61 Facts About Ninshubur

Ninshubur, spelled Ninsubura, was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the sukkal of the goddess Inanna.

Ninshubur was introduced to the pantheon of the state of Lagash, where her cult center was Girsu.

In myths, Ninshubur is portrayed as a companion of Inanna and helps her during various exploits.

Ninshubur's mourning is contrasted with Dumuzi's attitude which leads to his death in this composition.

In Inanna and Enki, Ninshubur helps Inanna escape from Enki's servants after theft of the me.

Ninshubur is described as a resident of the "mountain-lands of Subartu " brought to Mesopotamia by Utu in the Early Dynastic UD.

Additional names of Ninshubur can be found in An = Anum sa ameli, an explanatory god list focused on epithets of major deities, in which her section appears between Shala's and Ninurta's.

Ninshubur is regarded by Assyriologists as "the earliest and most important" sukkal, linked to the deities she served "not as cause and effect, but as command and execution".

Ninshubur served Inanna, but Anu and by extension the entire divine assembly.

Ninshubur was referred to as sukkalmah in Malgium, though according to Raphael Kutscher in this case the use of this title should be considered the result of Elamite cultural influence.

KID, who might be identical with Ninshubur, is already described as the SAL.

Ninshubur is referred to with this title in an Old Babylonian dedicatory inscription from the reign of Samsu-iluna.

The modern consensus view among Assyriologists is that Ninshubur was always identified as a female deity when associated with Inanna.

In most Akkadian texts Ninshubur was regarded as male, though it is possible exceptions did exist.

Uri Gabbay proposed that Ninshubur's identity was a mirror of the gala clergy, but this view is not supported by other researchers, as regardless of gender Ninshubur was never described as a gala, and the only similarity between her and this class of clergy was their shared ability to appease specific deities.

However, the matter of Ninshubur's gender was in some cases already unclear to ancient scribes, with one Old Babylonian hymn possibly being an attempt at reconciling conflicting accounts by describing Ninshubur as dressed in both feminine and masculine robes.

The view that Ninshubur was male as a servant of An in Sumerian texts from the third millennium BCE relies on the widely accepted assumption that a deity's sukkal matched their gender.

However, Amasagnudi, regarded as a goddess in known sources and in one case equated with female Ninshubur, was said to be a sukkal of Anu in an Old Babylonian document.

Ninshubur herself appears as the sukkal of Nergal instead of Ugur or Ishum in a Sumerian text dated to the Old Babylonian period.

However, Ichiro Nakata nonetheless lists a single instance name from this city in which Ninshubur according to his analysis is treated as a female deity.

Ninshubur was additionally syncretised with Papsukkal, originally the sukkal of Zababa, tutelary god of Kish.

Papsukkal's rise to prominence at the expense of other similar figures, such as Ninshubur, was likely rooted in the presence of the word sukkal in his name.

Papsukkal was not worshiped in that city in earlier periods, and in contrast with Ninshubur appeared only infrequently as a family deity or in personal names, but in the context of the so-called "antiquarian theology" relying largely on god lists, which developed in Uruk under Achaemenid rule, he was fully identified with Ninshubur and thus became Anu's sukkal and one of the eighteen major deities of the city.

Ninshubur's attribute was a staff, a sign of her office as a sukkal representing right to rule granted to her by her masters, It is possible that it was believed Ninshubur therefore bestowed similar privileges upon kings.

Marcos Such-Gutierrez notes that it is possible that this tradition was known in Adab, where Ninshubur appears alongside Meslamtaea in two lists of offerings.

Frans Wiggermann notes that the pairing of Nergal with Ninshubur is unusual, as she was the only goddess sometimes regarded as his wife who had a well defined role other than that of his spouse, the other exception being Ereshkigal.

Ninshubur assumes that since many of Nergal's attested spouses, such as Mammitum or Admu, were possibly associated with the earth, this role of Ninshubur was tied to her function as "lady of the earth".

An = Anum contains lists of five daughters and fourteen sons of the male Ninshubur, who are not attested anywhere else.

