Misplaced Pages

#655344

64-551: The sculpture was found with a number of other artifacts at the base of a foundation in Tell al-'Ubaid . The sculpture was found by Leonard Woolley who was working jointly for the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and the British Museum . The foundation which hid the sculpture was a platform made from brick and mud which had originally supported a temple to

128-542: A 4 meter square and 1.5 meter deep pit on the summit of the mound, 10 vehicle bays built around the mound base, and numerous hollows and pits on and around the mound. There was no sign of looting. Tell al-'Ubaid was heavily occupied in the Ubaid period (c. 5500–3700 BC) with pottery production, shown by kilns and significant surface finds of shards and wasters. There was occupation during the Uruk period (late 4th millennium BC) based on

192-467: A copper strip in 1923 read "For Nin-hursag: A'annepada, king of Ur, son of Mesannepada, king of Ur, built the temple for Ninhursag". Mesannepada (c. 26th century BC) and A'annepada were rulers of the First Dynasty of Ur . Its ancient name is unknown but Nutur (alt Enutur) has been proposed, mainly based on the 20th year name of Ur III Empire ruler Shulgi (c. 2094–2046 BC) "Year: Ninḫursaga of Nutur

256-694: 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 . Ninhursag means "lady of the sacred mountain" from Sumerian NIN "lady" and ḪAR.SAG̃ "sacred mountain, foothill", 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"); Nintu ("Lady of Birth"); Mamma or Mami (mother); Aruru ( Sumerian : 𒀭𒀀𒊒𒊒 ) and Belet-Ili (mistress of

320-529: A crown that is more flat without horns, and has hair in an omega like shape. In another depiction, she is seated upon mountains and also has a mountain on her horned crown. Here she wears a tiered robe. She was identified as the female figure standing behind her son Ninurta on a fragment of the Stele of the Vultures . Another symbol of hers was Deer, both male and female. Studies on a plaque from Mari have identified

384-620: A daughter, Ninkurra . Enki spots her and sleeps with her as well, resulting in Uttu . (In alternate versions the order is Ninkura, Ninima, then Uttu. ) 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. As a result of his actions, Ninhursag curses Enki by casting her "life giving eye" away from him. Enki then becomes gravely ill. 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 for

448-606: A documented role in Sumerian kingship ideology. The first known royal votive gift, recovered from Kiš, was donated by a king referring to himself as ‘beloved son of Ninḫursaĝa'. Votive objects dedicated to her Diĝirmaḫ name were recovered in Adab , dating to the Early Dynastic Period . She could also be understood not simply as affiliated with mountains, but as a personification of mountain (or earth) as well. One text in Sumerian,

512-532: A foundation wall and clay cones (used to decorate building walls in the period). Some find, including a cylinder seal show that there was a presence in the Jemdet Nasr period but little is known about it. In the Early Dynastic period a temple to the goddess Ninhursag was built possibly over an early Uruk period temple, by the A'annepada (c. 26th century BC) a ruler of the First Dynasty of Ur . The temple lay on

576-519: A half feet wide) copper relief in a copper frame (6" broad and 4" deep) was found depicting a scene of Anzû . Hall found a 37 centimeter high Early Dynastic III dark green stone statue of Kurlil inscribed (according to the excavator) "Kurlil, Keeper of the Granary of Erech, Damgalnun he fashioned, (her) temple he built". Kurlil is known from a similar inscription found on a statue at Uruk. Later, C. L. Woolley excavated there in 1923 and 1924 on behalf of

640-452: A place for them, resulting in her losing the competition. She then complains that Enki has driven her away from her home. The ending of the text is not well understood (due to damage on the tablet), but is likely Enki consoling Ninmah and possibly finding a place for the human he made. Ninhursag appears in the text Creator of the Hoe , where she is referred to as "the mother of the gods". In

704-465: A prepared oval similar to the one at Khafajah . This temple was rebuilt later in the Early Dynastic period and then surmounted by a shrine built by Shulgi (c. 2094–2046 BC) of the Ur III Empire . Ninhursag Ninḫursaĝ ( Sumerian : 𒀭𒎏𒄯𒊕 Ninḫarsang ; NIN - ḪAR.SAG̃ ), sometimes transcribed Ninursag , Ninḫarsag , or Ninḫursaĝa , also known as Damgalnuna or Ninmah ,

