No firm date has been established for the work, however. Ninhursag rushes to Enki's side, draws him to her, and places his head against her vagina. Ninurta gives the glory of his victory to his mother Ninmah ('Magnificent Queen') and renames her Ninhursag. Although in this myth the goddess loses stature, she was still regarded as a powerful deity one could turn to in times of trouble and rely on for protection and guidance. 24 Dec 2020. In ancient Mesopotamia, as elsewhere, the left side was considered feminine and "dark" while the right side was masculine and "light" (a concept familiar to anyone in the modern day acquainted with Reiki). Our latest articles delivered to your inbox, once a week: Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University and Michigan State University and University of Missouri. Ninhursag blesses the child with abundant growth, and she matures into a woman in nine days. (Reading Sumerian Poetry, 23). Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. plots Mankind's demise. Through Enki, Ninsar bore a daughter Ninkurra. The third volume – ‘De teloorgang’ (Dutch)- deals with the question under what conditions or circumstances the Akkadian Empire of Sargon the Great collapsed around 2200 BCE. Ancient History Encyclopedia Limited is a non-profit company registered in the United Kingdom. After a particularly langorous tryst, it happened that Ninhursag gave birth to a baby girl named Ninsar before departing to work on the earth, ensuring fertility and health among the people. The Atrahasis also gives Enki as the creator of humans who devises them as a means to relieve the gods of the burden of work. She kisses him and asks him where his pain is, and each time he tells her, she draws the pain into her body and gives birth to another deity. Enki is annoyed with the request but consents to his mother's wishes that he create beings who will ease the gods' burden. But the Sumerian word ti also means "to make live" as well as "the Lady of the rib". This same pattern goes on with Ninmah giving Enki greater and greater challenges, which he meets. Every myth, poem, or story Ninhursag appears in she is linked with life, caring, creation, and the role of the mother goddess. He creates a man afflicted in every area of his body and hands it to Ninmah. Imdugud Copper Frieze from the Ninhursag Templeby Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin (CC BY-NC-SA), Once humans have been created, Enki holds a great banquet in celebration. License. In this myth, when the great flood is released on the world by Enlil and humanity is destroyed, all the gods mourn but Ninhursag is specifically mentioned crying for the death of her children. They are forced to dig canals and harvest fields and engage in all kind of menial labor, which prevents them from greater work or any kind of leisure. 2010. He successively sends drought, famine and plague to eliminate h… They are paired. They spend many nights together, and Ninhursag becomes pregnant with a daughter they name Ninsar ('Lady of Vegetation'). (149). (C2 Imdugud Copper Frieze from the Ninhursag Temple, by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin (CC BY-NC-SA), by The Trustees of the British Museum (Copyright). The lion did not slay, the wolf was not carrying off lambs, the dog had not been taught to make kids curl up, the pig had not learned that grain was to be eaten. Ninhursag knew how charming Enki could be, but no matter what, young Uttu the Weaver should be advised to avoid the riverbanks, or the places where Enki and herself could be found alone or unchaperoned: ' Daughter Uttu, beware of the marshes and the riverbanks, where Enki, the Sweet Waters god, reigns as Sovereign. Ninhursag is a queen of the Mesopotamian deities. ", Enki objects, pointing out that she presented him with a number of challenging creatures and he was able to improve on them all. In still others, she is identified with Kishar (also known as Ki), mother earth. Through Enki, Ninsar bore a daughter Ninkurra ("Lady of the Pasture"). He cannot support himself. In the example Wallis Budge gives, it is a child at the left breast, but the symbolism could also be an uncovered left breast, raised left arm, or some other detail. The myth of Enki and Ninhursag also describes the Sumerian paradise as a garden, which Enki obtains water from Utu to irrigate. "Ninhursag." The God Enki in Sumerian Royal Ideology and Mythology. This idea based on the Sumerian myth known as Enki and Ninhursag (see ANET, pp. Following Hammurabi's reign, from c. 1750 BCE onwards, male deities would dominate the pantheons of Mesopotamia, and even after the Amorites were defeated, this same paradigm continued. Ninhursag was worshiped at the city of Adab and was also associated with Kesh (as one of her names, Belet-ili of Kesh, confirms), not Kish, as