Ningikuga was a
Mesopotamian goddess
Deities in ancient Mesopotamia were almost exclusively Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic. They were thought to possess extraordinary powers and were often envisioned as being of tremendous physical size. The deities typically wore ''melam'', a ...
. Her name can be explained as ''nin-gi-kug-a(k)'', "lady of the pure reed".
A tradition according to which Ningikuga was a wife of Enki is known. In the
Old Babylonian
Old Babylonian may refer to:
*the period of the First Babylonian dynasty (20th to 16th centuries BC)
*the historical stage of the Akkadian language
Akkadian ( ; )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Cambridge Enc ...
''
An = Anum
''An = Anum'', also known as the Great God List, is the longest preserved Mesopotamian god list, a type of lexical list cataloging the deities worshiped in the Ancient Near East, chiefly in modern Iraq. While god lists are already known from the ...
'' forerunner she occurs in his circle after
Damgalnuna, while in ''An = Anum'' itself she is outright equated with her. In the latter list she appears in line 178 of tablet II, before
Ninti.
In two sources, an Old Babylonian ''balbale'' composition and in a love song, Ningikuga is the name of
Ningal
Ningal ( Sumerian: "Great Queen"; Akkadian Nikkal) was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the wife of the moon god, Nanna/Sin. She was particularly closely associated with his main cult centers, Ur and Harran, but they were also worshiped toge ...
's mother. By extension, she functioned as the grandmother of
Inanna
Inanna is the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love, and fertility. She is also associated with political power, divine law, sensuality, and procreation. Originally worshipped in Sumer, she was known by the Akk ...
. While
Thorkild Jacobsen assumed that the mother of Ningal and the spouse of Enki were the same goddess, Antoine Cavigneaux and Manfred Krebernik keep the two uses of the name separate. Jacobsen also argued that based on the meaning of Ningikuga's name it can be assumed that both she and her daughter were associated with
reeds and
marshes.
Line 28 of tablet III of ''An = Anum'' explains Ningikuga as a name of Ningal. A single hymn to Inanna also uses the name Ningikuga to refer to a manifestation of this goddess, and describes her as "the mistress of all, the pure one, who purifies the earth".
References
Bibliography
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*{{cite book, last=Litke, first=Richard L., title=A reconstruction of the Assyro-Babylonian god lists, AN:
dA-nu-um and AN:Anu ลกรก Ameli, url=https://babylonian-collection.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Litke%2C%20Richard%20L_%20-%20A%20Reconstruction%20of%20the%20Assyro-Babylonian%20God-Lists_%20TBC%203%2C%201998.pdf, publisher=Yale Babylonian Collection, publication-place=New Haven, year=1998, isbn=978-0-9667495-0-2, oclc=470337605
Mesopotamian goddesses
Sea and river goddesses
Nature goddesses