Ninlil (deity)
Ninlil is a significant figure in Mesopotamian mythology, recognized as the goddess of grain and the Lady of the Air. She is best known as the consort of Enlil, the god of air and kingship, and they are depicted as ruling together, particularly in the city of Nippur, which served as a religious center. Ninlil embodies attributes of prosperity, fertility, and the seasonal cycles, with origins that trace back to her parents, Ninshebargunu and Haia, though some sources claim her lineage includes the supreme god Anu.
Her mythology is marked by a powerful story of seduction and violence that led to her transformation from a young virgin to a mother goddess. This narrative includes the birth of significant deities, including the moon god Nanna and three gods associated with the underworld, linked to the seasonal changes of growth and decay. Worship of Ninlil flourished alongside that of Enlil, particularly with extensive sanctuaries that supported agricultural practices. Over time, her significance waned as the goddess Inanna rose to prominence, leading to a syncretism where Ninlil's identity merged with other deities, culminating in a diminished role in the later Mesopotamian pantheon.
Ninlil (deity)
Symbols: Serpents; mountains
Country: Mesopotamia
Mother: Ninshebargunu
Father: Haia
Children: Nanna; Nergal; Ninazu; Enbilulu; Ninurta
Ninlil was the Mesopotamian goddess of grain and Lady of the Air. She was primarily known as the wife of the powerful Enlil, god of air and kingship, who was part of the ruling triad of Mesopotamian deities.
As the goddess of grain, Ninlil was closely associated with prosperity, fertility and the changing of the seasons. She got some of her attributes from her parents, Ninshebargunu, goddess of barley, and Haia, god of the stores. It was said she lived in Dilmun with her family.
Enlil’s courting and subsequent rape of Ninlil was the basis of a popular myth that involved the birth of the moon god and three important gods of the underworld. According to some myths, the god Ninurta, who killed the demon Asag with his enchanted talking mace (a blunt weapon with a heavy head), was also Ninlil’s son.
As the mother of important gods, Ninlil took on the attributes of the mother goddess, the giver of life, a creator figure, as well as a healing deity. And as Enlil’s consort Ninlil shared some of his aspects and they were often shown administering together. Queen of the Heavens and Earth, Queen of the Lands, Lady of the Gods, and Lady Wind were some of her titles, which accorded her the respect and prestige due to Enlil’s consort. Enlil’s main sanctuary was at Nippur, and Ninlil ruled alongside her husband as the city’s patron goddess.
In Mythology
While the most popular myths say her parents were Ninshebargunu and Haia, Akkadian sources say she was the daughter of the supreme god Anu and his consort Antu. Other sources say she was the daughter of Anu and Nammu.
According to a Sumerian myth, set in a time when man had not been created and only gods lived in the city of Nippur, the young goddess Ninlil asked her mother Ninshebargunu for advice, as she seemed to have reached marriageable age. Ninshebargunu told her that the women of Nippur bathed in the river to purify themselves. Ninshebargunu also warned her daughter not to go near Inunbirdu canal where the young god Enlil would see her and try to seduce her and get her pregnant. However, Ninlil apparently went straight to the canal where Enlil was waiting. He saw Ninlil bathing there and, enamored, tried to kiss her. Ninlil resisted his advances and said she was too young for such things. But Enlil pursued her to a more concealed place and raped her. For his actions, Enlil was banished from the home of the gods to the underworld. Ninlil discovered she was pregnant with the moon god Nanna and followed Enlil.
Since the gods had decreed that no one could leave the underworld without leaving behind a substitute, Enlil fathered three underworld gods as substitutes. Disguised as a gatekeeper, he impregnated Ninlil and the lord of the underworld Nergal was born. Then Enlil posed as the Man of the Idkura (a river in the underworld) and again impregnated Ninlil; the god of the underworld, Ninazu, was born. Lastly, Enlil disguised himself as the Man of the Ferryboat and impregnated Ninlil; and she gave birth to the river god Enbilulu. In this way Enlil ensured that the three of them—Enlil, Ninlil, and Nanna—would be allowed to return to the land up above.
In the beginning of the myth, Ninlil started out a young, unmarried virgin, and through the course of the story transitioned into womanhood in a very violent manner. By the end, she had transformed into a mother figure. From being a powerless young girl she entered the top tier of the Mesopotamian pantheon and took her place as the mother goddess.
This myth, like the Greek myth of Persephone, seems to explain the change in seasons. As goddess of the grain, Ninlil’s descent into the underworld would have meant a withering of crops and her ascent to the world above would have prompted crops to grow and fertility to be restored.
Origins & Cults
Ninlil was likely worshipped in the same cities as her husband Enlil. Enlil’s cult was strong in the ancient city of Nippur, which was the religious center of Mesopotamia until the second millennium BCE. Ninlil ruled there along with him as the city’s patron goddess. She also had an important sanctuary in Tummal near Nippur and in Shuruppak.
The goddess’s worship gained prominence around the fourth millennium BCE. As the exalted wife of Enlil, state goddess, and chief grain goddess, Ninlil received as many grain offerings as Enlil did. Her sanctuaries were vast and often comprised a grain store, a brewery, a warehouse, a large kitchen, weaving mills, a treasury, and various cult rooms. There were also rooms set aside for Enlil and Ninlil’s lyres. These instruments had their own importance as the god and goddess’s representatives. The lyres were almost deities in their own right, with their own priestess, administrator, herald, and gatekeeper.
However, over the centuries Ninlil was syncretized with various healing and mother goddesses, like Sud. When Ashur, the head of the Assyrian pantheon, absorbed Enlil’s role in northern Mesopotamia, he also took on Ninlil as his wife.
Ninlil’s prominence started to fade as the goddess Inanna’s worship spread far and wide and she rose to become the most important goddess in the Mesopotamian pantheon. By the time of the first millennium BCE, Ninlil had been absorbed into Inanna’s worship and had almost lost her own separate identity.
Bibliography
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