Nana

The pre-eminent goddess and city-patron of Sogdiana, descended from the Sumero-Akkadian Nanaya and worshipped from Bukhara to Panjikent, where Temple II was her sanctuary. In the murals she is enthroned on a lion, often four-armed and holding the sun and moon — the four-armed dragon-throne goddess of Panjikent being her local form. Her consort in Sogdiana is the rain-star god Tish (Tishtrya).

Domains

• sovereignty
• fertility
• war
• celestial order

Relations

• equated with: NanaThe same goddess (Nanaia) — the Sogdian city-patron and the Kushan dynastic sovereign.

Sources

• existence: M. Shenkar, 'NANA', Encyclopaedia Iranica; M. Compareti, 'Nana and Tish in Sogdiana' (2017) (scholarly)