SECTION 10

#1732844435656

768-497: A ritual and offerings to be performed for the goddess in order to cure bedwetting. It is suggested that her role in performing healing connects to that of her healing Enki in Enki and Ninhursag . Ninhursag's parentage and ancestry is not described in any known texts. In the Hymn of Adad , the eponymous storm god is referred to as Bēlet-ilī's brother. Ninhursag's most well attested consort

832-403: A wooden model of a bull. This had then been coated with bitumen . The parts of the bull were made in sections. The legs were shaped out of wood covered in copper plate and held in place using tacks. The legs were attached and then more copper sheet covered the main body, with a different sheet for the bull's shoulders. These sheets were held in place by flat-headed nails along the back of the legs,

896-420: Is called by the kings of Lagash as "the midwife who suckled them". From the third Early Dynastic Period and onward, the most common Ninhursag epithets emphasize her as the supreme "mother of the world". This term of mother, Julia Asher-Greve and Joan Westenholz argue, was analogous to the generic 'father' used for gods such as Anu and Enki, and therefore transcends the biological concept of motherhood. Later in

960-481: Is from Nippur 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. This second tablet contains fewer lines, and hence it is considered a truncated version. There exists also an excerpt, covering the incestuous couplings, which differs from the Nippur version's events. In Enki and Ninhursag ,

1024-524: Is generally accepted to be the same goddess as Egime, because NIN was glossed as e-gi , while the sign LA 2 (𒇲) is believed to have been derived from ME (𒈨). In Lagash , she was associated with Enlil as his wife, and the mother of Ningirsu (Assimilated with Ninurta. ) She is Ninurta's mother as Bēlet-ilī/Mami in Anzu and other myths as well. Some Sumerian sources identify her as both Enlil's wife and sister, likely to rectify earlier traditions where she

1088-422: Is now known that this is the standard orientation of homes in this period and the burials are now thought to be intramural (buried in the floor of homes). The graves noted by the excavators have now been relabeled as 5 not being graves, 10 undateable due to having no pottery, 16 Early Dynastic I, 59 Early Dynastic II to Early Dynastic IIIa and 6 graves to Early Dynastics lllb to Ur III period. A. M. T. Moore visited

1152-434: Is possible that she was viewed originally more as a nurturing than a birth goddess. Another theory posits that, along with the goddess Nintur , she was the birth goddess of wild and domesticated animals. 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. In this birth aspect, she

1216-638: The An = Anum god list, Dingirmah was assigned a sukkal ("divine vizier") named Ekigara. Her chief herald was the god Urumaš, and four additional deities who served as heralds were included in her entourage. Saparnuna was the herald of Kesh, Engal-DU.DU and Nimgir-Kurra were the heralds of the underworld, and Lugaligipirig was the herald of Adab. Six deities named Saĝšutašubšuba, KA.NI-šu-KID.DU.DU, Adgigi, Gudub, Ekurabsa, and Nin-Aruru (not to be confused with Aruru) were designated as her gud-balaĝ ("bull lyres"). Additionally, Šulpaedara, Šulpaeamaš, and Tuduga served as

1280-490: The Anzû 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". In another myth involving her son, Ninurta's Exploits , the titular god goes out to conquer the mountain land to the north of Babylonia, and piles the bodies of its stony kings into a great burial mound. He then dedicates this mountain to his mother, once Ninmah, now renamed Ninhursag after

1344-456: The Disputation between Summer and Winter , describes the creation of the seasons as a result of the copulation of Ninhursag (the earth) and Enlil. Another temple hymn from Gudea praising Ningirsu (epithet of Ninurta) describes him as having been born by a mountain range. She had a connection to the wild animals, particularly deer, who dwell on or around the mountains. Stags appear in façade on

