Ninazu (;
DNIN.A.SU">sup>DNIN.A.SU"lord healer") was a
Mesopotamian god of the
underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld.
...
. He was also associated with snakes and vegetation, and with time acquired the character of a warrior god. He was frequently associated with
Ereshkigal
In Mesopotamian mythology, Ereshkigal (Sumerian language, Sumerian: đđ©đđ đČ REĆ .KI.GAL, lit. "Queen of the Great Earth") was the goddess of Kur, the land of the dead or underworld in Sumerian religion, Sumerian mythology. In la ...
, either as a son, husband, or simply a member the same category of underworld deities.
His original cult centers were
Enegi and
Eshnunna, though in the later city he was gradually replaced by a similar god,
Tishpak. His
cult
Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...
declined after the
Old Babylonian period, though in the city of
Ur, where it was introduced from Enegi, he retained a number of worshipers even after the fall of the last Mesopotamian empires, in the Achaemenid period.
Character and iconography
According to Julia M. Asher-Greve, Ninazu was initially considered a "high-ranking local god", similar in rank to
Ningirsu. His name has
Sumerian origin and can be translated as "lord healer", though he was rarely associated with
medicine
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
. It is nonetheless agreed that he could be considered a healing deity. He was regarded as the "king of the
snake
Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...
s" and as such was invoked in
incantation
An incantation, spell, charm, enchantment, or bewitchery is a magical formula intended to trigger a magical effect on a person or objects. The formula can be spoken, sung, or chanted. An incantation can also be performed during ceremonial ri ...
s against
snakebite. Many of such texts were written in
Elamite
Elamite, also known as Hatamtite and formerly as Scythic, Median, Amardian, Anshanian and Susian, is an extinct language that was spoken by the ancient Elamites. It was recorded in what is now southwestern Iran from 2600 BC to 330 BC. Elamite i ...
and
Hurrian
The Hurrians (; ; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri) were a people who inhabited the Ancient Near East during the Bronze Age. They spoke the Hurro-Urartian language, Hurrian language, and lived throughout northern Syria (region) ...
, rather than in Sumerian or
Akkadian, even though they originated in Enegi. He was also associated with
vegetation
Vegetation is an assemblage of plants and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular Taxon, taxa, life forms, structure, Spatial ecology, spatial extent, or any other specific Botany, botanic ...
and
agriculture
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
.
It is possible that Ninazu was the oldest Sumerian god of the netherworld, and that he was only overshadowed by
Ereshkigal
In Mesopotamian mythology, Ereshkigal (Sumerian language, Sumerian: đđ©đđ đČ REĆ .KI.GAL, lit. "Queen of the Great Earth") was the goddess of Kur, the land of the dead or underworld in Sumerian religion, Sumerian mythology. In la ...
and
Nergal
Nergal ( Sumerian: d''KIĆ .UNU'' or ; ; Aramaic: ܹܞÜȘÜÜČÜ ; ) was a Mesopotamian god worshiped through all periods of Mesopotamian history, from Early Dynastic to Neo-Babylonian times, with a few attestations indicating that his cult surv ...
in later periods. He was referred to as a "steward of the great earth", "great earth" being a euphemism for the underworld, or as "lord of the underworld", though he shared this epithet shared with many deities, including his son
Ningishzida, Nergal,
Nirah and the primordial deity
Enmesharra
Enmesharra ( , "Lord of all ''Me (mythology), me''s") was a List of Mesopotamian deities, Mesopotamian god associated with the Ancient Mesopotamian underworld, underworld. He was regarded as a member of an old generation of deities, and as such ...
.
Ninazu was also regarded as a warrior deity, especially in Eshnunna. He was both described and possibly depicted as armed with two
maces. While no artistic representations of him have been identified with certainty, his symbols mentioned in textual sources include snakes and the "snake-dragon"
mushussu. In one of the Early Dynastic ''
Zame Hymns'' he is also compared to a black dog, known from later Mesopotamian incantations and compendiums of omens as a symbol of death. "The
Elam
Elam () was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province as well as a small part of modern-day southern Iraq. The modern name ''Elam'' stems fr ...
star", one of the Mesopotamian names of the planet
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
, was associated with Ninazu in
astronomical
Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include ...
texts.
Associations with other deities
Multiple traditions regarding Ninazu's parentage existed. He was regarded either as a son of
Ereshkigal
In Mesopotamian mythology, Ereshkigal (Sumerian language, Sumerian: đđ©đđ đČ REĆ .KI.GAL, lit. "Queen of the Great Earth") was the goddess of Kur, the land of the dead or underworld in Sumerian religion, Sumerian mythology. In la ...
and a "Great Lord" (possibly to be identified with
Gugalanna, known from the god list ''
An = Anum'' and from the myth ''Inanna's Descent to the Nether World''), who might have been analogous to anonymous deities described as "mighty cow" and "untamable bull" attested as his parents elsewhere, of
Enlil
Enlil, later known as Elil and Ellil, is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by t ...