Ninshubur was regarded as a guardian of Inanna's secrets and as her adviser, though according to one text the latter could scoff at offered advice, both incorrect and correct.

Ninshubur was capable of "appeasing" Inanna, and one of her epithets was "who flatters the heart of Inanna".

Sumerian literary catalogs list at least 7 hymns dedicated to Ninshubur which based on surviving incipits described her lamenting over something that happened to Inanna.

Ninshubur was associated with the Lamma, a class of minor goddesses, likely due to their shared role in intercession between mortals and higher ranking deities.

Ninshubur was identified with the latter Kakka in An = Anum, but only in the specific role of "one who holds the great scepter".

Lugalnamtarra, as well as a deity whose name was written as SUKKAL, who according to Odette Boivin might be analogous to Ninshubur, both appear in association with Shamash in texts from the archives of the First Sealand dynasty in place of his usual attendants.

In Isin, Ninshubur was seemingly instead incorporated into the entourage of the medicine goddess Ninisina.

Ninshubur accordingly appears in the Isin god list in the section enumerating deities linked to both Ninisina and Inanna.

Frans Wiggermann states an attestation of Ninshubur appearing alongside Alammus in the court of Nanna is known.

Ninshubur is rare in magical texts otherwise, though she is attested in an incantation from the Ur III period alongside Asalluhi, and in a late liver omen text "hand of Ninshubur" is listed one of the possible diagnoses.

Ninshubur was among the deities invoked in theophoric names in many periods.

Akkil, where Ninshubur was worshiped as an attendant of Inanna, was considered her primary cult center.

Ninshubur is the goddess of this location in the Temple Hymns, though Walther Sallaberger notes that she can be considered one of the members of a group of deities associated with Uruk in this context nonetheless, similar to Dumuzi and Ningirima.

Ninshubur's temple located in that settlement was E-akkil, whose ceremonial name has been translated as "house of lamentation" by Andrew R George.

Ninshubur continues to appear in sources from this city in the Ur III period, when Shulgi built a new temple dedicated to her there.

Ninshubur is well attested in sources from the state of Lagash.

Ninshubur was already worshiped there when the area was under the rule of Lugalanda, during whose reign she was celebrated during festivals of Nanshe and Ningirsu and received offerings from the king's wife, Barnamtarra.

Ninshubur is first attested in Ur in the Ur III period.

References to Ninshubur receiving offerings there appear in texts from Puzrish-Dagan too.

Ninshubur appears in sources from Nippur in the Early Dynastic period already, and it is possible she was introduced to the local pantheon directly from Akkil, like in the case of Uruk.

Since before the Sargonic period, Ninshubur was present in the pantheon of Adab.

Ninshubur is attested in Early Dynastic texts from Shuruppak, the cult center of Sud.

In Malgium, a kingdom located to the south of Eshnunna, Ninshubur was worshiped in a temple built by the local king Takil-ilissu in the Old Babylonian period.

In Tell Ishchali a sanctuary of Ninshubur was a part of the temple complex of the local goddess Kititum.

Ninshubur appears in the myth Inanna s Descent to the Netherworld.

Victor Hurowitz considered it possible that the terms which Ninshubur uses to illustrate the possible dreadful fate of Inanna in the netherworld during her attempts to persuade other gods to help her might be a mythical reflection of a ritual of renewal of a damaged statue.

Ninshubur creates two beings, galatura and kurgara, who subsequently bring Inanna back.

The galla demons accompanying Inanna suggest they can take Ninshubur to replace her in the underworld, but she protests:.

Ninshubur made the rounds of the gods' houses for me.

Ninshubur lacerated her eyes for me, lacerated her nose for me.

Since Ninshubur is a faithful servant who mourned her properly, the demons are not allowed to take her.

Ninshubur's behavior, contrasted with Ninshubur's, is meant to justify his eventual fate.

Ninshubur is not mentioned in the surviving lines of the remaining section of the narrative, which is focused on Dumuzi's attempt at escaping his fate and his confinement in the underworld.