Mamu (Mamud) is a goddess of dreams in ancient Mesopotamia. Daughter of dawn goddess Aya and sun god Shamash (Utu), she may be called the "Utu of Dreams". In Sumerian, the word mamu means "to dream."
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In Sumerian spirituality dreams have special significance. Mamu refers specifically to interpretive or meaningful dreams. Another term, mašĝi, means any kind of dream.
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As Mamu is a goddess of meaningful or prophetic dreams, the marsh goddess Nanshe is a deity of dream interpretation or oneiromancy. Nanshe is a daughter of Enki, primordial God of Water, wisdom and creation.
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Water is associated with depths of consciousness, intuition, visions, portals and dreams. It can represent refreshment, soul cleansing and prophecy, but also cause external and spiritual disasters with too much water, or too little.
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The worship center of Mamu is Sippar in Sumer (later Babylonia), in today's central Iraq. Mersu or mirsu cakes, confections of dates and pistachio, are among the offerings given at her temple.
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She and her consort Bunene, charioteer of Sun God Shamash, often receive worship together. Bunene is also the sukkal or divine attendant of the Sun God. Prior to joining the court of Shamash, he was a minor local sun deity.
In contracts and oaths, Mamu is invoked with Bunene as divine witness to the agreement. Mamu can also bear witness on her own.
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Manu retains her venerated position as dream bringer over time and across cultures. The Assur Dream Ritual Compendium, a collection of writings about Assyrian dreams, dreaming and dream interpretation, describes Mamu as dingir mamuda, or Deity of Dreams.
In Sumerian and other Mesopotamian religions, dream deities may be messengers of other gods. The god or goddess(es) can appear in dreams to give advice, convey information, reveal secrets or show visions of the future.
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Some lore places her in a group of divine midwives or birth attendants, the Šassūrātu. In Mesopotamia and other regions of the ancient world benevolent female deities usually have a connection with childbirth.
They help assuage the pains and ease delivery. They also may be invoked as protectors to keep evil spirits away, especially baby-eating Lamashtu, the most terrible of anti-mother demons. Fertility goddess Asherah is often invoked in the childbirth rituals.
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According to the Mesopotamian god lists An= Anum, Mamu has several siblings. They're the goddess Niggina, the personification of truth; Kittum, the Akkadian form of name Niggina, here unusually treated as a separate and male entity of law and justice; and Sisig, a god of dreams.
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