and
Ninlil (an association originating in Eshnunna but present also in other sources, including the myth ''Enlil and Ninlil''), or of Suen. Frans Wiggermann assumes that the genealogies where Ereshkigal is listed as his mother represent the original tradition, and making Ninazu a son of Enlil and Ninlil was the result of absorption of some features of Nergal. In an
Early Dynastic text from
Shuruppak
Shuruppak ( , SU.KUR.RUki, "the healing place"), modern Tell Fara, was an ancient Sumerian city situated about 55 kilometres (35 mi) south of Nippur and 30 kilometers north of ancient Uruk on the banks of the Euphrates in Iraq's Al-QÄdisiy ...
the god of Enegi, presumably Ninazu, is already referred to as "Nergal of Enegi". The existence of a tradition in which
Gula was Ninazu's mother, occasionally proposed in scholarship, should be considered baseless according to
Andrew R. George.
The god
Ninmada, called the "
snake charmer of
An," was consistently regarded as Ninazu's brother. In the myth ''How grain came to Sumer'' the brothers gift
grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) â with or without an attached husk, hull layer â harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...
and
flax
Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...
to mankind. In the myth ''
Enlil and Ninlil'' Ninazu's brothers are instead
Nanna, Nergal and
Enbilulu, though he retains a connection with agriculture there nonetheless.
In most sources the goddess
Ningirida is listed as Ninazu's wife (a relation first attested in the
Ur III period) but less commonly he could be the husband of
Ukulla (normally the wife of
Tishpak), and there are also instances where Ereshkigal is referred to as his wife rather than mother. The children of Ninazu and Ningirida were the god Ningishzida and his two sisters, in a single incantation he is also addressed as the father of the healing goddess
Nintinugga. The names of the two daughters associated with Ningishzida vary between sources, with the best attested being Amashilama, known from a myth about the death of this god.
Ninazu has no ''
sukkal'' (attendant deity) in the major god lists, but it is possible that the
viper
Vipers are snakes in the family Viperidae, found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, New Zealand, Ireland, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipe ...
god Ippu (or Ipahum), later known as the ''sukkal'' of Ningishzida, originally was a courtier of his father instead. According to Irene Sibbing-Plantholt, he might be one and the same as the vegetation god
Abu best known from the myth ''
Enki
Enki ( ) is the Sumerian god of water, knowledge ('' gestĂș''), crafts (''gaĆĄam''), and creation (''nudimmud''), and one of the Anunnaki. He was later known as Ea () or Ae p. 324, note 27. in Akkadian (Assyrian-Babylonian) religion, and ...
and Ninhursag''.
In the god list ''
An = Anum'' Ninazu appears in a sequence including Ereshkigal, Ningishzida, Tishpak,
Inshushinak and
Ishtaran. Based on their association in god lists and similar attributes, Wiggermann proposes that these gods shared a similar origin somewhere in the "trans-
Tigridian" area on the border between Mesopotamian and
Elam
Elam () was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province as well as a small part of modern-day southern Iraq. The modern name ''Elam'' stems fr ...
ite spheres of cultural influence.
A single god list from the first millennium BCE equates Ninazu with
Ninurta
Ninurta (: , possible meaning "Lord fBarley"), also known as NinÄirsu (: , meaning "Lord fGirsu"), is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with farming, healing, hunting, law, scribes, and war who was f ...
, and his spouse Ningirida with
Gula. An association between him and the latter goddess is also attested in the ''
Gula Hymn of Bulluáčsa-rabi'', composed at some point between 1400 BCE and 700 BCE (between the
Kassite and
Neo-Babylonian period). This text is considered an
aretalogy and it might reflect the development of a form of
henotheism in late theological traditions. As noted by Irene Sibbing-Plantholt, while it has been argued in the past that "this interpretation of Ninazu as a spouse of Gula goes back to the merge of Ninazu with Ninurta/Ningirsu (as son of Enlil and Ninlil), (...) this connection may also have been established through the link between (U)kulla(b), Ninazuâs spouse, and Gula." Frans Wiggermann notes that the hymn presents an "aberrant," otherwise unknown, genealogy of Ninazu, calling him "offspring of
Mami," which according to him might entirely depend on implicit identification with Ninurta in this context. This god is addressed as "Mami's son" in the
AnzĂ» Myth (tablet II).
Outside Mesopotamia
A trilingual god list from
Ugarit
Ugarit (; , ''ủgrt'' /ʟUgarītu/) was an ancient port city in northern Syria about 10 kilometers north of modern Latakia. At its height it ruled an area roughly equivalent to the modern Latakia Governorate. It was discovered by accident in 19 ...
explains Ninazu as ''ĆĄi-ru-hi'' (meaning unknown) in the
Hurrian
The Hurrians (; ; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri) were a people who inhabited the Ancient Near East during the Bronze Age. They spoke the Hurro-Urartian language, Hurrian language, and lived throughout northern Syria (region) ...
column and possibly as ''il mutema'' (âgod of deathâ) in
Ugaritic
Ugaritic () is an extinct Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language known through the Ugaritic texts discovered by French archaeology, archaeologists in 1928 at Ugarit, including several major literary texts, notably the Baal cycl ...
