Ningirida was a

Mesopotamian goddess Deities in ancient Mesopotamia were almost exclusively anthropomorphic. They were thought to possess extraordinary powers and were often envisioned as being of tremendous physical size. The deities typically wore ''melam'', an ambiguous substan ...

regarded as the wife of

Ninazu Ninazu ( sux, ) was a Mesopotamian god of the underworld of Sumerian origin. He was also associated with snakes and vegetation, and with time acquired the character of a warrior god. He was frequently associated with Ereshkigal, either as a s ...

and mother of

Ningishzida Ningishzida ( Sumerian: DNIN-G̃IŠ-ZID-DA, possible meaning "Lord f theGood Tree") was a Mesopotamian deity of vegetation, the underworld and sometimes war. He was commonly associated with snakes. Like Dumuzi, he was believed to spend a part ...

. Little is known about her character beyond her relation to these two gods.

Name and character

The correct reading of Ningirda's name relies on the syllabic spelling from the Ur III period, ''^dNin-gi-ri-da''. According to Wilfred G. Lambert, the element ''girid'' is a Sumerian

noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, ...

referring to a type of hair clasp used by women, and therefore does not provide any information about her individual character beyond her gender. In the myth ''Enki and Ninhursag'', the name is reinterpreted as "the lady born of nose," ''^dNin-kìri-e-tu'', but this is only a folk etymology. Little is known about Ningirida's individual role beyond her associations with deities regarded as members of her family. Jeremy Black assumed that she was associated with the

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwor ...

. She appears alongside

starting in the Ur III period. However, it is possible older attestations are available, as the deity ^dGÍRID known from the Early Dynastic period might correspond to later Ningirida.

Theophoric name A theophoric name (from Greek: , ''theophoros'', literally "bearing or carrying a god") embeds the word equivalent of 'god' or God's name in a person's name, reflecting something about the character of the person so named in relation to that dei ...

s from

Lagash Lagash (cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian: ''Lagaš''), was an ancient city state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Ash Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash (modern Al-Hiba) w ...

from this period sometimes feature the element ^dGÍRID.KI, which might indicate that the name was derived from a real or mythical

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

, as the sign KI could function as a

determinative A determinative, also known as a taxogram or semagram, is an ideogram used to mark semantic categories of words in logographic scripts which helps to disambiguate interpretation. They have no direct counterpart in spoken language, though they may ...

designating place names. An attested alternate name of the same goddess is Ninsiskurra.

Associations with other deities

Ningirida was regarded as the wife of Ninazu. The relation between them is directly confirmed by the myth ''Enki and Ninhursag'', as well as in a hymn to Ninazu (which addresses her as "Your wife, the young girl, the lovely woman, the lady"), the god list ''

An = Anum ''An = Anum'', also known as the Great God List, is the longest preserved Mesopotamian god list, a type of lexical list cataloging the deities worshiped in the Ancient Near East, chiefly in modern Iraq. While god lists are already known from the ...

'', and the so-called ''

Emesal Sumerian is the language of ancient Sumer. It is one of the oldest attested languages, dating back to at least 3000 BC. It is accepted to be a local language isolate and to have been spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, in the area that is modern-day ...

Vocabulary''. However, she is not attested in association with her husband's northern cult center,

Eshnunna Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar in Diyala Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian (and later Akkadian) city and city-state in central Mesopotamia 12.6 miles northwest of Tell Agrab and 15 miles northwest of Tell Ishchali. Although situated in th ...

, which might indicate the tradition involving her was exclusive to the south.

, the son of Ninazu, was also regarded as the son of Ningirida. A single god list from the first millennium BCE equates Ningirida with Gula. According to Thomas Richter, an association between her and another medicine goddess,

Ninisina Ninisina ( Sumerian: "Mistress of Isin") was a Mesopotamian goddess who served as the tutelary deity of the city of Isin. She was considered a healing deity. She was believed to be skilled in the medical arts, and could be described as a divine ph ...

is attested in earlier periods. No evidence exists in favor of the view that Ningirida was confused with

Ningirima Ningirima was a Mesopotamian goddess associated with incantations, attested already in the Early Dynastic period. She was also associated with snakes, fish and water. According to the god list ''An = Anum'' and other sources, she was regarded as ...

