Isimud (Isimu) is the sukkal or divine attendant of Enki (Ea) primordial god of water, music, wisdom, creators and creation. Isimud is easily identifiable in ancient Mesopotamian artwork and cylinder seals, as one face looks ahead, the other backward.
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Isimud is also known in Akkadian as Usmû and in Hurrian as Izzummi, indicating his cross-cultural influence. He's sometimes compared to the later Roman Janus, the two-faced guardian of portals. Like Janus, Isimud appears as a doorway deity.
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With his main cult centers in Uruk and Babylon, Isimud is also worshipped wherever the esteemed god Enki appears on god lists. As sukkal one his duties is to relay messages to Enki or intercede for supplicants.
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Isimud is usually but not always shown with two faces. In depictions he might hold the sukkal's staff of office. His reign in the world of mortals is a long one, over three thousand years, from c. 2900 BCE to c. 250 CE.
Mentions of Enki himself arise from a Mesopotamian delta shrine at the mouth of underground springs in c. 6000 BCE. In this place a city is founded c. 5400 BCE. By 3800 BCE the city of Eridu is the seat of power for the god Enki.
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Worship sites of Enki also include those of Isimud. In some cases an old god such as Enki has his own temple or ziggurat into which members of the public are not allowed. As no specific temples exist to Isimud, he would have his worship site together with that of Enki.
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To have the ear of Isimud is important. He sifts through pleas from the needful, the vengeful, the greedy and the loyal servants of deities. In times of drought, Isimud may be called upon in fear Enki has abandoned the town, or to send messages of despair from the people.
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In Babylon Isimud appears in a ritual text, in which priests follow him to various temples. He's also featured in an annual procession on the fourth day of Kislīmu, the ninth month. The procession includes a slave riding a bull.
During the Hittite AN.TAḪ.ŠUM festival in spring, he receives offerings of meat, bread and ritual libations. A few myths feature Isimud.
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In one, he has to tell Enki he (the god) gave the the tablets of the mes (divine powers) to Goddess Inanna while drunk. Isimud asks Inanna for the tablets back, which is like asking a volcano not to erupt. After a few tries, Enki finally admits Uruk is the center of the world.
In the myth Enki and Ninhursag, Isimud navigates the boat of Enki, acts as his emissary and cuts the plants the God is to eat. In the Song of LAMMA, he travels to the newly elected King of the Gods as Enki's messenger to encourage the new king to hold divine assemblies.
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Enki also sends him into the Dark Earth or Underworld. He's tasked with bringing a message to Nara and Napšar, two primeval Hurrian Gods. The logogram A-NUN-NA-KE4 (Anunnake) is given to these gods, making them among the Old Gods who dwell in the Underworld.
Isimud takes part in the akītu festival, the Assyrian and Babylonian spring celebration and New Year. At the festival he might form a divine triad with peers Nuska and Papsukkal.
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Nuska is listed as sukkal of the primordial god Enlil, the sometimes brother of Enki. When Enlil gets crotchety and sends a great flood to drown the humans, Enki helps the people survive.
Papsukkal is sukkal to the oldest of gods, Anu. As a divine trinity Isimud, Nuska and Papsukkal form a powerful group of entities. They can receive worship and praises together or individually.
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In the first millennium BCE, Isimud receives offerings in building rituals along with Kulla, god of bricks, and Mušdam, god of architecture. He's one of the deities of the Uruk city pantheon in the Seleucid period c. 312 BCE.
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