Ninimma

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Ninimma
Divine scribe, scholar or librarian
Member of the court of Enlil
Major cult centerNippur
Personal information
Parents
SpouseKusibanda or Ninurta
ChildrenUttu (in a variant of the myth Enki and Ninmah)

Ninimma was a

Ninmah, and a hymn describes her partaking in cutting of umbilical cords and determination of fates. It has also been suggested that she was associated with vegetation. In the Middle Babylonian period she additionally came to be viewed as a healing
deity.

Ninmah
and in a variant of Enki and Ninhursag.

Character

Ninimma's history has been characterized as long and complex.[1] The meaning of the second element of her name, written in cuneiform as SIG7 (correct reading is confirmed by phonetic spellings in lexical lists and other sources[2]) remains unknown, with past proposals including "green growth," "brick," or a pun on a term referring to the vulva.[3] A further possibility is that the name was understood as dnin-im-ak, "lady of clay" or "lady of the clay tablet".[4] Her role as a goddess associated with scribal arts is well attested.[5] According to Julia Krul this was the oldest aspect of her character.[1] Christopher Metcalf characterizes her as a goddess associated with wisdom and writing who was "appealing to the mind of an ancient scholar of Sumerian literature."[6] She has been variously described as fulfilling the role of a divine scholar, scribe[7] or librarian by modern authors.[5]

A further role attested for Ninimma is that of a goddess of birth.

Aruru who partakes in creation of life and assists her in cutting the umbilical cord and determining fates.[9] Ninimma might have also been associated with vegetation.[10] This aspect of her character might be tied to her role as a goddess of birth.[11]

From the

Sud, Siris and Ningishzida.[13]

A possible reference to an association between Ninimma and a type of birds (KUR.GImušen; translation uncertain, possibly

geese) has been identified by Karen Focke.[11]

While the view that Ninimma was primarily a male deity is not considered credible today,

Ea of the Scribes,"[14] dnin.ìmma = dé-a šá lúṭupšarri.[16]

Associations with other deities

As of 1999, the only known text directly referring to Ninimma's parentage is a variant of the myth Enki and Ninhursag, according to which her parents were Enki and Ninkurra.[17] A hymn published in 2019 also identifies this god as her father, though only indirectly, but her mother is left nameless.[9] In Seleucid Uruk, Ninimma instead came to be viewed as one of the seven children of Enmesharra.[1] This tradition most likely was not yet known in earlier periods, and relied on equating her with the deity Zisummu, well attested in this role.[18] According to Karen Focke, in the god list An = Anum Ninimma is labeled as a sister of Ninurta, which would make her a daughter of Enlil, who is also called her father in a Neo-Assyrian incantation.[19] However, based on the recently published hymn, which refers to her as Ninurta's wife, Christopher Metcalf has challenged this interpretation, pointing out that only a single manuscript of An = Anum refers to Ninimma as nin dnin-[urta]-ke4, literally "lady of Ninurta," and this phrase might also be interpreted as referring to her status as his wife, rather than sister, as previously assumed.[20] Joan Goodnick Westenholz in an earlier publication pointed out that Ninimma could be linked to Ninnibru, the title of Ninurta's wife, though she assumed this association reflected her role as Ninurta's sister, rather than spouse.[21] Elsewhere, the god Kusibanda is described as Ninimma's husband.[19][1][20] He was considered the deity of goldsmiths.[22] In a variant of the myth Enki and Ninhursag, the eponymous god impregnates Ninimma, who subsequently gives birth to Uttu.[8]

Ninimma was regarded as one of the members of the court of Enlil, specifically as a scribe in his service.

Suen.[24] The same role could be attributed to Shuzianna as well.[25] Julia M. Asher-Greve notes that direct references to goddesses breastfeeding, such as the designation of Ninimma as a nurse of Sin are rare in Mesopotamian literature.[26] Outside An = Anum, Ninimma appears in association with the moon god only in a single Neo-Assyrian fragmentary god list where her entry follows his.[24]

Ninimma could also be associated with Nisaba (for instance in god lists she often follows her and her spouse Haya) and possibly acquired some of her characteristics as a result.[27] It has been argued that they fulfilled a similar role in the pantheon of Nippur.[12] However, Andrew R. George argues that their character was not identical, and that Ninimma's main role can be compared to a modern librarian, while Nisaba functioned as a scribe and scholar.[5] A single Old Babylonian letter invokes Nisaba and Ninimma together in a greeting formula in which the sender wishes the recipient to receive wisdom from these goddesses.[28]

Various ritual texts indicate Ninimma was associated with Shuzianna, who also appears alongside her in the myth Enki and Ninmah among the eponymous goddess' helpers aiding her in creation of mankind.

Ur III period and a later theological commentary, which also included Nuska, Ennugi, Kusu, Ninšar and Ninkasi.[30] Ninimma additionally appears alongside these five deities and Ninmada in sections dedicated to Enlil's courtiers in An = Anum and the Canonical Temple List.[31]

The name of Irda, a minor goddess from the pantheon of Nippur who was associated with the

scribal error.[19] In An = Anum itself, Irda appears after the section dedicated to Ninimma.[19]

According to Frans Wiggermann Ninimma was sometimes confused with the obscure

creator goddess Nammu, which might be why the latter was sporadically referred to as the "true housekeeper of Ekur".[7] Wilfred G. Lambert instead considered it possible that Nammu and Ninimma were etymologically related, rather than merely confused with each other, and suggests that Ninimma was at some point in time functionally analogous to Nammu, and like her was regarded as a primordial creator deity.[32]

Worship

The oldest attestation of Ninimma is an entry in the

Achaemenid period.[44]

