Editing Ninhursag (section)

==Name==
Ninhursag means "lady of the sacred mountain" from [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] [[EREŠ|NIN]] "lady" and [[Hursag|ḪAR.SAG̃]]  "sacred mountain, foothill",{{sfnp|Dalley|1998|p=326}} possibly a reference to the site of her temple, the E-Kur (House of mountain deeps) at [[Eridu]]. She had many names including ''Ninmah'' ("Great Queen");{{sfnp|Dalley|1998|p=326}} ''[[Mami (goddess)|Nintu]]'' ("Lady of Birth");{{sfnp|Dalley|1998|p=326}} ''[[Mami (goddess)|Mamma]]'' or ''[[Mami (goddess)|Mami]]'' (mother);{{sfnp|Dalley|1998|p=326}} ''[[Aruru (goddess)|Aruru]]'' ({{langx|sux|{{cuneiform|4|𒀭𒀀𒊒𒊒}}}}){{sfnp|Dalley|1998|p=326}} and ''[[Belet-Ili]]'' (mistress of the gods, [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]).{{sfnp|Dalley|1998|p=326}}

According to the 'Ninurta's Exploits' myth, her name was changed from Ninmah to Ninhursag by her son [[Ninurta]].{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=51}}  As [[Ninmena]], according to a Babylonian investiture ritual, she placed the golden crown on the king in the ''Eanna'' temple.{{sfnp|Jacobsen|1976|p=109}}

Possibly included among the original mother goddesses was ''Damgalnuna''/''Diĝirmaḫ'' (great wife of the prince) or ''Damkina'' ({{langx|sux|{{cuneiform|4|𒀭𒁮𒆠𒈾}}}}, “true wife”), the consort of the god Enki.{{sfnp|Black|Green|Rickards|1992|pp=56f, 75}}

Nintur was another name assigned to Ninhursag as a birth goddess, though sometimes she was a separate goddess entirely.{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=137}}

The mother goddess had many epithets including ''shassuru'' or 'womb goddess', ''tabsut ili'' 'midwife of the gods', 'mother of all children' and 'mother of the gods'.  In this role she is identified with [[Ki (goddess)|Ki]] in the [[Enuma Elish]].  She had shrines in both Eridu and Kish.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}} It has also been speculated that she was worshipped under the name ''[[Belet Nagar|Belet-Nagar]]'' in Mari.{{sfn | Steinkeller | 2019 | p=1003}} However, it has also been proposed that the name Ninhursag in documents from Mari should be understood as a logographic writing of the name [[Shalash]], the wife of [[Dagan (god)|Dagan]],{{sfn|Schwemer|2001|pp=404–405}} who was the goddess of Bitin near [[Alalakh]] rather than Nagar (modern [[Tell Brak]]) in the [[Khabur (Euphrates)|Khabur]] Triangle.{{sfn|Schwemer|2008|p=590}} Belet Nagar has alternatively been identified with [[Hurrian religion|Hurrian]] deities: [[Šauška|Shaushka]] (though this proposal was met with criticism){{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=71}} or [[Nabarbi]].{{sfn|Archi|2013a|p=7}}

===Diĝirmaḫ===

Dingirmah ("great goddess") was a very common epithet of Ninhursag. In older literature, the name was transcribed as <sup>d</sup>Mah, but the correct reading was confirmed through the existence of a syllabically written Emesal form, Dimmermah.{{sfn|Krebernik|1997|p=504}}{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=73}}

Although she was originally an epithet of Ninhursag, Dingirmah eventually developed into a separate goddess at the end of the [[Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)|Early Dynastic period]].{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=59}} In the Nippur god list, Dingirmah was one of the nine goddesses of birth enumerated after Šulpae, and the Isin god list similarly included her as one of six birth goddesses. Dingirmah was also present in the ''[[An = Anum]]'' god list, which listed her alongside Ninhursag, Ninmah, Aruru and Nintur. It is uncertain whether these were all regarded as variant names for the same goddess or different goddesses with similar functions.{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=87}}

A temple dedicated to Dingirmah, the E-maḫ, was built in Adab by a local ruler.{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=60}} Another temple was built at [[Malgium]] by King Ipiq-Ištar.{{sfn|Black|2005|p=42}}

===Ninmaḫ===

Ninmah ("great lady") was one of the most common epithets of Ninhursag alongside Dingirmah. The name was already attested in [[Shuruppak|Fara]] and pre-Sargonian [[Lagash]], and primarily occurred in liturgical and literary texts.{{sfn|Cavigneaux|Krebernik|1998a|p=462–463}} An Akkadian form, Ereshmah (written syllabically as ''e-re-eš-ma-aḫ''), was attested at Ugarit, and was either a variant or the correctly written form of the name.{{sfn|Krebernik|1997|p=505}}

Like Dingirmah, Ninmah was initially an epithet of Ninhursag who later developed into a separate goddess at the end of the Early Dynastic period. In Lagash, King [[Entemena]] built a temple that was at first dedicated to Ninhursag, and then rededicated to Ninmah.{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=59}}

In a text known as ''Archive of Mystic Heptads'', Ninmah was labeled separately from Ninhursag as the "Bēlet-ilī of the Emaḫ temple" in an enumeration of seven goddesses of birth.{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=129}}