.
Worship
Ninazu's primary cult center was
Enegi, a city located between
Ur and
Uruk
Uruk, the archeological site known today as Warka, was an ancient city in the Near East, located east of the current bed of the Euphrates River, on an ancient, now-dried channel of the river in Muthanna Governorate, Iraq. The site lies 93 kilo ...
. The association is first attested in an
Early Dynastic document from
Lagash
Lagash (; cuneiform: LAGAĆ KI; Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''LagaĆĄ'') was an ancient city-state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Al-Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash ( ...
. His main temple in that city was Egidda, "sealed house" or "storehouse". Offerings made to him in his cult center are mentioned in tablets from
Puzrish-Dagan. Much like Ninazu himself, Enegi was associated with the underworld, and could be described as "pipe of Ereshkigal's quay" in literary texts in reference to a type of implement used in
funerary libation
A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an Sacrifice, offering to a deity or spirit, or in Veneration of the dead, memory of the dead. It was common in many religions of Ancient history, antiquity and continues to be offered in cultures t ...
s. The
cult
Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...
s of Enegi were likely influenced by
Uruk
Uruk, the archeological site known today as Warka, was an ancient city in the Near East, located east of the current bed of the Euphrates River, on an ancient, now-dried channel of the river in Muthanna Governorate, Iraq. The site lies 93 kilo ...
, as in addition to Ninazu, typical Urukean deities like the messenger goddess
Ninshubur, the demigod
Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh (, ; ; originally ) was a hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. He was possibly a historical king of the Sumer ...
and his mother
Ninsun were venerated in this city.
A second cult center of Ninazu was
Eshnunna, where his temple was the Esikil, "pure house". Frans Wiggermann maintains that the Ninazu of Eshnunna was identical with the Ninazu of Enegi. However, according to Irene Sibbing-Plantholt, it is uncertain if the latter was indeed identical, and thus a southern deity imported to a northern city, a different deity sharing the same name, or an
epithet
An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...
of a separate deity identical with the name of the god of Enegi. Starting in the
Akkadian period, Ninazu apparently competed with the god
Tishpak in Eshnunna, and ceased to be mentioned in documents from it altogether after
Hammurabi's conquest. It is usually presumed that the later had foreign origin, and he might have been introduced to this city as early as in the late fourth and early third millennium BCE. While similar in character, Ninazu and Tishpak were not fully conflated, and unlike
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 ...
and Ishtar or
Enki
Enki ( ) is the Sumerian god of water, knowledge ('' gestĂș''), crafts (''gaĆĄam''), and creation (''nudimmud''), and one of the Anunnaki. He was later known as Ea () or Ae p. 324, note 27. in Akkadian (Assyrian-Babylonian) religion, and ...
and Ea were kept apart in god lists.
In Lagash, Ninazu was one of the deities who were part of the official pantheon during the reign of
Urukagina, but he is otherwise not attested there in the Early Dynastic period, with the exception of some theophoric personal names. Later
Gudea
Gudea ( Sumerian: , ''Gu3-de2-a''; died 2124 BC) was a Sumerian ruler ('' ensi'') of the state of Lagash in Southern Mesopotamia, who ruled â2060 BC ( short chronology) or 2144â2124 BC ( middle chronology). He probably did not come from the ...
built a temple dedicated to him, but its precise location and ceremonial name are not known.
From Enegi, Ninazu was also introduced to Ur, where his cult survived until late periods. A temple dedicated to him in this city was also named Egidda, and it has been proposed that it might have been where the center of his cult was relocated after the decline of Enegi suggested by its absence from records from the first millennium BCE. Other cities from which offerings to him are attested are
Nippur,
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 ...
and
Adab. In the first millennium BCE, he was also venerated in
Assur. Furthermore, the name of a temple dedicated to him, Ekurmaáž«, "house, exalted mountain," is known from the ''Epic of
AnzĂ»'', but its location is unknown.
The last available evidence for cult of Ninazu are theophoric personal names from Ur invoking him, present in sources from the period of
Persian rule over Mesopotamia. According to
Paul-Alain Beaulieu, he must have remained a relatively popular deity in Ur. A peculiarity associated with the late worship of Ninazu in Ur is the use of both the basic form of his name and its
Emesal equivalent, Umunazu, in personal names, with the latter being slightly more common - 25 names with Ninazu and 30 with Umunazu are presently known. It is possible that this situation was influenced by the role played by
lamentation priests, who traditionally memorized texts written in the Emesal dialect, in the survival of Ninazu's cult. Other underworld deities, like his son Ningishzida, the deified snake Nirah and the incantation goddess
Ningirima, also retained a degree of popularity, likely due to being envisioned as members of Ninazu's court.
References
Bibliography
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obayashi, Toshiko, "Ninazu, the Personal Deity of Gudea", Orient 30, pp. 142-157, 1995
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{{refend
External links
*
How grain came to Sumer' in the
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
*
Enlil and Ninlil' in the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
Mesopotamian gods
Underworld gods
Nature gods
Mesopotamian underworld