Ninhursag

Ninḫursaĝ (Sumerian: 𒀭𒎏𒄯𒊕 Ninḫarsang; DNIN-ḪAR.SAG̃) sometimes transcribed Ninursag,[1] Ninḫarsag,[2][3][4][5][6] or Ninḫursaĝa,[7] also known as Damgalnuna or Ninmah, was the ancient Sumerian mother goddess of the mountains, and one of the seven great deities of Sumer. She is known earliest as a nurturing or fertility goddess. Temple hymn sources identify her as the "true and great lady of heaven" (possibly in relation to her standing on the mountain) and kings of Lagash were "nourished by Ninhursag's milk". Sometimes her hair is depicted in an omega shape and at times she wears a horned head-dress and tiered skirt, often with bow cases at her shoulders. Frequently she carries a mace or baton surmounted by an omega motif or a derivation, sometimes accompanied by a lion cub on a leash. She is the tutelary deity to several Sumerian leaders.

Ninhursag
𒀭𒊩𒌆𒄯𒊕
Mother goddess, goddess of fertility, mountains, and rulers
Akkadian cylinder seal impression depicting a vegetation goddess, possibly Ninhursag, sitting on a throne surrounded by worshippers (circa 2350-2150 BC)
SymbolOmega-like symbol
Personal information
ConsortEnki
ChildrenNinurta, Ashgi, Panigingarra
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Her most well known myths are Enki and Ninhursag describing her dealings with Enki resulting from his sexual exploits, and Enki and Ninmah a creation myth wherein the two deities compete to create humans. She is referenced or makes brief appearances in others as well, most notably as the mother of Ninurta in the Anzu Epic.

Names

Nin-hursag means "lady of the sacred mountain" (from Sumerian NIN "lady" and ḪAR.SAG̃ "sacred mountain, foothill",[8] possibly a reference to the site of her temple, the E-Kur (House of mountain deeps) at Eridu. She had many names including Ninmah ("Great Queen");[8] Nintu ("Lady of Birth");[8] Mamma or Mami (mother);[8] Aruru (Sumerian: 𒀭𒀀𒊒𒊒),[8] Belet-Ili (mistress of the gods, Akkadian).[8]

According to the 'Ninurta's Exploits' myth, her name was changed from Ninmah to Ninhursag by her son Ninurta.[9] As Ninmenna, according to a Babylonian investiture ritual, she placed the golden crown on the king in the Eanna temple.[10]

Possibly included among the original mother goddesses was Damgalnuna/Diĝirmaḫ (great wife of the prince) or Damkina (Sumerian: 𒀭𒁮𒆠𒈾, “true wife”), the consort of the god Enki.[11]

The mother goddess had many epithets including shassuru or 'womb goddess', tabsut ili 'midwife of the gods', 'mother of all children' and 'mother of the gods'. In this role she is identified with Ki in the Enuma Elish. She had shrines in both Eridu and Kish. It has also been speculated that she was worshipped under the name Belet-Nagar in Mari.[12] However, it has also been proposed that the name Ninhursag in documents from Mari should be understood as a logographic writing of the name Shalash, the wife of Dagan,[13] who was the goddess of Bitin near Alalakh rather than Nagar (modern Tell Brak) in the Khabur Triangle.[14] Belet Nagar has alternatively been identified with Hurrian deities: Shaushka (though this proposal was met with criticism)[15] or Nabarbi.[16]

Function

It is possible that Ninhursag was originally viewed as more of a nurturing goddess rather than a birth goddess.[17] She had a documented role in Sumerian kingship ideology.[18] The first known royal votive gift, recovered from Kiš, was donated by a king referring to himself as ‘beloved son of Ninḫursaĝa'.[19] Votive objects dedicated to her Diĝirmaḫ name were recovered in Adab, dating to the Early Dynastic Period.[19]

