Ninšar (,
dNIN.SAR; also read Nin-nisig) was a
Mesopotamian goddess
Deities in ancient Mesopotamia were almost exclusively Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic. They were thought to possess extraordinary powers and were often envisioned as being of tremendous physical size. The deities typically wore ''melam'', a ...
commonly associated with the preparation of meat. The reading of her name remains uncertain, and its possible etymology appears to be unrelated to her role in the Mesopotamian pantheon. She was chiefly worshiped in
Nippur
Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"I. E. S. Edwards, C. J. Gadd, N. G. L. Hammond, ''The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory'': Vol. 1, Part 1, Ca ...
, though her original cult center was the settlement AB.NAGAR.
Name
The reading of the theonym written in
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...
as
NIN.SAR remains uncertain.
Wilfred G. Lambert considered Ninšar to be the correct reading. This option is also accepted by
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, Department of the Languages and Cultures of Near and Middle E ...
. Antoine Cavigneaux and Manfred Krebernik instead argue that the correct reading might be Nin-nisig. Ninmu and Ninezenna have also been proposed as alternatives. 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 ...
'', the name could also be represented by the
logogram
In a written language, a logogram (from Ancient Greek 'word', and 'that which is drawn or written'), also logograph or lexigraph, is a written character that represents a semantic component of a language, such as a word or morpheme. Chine ...
s
dMUḪALDIM ("cook") or
dGÍRI ("knife"). A syllabic spelling, ''Nin-nì-si'', might be present in a god list from
Mari, but both the restoration of the final sign and the identification of this deity with Ninšar remain uncertain.
The name NIN.SAR is usually translated as "Lady Greenery" or "Lady Greens." One hymn to
Nuska
Nuska or Nusku, possibly also known as Našuḫ, was a Mesopotamian god best attested as the sukkal (divine vizier) of Enlil. He was also associated with fire and light, and could be invoked as a protective deity against various demons, such as ...
might contain a play on the name and the word SI
12, referring to the color green. Antoine Cavigneaux and Manfred Krebernik note that the name's meaning shows no direct connection with her well attested functions.
Ninšar should not be confused with Ninšár ("Lady of All"), who alongside the matching male deity Enšár appears in enumerations of
ancestors of Enlil in sources such as the god list ''An = Anum'' and the incantation series ''
Šurpu
The ancient Mesopotamian incantation series Šurpu begins ''enūma nēpešē ša šur-pu t'' 'eppušu'', “when you perform the rituals for (the series) ‘Burning,’” and was probably compiled in the middle Babylonian period, ca. 1350–105 ...
''.
Character
Ninšar was associated with meat, and was often described as the "butcher of
Ekur
Ekur ( ), also known as Duranki, is a Sumerian term meaning "mountain house". It is the assembly of the gods in the Garden of the gods, parallel in Greek mythology to Mount Olympus and was the most revered and sacred building of ancient Sumer ...
," as already attested in texts from the reign of
Shulgi
Shulgi ( dšul-gi,(died c. 2046 BC) formerly read as Dungi) of Ur was the second king of the Third Dynasty of Ur. He reigned for 48 years, from (Middle Chronology). His accomplishments include the completion of construction of the Great ...
. An even earlier text from
Lagash
Lagash (; cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian language, 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 Al-Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash ( ...
from the reign of
Urukagina
Uru-ka-gina, Uru-inim-gina, or Iri-ka-gina ( ; died 2370 BC) was King of the city-states of Lagash and Girsu in Mesopotamia, and the last ruler of the 1st Dynasty of Lagash. He assumed the title of king, claiming to have been divinely appointe ...
calls her the "butcher of
Ningirsu
Ninĝirsu was a Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian god regarded as the tutelary deity of the city of Girsu, Ĝirsu, and as the chief god of the local pantheon of the state of Lagash. He shares many aspects with the god Ninurta. Ninĝirsu was identified as ...
." She could also be referred to with the epithet "she who makes the food good." She is also attested in the role of a divine housekeeper. An Early Dynastic text refers to her as an artisan or carpenter (''nagar''). In various documents, she appears in enumerations of the courtiers of Enlil, with the sequence of
Ninimma
Ninimma was a Mesopotamian goddess best known as a courtier of Enlil. She is well attested as a deity associated with scribal arts, and is variously described as a divine scholar, scribe or librarian by modern Assyriologists. She could also serv ...
,
Ennugi,
Kusu, Ninšar,
Ninkasi
Ninkasi was the Mesopotamian goddess of beer and brewing. It is possible that in the first millennium BC 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 ...
and
Ninmada occurring in at least two sources, ''An = Anum'' and the so-called ''Canonical Temple List''.
Her husband was the god
Erragal, who like her was associated with knives. He is sparsely attested, and while he was likely distinct in origin from the better known
Erra, not much else is possible to determine about him with certainty based on available documents. He might have been associated with the destruction caused by storms.
