Pinikir | |
---|---|
Elamite and Hurrian astral goddess | |
![]() A small bronze figurine of a winged deity, most likely Pinikir, dated to the fourteenth or thirteenth century BCE | |
Major cult center | Susa, Awan, Chogha Zanbil, Samuha,[1] the Yazılıkaya sanctuary[2] |
Symbol | star[1] |
Genealogy | |
Parents | Sin and Ningal (in only one text, due do syncretism with Ishtar)[3] |
Siblings | Shamash (as above)[3] |
Equivalents | |
Mesopotamian equivalent | Ishtar,[4] Ninsianna[5] |
Syrian equivalent | possibly Ashtart[6] |
Pinikir, also known as Pinigir, Pirengir, Pirinkir, and Parakaras, was an Ancient Near Eastern astral goddess who originates in Elamite religious beliefs. While she is only infrequently attested in Elamite documents, she achieved a degree of prominence in Hurrian religion. Due to her presence in pantheons of many parts of the Ancient Near East, from Anatolia to Iran, modern researchers refer to her as a "cosmopolitan deity."[4]
Early scholarship incorrectly identified her as one and the same as Kiririsha, an unrelated goddess[7] from a different part of Elam.[8]