>Newsweek is reporting that as a result of the U.S. troop surge in Iraq and the ease of violence, Iraqi archaeologists have began rescue excavations at eleven key historical sites in Iraq. As a result of these excavations, archaeologists have found a stone relief dedicated to the god Shuda, a deity that was unknown to scholars.
Read the news report of the restoration of the Baghdad museum by clicking here.
Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
Tags: Archaeology, Baghdad Museum, God Shuda,
Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament 
>Interesting! This is very possibly a wild goose chase, but earlier this week, I was working on Daniel and especially the Babylonian theophoric names given to Daniel and his three friends. One explanation for “Shadrach” was as a corruption of “Shudur-Aku,” “Command of [the god] Aku.” Might there be a plausible Semitic name element that would let “Shuda” be the first element in Shadrach’s name?
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>Darrell,This is a very interesting possibility, however, I know that I am not qualified to answer your question.I will check with a friend of mine and then either he or I will try to have an answer for you.Thank you for visiting my blog.Claude Mariottini
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>Claude,When I first saw your post this afternoon, I engaged in some free association. Without knowing exactly how the name was written, it’s hard to say much at all. It’s not even clear what language we are dealing with. At first, I thought of Akkadian šuātum, “mistress,” “lady.” But I’m sure that McGuire Gibson or someone on his team would have known this epithet for a goddess and would have rendered it some way other than Shuda. I also toyed with it being some weird from of šadû, “mountain,” also associated with several gods. One might also want to think of tuddû, “to make known,” which at Nippur seems to have been written šuddû. But Shuda may not be an Akkadian or even a Semitic name. The way it is rendered, if Semitic, it would be in the accusative case. I would expect something more like Shudu in the nominative. Even then, I wouldn’t know it’s origin. As to Darrell’s suggestion: I’m not sure what to say. I haven’t been able to find rk as a name element. Perhaps one should think of the root rkk, “tender,” “weak.” Until we know more about the actually writing on the relief, including its language and/or dialect it is really hard to say anything useful and if it turns out that the name is not Semitic, if it is say Sumerian, then I am out of the game completely.
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>Duane,Thank you very much for your comments. I think before any suggestion can be made about this god or his name, one needs to look at the inscription and read how the name was written. As you said, without knowing what language was used to write the name of the god, it is impossible to make a detailed study of the name or of context in which the inscription appears.Claude Mariottini
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>Thanks, Duane and Claude, for enlightening me on the subject. (And yes, frank admissions that the data are not entirely clear is indeed enlightening.)
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>D.P,I want to thank Duane for his help in dealing with your question. Now, let us hope that someone will publish that inscription soon.Claude Mariottini
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