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Siduri, or more accurately Šiduri (Shiduri), is a character in the Epic of Gilgamesh. She is described as an alewife. The oldest preserved version of the composition to contain the episode involving her leaves her nameless, and in the later standard edition compiled by Sîn-lēqi-unninni her name only appears in a single line. She is named Naḫmazulel or Naḫmizulen in the preserved fragments of Hurrian and Hittite translations. It has been proposed that her name in the standard edition is derived from an epithet applied to her by the Hurrian translator, šiduri, "young woman." An alternate proposal instead connects it with the Akkadian personal name Šī-dūrī, "she is my protection." In all versions of the myth in which she appears, she offers advice to the hero, but the exact contents of the passage vary. Possible existence of Biblical and Greek reflections of the Šiduri passage is a subject of scholarly debate. In other contexts, the epithet šiduri could refer to various goddesses, including Hurrian Allani, Ishara and Allanzu, as well as Mesopotamian Ishtar. However, equating Ishtar with the alewife from the Epic of Gilgamesh is regarded as incorrect. The name Šiduri (dSI-du-ri) is often transcribed as Siduri, but based on alternate orthographies from outside the Epic of Gilgamesh Andrew R. George concludes that the former spelling is more accurate. The alewife is nameless in the preserved Old Babylonian fragments of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and even in the standard edition only a single line directly refers to her as Šiduri. Her name is preceded by the dingir sign, so-called "divine determinative," and it is assumed that she should be understood as a deity. The etymology of the name is a matter of debate, with two theories being presently regarded as plausible. According to Wilfred G. Lambert, it is likely derived from the ordinary Akkadian personal name Šī-dūrī, known from the Ur III period, which he interpreted as "she is my wall (metaphorically: protection),: but a second proposal, already acknowledged as a possibility by Lambert, connects it with the Hurrian word šiduri, "young woman.

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Related concepts (8)

Hurrian religion

The Hurrian religion was the polytheistic religion of the Hurrians, a Bronze Age people of the Near East who chiefly inhabited the north of the Fertile Crescent. While the oldest evidence goes back to the third millennium BCE, it is best attested in cuneiform sources from the second millennium BCE written not only in the Hurrian language, but also Akkadian, Hittite and Ugaritic. It was shaped by the contacts between Hurrians and various cultures they coexisted with.

Humbaba

Humbaba (Ḫumbaba; , Ḫum-ba-ba with an optional determinative ), originally known as Ḫuwawa (, Ḫu-wa-wa), was a figure in Mesopotamian mythology. The origin and meaning of his name are unknown. He was portrayed as an anthropomorphic figure comparable to an ogre, giant or demon. He is best known from myths focused on the hero Gilgamesh, including short compositions belonging to the curriculum of scribal schools, various versions of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and additionally Hurrian and Hittite adaptations.

Ishara

Ishara (Išḫara) was a goddess originally worshiped in Ebla and other nearby settlements in the north of modern Syria in the third millennium BCE. The origin of her name is disputed, and due to lack of evidence supporting Hurrian or Semitic etymologies it is sometimes assumed it might have originated in a linguistic substrate. In Ebla, she was considered the tutelary goddess of the royal family. An association between her and the city is preserved in a number of later sources from other sites as well.