Sarpanitu- Mesopotamian GodDeity"Lady of Esagila"
Also known as: Sarpanit, Zarpanitu, Zarpanit, and Erua
Description
During the Akitu New Year festival at Babylon, Sarpanitu joined Marduk in a sacred union that renewed the world's fertility for the year to come. As his consort and Lady of the Esagila, she was mother of Nabu, god of writing, and the goddess to whom Babylonian women prayed for safe delivery.
Mythology & Lore
Lady of Esagila
Sarpanitu was the consort of Marduk. Her temple stood within the Esagila complex, Marduk's great sanctuary at the heart of Babylon, where priestesses clothed and tended her cult statue alongside daily offerings. As mother of Nabu, the god of writing, she completed the divine family that the city worshipped from its most sacred precinct.
The Akitu Festival
During the Akitu New Year festival, the Enuma Elish was recited and the fates for the coming year were determined. At the festival's climax, Sarpanitu and Marduk enacted the sacred marriage, a ritual union that renewed agricultural fertility for the year ahead. The cult images of Marduk and Sarpanitu were carried together through the streets of Babylon to the akitu house outside the city walls. The whole city watched them pass.
As a goddess of fertility and childbirth, Sarpanitu was invoked by women seeking safe delivery. Prayers addressed to her asked her to intercede with Marduk on their behalf. Her name, "she of the seed-creating," bound her to the act of bringing life into the world.