He was first attested during the Ur III period, sometimes under the
Sumerian name Maḫdianna, inscribed d
maḫ-di-an-na, the “Lofty one of heaven.” This suggests an astral character and explains his pairing with “Ištar (of) the star” (Ninsi’anna). Unfortunately, due to a break in the god-list An = Anum, further elucidation is unavailable and even the god’s gender is uncertain.
Lambert suggested that he was her spouse and seal impressions from
Larsa during the
Isin-Larsa period seem to confirm this. Kabta appears as the theophoric element in several names of the Old Babylonian and
Kassite period, such as Nūr-Kabta, Amat-Kabta, Kabta-naṣir and Šu-Kabta. Kabta is often confused with
Kulla, the brick-god, in literature, probably due to a misreading of line 337 from 'Enki and the World Order' by
Samuel Noah Kramer, published in his work “Sumerian Mythology”, although Lambert blamed Dietz Otto Edzard for this error. ==References==