is often incorrectly cited. Enki accepts her challenge saying, "Whatever fate you decide, good or bad, I will improve it.". Enki accepts Medi-Cal, MediCare, and Healthy Families. In time, the left side associated with the goddess concept would be connected with darkness and evil as can be seen in the word 'sinister,' which originally was Latin for 'left' but came to signify 'threatening,' 'evil,' and similar concepts long before the word appears with such connotations in Late Middle English (c. 1375-1425 CE). PDF. The project is called ‘The Rise and Fall of the Black-headed people’. All publications deal with aspects of Near Eastern civilization in its broader sense. In some myths, presumed to be earlier works, she is the consort of Anu and co-creator of the world. PDF. Enki, god of wisdom, magic, and fresh water, finds her there and falls deeply in love with her. Reverse the sexes and you will see the mighty and charming figures of Enki and Ninhursag come to life, and more. Enki and Ninhursag: The Trickster in Paradise 3 C. Riverbank (lines 90–167) (C1) From the marsh, Enki spies Ninsar on the riverbank. Download PDF Package. Marduk is amused. In the second millennium BCE, as noted, feminine deities experienced a loss in status as the male gods of the Amorites of Babylon under Hammurabi took precedence. Books He leaves Ninsar for Ninkurra whom he seduces, and she gives birth to a daughter named Uttu ('The Weaver of Patterns and Life Desires'). Enki's mother, Nammu, hears their cries and carries their tears to Enki, waking him. She then makes a man and blinds him, but Enki improves his life by giving him the gift of music and making him minstrel to the king. Enki and Ninhursag has also been cited, however, as the basis for the biblical story of creation found in Genesis. Mark, published on 26 January 2017 under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. 11-16. Enki's Adult services are aimed at promoting recovery and stability for community living, helping the client to achieve higher levels of functioning, enhancing the quality of life and encouraging a return to work, school, volunteering, or other meaningful activity. This, he learns, is a tree plant and finds it so delicious that Isimud plucks the other seven, which Enki also quickly eats. If it could be authoritatively determined that the story of Enki and Ninmah dated from this time, then the myth would correspond to the overall decline in stature and equality goddesses (and women) were then experiencing. Kramer notes how Ninhursag is listed last of the four creating deities, but how "in an earlier day this goddess was probably of even higher rank and her name often preceded that of Enki when the four gods were listed together" (122). Ninhursag rejoiced in Enki's mighty prowess and said to him: ' Beloved, the powerful touch of your sweet waters, the essence of Mother Nammu that lies deep within you, transformed the land, my stony body. When it is completed it consists of three volumes in Dutch and three related articles in English. Ninhursag as the Great Mother presided over all, commoner and king alike. The story opens with the younger gods weary from all their endless toil. Enki distributed his semen destined for Damgalnuna (Ninhursag). 37-41) keeps popping up, especially in popular literature and on the internet. He asks her to work with Ninmah and other fertility goddesses to create human beings and give them life. A freelance writer and former part-time Professor of Philosophy at Marist College, New York, Joshua J. He has taught history, writing, literature, and philosophy at the college level. Upset about Enki's reputation [gossips already being a pain in those ancient days], Uttu consults Ninhursag, who, upset at the promiscuous nature of her spouse advises Uttu to avoid the riverbanks. Enki and Ninhursag The lion kills not, The wolf snatches not the lamb, Unknown the wild dog that steals the kid, Unknown the grain-devouring pig. Ninkurra, in turn, bore Enki a daughter named Uttu. Kramer notes how "the early Sumerian rulers liked to describe themselves as 'constantly nourished by Ninhursag with milk.' Enki looked at the one with neither penis nor vagina on its body and give it the name " Nibru eunuch (? But her one month was one day, but her two months were two days, but her three months were three days, but her four months were four days, Enki, god of wisdom, magic, and fresh water, finds her there and falls deeply in love with her. Ninhursag. The second volume – ‘Toen kwam de vloed’ (Dutch) – is centred on the question whether the rather abrupt end of Uruk as the main commercial centre of Mesopotamia about 3000 BCE relates to the effects of the Great Flood discovered by the well-known archaeologist Leonard Woolley and described in several Near Eastern stories including ‘Genesis’, the first book of the Bible. She tries to feed it, but it cannot eat, neither can it stand, walk, talk, or function in any way. THE RISE AND FALL OF THE BLACK-HEADED PEOPLE. The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike, Ninsitu - goddess of healing and consort of Ninazu, Azimua - goddess of healing and wife of Ningishida of the underworld, Ninti - 'the Lady of the rib,' who gives life. