Manzat (Manzât), also spelled Mazzi'at, Manzi'at and Mazzêt, sometimes known by the Sumerian name Tiranna (dTIR.AN.NA) was a Mesopotamian and Elamitegoddess representing the rainbow. She was also believed to be responsible for the prosperity of cities.
In Elam Manzat was worshiped in the lowlands in the proximity of Susa, especially in the area known as Hubshen, associated with the archaeological sites Deh-e Now and Tappeh Horreeye, while in Mesopotamia she was associated with Der, though there is also evidence that she was venerated in Nippur, Larsa and other cities.
Mythology[]
Manzat's name is an ordinary Akkadian noun and means "rainbow", though the word's precise etymology is uncertain. A Sumerian form of this goddess' name, Tir-anna ("bow of heaven") is also known, but it was most likely an artificial construct as the sign TIR generally stands for the Sumerian word qištu, "forest", which only acquired the additional meaning "bow" due to similarity to the Akkadian word qaštu, "bow". Tiranna is listed as an alternate name of Manzat in the Weidner god list (line 3') and in An = Anum.The writing dTIR.AN.NA was also used in the offering lists of the First Sealand dynasty, and sometimes in the writing of theophoric names elsewhere, to logographically represent the theonym Manzat.
It is generally assumed that Manzat had Akkadian origin. Odette Bowin argues that it is possible that she originated in Elam, as the earliest texts indicating she was worshiped in Mesopotamia were initially incorrectly dated to the Akkadian period, but were subsequently discovered to be from the Ur III period. As such they are more recent than the mention of this goddess in a treaty between the Akkadian Empire and an unspecified Elamite kingdom, and it is therefore possible that Manzat appears there as an Elamite, rather than Mesopotamian, goddess. However, the gods invoked in it are not exclusively Elamite, as indicated by the presence of Ilaba, Išḫara, Ninkarrak and Ninurta. Additionally, according to Tonia Sharlach there is presently no evidence for the introduction of any Elamite deities in the archives of the Third Dynasty of Ur. However, Gary Beckman and Piotr Taracha argue that Pinikir, an Elamite astral goddess, was received by Hurrians from a Mesopotamian intermediary in the late third millennium BCE.
As a representation of the rainbow, Manzat was a heavenly deity. Her epithets or alternate names attested in Mesopotamian texts include Ningišḫuranna (Sumerian: "lady of regulations of heaven"), Tabanna ("companion of heaven") and Urualšarra ("she who makes the city flourish"), while the Elamite king Hutelutush-Inshushinak addressed her as zana rišarri, "great lady". Based on the last of the Mesopotamian epithets and their shared association with Simut, it is assumed Manzat is the same deity as Belet-ali, "lady of the city", and that she was believed to be responsible for the well-being of cities.
A single text refers to the claws (ri-it-ti) of Manzat.
The star Tiranna[]
It is possible Manzat shared her name with a star, mul(d)TIR.AN.NA, though Wilfred G. Lambert pointed out only the logographic Sumerian writing of the name, rather than the syllabic Akkadian and Elamiteone. was used to refer to this celestial body, indicating that the star's name was Tiranna, perhaps meant to be understood as "the Bow Star" rather than "rainbow" in this case. According to Jeremy Black and Anthony Green, who unlike Lambert identify it simply as "Manzat", this star was represented as a horse head surrounded by a so-called "gate" on kudurru. However, Ursula Seid in her study of kudurru iconography concludes the horse head symbol should be connected to an unidentified possibly non-Mesopotamian local deity worshiped by highland communities in the proximity of modern Kirkuk. Tallay Ornan proposes it was a Kassite symbol. Maurits van Loon does propose that "gate" symbols in art represent the rainbow, but he explicitly states that his theory is not linked to Manzat, but rather to the rain goddess Shala. He points out that the temple of Shala and Adad at Chogha Zanbil was adjacent to that of Manzat. He considers it a possibility that figures of naked women cupping their breasts found at this site might represent a weather goddess (Shala or Manzat), and their jewelry - the rainbow.