Editing Ninhursag (section)

==Association with other deities==

===Family===

Ninhursag's parentage and ancestry is not described in any known texts.{{sfn|Krebernik|1997|p=507}} In the ''Hymn of [[Hadad|Adad]]'', the eponymous storm god is referred to as Bēlet-ilī's brother.{{sfn|Krebernik|1997|p=507}}{{sfn|Metcalf|2015|p=69}}

===Consorts and children===

Ninhursag's most well attested consort was [[Šulpae]],{{sfnp|Dalley|1998|p=326}}{{sfn|Katz|2008|p=322}} who could be described as her "beloved spouse".{{sfn|Delnero|2013|p=285}} They were attested as consorts in sources from [[Kesh (Sumer)|Kesh]],{{sfn|Black|2006|p=371}} such as the ''[[Kesh temple hymn|Kesh Temple Hymn]]'',{{sfn|Delnero|2013|p=285}} and [[Nippur]].{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=59}}

Deities who were regarded as the children of Ninhursag and Šulpae include [[Ashgi]],{{sfn|Such-Gutiérrez|2005|p=6}} [[Panigingarra|Paniĝinĝarra]],{{sfn|Krebernik|2005|p=326}} [[Lisin]],{{sfn|Michalowski|1987}} Egime,{{sfn|Jacobsen|2008|p=30}} and Lillu, who was possibly identical with Ashgi.{{sfn|Katz|2003|p=205}} Marcos Such-Gutiérrez suggests that Ashgi was initially Ninhursag's husband in [[Adab (city)|Adab]] due to Šulpae being sparsely attested in sources from this city from the third millennium BCE, and was only viewed as her son in later periods.{{sfn|Such-Gutiérrez|2005|p=6}} Paniĝinĝarra could appear alongside his mother in sources such as greeting formulas in letters.{{sfn|Krebernik|2005|p=326}} Although Ninhursag was generally identified as Lisin's mother, at least one text equated them with each other instead.{{sfn|Michalowski|1987}} According to the god list ''An = Anum'', Lisin (who here had swapped genders) was a son of Belet-Ili.{{sfn|Michalowski|1987}} Egime resided at her mother's Emaḫ temple in Adab,{{sfn|Ebeling|1928|p=279}} and appeared alongside Ninhursag in the lament ''Lulil and his sister'', in which the two mourned the death of Ashgi (referred to in the text as Lulil, meaning "man-spirit").{{sfn|Katz|2007|p=167}}

In the ''An = Anum'' god list, Ninhursag was assigned sixteen additional children besides Paniĝinĝarra, Lillu, Ashgi, and Lisin, named Atugula, Atutur, NIN.LA<sub>2</sub>, NIG-gumaḫa, Burukaš, Zarzaru, Zurmuzarmu, Nin-BUR.SAL, Šazumaḫ, Ušumšasu, Naĝaršaga, Anmea, Amaea, UR-guru, Urra, and Amaniranna.{{sfn|Litke|1998|p=78–82}} NIN.LA<sub>2</sub> is generally accepted to be the same goddess as Egime, because NIN was glossed as ''e-gi'', while the sign LA<sub>2</sub> (𒇲) is believed to have been derived from ME (𒈨).{{sfn|Litke|1998|p=79}}{{sfn|Cavigneaux|Krebernik|1998|p=451–452}}

In [[Lagash]], she was associated with [[Enlil]] as his wife, and the mother of [[Ningirsu]]{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=59}} (Assimilated with Ninurta.{{sfnp|Dalley|1998|p=326}}) She is Ninurta's mother as Bēlet-ilī/Mami in [[Anzû]] and other myths as well.{{sfnp|Dalley|1998|p=204}} Some Sumerian sources identify her as both Enlil's wife and sister, likely to rectify earlier traditions where she was Enlil's spouse, before later traditions had the goddess [[Ninlil]] as his wife instead.{{sfn | Steinkeller | 2019 | p=988}} After this change Ninhursag was reassigned as Enlil's elder sister.{{sfn | Steinkeller | 2019 | p=988}}