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 26 Jan 2017. Enki, seeing the plants, ate them, and became ill in eight organs of his body. Enlil, enraged. She turns on him the eye of death, curses him, and departs from paradise and the world. Their civilization really did take off during the second half of the fourth millennium BCE when Uruk became the centre of one of the most competitive economies of the world. Ninhursag, depicted as a young and vibrant goddess, has retired for the winter to rest after her part in creation. The cosmogenic myth common in Sumer was that of the hieros gamos, a sacred marriage where divine principles in the form of dualistic opposites came together as male and female to give birth to the cosmos. He seduces her, and she becomes pregnant with a daughter Ninkurra (goddess of mountain pastures). Uttu, on her ancestress Ninhursag's advice buried Enki's seed in the earth, whereupon eight plants (the very first) sprung up. There are a number of Mesopotamian stories, legends, prayers and royal inscriptions in which Enki plays a major role. Kramer, however, did give credence to it, as mentioned by the blogger to whom you linked (see Kramer's History Begins at Sumer, pp. She is the sister of Enlil and husband of Enki. Download Free PDF. Ninhursag cure… ‘Enki and Ninhursag’ is perhaps one of the most difficult Mesopotamian myth for Judeo-Christian Westerners to understand, because it stands as the opposite of the myth of Adam and Eve in Paradise found in the Old Testament Bible. Enki, without knowing that Ninsar was his daughter, seduces Ninsar and has a daughter with her called Nikturra. Her other names include Makh, Ninmakh, Mamma, Mama, and Aruru. The influence of this metropolitan city in the delta of the Euphrates and the Tigris ranged from the cities in western India to the upper reaches of those rivers in Anatolia. Ninmah is frustrated and throws her next lump of clay to the ground, but Enki picks it up and resumes the game, telling her how he will now fashion a creature and she must improve its fate as he has done. Ninhursag returns and is enraged that Enki has eaten all of the plants. Download Full PDF Package. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/Ninhursag/. Enki, seeing the plants, ate them, and became ill in eight organs of his body. ENKI AND NINHURSAG U N D E R C O N S T R U C T I O N THE RISE AND FALL OF THE BLACK-HEADED PEOPLE This website is an introduction to the world of ‘the black-headed people’ in the Ancient Near East, the cradle of classic and western civilization. I feel the power of life throbbing within to be revealed without my very depths as I … The myth of Enki and Ninhursag is a true Sumerian myth (as opposed to the Enuma Elish which was only founded on Sumerian tradition). In Dilmun the raven was not yet cawing, the partridge not cackling. Ninhursag, depicted as a young and vibrant goddess, has retired for the winter to rest after her part in creation. Enki then pursued Uttu, who was upset because he didn't care for her. After accelerated gestation, she gives birth—“like oil”—to Ninkura. We have also been recommended for educational use by the following publications: Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada. Ninhursag is one of the four creating deities in Sumerian religious belief (along with Anu, Enlil, and Enki) and is frequently mentioned in many of the most important Mesopotamian myths. Ninmah's response to this is lost because the tablet is broken at this point, but when the story resumes, Enki is obviously the winner of the challenge, and the work ends with the lines, "Ninmah could not rival the great lord Enki. In the myth of Enki and Ninmah, Ninhursag begins on equal footing with the god, but by the end, loses her status. Ninkurra, in turn, bore Enki a daughter named Uttu. In her most prominent myth, she is the consort of the god Enki and has a daughter with him called Ninsar and leaves him. In the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian epic of creation, Enki is the father of the champion Marduk, who defeats the forces of chaos, and is co-creator of the world with his son. Grow from the earth of Dilmun sees his beloved Ninhursag in the earth '. Threw the pinched-off clay from her hand on the internet the eye of death, him! Sumer and Akkad in the garden of paradise known as Enki and Ninhursag elevate humans of Anunnaki to. 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