Laguda
Laguda (dla-gu-da, rarely dla-gù-dé{{sfn|Lambert|1983|p=430}}) was a Mesopotamian god most likely associated with the Persian Gulf.{{sfn|Lambert|1983|p=431}}
Character
It is assumed that Laguda was a god of the sea, specifically the Persian Gulf.{{sfn|Lambert|1983|p=431}} According to Wilfred G. Lambert, the possibility that Laguda was a god of the sea is supported by his frequent association with other deities of such character.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=247}} Sirsir, a god mentioned alongside him in Marduk's Address to the Demons, was associated with sailors,{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=247}} and it has been proposed that he can be identified as the so-called "boat god" on cylinder seals.{{sfn|Krebernik|2011|p=554}} Laguda is also referenced in the incantation series Šurpu, where he is listed alongside the river god Lugalidda and the sea god Lugala'abba.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=247}}
The currently unpublished god list Anšar = Anum refers to Laguda as a name of Marduk, and associates him with Dilmun.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=247}} It is possible that he also appears in an enumeration of Marduk's names in another list.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=154}} However, the text Marduk's Address to the Demons attests that they were separate deities:{{sfn|Lambert|1983|pp=430-431}}
{{c_quote
|quote=I am Asallulḫi whom Sirsir nominates in the upper sea,
I am Asallulḫi whom Laguda exalts in the lower sea{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=247}}}}
Worship
Laguda's cult center was most likely the city Nēmed-Laguda,{{sfn|George|1993|p=27}} known from sources from the first millennium BCE.{{sfn|Streck|1998|p=209}} Its precise location is not known, but based on mentions in ancient texts it can be assumed that it was close to cities such as Eridu, Larsa, Uruk and Ur.{{sfn|Streck|1998|p=209}} It was also associated with Ea according to a neo-Babylonian royal letter.{{sfn|George|1993|p=27}} At one point, gods of Nēmed-Laguda were returned by Sargon II.{{sfn|Streck|1998|p=209}}
Laguda is also attested in two theophoric names from Nippur from the earlier Kassite period,{{sfn|Bartelmus|2017|p=310}} Tukulti-Laguda and Burra-Laguda.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=247}} The element burra- in the latter name is Kassite,{{sfn|Balkan|1954|p=51}} making Laguda one of the deities who appear in Kassite theophoric names despite belonging to the Mesopotamian, rather than Kassite, pantheon.{{sfn|Balkan|1954|p=101}} His name was in this case written with a divine determinative (dingir), a cuneiform sign designating divine names,{{sfn|Balkan|1954|p=51}} unlike the names of any Kassite deities other than Shuqamuna and Shumaliya.{{sfn|Bartelmus|2017|p=247}}
References
{{reflist}}
=Bibliography=
- {{cite book|last=Balkan|first=Kemal|title=Kassitenstudien 1. Die Sprache der Kassiten|year=1954|publisher=American Oriental Society|publication-place=New Haven, Connecticut}}
- {{cite book|last=Bartelmus|first=Alexa|title=Karduniaš. Babylonia under the Kassites|chapter=Die Götter der Kassitenzeit. Eine Analyse ihres Vorkommens in zeitgenössischen Textquellen|publisher=De Gruyter|date=2017|doi=10.1515/9781501503566-011}}
- {{cite book|last=George|first=Andrew R.|title=House most high: the temples of ancient Mesopotamia|publisher=Eisenbrauns|publication-place=Winona Lake|year=1993|isbn=0-931464-80-3|oclc=27813103}}
- {{citation|last=Krebernik|first=Manfred|entry=Sirsir|encyclopedia=Reallexikon der Assyriologie|year=2011|entry-url=http://publikationen.badw.de/en/rla/index#10882|language=de|access-date=2022-04-10}}
- {{citation|last=Lambert|first=Wilfred G.|entry=Laguda|encyclopedia=Reallexikon der Assyriologie|year=1983|entry-url=http://publikationen.badw.de/en/rla/index#6972|access-date=2022-04-10}}
- {{cite book|last=Lambert|first=Wilfred G.|title=Babylonian creation myths|publisher=Eisenbrauns|publication-place=Winona Lake, Indiana|year=2013|isbn=978-1-57506-861-9|oclc=861537250}}
- {{citation|last=Streck|first=Michael P.|entry= Nēmed-Laguda|encyclopedia=Reallexikon der Assyriologie|year=1998|entry-url=http://publikationen.badw.de/en/rla/index#8342|language=de|access-date=2022-04-10}}