Allani, also known under the Akkadian name Allatu (or Allatum) was the Hurrian goddess of the underworld, incorporated into Hittite and Mesopotamian pantheons as well. Name and epithets The name Allani is derived from a Hurrian word meaning "lady." Giving gods simple epithet-like names like Allani or Shaushka ("the great") was common in Hurrian culture. In 1980 Wilfred G. Lambert proposed that Allatum, who he understood as the same deity as Ereshkigal in origin, was in origin the feminine counterpart, and possibly wife, of the minor Sumerian underworld god Alla. Alla was worshiped in Esagi, a settlement whose location remains unknown, and he is also attested as the sukkal (attendant deity) of Ningishzida. However, Gernot Wilhelm already noted in 1989 that no convincing Akkadian etymology has been proposed for the name Allatum, and it is now agreed that it was a derivative of Allani. In Emar, an ancient city in Syria, both the spellings Allani and Allatu were used. Allani was sometimes called "the bolt of the earth." Another common epithet was šiduri, "young woman." The latter was also applied to Ishara. Worship According to Gernot Wilhelm, based on known sources Allani was worshiped chiefly in the western Hurrian areas. Alfonso Archi describes her as one of the goddesses "of great importance in the cult" alongside Ishara and Shaushka. It is uncertain which city was associated with Allani: documents from the Ur III period seemingly connect her with Zimudar located in the Diyala area, but in Hittite sources she is instead associated with Ḫaššum, possibly to be identified with Ḫašuanu from the Ebla texts. Theophoric names invoking her were common chiefly in the Tur Abdin area located in the southeast of modern Turkey. During the hišuwa festival from Kizzuwatna, meant to guarantee good fortune for the royal couple, she was worshiped alongside "Teshub Manuzi," Lelluri, Ishara, two Nupatik gods (pibithi - "of Pibid(a)" and zalmathi - "of Zalman(a)/Zalmat") and Maliya. Instructions for this celebration state the statue of Ishara is to be covered with a red draped garment, while that of Allani with an identical blue one. In Hurrian offering lists from Ugarit Allani usually appears between Ishara and Hutena-Hutellura. Worship of Hurrian deities was still extant in the thirteenth century BCE in this city, and at times Ugaritic deities like El and Anat were incorporated into Hurrian ceremonies. King Ḫattušili I mentions her under the name Allatum as one