SECTION 20

#1732844435656

1408-640: The Early Dynastic period . In the Nippur god list, Dingirmah was one of the nine goddesses of birth enumerated after Šulpae, and the Isin god list similarly included her as one of six birth goddesses. Dingirmah was also present in the An = Anum god list, which listed her alongside Ninhursag, Ninmah, Aruru and Nintur. It is uncertain whether these were all regarded as variant names for the same goddess or different goddesses with similar functions. A temple dedicated to Dingirmah,

1472-571: The Persian Gulf , but the shoreline lay much closer to the site during the Ubaid and Early Dynastic periods. Most of the remains are from the Chalcolithic Ubaid period , for which Tell al-'Ubaid is the type site , with an Early Dynastic temple and cemetery at the highest point. It was a cult center for the goddess Ninhursag . An inscription found on a foundation tablet (BM 116982) in 1919 and on

1536-453: The "Bēlet-ilī of the Emaḫ temple" in an enumeration of seven goddesses of birth. As evidenced by the large number of names, epithets, and areas of worship associated with her cult, Ninhursag's function in religion had many different aspects and shifted notably over time. Ninhursag was not the tutelary goddess of any major city, her cult presence being attested first in smaller towns and villages. It

1600-500: The "standing gods" of her E-maḫ temple in Adab. Ninhursag in her mother/birth aspects was also likely affiliated with a group of seven minor goddesses known as the Šassūrātu , "wombs", who were assistants of mother goddesses. These seven appear in Enki and Ninmah to assist in fashioning humankind from clay alongside their mistress, and are listed as Ninimma , Shuzianna , Ninmada , Ninšar , Ninmug , Mumudu , and Ninniginna. Ninhursag

1664-400: The 'majestic house'. A temple of hers from Ur 's Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia) was excavated by Sir Leonard Woolley during his series of excavations at various sites around the city, built presumably by a King A'annepada , as per the temple dedication: "Aanepada King of Ur, son of Mesanepada King of Ur, has built this for his lady Ninkhursag." In Early Dynastic Lagash, a temple

1728-477: The British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania focusing on completing the excavation of the temple. The excavators defined three occupation periods for the temple: A number of statues, mosaics, metal objects, etc were found on the west side of the entrance ramp,as was found by the first excavation of the other side. A marble foundation tablet was found as well as a few fragmentary inscriptions. A cemetery

1792-517: The E-maḫ, was built in Adab by a local ruler. Another temple was built at Malgium by King Ipiq-Ištar. Ninmah ("great lady") was one of the most common epithets of Ninhursag alongside Dingirmah. The name was already attested in Fara and pre-Sargonian Lagash , and primarily occurred in liturgical and literary texts. An Akkadian form, Ereshmah (written syllabically as e-re-eš-ma-aḫ ), was attested at Ugarit, and

1856-544: The Neo-Sumerian Period she became more associated with the physical process of birth. (i.e. her offerings including umbilical cord cutters). In the Old Babylonian Period some posit a decline in her worship, as she loses her high status as part of the four supreme deities of the pantheon. However Westenholz posits that her cult continued to be relevant but shifted function, as she became Bēlet-ilī . She had

1920-474: The Ur III Empire, "Sulgi, mighty man, king of Ur, king of the lands of Sumer and Akkad". Hall began work clearing the walls of the Early Dynastic temple finding, by the entrance ramp, multicolored mosaic columns, copper statues of lions, bulls, and birds heads, with some parts of the statues are filled with bitumen. A gold bitumen filled bulls horn was also found. Lastly a large (7 feet 9 1/2 inches long by 3 and

1984-478: The Uruk period based on associated clay cones, which ran under Early Dynastic period temple were noted. Finds included a white marble Jemdat Nasr period cylinder seal (the first excavator had found Jemdat Nasr period pottery shards at the site). In the ensuing years more dating and burial practice data has emerged which somewhat changes the interpretation of the graveyard. The graves are oriented NW-SE and NE-SW and it

Copper Bull - Misplaced Pages Continue

2048-514: The consort of the god Enki. Nintur was another name assigned to Ninhursag as a birth goddess, though sometimes she was a separate goddess entirely. 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

