TYPE: Mother Goddess
ORIGIN: Mesopotamian (Akkadian-Babylonian and Sumerian) [Iraq]
KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP: Circa 3500 BCE until circa 1750 BCE
SYNONYMS: Ninmah; Nintu; Mama or Mami; Aruru; Belet-ili; Nin-ziznak; Nin-dim; Nagar-sagak; Nin-bahar; Nin-mag; Nin-sig-sig; Mud-kesda; Ama-dug-bad; Ama-ududa; Sag-zu-dingirenak; Ninmenna.
CENTER(S) OF WORSHIP: Tell el'Ubaid [Ur]. Mari. Other temples, according to literature, were located at Kes, Adab (modern Bismaya) and Hiza, none of which have been found. Smaller temples and shrines scattered around southern Mesopotamia and beyond.
ART REFERENCES: Plaques, votive stelae, glyptics.
LITERARY SOURCES: Cuneiform texts-epics including, Enki and World Order and Creator of the hoe, temple hymns, etc.
INFORMATION: Ninhursaga is one of seven great deities of Sumer. Assuming her symbol to be the "omega", it has been depicted in art from circa 3000 BCE, though more generally from early second millennium. It appears on some kudurru boundary stones—on the upper tier, which indicates her importance. She is principally a fertility goddess though technically any female deity could take on the role. Temple hymn sources identify her as the "true and great lady of heaven" and kings of Sumer were "nourished by Ninhursaga's milk". Distinct from the goddess Inana, she enjoys closer links with fecundity and birth and is sometimes portrayed as a midwife, or with bosom bare and carrying a baby on her left arm. She is typically depicted wearing horned headdress and tiered skirt; often with bow cases at her shoulders; not infrequently carrying a mace or baton surmounted by the omega motif or a derivation; sometimes accompanied by a lion cub on a leash. The tutelary deity to several Sumerian rulers, in Creator of the hoe she completed the birth of mankind after the heads had been uncovered by Enki's hoe.
Most Mesopotamian gods lived in mountains and the name Ninhursaga bears significance because, according to legend, it was changed from Ninmah by her son Ninurta to commemorate his creation of the mountains. Her name "lady of silence" derives from the notion that the child in the womb is susceptible to both good and bad influence. Thus the wrong incantations may jeopardize the child's well-being. As "lady of the diadem", according to a Babylonian investiture ritual, she placed the golden crown on the king in the Eanna temple.