Editing Nintinugga (section)

==Worship==
The cult of Nintinugga was centered in [[Nippur]],{{sfn|Böck|2015|p=331}} as already attested in sources from the [[Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)|Early Dynastic period]].{{sfn|Sibbing-Plantholt|2022|p=146}} It was closely connected to those of [[Enlil]] and [[Ninlil]].{{sfn|Edzard|1998|p=506}} Initially she was likely worshiped in the [[É (temple)|temple]] of the former, while in the Ur III period one of the four chapels located in the temple of the latter belonged to her (the other three were dedicated to [[Nanna (Sumerian deity)|Nanna]], [[Nisaba]] and [[Ninhursag]]).{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=67}} She also had her own temple in Nippur, possibly named Eurusaga, "the foremost city," though it is left nameless in the Ur III sources.{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=73}} The so-called "''[[Lamassu|lamma]]'' (tutelary deity) of the king," ''<sup>d</sup>lamma-[[lugal]]'', was worshiped inside it as well.{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=196-197}} A further sanctuary dedicated to her, located within the ''E''.NI.''gula'' (reading of the second sign uncertain) of Enlil, was the Eamirku, "pure house of stormy weather," attested in a copy of a building inscription which might have been based on an original from the reign of [[Ur-Nammu]].{{sfn|George|1993|p=63}} It is possible that at one point Nintinugga was the personal goddess of Enlilalša, a governor of Nippur and ''gudu'' priest of Ninlil, and she might be depicted on his [[Seal (emblem)|seal]].{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=280}} Another historically notable person known to be a worshiper of this goddess was [[Ubartum]], regarded as the best documented female practitioner of medicine in ancient Mesopotamian sources.{{sfn|Sibbing-Plantholt|2022|p=148}} 

Outside Nippur, worship of Nintinugga is attested in texts from [[Ur]] and [[Isin]].{{sfn|Edzard|1998|p=506}} A temple dedicated to her rebuilt by [[Enlil-bani]] which bore the ceremonial name Enidubbu, "house which gives rest," might have been located in the latter of those two cities.{{sfn|George|1993|p=131}}

The cult of Nintinugga lost importance after the [[Old Babylonian period]].{{sfn|Sibbing-Plantholt|2022|p=160}} The reason might have been the gradual decline of southern Mesopotamian cities.{{sfn|Böck|2015|p=331}} However, it did not fully disappear, as for example in an inscription on a [[Neo-Babylonian Empire|Neo-Babylonian]] jar stopper she appears alongside [[Marduk]], [[Ninisina]] and [[Meme (Mesopotamian goddess)|Meme]] (here a representation of Gula).{{sfn|Sibbing-Plantholt|2022|p=153}} In litanies, her name was preserved until the [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid period]].{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=84}} However, [[Paul-Alain Beaulieu]] argues that it was already only understood as an epithet of Gula during the reign of [[Cyrus I]].{{sfn|Beaulieu|1995|p=91}}