Why the Names? Anubanini and His Clan in the Cuthaean Legend

Abstract

This article is a study of the ancient Mesopotamian literary text known as the 'Cuthaean Legend'. This Naram-Sin legend is known from several versions in the extant cuneiform corpus of texts (Westenholz 1997). The names of Anubanini and members of his clan, the main protagonists, have remained puzzling in several respects. The present contribution seeks to establish the reading of these names, making use of conventional cuneiform collation and analysis as well as digitial image processing. This is followed by an onomastic discussion of these names, relating them to aspects of Mesopotamian religion, literature, ethnnology, and demonology.