Kassite period, as indicated by prayers and seal inscriptions.[46] She also appears in Middle Babylonian theophoric names, such as Ninimma-kipišu or Ninimma-andul.[28]

In addition to various attestations of Ninimma from Nippur, a temple dedicated to her is also mentioned in a text from

Sargonic period.[33] A text from the palace of Sennacherib in Nineveh[47] indicates that a cultic seat dedicated to her, Nidana-geštu,[48] "(house of) learning and understanding," existed in the library of the Ešarra temple in Assur.[49] According to Andrew R. George, its existence might have been the result of patterning the cult of Ashur on that of Enlil.[47] Another seat dedicated to her was located in the temple of Ningal in Ur.[50]

An Early Dynastic statuette from Uruk might be inscribed with Ninimma's name, but the reading is not certain, and there is no other evidence in her early presence in this city.[34] In a ritual text from the same city from the Seleucid period, she appears alongside deities such as the local goddess Uṣur-amāssu, Šilamkurra, elsewhere described as a daughter of Ninsun, and otherwise unknown Ninurbu.[1] However, she is not attested in earlier Neo-Babylonian sources from this city, and does not appear in theophoric names or legal texts.[51]

Literature

Ninimma is sparsely attested in Mesopotamian literature.

literary character in the Old Babylonian period, when the discussed text was composed.[9] Jeremiah Peterson notes that no other cultic song circulated in this period mentions any historical or legendary rulers earlier than Gudea, and on this basis tentatively speculates that Nanni's presence in this text might be a form of cryptography based on the similarity of his name to the word nanni, "someone", meant to make the composition appropriate for any ruler.[52] Both hymns dedicated to Ninimma are assumed to be scholarly compositions, and according to Metcalf they might be disconnected from active worship of this goddess, with their main purpose being to "glorify the scholarly author's own craft."[54] However, Peterson does not agree with this assumption, and points out that Ninimma's presence in offering lists makes it plausible that hymns dedicated to her were in active circulation as part of her cult.[52]

Ninimma also appears in the myth

Mumudu and Ninnigina.[55] They do not appear together elsewhere,[56] and the criteria based on which the compilers of this text selected them are unknown.[28] Collectively the helpers of Ninmah could be referred to as Šassūrātu.[57] In god lists this group was treated as analogous to foreign goddesses of similar character, Hurrian Hutena and Hutellura and Ugaritic Kotharāt.[58]

A further myth which mentions Ninimma is Enki and Ninhursag, according to which she was a daughter of Ninkurra and Enki and mother of Uttu.[59] In the version from Nippur she is absent[60] and Ninkurra gives birth to Uttu instead.[59] It is not certain why these specific goddesses were selected for their respective roles.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Krul 2018, p. 68.
  2. ^ Focke 1999, p. 92.
  3. ^ a b Katz 2008, p. 326.
  4. ^ Focke 1998, p. 384.
  5. ^ a b c George 2005, p. 308.
  6. ^ a b Metcalf 2019, p. 47.
  7. ^ a b c Wiggermann 1998, p. 137.
  8. ^ a b Focke 1999, p. 101.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Metcalf 2019, p. 46.
  10. ^ a b Focke 1999, p. 109.
  11. ^ a b Focke 1998, p. 385.
  12. ^ a b c Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 96.
  13. ^ Focke 1999, p. 105.
  14. ^ a b c Focke 1999, p. 106.
  15. ^ Lambert 2013, p. 434.
  16. ^ George 1992, p. 469.
  17. ^ Focke 1999, pp. 93–94.
  18. ^ Focke 1999, p. 102.
  19. ^ a b c d e f Focke 1999, p. 94.
  20. ^ a b c Metcalf 2019, p. 51.
  21. ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 102.
  22. ^ Krul 2018, p. 66.
  23. ^ Lambert 2013, pp. 435–436.
  24. ^ a b Focke 1999, p. 95.
  25. ^ Krebernik 1993, p. 364.
  26. ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 144.
  27. ^ Focke 1998, pp. 384–385.
  28. ^ a b c Focke 1999, p. 100.
  29. ^ a b Krebernik 2013, p. 378.
  30. ^ Lambert 2013, pp. 213–214.
  31. ^ George 1993, p. 24.
  32. ^ Lambert 2013, p. 436.
  33. ^ a b Such-Gutiérrez 2005, p. 27.
  34. ^ a b Focke 1999, p. 98.
  35. ^ a b Focke 1999, p. 99.
  36. ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 101.
  37. ^ George 1993, p. 123.
  38. ^ George 1993, p. 117.
  39. ^ George 1993, p. 112.
  40. ^ George 1993, p. 147.
  41. ^ George 1993, p. 129.
  42. ^ Focke 1999, p. 107.
  43. ^ George 1992, p. 451.
  44. ^ Focke 1999, p. 104.
  45. ^ Focke 1998, p. 386.
  46. ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, pp. 95–96.
  47. ^ a b George 1992, p. 185.
  48. ^ George 1992, p. 189.
  49. ^ George 1993, p. 131.
  50. ^ George 1993, p. 79.
  51. ^ Krul 2018, p. 73.
  52. ^ a b c Peterson 2020, p. 131.
  53. ^ Metcalf 2019, p. 50.
  54. ^ Metcalf 2019, pp. 47–48.
  55. ^ Lambert 2013, p. 337.
  56. ^ Lambert 2013, p. 506.
  57. ^ Stol 2000, pp. 80–82.
  58. ^ Archi 2013, p. 14.
  59. ^ a b Katz 2008, p. 320.
  60. ^ Katz 2008, p. 325.

Bibliography

External links

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