Delebat

Ancient Names for Venus

Delebat was the name that people in ancient Mesopotamia used for the planet Venus. It was the name they most often used when they saw this bright object in the night sky. We do not know where the name Delebat came from, but we know they wrote about Venus in many old books.

Some of these books were about astronomy, like a text called MUL.APIN. Others were about omens, like a book called Enūma Anu Enlil, especially on a part called the Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa. Even people from a group called the Mandaic used a name for Venus, Libat, that came from the same word, Delebat.

Venus was very important to them, and they watched its movement in the sky carefully. This helps us learn about how ancient cultures understood the stars and planets.

Meaning

Delebat is the most common name for the planet Venus in ancient writing from Mesopotamia. It was written as ^muldele-bat or ^ddele-bat. We do not know the exact meaning of this name. Some think it might mean "shining brightly," but we are not sure if this was ever used as Venus's name.

Delebat was used with other names for Venus, such as the goddess Ishtar, the Sumerian name Ninsianna, and Nēbiru. Unlike many other astronomy words from that time, Delebat always meant Venus. However, it can sometimes be hard to know if the name refers to the planet or the goddess linked to it. In stories and predictions, the name Delebat and the goddess Ishtar are used in the same way when talking about Venus. In one ancient story called the Cuthean Legend of Naram-Sin, Delebat is used as a special name for the goddess when she appears to the hero, Naram-Sin of Akkad.

Venus in Mesopotamian astronomy and astrology

Venus was one of the seven bright objects in the sky that the ancient Mesopotamians watched. They called it UDU.IDIM in Sumerian and bibbu in Akkadian. The other six were the sun, moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Venus was special because it was the only one thought to make other stars shine brighter.

The book MUL.APIN from around the seventh century BCE talks about Venus. It lists Venus as the last of the "stars of Anu," which were part of the three paths in the night sky named after gods. Venus was grouped with Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter. Another old book, Enūma Anu Enlil, also describes Venus and its appearances with the moon, sun, Jupiter, and some star groups. Venus was seen as red, green, black, or white in these old stories.

Legacy

Mandaic sources

Main article: Libat

One of the names the Mandaic people used for the planet Venus, Libat, comes from Delebat. When Mandaeans moved to Mesopotamia from the Jordan Valley, they brought many Akkadian astronomy words with them, including names for the seven classical planets. In Mandaic tradition, planets are often seen in a bad way. For example, in the Right Ginza, Libat is called daiuia, a word from Middle Persian meaning "demon". The planet is linked to Amamit, a bad figure from Mesopotamian stories. But in some old magical spells, Libat is used to help with love or having children.

Other attestations

Hesychius of Alexandria

Many Mesopotamian planet names are kept in Greek in a dictionary made by Hesychius of Alexandria in the fourth century CE. He wrote that the "Chaldean" name for Venus was Delephat (Δελέφατ), which is the Greek way of writing Delebat. Some think Hesychius may have used an old Greek source that had information from many Mesopotamian texts. It has been suggested that Greek storytellers might have known the name Delebat, and that the name Telephassa, the mother of Europa, could come from it, though this would need to have happened before the Hellenistic time.

Epiphanius of Salamis

Gary A. Rendsburg says that Louēth (λουήθ), an unknown name for Venus found in the work of Epiphanius of Salamis, comes from the Mandaic Libat, and so from Delebat. He thinks this is because Mandeans and Jews had a lot of contact in old times. He also says that an earlier idea—that Louēth comes from Lilith—is unlikely, because of sound reasons and because no Hebrew texts link Lilith to Venus or gods linked to it like the Greek Aphrodite.