Nin-Ildu
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Ninildu (, '' dNin-''IGI.NAĜAR.BU; also read Ninduluma) was a
Mesopotamian god 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 ...
associated with
carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. C ...
. He was chiefly worshiped in the city of
Zabalam Zabala, also Zabalam ( ''zabalamki'', Sumerian - ''MUŠ3.UNUki'', modern Tell Ibzeikh (also Tell el-Buzekh or Tell Ibzaykh), Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq) was a city of ancient Sumer in Mesopotamia, located in what is now the Dhi Qar governorate in ...
and in its proximity. He appears in a number of literary texts, such as the ''
Epic of Erra Erra (sometimes called Irra) is an Akkadian plague god known from an 'epos' of the eighth century BCE. Erra is the god of mayhem and pestilence who is responsible for periods of political confusion. He was assimilated to Nergal at some point. E ...
''.


Name and character

The oldest writing of the name is dNin-NAĜAR.BU, attested in the god lists from
Abu Salabikh The archaeological site of Abu Salabikh (Tell Abū Ṣalābīkh), around northwest of the site of ancient Nippur and about 150 kilometers southeast of the modern city of Baghdad in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq marks the site of a small Sume ...
and Fara and in the ''
Zame Hymns ''Zame Hymns'' or ''Zami Hymns'' are a sequence of 70 Sumerian language, Sumerian hymns from the Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia), Early Dynastic period discovered in Abu Salabikh. Their conventional title is modern, and reflects the recurring ...
'' from the Early Dynastic period, though later on dNin-IGI.NAĜAR.BU was employed. A logographic writing, dNAĜAR, is attested in the god list ''
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 ...
''. While the name is commonly rendered as Ninildu in
Assyriological Assyriology (from Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , ''-logia''), also known as Cuneiform studies or Ancient Near East studies, is the archaeological, anthropological, historical, and linguistic study of the cultures that used cuneiform writing. The fie ...
literature, the alternate reading Ninduluma has been proposed based on an unpublished incantation from Meturan, which reportedly uses a phonetic spelling. Jeremiah Peterson renders the name as Ninildum due to the presence of an apparent
auslaut A syllable is a basic unit of organization within a sequence of speech sounds, such as within a word, typically defined by linguists as a ''nucleus'' (most often a vowel) with optional sounds before or after that nucleus (''margins'', which are ...
in a number of sources. It is agreed the deity was male. Ninildu was associated with
carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. C ...
. One source (tablet K 3248) directly calls him ''ilu ša nāgarri'', "the god of the carpenters." He could be called the "chief carpenter," or the "great carpenter of Anu." An incantation states that Ninildu was one of the deities created by Ea with clay from the
Apsu Abzû or Apsû ( Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ), also called (Cuneiform:, ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: – recorded in Greek as ), is the name for fresh water from underground aquifers which was given a religious fertilising quality in ancie ...
, and that he was tasked with the construction of
temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...
alongside Ninsimug and Arazu.
Lexical lists The cuneiform lexical lists are a series of ancient Mesopotamian glossaries which preserve the semantics of Sumerograms, their phonetic value and their Akkadian or other language equivalents. They are the oldest literary texts from Mesopotamia ...
also attest the existence of a tradition in which he was equated with Enki (Ea), though it is agreed that it represented a secondary development. A ''
Mîs-pî Mîs-pî, inscribed KA-LUḪ.Ù.DA and meaning “washing of the mouth,” is an ancient Mesopotamian ritual and incantation series for the cultic induction or vivification of a newly manufactured divine idol. It involved around eleven stages: in th ...
'' ritual refers to him as "Ea of the carpenters."


