Simut or Šimut (Shimut) was an Elamite god. He was regarded as the herald of the gods, and was associated with the planet Mars. He was closely associated with Manzat, a goddess representing the rainbow. He appears in inscriptions of various Elamite kings which mention a number of temples dedicated to him. However, it is not known which city served as his main cult center. He was also worshiped in Mesopotamia, where he was compared with the war god Nergal.
Name
Various spellings of Simut's name are attested in Elamite sources, including phonetic dSi-mu-ut, dŠi-mu-ut-ta, dŠi-mu-ut and dŠi-mut, as well as logographic dMAN/dPAP. The last spelling might be related to one of the Mesopotamian names of theplanet Mars, mulMAN-ma, "the strange star". It is also possible that in at least one location another logographic spelling of his name was NIN.DAR.(A).
The romanization "Simut" reflects the standard spelling of this theonym in Mesopotamian sources from the Middle Babylonian period, though in earlier, Old Babylonian ones, Šimut (Shimut) appears to be the correct orthography. In neo-Assyrian sources, the name is spelled as "Šumudu" (Shumudu).
Character
Simut was known as "god of Elam", "herald of the gods" (Elamiteberir napirra) and "mighty one, herald of the gods" (silhak perir nappipir). It is possible that he was a warrior god, and that the word tentatively translated as "herald" refers to a specific administrative or military position. Like Humban, Simut was associated with the concept of kittin, which can be understood as "(area of) divine protection." He appears in judicial and economic documents from Susa, in at least one case sharing the role of a divine witness and guardian of contracts with Inshushinak and the Mesopotamian sun Shamash.
Simut was frequently associated with the planet Mars in Babylonian astrological texts, and the planet was often called "the star Simut", mulSi-mu-ut.
While Wilfred G. Lambert describes Simut as an "infernal" god in the Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie, Daniel T. Potts, following the more recent research of Wouter Henekelman, concludes that he had no funerary or underworld associations.
Associations with other deities
In Elam Simut was likely viewed as the husband of Manzat, a goddess regarded as the divine representation of the rainbow. He was also associated with Belet-ali (Akkadian: "lady of the city"), a goddess most likely analogous to Manzat. According to Wouter Henkelman the deity NIN.DAR.A, who appears with Manzat in some inscriptions, can also be identified with Simut. However, Daniel T. Potts identifies NIN.DAR.A as a goddess. The name Nindara or Nindar originally belonged to a male Mesopotamian deity, the husband of the goddess Nanshe, who was worshiped in Lagash, Girsu and Ki'esa.
In Mesopotamia Simut was frequently associated with Nergal and shared his association with Mars and possibly his warlike character, though unlike him he was not an underworld deity. The two of them are equated in a multi column edition of the Weidner god list. In another version of this text he appears alongside Laṣ, the wife of Nergal. In a variant discovered in Ugarit, a deity named Raqadu appears instead of Laṣ, and according to it is possible to identify her as Simut's spouse.
Wouter Henkelman proposes that "Nergal of Hubshal" (or Hubshan), a deity known from Assyrian sources, can be identified Simut. However, Volkert Haas instead suggested that this title referred to Ugur. Hubshan was an area associated with the worship of Manzat, Simut's presumed wife, according to Elamite royal inscriptions. It is presently unknown if "Aya of Hubshen" known from the same Assyrian sources as Nergal of Hubshen is related in any way to Manzat.
Stephanie Dalley proposes that Mesopotamians might have associated Simut with Ishum due to their shared role as heralds of the gods in the respective pantheons.
Worship
Like many other gods worshiped in Elam, for example Pinikir, Humban and Manzat, Simut is attested for the first time in the treaty of Naram-Sin with an unknown Elamite monarch, possibly Hita of Awan, where he appears after Inshushinak. Old Babylonian copies of earlier inscriptions also mention a governor (ensi) of Elam from the Sargonic period bearing the theophoric name Sanam-Shimut. Other historically notable Elamites bearing theophoric names invoking Simut include Kuk-Simut, chancellor of king of the Shimashki dynasty, and Simut-wartash from the Sukkalmah period, whose inscriptions were found in Liyan on the coast of the Persian Gulf.