Worship
In the
Early Dynastic period, Ninšar was worshiped in multiple cities, for example
Nippur
Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"I. E. S. Edwards, C. J. Gadd, N. G. L. Hammond, ''The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory'': Vol. 1, Part 1, Ca ...
and
Shuruppak
Shuruppak ( , SU.KUR.RUki, "the healing place"), modern Tell Fara, was an ancient Sumerian city situated about 55 kilometres (35 mi) south of Nippur and 30 kilometers north of ancient Uruk on the banks of the Euphrates in Iraq's Al-Qādisiy ...
. The ''
Zame Hymns
''Zame Hymns'' or ''Zami Hymns'' are a sequence of 70 Sumerian language, Sumerian hymns from the Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia), Early Dynastic period discovered in Abu Salabikh. Their conventional title is modern, and reflects the recurring ...
'' refer to AB.NAGAR as her cult center. She also had a temple in the state of
Lagash
Lagash (; cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian language, 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 Al-Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash ( ...
built by
Uruinimgina, most likely in
Girsu
Girsu ( Sumerian ; cuneiform ) was a city of ancient Sumer, situated some northwest of Lagash, at the site of what is now Tell Telloh in Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq. As the religious center of the kingdom of Lagash, it contained significant temple ...
.
Evidence for the worship of Ninšar is also available from
Umma
Umma () in modern Dhi Qar Province in Iraq, was an ancient city in Sumer. There is some scholarly debate about the Sumerian and Akkadian names for this site. Traditionally, Umma was identified with Tell Jokha. More recently it has been sugges ...
from the
Ur III period
The Third Dynasty of Ur or Ur III was a Sumerian dynasty based in the city of Ur in the 22nd and 21st centuries BC (middle chronology). For a short period they were the preeminent power in Mesopotamia and their realm is sometimes referred to by ...
. In the same period Shulgi built a temple dedicated to her in
Ur.
In the
Kassite
The Kassites () were a people of the ancient Near East. They controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire from until (short chronology).
The Kassites gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon in 1531 B ...
and
Middle Babylonian periods, a temple of Ninšar existed in Nippur, and it is possible that it can be identified with the E-šuluhhatumma, "house worthy of the cleansing ritual," which is assigned to her in the so-called ''Canonical Temple List'' without a location specified. ,
The
theophoric name
A theophoric name (from Greek: , ''theophoros'', literally "bearing or carrying a god") embeds the word equivalent of 'god' or a god's name in a person's name, reflecting something about the character of the person so named in relation to that d ...
Ur-Ninšar is common in sources from the Early Dynastic and Ur III periods. Other names invoking her are known too and continued to appear in the records from the
Old Babylonian period
The Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to , and comes after the end of Sumerian power with the destruction of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the subsequent Isin-Larsa period. The chronology of the first dynasty of Babyloni ...
.
Mythology
In the myth ''
Enki
Enki ( ) is the Sumerian god of water, knowledge ('' gestú''), crafts (''gašam''), and creation (''nudimmud''), and one of the Anunnaki. He was later known as Ea () or Ae p. 324, note 27. in Akkadian (Assyrian-Babylonian) religion, and ...
and
Ninmah
Ninḫursaĝ ( ''Ninḫarsang''; ), sometimes transcribed Ninursag, Ninḫarsag, or Ninḫursaĝa, 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 i ...
'', Ninšar appears as one of the seven assistants of the eponymous goddess, the other six being Ninimma,
Shuzianna
Shuzianna (Šuzianna; 𒀭𒋗𒍣𒀭𒈾 '' dŠu-zi-an-na'') was a Mesopotamian goddess. She was chiefly worshiped in Nippur, where she was regarded as a secondary spouse of Enlil. She is also known from the enumerations of children of Enmesha ...
,
Ninmug
Ninmug or Ninmuga was a Mesopotamian goddess. She was associated with artisanship, especially with metalworking, as evidenced by her epithet ''tibira kalamma'', "metalworker of the land." She could also be regarded as a goddess of birth and assist ...
,
Ninmada,
Mumudu and Ninniginna. They do not appear together otherwise. However, in this myth they are collectively described as
Šassūrātu
Šassūrātu were a group of Mesopotamian goddesses regarded as the assistants of Ninmah. Their name can be translated as "midwives" and they were considered to be tutelary goddesses of pregnant women. They appear in the myth ''Enki and Ninmah,' ...
, a term used to collectively refer to Ninmah's helpers.
In ''Enki and Ninhursag,'' she is the daughter of the eponymous deities, and in turn becomes the mother of
Ninkurra.
In a text known as ''The First Brick'', which functioned as a formula recited during temple renovations, Ninšar is listed among the deities created by Ea from clay to provide humans with goods they could in turn offer to the gods.
A fragment of a myth known from
Abu Salabikh
The archaeological site of Abu Salabikh (Tell Abū Ṣalābīkh), around northwest of the site of ancient Nippur and about 150 kilometers southeast of the modern city of Baghdad in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq marks the site of a small Sume ...
mentions Ninšar slaughtering cattle and sheep while Ninkasi brewed beer.
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ninšar
Mesopotamian goddesses
Food goddesses