Her connection to the biological process of childbirth in worship is suspected to have developed later, as she began to by syncretized with other 'birth-goddesses', and took on her Bēlet-ilī name.[20] In this birth aspect, she is called by the kings of Lagash as "the midwife who suckled them".[21]

As Ninmah she has appeared occasionally in medical texts, such as one from Sultantepe[22] which describes a ritual and offerings to be performed for the goddess in order to cure bedwetting.[23] It is suggested that her role in performing healing connects to that of her healing Enki in Enki and Ninhursag.[22]

Association with other Deities

Consorts and Children

Her most well attested consorts are Enki and Shul-pa-e.[8][24] The latter is identified as the father of her son Panigingarra in the god list An-Anum.[25] Another of her sons, sometimes listed alongside Panigingarra, was Ashgi.[25]

In Lagash, she was associated with Enlil as his wife, and the mother of Ningirsu[21] (Assimilated with Ninurta.[8]) She is Ninurta's mother as Bēlet-ilī/Mami in Anzu as well.[26]

As Damgalnuna, she is associated with Asaruludu, a well attested son of Enki, as his mother.[27]

Iconography

Ninhursag was also commonly depicted seated upon or near mountains.[28] She was identified standing behind her son Ninurta on Stele of the Vultures.[29]

Another symbol of hers was Deer.[28] Studies on a plaque from Mari have identified the stone as being a representation of her.[30][19] The stone likely represents both a face and the naked female form.[31] A notable feature of the plaque is the area below the 'nose area' where ten stags stand eating plants on opposite sides of the face.[32] There is another group of five animals under the nose, which are suspected to be birds.[33] In a frieze recovered from the same Mari temple, two stags flank an Igmud-eagle, a symbol of Ninurta.[34]

Mari temple frieze: containing symbols of Ninhursag and her son Ninurta.

Mythology

Enki and Ninhursag

Two full copies of Enki and Ninhursag have been uncovered. One from in Nippur[35][36] which contains the complete text (although some passages on the tablet are broken), and another from Ur, found in the house of a priest of Enki, where half of the text is missing.[36] This second tablet contains less lines, thus it is considered a truncated version.[36] There exists also an excerpt, covering the incestuous couplings, which differs from the Nippur versions events.[36]

In Enki and Ninhursag, the goddess complains to Enki that the city of Dilmun is lacking in water.[37] As a result, Enki makes the land rich, and Dilmun becomes a prosperous wetland.[37] Afterwards, he and Ninhursag sleep together, resulting in a daughter, Ninsar.[38] (called Ninnisig in the ETCSL translation,[39] Ninmu by Kramer.[40]) Ninsar matures quickly, and Enki spots her walking along the bank, and sleeps with her, resulting in another daughter. Ninkurra.[38][39] Enki spots her and sleeps with her as well, resulting in Uttu.[41] (In alternate versions the order is Ninkura, Ninima, then Uttu.[42] ) After Enki has intercourse with Uttu, Ninhursag removes the semen from her womb and plants it in the earth, causing eight plants to spring up.[41] As a result of his actions, Ninhursag curses Enki by casting her "life giving eye" away from him.[41][39] Enki then becomes gravely ill.[41] A fox then makes an offer to Enlil that he will bring Ninhursag back to cure him, in exchange Enlil promises to erect two birch trees[39] for the fox in his city, and to give the creature fame.[41] The fox is able to retrieve Ninhursag, and she then cures Enki, giving birth to eight minor deities from his ailing body parts.[43]

Comparisons between this myth and that of Genesis are common. As suggested by Samuel Kramer and W. F. Albright, Enki's eating of the eight plants and the consequences following his actions can be compared to the consumption of the fruit of knowledge by Adam and Eve.[44]

Enki and Ninmah

Enki and Ninmah is a narrative recounting the birth of mankind, and a competition between the two spouses. The first half of this text recounts Enki creating the first man at the behest of Namma, referred to here as his mother.[45] In the second half, the spouses create seven ill and disabled people and assign them fates.[46]

