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Gender Feminine
Other Forms FormsKirisha, Kiririsa, Kirrisi, Kiririša, Kiriša, Kirrisha

Meaning & History

This was the name of an important goddess in Elamite religion. Her name apparently means "Great Goddess" or "Great Lady" in the Elamite language, with one source stating that the name consists of Elamite kiri or kirir "goddess" and Elamite usa(n) (relation with the Elamite word rishair "great" is also likely). There are sources that speculate that she may not have been a goddess on her own, but that rather, Kiririsha was an epithet of the mother goddess Pinikir. Yet other sources view Pinikir and Kiririsha as two separate goddesses: they say that Kiririsha was predominantly worshipped in the port of Liyan (in the south of Elam) while Pinikir was predominantly worshipped in the city of Susa (in the north of Elam) and that their cults eventually (by about 1800 BC) became merged. This Pinikir vs. Kiririsha matter is a bit of a murky area, in part caused by the fact that little is known about the Elamite religion as well as the fact that the Elamite language is not yet fully understood by modern linguists. Either way, in both scenarios they were married to the god Humban: to those that see them as two separate goddesses, Kiririsha was the second wife of Humban, who married her after he had divorced Pinikir.
Added 1/6/2013 by Lucille
Edited 12/25/2022 by Mike C and Lucille