On the oldest references to Šauška, the Ištar of Nineveh

The article addresses the oldest references to the Hurrian goddess Šauška, the Ištar of Nineveh. It surveys the Neo-Sumerian administrative texts from the 21st century BCE. In 1988, Claus Wilcke collected the known evidence and proposed that the cult of the goddess was introduced into Southern Mesopotamia during the Ur III period by the lukur of Šū-Sîn, Ti’āmat-bāštī. There are several reasons to review the evidence and reconsider the date of the introduction of Šauška’s cult in Sumer. First, new Neo-Sumerian documents mentioning Šauš(k)a have been published since Wilcke’s article. Second, the latter is poorly known outside Neo- Sumerian studies2 and the evidence there presented are often overlooked in the debate on early Hurrian contacts with Southern Mesopotamia. Finally, in the light of the new evidence, the date of the introduction of Šauš(k)a in South Mesopotamia may be antedated to at least the reign of Šulgi.