Editing Ninhursag (section)

==Mythology==

===''Enki and Ninhursag''===

Two full copies of ''Enki and Ninhursag'' have been uncovered. One is from [[Nippur]]{{sfn | Kramer | Albright | 1945 | p=3}}{{sfn | Katz | 2010}} which contains the complete text (although some passages on the tablet are broken), and another from [[Ur]], found in the house of a priest of Enki, where half of the text is missing.{{sfn | Katz | 2010}} This second tablet contains fewer lines, and hence it is considered a truncated version.{{sfn | Katz | 2010}} There exists also an excerpt, covering the incestuous couplings, which differs from the Nippur version's events.{{sfn | Katz | 2010}}

In ''Enki and Ninhursag'', the goddess complains to Enki that the city of Dilmun is lacking in water.{{sfn | Dickson | 2007 | p=2}} As a result, Enki makes the land rich, and Dilmun becomes a prosperous wetland.{{sfn | Dickson | 2007 | p=2}} Afterwards, he and Ninhursag sleep together, resulting in a daughter, [[Ninsar]]{{sfn | Dickson | 2007 | p=3}} (called ''Ninnisig'' in the ETCSL translation,{{sfn | ''https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk'' | 2006}} ''Ninmu'' by Kramer{{sfn | Kramer | Albright | 1945 | p=5}}). Ninsar matures quickly, and after Enki spots her walking along the bank, sleeps with her, resulting in a daughter, [[Ninkura|Ninkurra]].{{sfn | Dickson | 2007 | p=3}}{{sfn | ''https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk'' | 2006}} Enki spots her and sleeps with her as well, resulting in [[Uttu]].{{sfn | Dickson | 2007 | p=4}} (In alternate versions the order is Ninkura, Ninima, then Uttu.{{sfn|Katz|2008|p=320}}) After Enki has intercourse with Uttu, Ninhursag removes the semen from her womb and plants it in the earth, causing eight plants to spring up.{{sfn | Dickson | 2007 | p=4}} As a result of his actions, Ninhursag curses Enki by casting her "life giving eye" away from him.{{sfn | Dickson | 2007 | p=4}}{{sfn | ''https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk'' | 2006}} Enki then becomes gravely ill.{{sfn | Dickson | 2007 | p=4}} A fox then makes an offer to [[Enlil]] that he will bring Ninhursag back to cure him; in exchange Enlil promises to erect two birch trees{{sfn | ''https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk'' | 2006}} for the fox in his city, and to give the creature fame.{{sfn | Dickson | 2007 | p=4}} The fox is able to retrieve Ninhursag, and she then cures Enki, giving birth to eight minor deities from his ailing body parts.{{sfn | Dickson | 2007 | p=5}}

Comparisons between this myth and that of [[Biblical|Genesis]] are common. As suggested by [[Samuel Kramer]] and [[W. F. Albright]], Enki's eating of the eight plants and the consequences following his actions can be compared to the consumption of the fruit of knowledge by Adam and Eve.{{sfn | Kramer | Albright | 1945 | p=8}}

===''Enki and Ninmah''===

The text containing this myth has been recovered on tablets from varying locations. The primary two making up the translation are from the Old Babylonian period and were recovered from Nippur.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=330}} A third tablet from this period was also found containing an extract of the middle of the myth as well.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=330}} There was also a bilingual (Sumerian and Akkadian) version in the library of [[Assurbanipal]], and one very fragmented tablet from the Middle Assyrian period that may contain the myth, but deviates from the bilingual version in the creation portion of the myth.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=330}}

''Enki and Ninmah'' as a narrative can be separated into two distinct parts, the first being the birth of mankind, and the second a competition between the two spouses. The first half of this text recounts Enki creating the first humans at the behest of [[Nammu|Namma]], referred to here as his mother.{{sfn | ''www-etcsl.orient.ox.ac.uk'' | 2006}} He receives help forming the body of men and women from Ninmah as well as her seven servants, the birth goddesses.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=337}} Once man is finished the group has a banquet, where Enki and Ninmah drink beer and the other gods praise Enki's greatness.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=337}} In the second half, Ninmah creates seven humans with illnesses and disabilities, for whom Enki finds places in society.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=330}} Enki then creates an individual so damaged that Ninmah cannot find a place for them, resulting in her losing the competition.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=330}} She then complains that Enki has driven her away from her home.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=330}} The ending of the text is not well understood (due to damage on the tablet), but is likely Enki consoling Ninmah and possibly finding a place for the human he made.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=330}}

===''Others''===

Ninhursag appears in the text ''[[Song of the hoe|Creator of the Hoe]]'', where she is referred to as "the mother of the gods".{{sfn | ''www-etcsl.orient.ox.ac.uk'' | 2009}}

In the [[Anzû]] epic, Ninhursag under the name Bēlet-ilī or Mami speaks in support of Ninurta her son, and is given the epithet "The Mistress of All Gods".{{sfnp|Dalley|1998|p=204}} In another myth involving her son, ''Ninurta's Exploits'', the titular god goes out to conquer the mountain land to the north of Babylonia, and piles the bodies of its stony kings into a great burial mound.{{sfn | Steinkeller | 2019 | p=988}} He then dedicates this mountain to his mother, once Ninmah, now renamed Ninhursag after the mound.{{sfn | Steinkeller | 2019 | p=988}}

Damkina is the mother of [[Marduk]] in [[Enūma Eliš]].{{sfnp|Dalley|1998|p=235}}