Dilmun Boat shaped votive bowls for the Moon‐god Nanna?

Abstract

The Early Dynastic sources make it clear that there existed a distinct Dilmun boat connected to foreign sea trade. The Babylonian Moon god (Nanna/Suen/Sîn) was symbolically associated with both a bowl and a boat that sailed across the night sky during stages in the monthly cycle before Nanna ultimately would “rise” from the bowl and boat at full moon. Sources from the Early Dynastic IIIa period mention actual votive bowls that are related to the “bowl” stage in the lunar cycle. Votive bowls shaped as boats are also mentioned in documentary sources associated with different deities. The boat shaped bowls for Nanna probably existed as a convergence of the cyclical concepts of the “Bowl” and the “Boat”. Importantly, from an Arabian Gulf perspective, these boat‐shaped bowls are occasionally explicitly stated to have been fashioned in the shape of Dilmun boats. In this article the ideological concepts are outlined and discussed and a series of boat‐shaped copper bowls from Babylonia are suggested as a possible match to the votive bowls shaped as Dilmun boats of the texts.

Dilmun boats on seals, horned figureheads, and the serpent/dragon slaying myth, c. 2050–1500 BC

“…It should be noted that probably most of the depictions on the seals represent the boats in a situation where the “water line” hides a portion of the vessel. The same may in part apply to the copper bowls (Laursen, 2021), as one would possibly be more inclined to represent a floating (and cargo‐laden?) boat as opposed to the vessel in full view on dry land/dock.…”

“…(Figures 1 and 2: no. 16), the other with a lunar crescent and full moon and a bull (of Nanna?, see Laursen, 2021) (Figures 1 and 2: no. 17).…”

“…The present article is the second part of a study focused on the ideologies of the Dilmun boat. Part I of this study is titled "Dilmun boat shaped votive bowls for Nanna (Moon-god)" (Laursen, 2021). As indicated by the title, the first part of the study dealt with the Dilmun boats and their special connection to the cult of the Babylonian Moon god.…”