2112-503: The first humans at the behest of Namma , referred to here as his mother. He receives help forming the body of men and women from Ninmah as well as her seven servants, the birth goddesses. Once man is finished the group has a banquet, where Enki and Ninmah drink beer and the other gods praise Enki's greatness. In the second half, Ninmah creates seven humans with illnesses and disabilities, for whom Enki finds places in society. Enki then creates an individual so damaged that Ninmah cannot find

2176-416: The fox in his city, and to give the creature fame. The fox is able to retrieve Ninhursag, and she then cures Enki, giving birth to eight minor deities from his ailing body parts. 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

2240-460: The fruit of knowledge by Adam and Eve. The text containing this myth has been recovered on tablets from varying locations. The primary two making up the translation are from the Old Babylonian period and were recovered from Nippur. A third tablet from this period was also found containing an extract of the middle of the myth as well. There was also a bilingual (Sumerian and Akkadian) version in

2304-409: The goddess Ninhursag . The bull sculpture had been crushed by the falling masonry of the damaged temple. Woolley found similar models of bulls but only this and one other were recovered in an intact state. Ninhursag was a goddess of the pastures, so it is appropriate that cows should be found around her temple; it was said that her milk sustained the kings. The sculpture had been made by first making

2368-454: The goddess complains to Enki that the city of Dilmun is lacking in water. As a result, Enki makes the land rich, and Dilmun becomes a prosperous wetland. Afterwards, he and Ninhursag sleep together, resulting in a daughter, Ninsar (called Ninnisig in the ETCSL translation, Ninmu by Kramer ). Ninsar matures quickly, and after Enki spots her walking along the bank, sleeps with her, resulting in

2432-474: The gods, Akkadian ). According to the 'Ninurta's Exploits' myth, her name was changed from Ninmah to Ninhursag by her son Ninurta . As Ninmena , according to a Babylonian investiture ritual, she placed the golden crown on the king in the Eanna temple. Possibly included among the original mother goddesses was Damgalnuna / Diĝirmaḫ (great wife of the prince) or Damkina ( Sumerian : 𒀭𒁮𒆠𒈾 , “true wife”),

2496-405: The haunches and the stomach. The body's sheets overlapped the places where the legs had been attached. Copper bolts attached the legs to the base and the head was attached with a wooden dowel. The horns and the ears were then attached to the head. By the time the bull was discovered the wood had decayed away and the bull was recovered only by casting wax around the fragile remains and then lifting

2560-558: The hillock. Finds included a copper framed frieze of limestone birds set in a black shale background. A final examination, by Seton Lloyd and Pinhas Delougaz on behalf of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago , occurred during 4 days in January 1937. The team had finished work at the temple oval at Khafajah and wanted to compare the temple building at Tell al'Ubaid before publishing their final reports. While excavation

2624-444: The lament Lulil and his sister , in which the two mourned the death of Ashgi (referred to in the text as Lulil, meaning "man-spirit"). In the An = Anum god list, Ninhursag was assigned sixteen additional children besides Paniĝinĝarra, Lillu, Ashgi, and Lisin, named Atugula, Atutur, NIN.LA 2 , NIG-gumaḫa, Burukaš, Zarzaru, Zurmuzarmu, Nin-BUR.SAL, Šazumaḫ, Ušumšasu, Naĝaršaga, Anmea, Amaea, UR-guru, Urra, and Amaniranna. NIN.LA 2

Copper Bull - Misplaced Pages Continue

2688-476: The library of Assurbanipal , and one very fragmented tablet from the Middle Assyrian period that may contain the myth, but deviates from the bilingual version in the creation portion of the myth. Enki and Ninmah as a narrative can be separated into two distinct parts, the first being the birth of mankind, and the second a competition between the two spouses. The first half of this text recounts Enki creating

2752-617: The mound. Damkina is the mother of Marduk in Enūma Eliš . Theories posit that, in earlier times, Ninhursag was the highest ranking female deity, but was later displaced from that status by Ninlil, before the Old Babylonian period where she was syncretized with other birthing goddesses. As Ninhursaga, she had temples in Nippur (Ur III period), and Mari. 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