Enki was portrayed as Ninhursag's consort in the myth ''Enki and Ninhursag'', in which the eponymous goddess is treated as the same deity as [[Damgalnuna]], Enki's usual wife.{{sfn|Krebernik|1997|p=515}} However, Dina Katz points out that the goddesses were usually separate.{{sfn|Katz|2008|p=322}} In ''Enki and Ninmah'', Enki instead refers to Ninmah as his sister.{{sfn|''www-etcsl.orient.ox.ac.uk''|2006}}{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=341–342}}{{sfn|Krebernik|1997|p=507}}

===Attendants===

In the ''An = Anum'' god list, Dingirmah was assigned a ''[[sukkal]]'' ("divine vizier") named Ekigara.{{sfn|Litke|1998|p=76}}{{sfn|''www.oracc.museum.upenn.edu''|2022}}

Her chief herald was the god Urumaš, and four additional deities who served as heralds were included in her entourage. Saparnuna was the herald of Kesh, Engal-DU.DU and Nimgir-Kurra were the heralds of the underworld, and Lugaligipirig was the herald of Adab. Six deities named Saĝšutašubšuba, KA.NI-šu-KID.DU.DU, Adgigi, Gudub, Ekurabsa, and Nin-Aruru (not to be confused with Aruru) were designated as her ''gud-balaĝ'' ("bull lyres").{{sfn|Litke|1998|p=77}} Additionally, Šulpaedara, Šulpaeamaš, and Tuduga served as the "standing gods" of her E-maḫ temple in Adab.{{sfn|Litke|1998|p=73}}

Ninhursag in her mother/birth aspects was also likely affiliated with a group of seven minor goddesses known as the [[Šassūrātu]], "wombs", who were assistants of mother goddesses.{{sfn|Archi|2013b|p=14}} These seven appear in ''Enki and Ninmah'' to assist in fashioning humankind from clay alongside their mistress, and are listed as [[Ninimma]], [[Shuzianna]], [[Ninmada]], [[Ninšar]], [[Ninmug]], [[Mumudu]], and Ninniginna.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=337}}

===Syncretism===

Ninhursag was considered to be similar to the [[Elam]]ite goddess [[Kiririsha]],{{sfn|Garrison|2007}} who was also regarded as the "mother of the gods".{{sfn|Vallat|2012}} Frédéric Grillot considered them to be equivalent to one another, but partially based his conclusion on an assumed parallel between the presumed union of Ninhursag and Enki with that of Kiririsha and [[Napirisha]].{{sfn|Garrison|2007}}

In Old Babylonian [[Mari, Syria|Mari]] the logographic writing <sup>d</sup>NIN.HUR.SAG.GA was used to represent the name of [[Shalash]], the wife of [[Dagon|Dagan]].{{sfn|Schwemer|2001|pp=404–405}}

In [[Hittites|Hittite]] sources, the logographic writings DINGIR.MAH and <sup>d</sup>NIN.TU were used to render the name of the Hittite [[mother goddess]] [[Ḫannaḫanna]].{{sfn|Schuler|1965|p=108}}

In a bilingual [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]-Amorite [[Lexical lists|lexical list]] from the [[Old Babylonian period]] which presumably originated in southern Mesopotamia,{{sfn|George|Krebernik|2022|p=114}} DIĜIR.MAḪ (Bēlet-ilī) was equated with an Amorite deity named ʔAṯeratum (''a-še-ra-tum''), but according to [[Andrew R. George]] and {{ill|Manfred Krebernik|de}} in this context the name designated [[Asherah|Athirat]], the goddess also known from [[Ugarit]], rather than the Mesopotamian goddess [[Ašratum]].{{sfn|George|Krebernik|2022|p=118}}