Ninhursag

Ninḫursaĝ (Sumerian: 𒀭𒎏𒄯𒊕 Ninḫarsang; ^DNIN-ḪAR.SAG̃), sometimes transcribed Ninursag, Ninḫarsag, or Ninḫursaĝa, also known as Damgalnuna or Ninmah, was the ancient Sumerian mother goddess of the mountains, and one of the seven great deities of Sumer. She is known earliest as a nurturing or fertility goddess. She is the tutelary deity to several Sumerian leaders.

Her best-known myths are Enki and Ninhursag describing her dealings with Enki resulting from his sexual exploits, and Enki and Ninmah a creation myth wherein the two deities compete to create humans. She is referenced or makes brief appearances in others as well, most notably as the mother of Ninurta in the Anzû Epic.

Ninhursag means "lady of the sacred mountain" from Sumerian NIN "lady" and ḪAR.SAG̃ "sacred mountain, foothill", 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"); Nintu ("Lady of Birth"); Mamma or Mami (mother); Aruru (Sumerian: 𒀭𒀀𒊒𒊒) and Belet-Ili (mistress of the gods, Akkadian).

According to the 'Ninurta's Exploits' myth, her name was changed from Ninmah to Ninhursag by her son Ninurta. As Ninmena, according to a Babylonian investiture ritual, she placed the golden crown on the king in the Eanna temple.

Possibly included among the original mother goddesses was Damgalnuna/Diĝirmaḫ (great wife of the prince) or Damkina (Sumerian: 𒀭𒁮𒆠𒈾, “true wife”), the consort of the god Enki.

Nintur was another name assigned to Ninhursag as a birth goddess, though sometimes she was a separate goddess entirely.

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 in the Enuma Elish. She had shrines in both Eridu and Kish.^{[citation needed]} It has also been speculated that she was worshipped under the name Belet-Nagar in Mari. 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, who was the goddess of Bitin near Alalakh rather than Nagar (modern Tell Brak) in the Khabur Triangle. Belet Nagar has alternatively been identified with Hurrian deities: Shaushka (though this proposal was met with criticism) or Nabarbi.

Dingirmah ("great goddess") was a very common epithet of Ninhursag. In older literature, the name was transcribed as ^dMah, but the correct reading was confirmed through the existence of a syllabically written Emesal form, Dimmermah.