2816-486: The name designated Athirat , the goddess also known from Ugarit , rather than the Mesopotamian goddess Ašratum . Ninhursag was commonly depicted seated upon or near mountains, her hair sometimes in an omega shape and at times wearing a horned head-dress and tiered skirt. In a rectangular framed plaque from pre-Sargonic Girsu, the goddess seated upon "scale like" mountains is determined to be Ninhursag. Here she wears

2880-459: The objects. Ur was one of the first sites excavated under Iraq's antiquity law, drawn up by Gertrude Bell . Tell al-%27Ubaid Tell al-'Ubaid ( Arabic : العبيد ) also (Tall al-'Ubaid) is a low, relatively small ancient Near Eastern archaeological site about six kilometers west of the site of ancient Ur and about 6 kilometers north of ancient Eridu in southern Iraq 's Dhi Qar Governorate . Today, Tell al-'Ubaid lies 250 kilometers from

2944-533: The remains out for later conservation. The sculpture as exhibited in the British Museum includes a horn, part of the tail and hooves which have been recreated to make the bull complete. The Copper Bull is in the British Museum . The artifacts discovered by Woolley were shared between the Iraqi State which received around 50% of the objects and the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology which each received about 25% of

3008-507: The site in 1990 finding previously unnoticed Ubaid period kiln sites with numerous wasters on the west side of the top of the mound about 100 meters south of the temple complex. In 2008 the site was surveyed as part on an investigation of war-time damage to archaeological sites in Iraq by an Iraqi-British team. The team reported extensive damage as a result of "military installations when it was established as an Iraqi command post". This damage included

3072-417: The stone as being a representation of her. The stone likely represents both a face and the naked female form. 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. There is another group of five animals under the nose, which are suspected to be birds. In a frieze recovered from the same Mari temple, two stags flank an Igmud-eagle,

3136-502: The symbol of her son Ninurta. There are a number of other images with this eagle as well (such as the vase in the gallery below), where deer, ibexes or gazelles are present to represent Ninhursag. According to Johanna 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 ( kudurru ) on

3200-481: The third millennium BCE, and was only viewed as her son in later periods. Paniĝinĝarra could appear alongside his mother in sources such as greeting formulas in letters. Although Ninhursag was generally identified as Lisin's mother, at least one text equated them with each other instead. According to the god list An = Anum , Lisin (who here had swapped genders) was a son of Belet-Ili. Egime resided at her mother's Emaḫ temple in Adab, and appeared alongside Ninhursag in

3264-535: The upper tier, indicating her importance. The omega symbol is associated with the Egyptian cow goddess Hathor , and may represent a stylized womb. Joan Goodnick Westenholz and Julia M. Asher-Greve argue that the symbol should be interpreted as a schematic representation of a woman's hair rather than the shape of an uterus. They tentatively propose an identification with Nanaya rather than Ninhursag as well. Two full copies of Enki and Ninhursag have been uncovered. One

SECTION 50

#1732844435656

3328-547: The walls of her temples, as well as in works containing the lion headed eagle, a symbol of Ninurta. One composition, a dedication of Ninhursag's Kes temple, mentions deer, bison, and wild goats in connection to the building. She and her other names could also appear in ritual incantations for a variety of functions, some of which include Damgalnunna to protect from evil demons, and Ninhursaga and Nintur in birth related incantation. As Ninmah she has appeared occasionally in medical texts, such as one from Sultantepe which describes

3392-554: Was Šulpae , who could be described as her "beloved spouse". They were attested as consorts in sources from Kesh , such as the Kesh Temple Hymn , and Nippur . Deities who were regarded as the children of Ninhursag and Šulpae include Ashgi , Paniĝinĝarra , Lisin , Egime, and Lillu, who was possibly identical with Ashgi. Marcos Such-Gutiérrez suggests that Ashgi was initially Ninhursag's husband in Adab due to Šulpae being sparsely attested in sources from this city from

