogram ^dKASKAL.KUR = "Underground Water-Course" and its Significance for Bronze Age Historical Geography |journal=Journal of Cuneiform Studies |volume=21 |pages=70–88 |year=1967 |jstor=1359360 |doi=10.2307/1359360|s2cid=163463497 }}
• {{cite journal |last=Hansman |first=John F. |title=The Question of Aratta |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=331–336 |doi=10.1086/372671 |year=1978 |jstor=544047|s2cid=162250050 }}
• {{cite encyclopedia |last=Hansman |first=John F. |title=Anshan in the Elamite and Archaemenian Periods |encyclopedia=The Cambridge History of Iran |volume=2 |pages=25–35 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1985 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BBbyr932QdYC&q=anshan+malyan |access-date=2005-03-15 |isbn=0-521-20091-1}}
• {{cite journal |last=Hansman |first=John F. |title=Elamites, Achaemenians and Anshan |journal=Iran |volume=10 |pages=118, footnote 97 |year=1972 |doi=10.2307/4300468 |jstor=4300468}} cited in {{harvp|Majidzadeh|1976}} and {{harvp|Hansman|1978}}
• {{cite journal |last=Herrmann |first=Georgina |author-link=Georgina Herrmann |title=Lapis Lazuli: The Early Phase of its Trade |journal=Iraq |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=36, 54 |year=1968 |doi=10.2307/4199836 |jstor=4199836|s2cid=130955760 }} cited in {{harvp|Cohen|1973}}, {{harvp|Majidzadeh|1976}}
• {{cite book |last=Kramer |first=Samuel Noah |author-link=Samuel Noah Kramer |title=Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta: A Sumerian Epic Tale of Iraq and Iran |publisher=University Museum, University of Pennsylvania |year=1952}}
• {{cite book |last=Kramer |first=Samuel Noah |author-link=Samuel Noah Kramer |title=The Sumerians |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1963 |url=https://archive.org/details/sumerianstheirhi00samu |url-access=registration |isbn=0-226-45238-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/sumerianstheirhi00samu/page/275 275]}}
• {{cite journal |last=Majidzadeh |first=Yousef |author-link=Yousef Majidzadeh |title=The Land of Aratta |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=105–114 |doi=10.1086/372470 |year=1976 |jstor=545195|s2cid=162240805 }}
• {{cite book |last=Majidzadeh |first=Yousef |author-link=Yousef Majidzadeh |title=Jiroft: the Earliest Oriental Civilization |year=2004}}
• {{cite encyclopedia |last=Mallowan |first=Max |author-link=Max Mallowan |title=Cyrus the Great |encyclopedia=The Cambridge History of Iran |volume=2 |year=1985 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wHi05HiRn1oC&dq=mountains+anshan&pg=PA2 |access-date=2005-03-15 |isbn=0-521-20091-1}}
• {{cite journal |last=Mallowan |first=Max |author-link=Max Mallowan |title=Elamite Problems |journal=Proceedings of the British Academy |volume=LV |pages=256 |location=London |year=1969}} cited in Mallowan (1985) p. 401, note 1
• {{cite journal |last=Potts |first=Daniel T. |title=Exit Aratta: Southeastern Iran and the Land of Marhashi |journal=Name-ye Iran-e Bastan |volume=4/1 |pages=1–11 |year=2004}}
• {{cite journal |last=Reiner |first=Erica |title=The Location of Anšan |journal=Revue d'Assyriologie |volume=67 |pages=57–62 |year=1973}} cited in {{harvp|Majidzadeh|1976}}, {{harvp|Hansman|1985}}
• {{cite book |last=Vanstiphout |first=Herman L. J. |editor-first=Jerrold S. |editor-last=Cooper |title=Epics of Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta |publisher=Society of Biblical Literature |year=2003 |pages=110–111, etc. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6yqtZcdeL70C&q=hur-ru-um |isbn=1-58983-083-0}}
• {{cite encyclopedia |title=Lugalbanda |encyclopedia=Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie |volume=7 |page=121 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=1990 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UqbsSRgBRloC&q=hur-ru-um |access-date=2008-03-15 |isbn=3-11-010437-7}}

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Category:Locations in Mesopotamian mythology