Iddin-Dagan was the 3rd king of the dynasty of Isin. Iddin-Dagan was preceded by his father Shu-Ilishu. Išme-Dagān then succeeded Iddin-Dagan. Iddin-Dagan reigned for 21 years He is best known for his participation in the sacred marriage rite and the risqué hymn that described it.
Biography
His titles included: “Mighty King” — “King of Isin” — “King of Ur” — “King of the Land of Sumer and Akkad.” The 1st year name recorded on a receipt for flour and dates reads: “Year Iddin-Dagān king and daughter Matum-Niatum was taken in marriage by the king of Anshan.” Vallat suggests it was to Imazu as he was described as the King of Anshan in a seal inscription, although elsewhere unattested. Kindattu had been driven away from the city-state of Ur by Išbi-Erra, however; relations had apparently thawed sufficiently for Tan-Ruhurarter There is only 1 contemporary monumental text extant for this king and another 2 known from later copies. A fragment of a stone statue has a votive inscription which invokes Ninisina and Damu to curse those who foster evil intent against it. 2 later clay tablet copies of an inscription recording an unspecified object fashioned for the god Nanna were found by the British archaeologistSir Charles Leonard Woolley in a scribal school house in the city-state of Ur. A tablet from the Enunmaḫ at the city-state of Ur dated to the 14th year of Gungunum of Larsa, after his conquest of the city, bears the seal impression of a servant of his. A tablet described Iddin-Dagān’s fashioning of two copper festival statues for Ninlil, which were not delivered to Nippur until 170 years later by Enlil-bāni. Belles-lettres preserve the correspondence from Iddin-Dagān to his general Sîn-illat about Kakkulātum and the state of his troops, and from his general describing an ambush by the Martu. The continued fecundity of the land was ensured by the annual performance of the sacred marriage ritual in which the king impersonated Dumuzi-Ama-ušumgal-ana and a priestess substituted for the part of Inanna. According to the šir-namursaḡa, the hymn composed describing it in 10 sections, this ceremony seems to have entailed the procession of: male prostitutes, wise women, drummers, priestesses and priests bloodletting with swords, to the accompaniment of music, followed by offerings and sacrifices for the goddess Inanna, or Ninegala. The ceremony reached its climax with the assembly of the “black-headed people” around a dais specially erected for the occasion when the king and priestess copulated to gawking onlookers and is described thus: There are 4 extant hymns addressed to this monarch, which, apart from the Sacred Marriage Hymn, include a praise poem to the king, a war song and a dedicatory prayer.
