Ninurima 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 spouse of

Alammuš Alammuš (Alammush) was a Mesopotamian god. He was the sukkal (attendant deity) of the moon god Nanna, and like him was worshiped in Ur. He was also closely associated with the cattle god Ningublaga, and especially in astronomical texts they coul ...

, an attendant of the moon god

Nanna Nanna may refer to: *Grandmother Mythology * Sin (mythology), god of the moon in Sumerian mythology, also called Suen * Nanna (Norse deity), goddess associated with the god Baldr in Norse mythology * Nana Buluku, Fon/Dahomey androgynous deity cre ...

. She is best attested in texts from the

Ur III period The Third Dynasty of Ur, also called the Neo-Sumerian Empire, refers to a 22nd to 21st century BC (middle chronology) Sumerian ruling dynasty based in the city of Ur and a short-lived territorial-political state which some historians consider t ...

from Ur, though she also occurs in a number of god lists, including ''

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 ...

''.

Character

Ninurima, the "lady of Ur," was regarded as the spouse of

, the divine "vizier" (''

sukkal Sukkal (conventionally translated from Sumerian as "vizier") was a term which could denote both a type of official and a class of deities in ancient Mesopotamia. The historical sukkals were responsible for overseeing the execution of various comm ...

'') of the moon god

. The nature of the connection between them is confirmed by the god list ''

'', where she occurs in line 38 of tablet III, before

Ningal Ningal ( Sumerian: "Great Queen"), also known as Nikkal in Akkadian, was a Mesopotamian goddess of Sumerian origin regarded as the wife of the moon god, Nanna/Sin. She was particularly closely associated with his main cult centers, Ur and Harran, ...

's ''sukkal''

Meme A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural i ...

. The pair Ninurima and Alammuš could also appear in association with Ninpumuna, the goddess of

salt spring A brine spring or salt spring is a saltwater spring. Brine springs are not necessarily associated with halite deposits in the immediate vicinity. They may occur at valley bottoms made of clay and gravel which became soggy with brine seeped downslo ...

Worship

While Ninurima is already present in an Early Dynastic god list from Fara, her

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

is best attested in the

. She belonged to the group of deities worshiped in Ur, which at this time also included, among others, Nanna, Ningal, Ninkununa,

Ningublaga Ningublaga (, less commonly Ningublag) was a Mesopotamian god associated with cattle. His cult center was Kiabrig, a little known city located in the proximity of Ur. He belonged to the circle of deities related to the moon god, Nanna, and some ...

Nineigara Nineigara (also transcribed as Nine'igara) was a Mesopotamian goddess associated with dairy products. She was regarded as the wife of the god of cattle, Ningublaga, and like him belonged to the court of the moon god Nanna. Name and character Nine ...

Ninsun Ninsun (also called Ninsumun, cuneiform: dNIN.SUMUN2; Sumerian: ''Nin-sumun(ak)'' "lady of the wild cows") was a Mesopotamian goddess. She is best known as the mother of the hero Gilgamesh and wife of deified legendary king Lugalbanda, and appea ...

, Gula,

Annunitum Annunitum () or Anunītu was a Mesopotamian goddess of war. While initially she functioned as an epithet of Ishtar (Sumerian Inanna), she started to develop into a separate deity in the final years of the Sargonic period and through the Ur III per ...

and

Ulmašītum Ulmašītum was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as warlike. Her name was derived from (E-)Ulmaš, a temple in the city of Akkad dedicated to Ishtar. She was commonly associated with Annunitum, and in many texts they appear as a pair. While she ori ...

. A foundation tablet of

Shulgi Shulgi ( dŠulgi, formerly read as Dungi) of Ur was the second king of the Third Dynasty of Ur. He reigned for 48 years, from c. 2094 – c. 2046 BC (Middle Chronology) or possibly c. 2030 – 1982 BC ( Short Chronology). His accomplishme ...

commemorates the construction of a

temple 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 ...

dedicated to her in Karzida (Ga’eš). It presumably belonged to the complex of the local temple of Nanna.

Andrew R. George Andrew R. George (born 1955) is a British Assyriologist and academic best known for his edition and translation of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''. Andrew George is Professor of Babylonian language, Babylonian, Department of the Languages and Cultures ...

maintains that since this settlement was a cult center of the moon god, it can be assumed that the deity meant was understood as a manifestation of Ningal as the "Lady of Ur," Nin-Urimma Offerings to Ninurima are recorded in texts from Ur, though they do not occur as commonly as these made to the lead deities of the city, Nanna and Ningal. She is listed a recipient of "pure" (l''ú-tu₅-a'') flour. In a single case, she received a sacrifice alongside Alammuš. A single

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 deit ...

invoking Ninurima, Geme-Ninurima, has been identified in the corpus of texts from the Ur III period. She is also attested in ''An = Anum'', in an

Old Babylonian Old Babylonian may refer to: *the period of the First Babylonian dynasty (20th to 16th centuries BC) *the historical stage of the Akkadian language Akkadian (, Akkadian: )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Camb ...

god list where her name is apparently a scribal error and

Ninirigal Ninirigal or Ninirigala was a Mesopotamian goddess associated with Kullaba, a district belonging to the city of Uruk. Her character is poorly known beyond her role as a tutelary goddess of this area. Her husband was a god known under the name Nunb ...

was likely meant, and in a school exercise from

Susa Susa ( ; Middle elx, 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗, translit=Šušen; Middle and Neo- elx, 𒋢𒋢𒌦, translit=Šušun; Neo-Elamite and Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭, translit=Šušán; Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼, translit=Šušá; fa, شوش ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * * *{{cite book, last=Staiger, first=Annabelle, editor1-last=Shehata, editor1-first=Dahlia, editor2-last=Weiershäuser, editor2-first=Frauke, editor3-last=Zand, editor3-first=Kamran V., title=Von Göttern und Menschen: Beiträge zu Literatur und Geschichte des Alten Orients. Festschrift für Brigitte Groneberg, publisher=Brill, series=Cuneiform Monographs, volume=41, year=2010, isbn=978-90-04-18748-1, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KG3cneWa8BkC&pg=PA225, language=de, access-date=2022-10-01, doi=10.1163/9789004187474_014, pages=225-236 Mesopotamian goddesses Ur