Others

Ninhursag appears in the text Creator of the Hoe, here she is referred to as "the mother of the gods".[47]

In the Anzu epic, Ninhursag under the name Bēlet-ilī or Mami speaks in support of Ninurta her son, and is given the epithet "The Mistress of All Gods".[26]

Damkina is the mother of Marduk in Enūma Eliš.[48]

Worship

According to Stuckey, her symbol, resembling the Greek letter omega Ω, has been depicted in art from approximately 3000 BC, although more generally from the early second millennium BC. It appears on some boundary stones—on the upper tier, indicating her importance. The omega symbol is associated with the Egyptian cow goddess Hathor, and may represent a stylized womb.[49]

As Ninhursaga, she had temples in Nippur (Ur III period), and Mari.[50] In Adab, she was worshipped under her Diĝirmaḫ epithet. Under her Ninmah epithet, she had temples in Adab, Babylon, and Ĝirsu, known as 'E-maḫ' or the 'majestic house'.[50]

A temple of hers from Ur's Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia) was excavated by Sir Leonard Woolley[51][50] during his series of excavations at various sites around the city, built presumably by a King Aanepada, as per the temple dedication: "Aanepada King of Ur, son of Mesanepada King of Ur, has built this for his lady Ninkhursag."[51] In Early Dynastic Lagash, a temple was dedicated to Ninhursag, then later to Ninmaḫ.[21]

See also

References

Citations
  1. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Ninhursag". Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 May 2018, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ninhursag. Accessed 28 April 2022.
  2. King & Hall (2008), p. 117.
  3. Possehl (1979), p. 127.
  4. Clay (1997), p. 100.
  5. Budge (2003), p. 233.
  6. Edwardes & Spence (2003), p. 126.
  7. Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 7.
  8. Dalley (1998), p. 326.
  9. Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 51.
  10. Jacobsen (1976), p. 109.
  11. Black, Green & Rickards (1992), pp. 56f, 75.
  12. Steinkeller 2019, p. 1003.
  13. Schwemer 2001, pp. 404–405.
  14. Schwemer 2008, p. 590.
  15. Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 71.
  16. Archi 2013, p. 7.
  17. Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 72.
  18. Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 137.
  19. Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 138.
  20. Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 141.
  21. Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 59.
  22. Mesopotamian Medicine and Magic 2018, p. 779.
  23. Mesopotamian Medicine and Magic 2018, p. 784.
  24. KATZ 2008, p. 322.
  25. Krebernik 2005, p. 326.
  26. Dalley (1998), p. 204.
  27. Johandi 2019.
  28. Steinkeller 2019, p. 991.
  29. Steinkeller 2019, p. 1000.
  30. Steinkeller 2019, p. 980.
  31. Steinkeller 2019, p. 984.
  32. Steinkeller 2019, p. 986.
  33. Steinkeller 2019, p. 987.
  34. Steinkeller 2019, p. 996.
  35. Kramer & Albright 1945, p. 3.
  36. Katz 2010.
  37. Dickson 2007, p. 2.
  38. Dickson 2007, p. 3.
  39. https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk 2006.
  40. Kramer & Albright 1945, p. 5.
  41. Dickson 2007, p. 4.
  42. KATZ 2008, p. 320.
  43. Dickson 2007, p. 5.
  44. Kramer & Albright 1945, p. 8.
  45. www-etcsl.orient.ox.ac.uk 2006.
  46. Kağnıcı 2018, p. 432.
  47. www-etcsl.orient.ox.ac.uk 2009.
  48. Dalley (1998), p. 235.
  49. Stuckey (2006).
  50. Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 151.
  51. Woolley 1982, p. 106.

Works cited

Further reading
  • Jastrow, Morris (1898). The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria. Ginn.
  • Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1932). Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland. Cambridge University Press for the Royal Asiatic Society.
  • Van Buren, E. Douglas (1930). Clay Figurines of Babylonia and Assyria. AMS Press. ISBN 978-0404602864.
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