Attestations

The worship of Ninildu in
Zabalam Zabala, also Zabalam ( ''zabalamki'', Sumerian - ''MUŠ3.UNUki'', modern Tell Ibzeikh (also Tell el-Buzekh or Tell Ibzaykh), Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq) was a city of ancient Sumer in Mesopotamia, located in what is now the Dhi Qar governorate in ...
is well attested in sources from the third millennium BCE, such as administrative texts from
Umma Umma () in modern Dhi Qar Province in Iraq, was an ancient city in Sumer. There is some scholarly debate about the Sumerian and Akkadian names for this site. Traditionally, Umma was identified with Tell Jokha. More recently it has been sugges ...
. He also had a cult center in the direct proximity of the former of these two cities. Douglas Frayne states it was named Dulum, in accordance with the reading of the name of the god he uses. It might correspond to modern (Tell) Salbuḫ. In the third millennium BCE Ninildu is also attested in the names of two individuals from Adab and in a list of offerings from the Old Akkadian period which might have originated in the same city. A text from the reign of
Nabu-apla-iddina Nabû-apla-iddina (inscribed md''Nábû-ápla-iddina''na''Synchronistic History'', tablet K4401a (ABC 21), iii 22–26. or md''Nábû-apla-íddina'';''Synchronistic Kinglist'' fragments VAT 11261 (KAV 10), ii 8, and Ass. 13956dh (KAV 182), iii 11. ...
describing the preparation of a new statue of
Shamash Shamash (Akkadian language, Akkadian: ''šamaš''), also known as Utu (Sumerian language, Sumerian: dutu "Sun") was the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian Solar deity, sun god. He was believed to see everything that happened in t ...
mentions Ninildu among the deities aiding Ea in the process, alongside
Kusigbanda Kusibanda (Kusigbanda), also known under the disputed older reading of the name, Guškinbanda, was a Mesopotamian god regarded as the tutelary deity of goldsmiths and silversmiths. He was commonly grouped with other deities of similar character, s ...
,
Ninkurra Ninkurra or Ninkur was a name of multiple Mesopotamian deities, including a divine artisan, presumably a female sculptor. There is no agreement among researchers if this Ninkurra corresponds to the identically named goddess appearing in the myth ' ...
and Ninzadim. In a first millennium BCE bilingual incantation from
Assur Aššur (; AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; ''Āšūr''; ''Aθur'', ''Āšūr''; ', ), also known as Ashur and Qal'at Sherqat, was the capital of the Old Assyrian city-state (2025–1364 BC), the Midd ...
, Ninildu is invoked alongside
Ninagal Ninagal () or Ninagala was a Mesopotamian god regarded as a divine smith. He was commonly associated with other deities connected to craftsmanship. Texts from the reign of Ur-Baba of Lagash indicate that he was the personal deity of this king, ...
during the production of a new royal throne. An inscription of
Esarhaddon Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon (, also , meaning " Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 681 to 669 BC. The third king of the S ...
lists Ninildu among the deities connected to the rites of Ekazaginna, the temple of Ea in
Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...
. Literary texts describing Ninildu's functions include the ''Curse of Agade'' and the ''
Epic of Erra Erra (sometimes called Irra) is an Akkadian plague god known from an 'epos' of the eighth century BCE. Erra is the god of mayhem and pestilence who is responsible for periods of political confusion. He was assimilated to Nergal at some point. E ...
''. In the former, he is implored to hinder the growth of trees. According to the latter, he was equipped with a "glittering hatchet." In a late composition, known only from a copy found in
Kuyunjik Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...
, Ninildu and
Sirsir Sirsir, also known as Ninsirsir, was a Mesopotamian god. He was associated with sailors. It has been proposed that he corresponds to the so-called "boat god" motif known from cylinder seals, but this theory is not universally accepted. Character ...
are responsible for constructing the boat of Enki.


References


Bibliography

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External links

*
The cursing of Agade
' in the
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL) is an online digital library of texts and translations of Sumerian language, Sumerian literature that was created by a now-completed project based at the Oriental Institute, Oxford, Orient ...
Mesopotamian gods Handicraft deities