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'Ninurta' ('Nin Ur') in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology was the god of Nippur, identified with 'Ningirsu' with whom he may always have been identical. In older transcriptions the name is rendered 'Ninib' and in older commentary he is sometimes seen as a solar deity.
In Nippur Ninurta was worshipped as part of a triad of deities including his father Enlil and his mother Ninlil. In variant mythology, his mother is said to be Ninhursag.
Ninurta often appears holding a bow and arrow and a mace named Car-ur to which he speaks when attacking the monster Asag, and which answers back. Car-ur often takes the form of a winged lion.
In one story Ninurta battles such a monster called Imdugud (Akkadian Anzu). In what may be an alternate version, another text relates how the monster Anzu steals the Tablets of Destiny which Enlil requires to maintain his rule. Ninurta slays each of the monsters later known as the "Slain Heroes" (the Dragon, the Gypsum, the Palm Tree King, Lord Saman-ana, the bison-beast, the scorpion-man, the seven-headed serpent), and finally Anzu is eventually killed by Ninurta who delivers the Tablet to his father, Enlil.

Contents

Cults

See also

External links

Cults

The cult of Ninurta can be traced back to the oldest period of Sumerian history. In the inscriptions found at Lagash he is appears under his name ''Ningirsu'', that is, "the lord of Girsu", Girsu being the name of a quarter within Lagash, the city-state where he was considered the patron deity.
Ninurta appears in a double capacity in the epithets bestowed on him, and in the hymns and incantations addressed to him. On the one hand he is a farmer and a healing god who releases from sickness and the ban of the demons in general and on the other he is the god of the South Wind, as the son of Enlil, who was the angry, jealous god of Air. While Enlil was the father of Ninurta, Enlil's brother, Enki, was Ninurta's mentor from whom Ninurta was intrusted several powerful Me, including the Deluge.
He remained popular under the Assyrians; two of the kings of Assyria bore the name Tukulti-Ninurta. Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BCE) built him a temple in the new capital city of Calah (now Nimrud). In Assyria, Ninurta was worshipped along with Assur and Mulissu.
In the late neo-Babylonian and early Persian period, syncretism seems to have fused Ninurta's character with that of Nergal. The two gods were often invoked together, and spoken of as if they were one divinity.
In the astral-theological system Ninurta was associated with the planet Saturn, or perhaps as offspring or an aspect of Saturn. In his capacity as a farmer-god, the Greeks equated Ninurta with their harvest-god Kronos, whom the Romans in turn identified with their fertility-god Saturn -- hence the current name of the planet.
The consort of Ninurta was Ugallu in Nippur and Bau when he was called Ningirsu. Many see Ninurta as the equivalent of Mars in Leo.
''Parts of this article were originally from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica'' article on 'Ninib'.

See also

★ Tukulti-Ninurta

External links

★ 'Texts'

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★ Narratives about Ninurta

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★ ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank># ETCSL website: Unicode version and ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>&charenc=j# ETCSL website: ASCII version

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★ Gateways to Babylon: ASCII English translation from the ETCSL website

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★ Gateways to Babylon: The Myth of Anzu

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★ Hymns to Ninurta ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank># ETCSL website: Unicode version and ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>&charenc=j# ETCSL website: ASCII version

★ 'Commentary'

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★ Gateways to Babylon: "Ninurta as the god of wisdom" by Amar Annus