Kusibanda (Kusigbanda[1]), also known under the disputed older reading of the name, Guškinbanda,[2][3] was a Mesopotamian god regarded as the tutelary deity of goldsmiths and silversmiths.
[8] Kusibanda was one of the members of a group of Mesopotamian artisan deities, the so-called "gods of the craftsmen" (ilī mārē ummâni), which also included Ninagal, Ninkurra, Ninildu and other similar figures.
[9] The mîs-pî (literally "mouth washing") ritual, consecration of a new divine statue,[14] mentions Kusibanda among the deities for whom offering tables should be set up during the ceremony.
[17] A text describing the origin of the so-called "sun god tablet of Nabu-apla-iddina" lists Kusibanda among the deities whose skills were utilized by Nabu-nadin-šumi to complete this work of art.
[18] In an inscription of Esarhaddon describing the return of exiled gods to Babylon, Kusibanda is mentioned as one of the craftsman deities residing in Ekarzagina, the local temple of Ea, alongside Kusu, Ningirima, Ninkurra, Ninagal, Ninildu and Ninzadim.
[19] Nabonidus in an inscription commemorating the renovating of the temple Ebabbar and the preparation of a new crown for the god it was dedicated to, Shamash,[20] states that after receiving instructions from him and Adad through extispicy, he had said accessory created through the craft of the deities Kusibanda and Ninzadim.
[21] Kusibanda appears in texts from Uruk from the Seleucid period pertaining to the akītu festival as one of the deities possibly worshiped in the Bīt Rēš complex.