Ukkin

{{Short description|Sumerian word for Divine council}}

File:Ak gal-ukkin.jpg, as Ak gal-ukkin, "Ak gal-ukkin (Great Assembly) official". It has been suggested this could refer to Aga of Kish himself.{{cite book |last1=Frayne |first1=Douglas |title=The Struggle for Hegemony in "Early Dynastic II" Sumer |pages=65–66 |url=https://www.academia.edu/4032059 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=CDLI-Found Texts |url=https://cdli.ucla.edu/search/search_results.php?SearchMode=Text&ObjectID=P220620 |website=cdli.ucla.edu}}]]

Ukkin (UKKIN) is the Sumerian word or symbol for assembly, temple council or Divine council, written ideographically with the cuneiform sign 𒌺 (Borger 2003 nr. 73, encoded by Unicode at code point U+1233A).{{cite book|author=Jeremy A. Black|title=A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-qIuVCsRb98C&pg=PA278|access-date=6 October 2012|year=2000|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-04264-2|pages=278–}}{{cite book|author=William Foxwell Albright|title=Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan: A Historical Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qa2AMXzHUAwC&pg=PA192|access-date=6 October 2012|year=1968|publisher=Eisenbrauns|isbn=978-0-931464-01-0|pages=192–}}

In Akkadian it is transliterated as Puḫru or Puḫrum and was used in the context of "public assembly", of both Gods and people with the ultimate meaning of a "totality" of living things. A council of the gods specifically is referred to in Akkadian as Puḫru Ilani or Puḫur Ilani.{{cite book|author=T. Boiy|title=Late Achaemenid and Hellenistic Babylon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1frplXFGf4sC&pg=PA202|access-date=6 October 2012|year=2004|publisher=Peeters Publishers|isbn=978-90-429-1449-0|pages=202–}}{{cite book|author=Helmer Ringgren|title=Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LW8XieaBETIC&pg=PA548|access-date=6 October 2012|date=1 January 2003|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0-8028-2336-6|pages=548–}} The word was later adopted into Aramaic. In Hittite language it is transliterated as Pankuš or Tuyila.{{cite book|author1=J. G. McConville|author2=Karl Möller|title=Reading the Law: Studies in Honour of Gordon J. Wenham|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ipUKbxg6dkIC&pg=PA99|access-date=6 October 2012|date=15 November 2007|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-567-02642-2|pages=99–}} In the Hellenistic era the word Kiništu was used and it found an equivalent in the word Qāhāl in other ancient languages.

H. Zimmern noted that the Babylonian New Year feast was also called puhru and connected this with the modern day Jewish holiday of Purim.{{cite book|author=Lewis Bayles Paton|author-link=Lewis B. Paton|title=Esther|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6EySmXMiCmQC&pg=PA91|access-date=6 October 2012|date=6 December 2000|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-567-05009-0|pages=91–}}