Ištaran (Ishtaran, ) was a Mesopotamian god who was the tutelary deity of the city of Der, a Sumerian city state positioned east of the Tigris on the border between Sumer and Elam. It is known that he was a judge deity, and his position in the Mesopotamian pantheon was most likely high, but much about his character remains uncertain. He was associated with snakes, especially with the snake god Nirah, and it is possible that he could be depicted in a partially or fully serpentine form himself. Name The reading Ištaran has been established as correct by Wilfred G. Lambert in 1969. Other, now obsolete, proposals included Sataran, Satran, Gusilim, and Eatrana. Also attested are a variant form, Iltaran, and an Emesal one, Ezeran (or Ezzeran). It is commonly assumed that Ištaran's name originated in a Semitic language. It has been proposed that it was etymologically related to Ishtar. Christopher Woods suggests that the suffix -an should be understood as plural, and translates the name as "the two Ishtars," possibly referring to the morning and evening star. He suggests that Ištaran was formed through syncretism of an Ishtar-like deity and a local snake god. However, the linguistic association between the names Ištaran and Ishtar is not universally accepted. Richard L. Litke instead assumes that Ištaran's name was Elamite in origin due to the location of Der, and that it was difficult to render for Mesopotamian scribes as a result. The name could be written as dKA.DI or dMUŠ. The latter logogram could also designate the messenger (šipru) of Ištaran, Nirah, as well as the tutelary god of Susa, Inshushinak, the tutelary god of Eshnunna, Tishpak, and the primordial river deity Irḫan. With a different determinative, mulMUŠ, it referred to the constellation Hydra, which could be associated with Ištaran. Sometimes dDI.KU was used to render the name Ištaran as well, though these signs were also used to designate other judge deities, such as Mandanu and Diku (the deification of the Sumerian word "judge"). Ištaran could also be called Anu Rabû or AN.GAL, "Great Anu." In Elamite sources, the signs AN.GAL instead designate the god Napirisha, in the past incorrectly believed to be the same deity as Humban. Wouter Henkelman proposes a connection between these two deities based on this similarity, as well as their shared affinity with snakes and the fact that Der was located close to Elam. Character Ištaran's