Above is a life size copy of a spotted leopard from the Temple at Tell Uqair. All wild animals were protected and sacred to a god called Shakkan.
Shakkan
In the wilderness of ancient Mesopotamia or ancient Iraq there existed a diversity of wild animals. In the flatlands these were cheetahs, lions, cats, wolves, hyenas, jackals, beavers, mongooses, oryx, gazelle, pigs, and cattle. While in the mountain ranges exist ibexes, wild goats, roe deers, and sparsely bears and leopards. The god Shakkan ruled and protected all these creatures. (Akkadian Sumuqan or Sumugan.) [I could not find any depictions of this god, they may not exist. Perhaps he is only represented with wild animals?]
In Sumerian poems that detail "The Death of Gilgamesh", offerings are made to this god in Kur or the underworld. While in the Babylonian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh's best friend, Enkidu, has a vision of Kur that includes the deities Shakkan, Etana, and the goddess of the underworld Ereshkigal. Academics theorize that perhaps this is due to the fact that the desert is associated with Kur in Babylonian thought.
He supposedly dwells in the court of Ereshkigal. His father is the sun god Shamash. (Who is also the underworld Nergal, husband of Ereshkigal. So he may be Ereshkigal and Shamash's son.) In the creation myth he is given the flatlands by Enki to rule. He is also a god of cattle. Little is known about this god, other than he might derive from the god Lahar.
-Xoc
References:
Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary, 1992 - by Black & Green
Encyclopedia of Gods, Kyle Cathie Limited, 2002 - by Michael Jordan
