Ištaran (Ishtaran; ) was a Mesopotamian god who was the tutelary deity of the city of Der, a city-state located east of the Tigris, in the proximity of the borders of Elam. It is known that he was a divine judge, and his position in the Mesopotamian pantheon was most likely high, but much about his character remains uncertain. He was associated with snakes, especially with the snake god Nirah, and it is possible that he could be depicted in a partially or fully serpentine form himself. He is first attested in the Early Dynastic period in royal inscriptions and theophoric names. He appears in sources from the reign of many later dynasties as well. When Der attained independence after the Ur III period, local rulers were considered representatives of Ištaran. In later times, he retained his position in Der, and multiple times his statue was carried away by Assyrians to secure the loyalty of the population of the city.
Name
Ištaran's name could be written in cuneiform as dKA.DI or dMUŠ. In the case of the first of these logograms, the reading Ištaran has been established as correct by Wilfred G. Lambert in 1969. Other, now obsolete, proposals included Sataran, Satran, Gusilim, and Eatrana. Also attested are a variant form, Iltaran, and an Emesal one, Ezeran (or Ezzeran). The latter logogram could also designate the messenger (šipru) of Ištaran, Nirah, as well as the tutelary god of Susa, Inshushinak, the tutelary god of Eshnunna, Tishpak, and the primordial river deity Irḫan. With a different determinative, mulMUŠ, it referred to the constellation Hydra, which could be associated with Ištaran. Sometimes dDI.KU was used to render the name Ištaran as well, though these signs were also used to designate other judge deities, such as Mandanu and Diku (the deification of the Sumerian word "judge").
It is commonly assumed that Ištaran's name originated in a Semitic language. It has been proposed that it was etymologically related to Ishtar. Christopher Woods suggests that the suffix -an should be understood as plural, and translates the name as "the two Ishtars", which he assumes might have been a way to refer to the morning and evening star. He suggests that Ištaran was formed through syncretism of an Ishtar-like deity and a local snake god. However, the linguistic association between the names Ištaran and Ishtar is not universally accepted. Richard L. Litke instead assumed that Ištaran's name was Elamite in origin due to the location of Der, and that it was difficult to render for Mesopotamian scribes as a result.
Ištaran could also be called Anu Rabû or AN.GAL, "Great Anu". In Elamite sources, the signs AN.GAL instead designate the god Napirisha, in the past incorrectly believed to be the same deity as Humban. Wouter Henkelman proposes a connection between these two deities based on this similarity, as well as their shared affinity with snakes and the fact that Der was located close to Elam.
Character and iconography
Ištaran's character is poorly understood, even though he belonged to a "very high level in the pantheon". It is known that he was primarily viewed as a divine judge. His just character was regarded as proverbial, and kings such as Gudea of Lagash and Shulgi of Ur compared themselves to him in inscriptions to present themselves as equally just. An Old Babylonian adab song makes a similar comparison with Nergal in place of a king.
Based on Ištaran's placement in the proximity of Ereshkigal in the god list An = Anum it has been suggested that he was associated with the underworld. It is also known that he could be viewed as one of the Dumuzi-like mourned "dying gods", as attested in Sumerian litanies and in a late ritual from Assur, according to which his death took place in the summer. The latter text states that his corpse was beaten and the blood reached the underworld. In a single text, he and Dumuzi are outright equated with each other. Irene Sibbing-Plantholt argues he could also be associated with healing. She notes that in a text from Malgium the theophoric name Ištarān-asû occurs, asû being a term translated either as "physician" or more broadly "healer". Based on Ištaran's alternate name, Anu Rabû, it has also been proposed that he was associated with the sky. It has been argued that in art his possible celestial aspect might have been represented by rays coming out of his shoulders. In one of the Temple Hymns, he is referred to as lugal dubur anna, "lord of the base of heaven".
