Inzak

Inzak
God of Dilmun
Replica of the Durand Stone, inscribed with a formula mentioning Inzak.[1] Bahrain National Museum.
Major cult center	Agarum
Genealogy
Spouse	Meskilak or dPA.NI.PA[2]

Inzak (also Enzag, Enzak,^[3] Anzak;^[1] in older publications Enshag^[4]) was the main god of the pantheon of Dilmun. The precise origin of his name remains a matter of scholarly debate. He might have been associated with date palms. His cult center was Agarum, and he is invoked as the god of this location in inscriptions of Dilmunite kings. His spouse was the goddess Meskilak. A further deity who might have fulfilled this role was ^dPA.NI.PA, known from texts from Failaka Island.

Evidence of the worship of Inzak is also available from Mesopotamia, where he appears for the first time in an inscription of king Gudea. He is attested in theophoric names from locations such as Ur, Lagaba and the Sealand. Mesopotamians at some point came to perceive him as analogous to the god Nabu. He also appears as an independent deity in the myth Enki and Ninhursag, in which he is referred to as the "lord of Dilmun." A temple dedicated to Inzak also existed in Susa in Elam. He was either worshiped there alongside Ea and Inshushinak, or functioned as an epithet of the latter god in this city.