Ninkarnunna (''^dNin-kar-nun-na'', Sumerian: "lord of the exalted

quay A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring location ...

") was a

Mesopotamian god 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 ...

who belonged to the circle of deities associated with

Ninurta , image= Cropped Image of Carving Showing the Mesopotamian God Ninurta.png , caption= Assyrian stone relief from the temple of Ninurta at Kalhu, showing the god with his thunderbolts pursuing Anzû, who has stolen the Tablet of Destinies from En ...

. He was the ''bar-šu-gal'' (possibly "masseur") of this god. A litany refers to him as the "good child" (''dumu sagga''). According to 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 ...

'', Ninkarnunna's brother was Inimmanizi, the sukkal (vizier) of Ninurta. According to Wilfred G. Lambert it is possible that some copies instead regard Ninkarnunna as a female deity and the spouse of Inimmanizi. An association between Ninkarnunna and Inimmanizi is also attested in

astronomical Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies ...

texts. A temple of Ninkarnunna existed in

Nippur Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory': Vol. 1, Part 1. Accessed 15 Dec 2010. Akkadian language, Akkadian: '' ...

. In

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

, he was worshiped in the E-rabriri, the temple of

Mandanu Mandanu or Madanu was a Mesopotamian god associated with justice. It has been proposed that he was a divine representation of places of judgment. He is known chiefly from sources postdating the Old Babylonian period, and older documents, such as ...

, which lead Antoine Cavigneaux and Mandred Krebernik to propose that Mandanu might have been syncretised with Ninurta in this city. His seat in the latter temple was known as E-ushumgal-anna, "house of the dragon ( ushumgal) of heaven." Ninkarnunna is mentioned in ''

Angim The work known by its incipit, Angim, "The Return of Ninurta to Nippur", is a rather obsequious 210-line mythological praise poem for the ancient Mesopotamian warrior-god Ninurta, describing his return to Nippur from an expedition to the mountain ...

''.

References

Bibliography

* * * * Mesopotamian gods {{MEast-myth-stub