, despite the similarity between their names.

Worship

Ningirida already appears in offering lists from the Ur III period alongside Ninazu and Ningishzida. The myth ''Nanna-Suen's Journey to Nippur'' recognizes Enegi as her main cult center. A single reference to her and Ninazu receiving offerings in Nippur is known. According to a document from Ur, she receives offerings alongside Ninazu, Ningishzida, Ninazimua and Alla. The ''Canonical Temple List'', dated to the

Kassite period The Kassites () were people of the ancient Near East, who controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire c. 1531 BC and until c. 1155 BC (short chronology). They gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon ...

, mentions two

temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

of Ningirida, but both their locations and ceremonial Sumerian names are not preserved.

Mythology

In the myth ''Enki and Ninhursag'', Ningirida appears as one of the eight deities created by

Ninhursag , deity_of=Mother goddess, goddess of fertility, mountains, and rulers , image= Mesopotamian - Cylinder Seal - Walters 42564 - Impression.jpg , caption= Akkadian cylinder seal impression depicting a vegetation goddess, possibly Ninhursag, sittin ...

to relay Enki of his pain, the other seven being

Abu Abu or ABU may refer to: Places * Abu (volcano), a volcano on the island of Honshū in Japan * Abu, Yamaguchi, a town in Japan * Ahmadu Bello University, a university located in Zaria, Nigeria * Atlantic Baptist University, a Christian university ...

, Ninsikila (

Meskilak Meskilak or Mesikila was one of the two main deities worshiped in Dilmun. The other well attested member of the pantheon of this area was Inzak, commonly assumed to be her spouse. The origin of her name is a subject of scholarly dispute. She is a ...

Ninkasi Ninkasi was the Mesopotamian goddess of beer and brewing. It is possible that in the first millennium BCE she was known under the variant name Kurunnītu, derived from a term referring to a type of high quality beer. She was associated with both ...

, Nanshe,

Azimua Azimua, also known as Ninazimua, was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the wife of Ningishzida. Name Ninazimua is the original spelling of the name of this goddess, attested in sources from the Ur III period. Later the NIN sign was usually omitt ...

Ninti Ninti ( sux, 𒀭𒎏𒋾; "mistress of life") was a Mesopotamian goddess worshiped in Lagash. She was regarded as the mother of Ninkasi. She also appears in the myth ''Enki and Ninhursag'' as one of the deities meant to soothe the eponymous god's ...

and Ensag (

Inzak Inzak (also Enzag, Enzak, Anzak; in older publications Enshag) was the main god of the pantheon of Dilmun. The precise origin of his name remains a matter of scholarly debate. He might have been associated with date palms. His cult center was Ag ...

). Dina Katz notes this group of deities does not reflect a specific

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...

concept, and was merely selected for the sake of

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

s on names of body parts. The spellings used are unique and assign new meanings to the names. In the end, destiny is proclaimed for each of the deities, with Ningirida's lot being to marry Ninazu. In ''Nanna-Suen's Journey to Nippur'', Nigirida is one of the goddesses who try to convince Nanna, who is traveling to meet his parents ( Enlil and

Ninlil Ninlil ( DINGIR, DNIN (cuneiform), NIN.LÍL; meaning uncertain) was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the wife of Enlil. She shared many of his functions, especially the responsibility for declaring destinies, and like him was regarded as a senio ...

) to leave his cargo in her city instead of taking it to Nippur, but she fails. Her residence in this myth is Enegi. A hymn to Ningishzida describes Ningirida breastfeeding him in his infancy. References to goddesses raising their children, and to the childhood of deities in general, are otherwise very rare in Mesopotamian literature. Another narrative focused on this god which also mentions his mother is ''Descent of Ningishzida to the Nether World''. She bribes a demonic "constable" (''

gallu In Sumerian and ancient Mesopotamian religion, gallûs (also called gallas; Akkadian ''gallû'' < Sumerian ) were great

'') escorting her son with silver, and instructs him to use an exorcistic formula to get Ereshkigal's permission to restore him to life.

References

Bibliography

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External links

*
Enki and Ninhursag
' in the

Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL) was a project that provides an online digital library of texts and translations of Sumerian literature. This project's website contains "Sumerian text, English prose translation and bibl ...

Mesopotamian goddesses