3456-482: Was Enlil's spouse, before later traditions had the goddess Ninlil as his wife instead. After this change Ninhursag was reassigned as Enlil's elder sister. Enki was portrayed as Ninhursag's consort in the myth Enki and Ninhursag , in which the eponymous goddess is treated as the same deity as Damgalnuna , Enki's usual wife. However, Dina Katz points out that the goddesses were usually separate. In Enki and Ninmah , Enki instead refers to Ninmah as his sister. In

3520-403: Was brought into her temple". Tell al 'Ubaid is an oblong mound measuring approximately 500 meters from north to south and about 300 meters from east to west and rising about two meters above the plain. A fan of surface debris, mainly pottery shards from the Ubaid period but including many lithics (arrow points, knives, microliths etc), extend to the south and southwest of the mound. The site

3584-412: Was conducted a complete site survey was conducted. It was determined that the early temple had been built with reddish brick which at a later date had been filled and covered with grey clay to level the site. The grey clay had eroded in most place and only remained between the walls of reddish bricks. A complete tracing of the temple oval showed it to be 80 meters by 60 meters. Signs of a limestone wall, of

3648-449: Was considered to be similar to the Elamite goddess Kiririsha , who was also regarded as the "mother of the gods". Frédéric Grillot considered them to be equivalent to one another, but partially based his conclusion on an assumed parallel between the presumed union of Ninhursag and Enki with that of Kiririsha and Napirisha . In Old Babylonian Mari the logographic writing NIN.HUR.SAG.GA

3712-424: Was discovered on a low hillock (350 meters by 250 metesr) 60 meters to the south southeast with 94 graves, mostly from the Early Dynastic Period , primarily Early Dynastic I. The cemetery was in use for a long period and some graves were intercut with others and disturbed. Grave goods included two copper shaft-hole axes and a number of wide conical cups. The remains of a small Ubaid period settlement lay on one part of

3776-427: Was either a variant or the correctly written form of the name. Like Dingirmah, Ninmah was initially an epithet of Ninhursag who later developed into a separate goddess at the end of the Early Dynastic period. In Lagash, King Entemena built a temple that was at first dedicated to Ninhursag, and then rededicated to Ninmah. In a text known as Archive of Mystic Heptads , Ninmah was labeled separately from Ninhursag as

3840-452: Was first worked by Henry Hall on behalf of the British Museum in 1919. Hall focused on the area which turned out to be the temple of Ninḫursaĝ , a 50 meter long and 7 meter high outcrop on the northern edge of the mound. At the southeast end of the outcrop the only remains of an Ur III period temple built atop the Early Dynastic temple were found with bricks inscribed with the standard inscription of Shulgi (c. 2094–2046 BC), first ruler of

3904-400: Was met with criticism) or Nabarbi . Dingirmah ("great goddess") was a very common epithet of Ninhursag. In older literature, the name was transcribed as Mah, but the correct reading was confirmed through the existence of a syllabically written Emesal form, Dimmermah. Although she was originally an epithet of Ninhursag, Dingirmah eventually developed into a separate goddess at the end of

SECTION 60

#1732844435656

3968-561: 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". She is the tutelary deity to several Sumerian leaders. Her most well known myths are Enki and Ninhursag describing her dealings with Enki resulting from his sexual exploits, and Enki and Ninmah

4032-645: Was used to represent the name of Shalash , the wife of Dagan . In Hittite sources, the logographic writings DINGIR.MAH and NIN.TU were used to render the name of the Hittite mother goddess Ḫannaḫanna . In a bilingual Akkadian -Amorite lexical list from the Old Babylonian period which presumably originated in southern Mesopotamia, DIĜIR.MAḪ (Bēlet-ilī) was equated with an Amorite deity named ʔAṯeratum ( a-še-ra-tum ), but according to Andrew R. George and Manfred Krebernik  [ de ] in this context

4096-545: Was worshipped under the name Belet-Nagar in Mari. 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 , who was the goddess of Bitin near Alalakh rather than Nagar (modern Tell Brak ) in the Khabur Triangle. Belet Nagar has alternatively been identified with Hurrian deities: Shaushka (though this proposal

#655344