Ninkasi
Ninkasi | |
---|---|
Goddess of beer | |
Other names | dKAŠ.DIN.NAM (Kurunnītu?)[1] |
Major cult center | Nippur |
Symbol | possibly a cup |
Personal information | |
Parents | Enki and Ninti |
Siblings | Siraš |
Children | Meḫuš, Mekù, Ememete, Kitušgirizal, Nušiligga, possibly Ninmada |
Ninkasi was the
A number of works of Mesopotamian literature refer to Ninkasi, for example the myths Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave and Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird. A hymn dedicated to her, known simply as the Hymn to Ninkasi, is also known. It is commonly discussed and quoted in modern literature.
Name
Ninkasi's name, written in cuneiform as dNin-ka-si,[2] means "mistress of beer."[3] The explanation "lady who fills the mouth" has been proposed in the past but according to Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie should be considered implausible.[2] A possible earlier writing of the name, dNin-ka15kaš-si,[2] has been tentatively translated as "mistress barmaid," though its precise etymology remains a matter of debate.[4] Like many other names of deities originating in the Sumerian language, it is assumed to be a combination of the grammatically neutral word nin, which appears in names of both male and female deities, and the name of a product, place or object.[3] In one of the earliest Mesopotamian god lists, some forty percent of the deities have names starting with nin.[5]
It has been proposed that the deity dKAŠ.DIN.NAM should be understood as a late form of Ninkasi.[6] A second attested spelling of this name is dKAŠ.DIN.NU.[1] The Sumerian compound KAŠ.DIN represents the word kurun (Akkadian: kurunnum), a type of beer regarded, in Mesopotamian texts, as being of a particularly high quality .[1] According to Paul-Alain Beaulieu, the name was most likely read as Kurunnītu,[1] though Kurunnam has also been proposed.[7] Beaulieu considers the former option to be more likely, as the syllabic spelling dku-ru-ni-tu4 is also attested.[1] The equivalence between this deity and Ninkasi is directly attested in two lamentations.[1]
Character
Ninkasi was the goddess of beer, and as such was associated with its production, consumption and effects - both positive and negative.
The proposal that Ninkasi was also associated with wine, common in older literature, is no longer regarded as plausible.[8]
While typically regarded as a goddess, in some late sources Ninkasi could appear as a male deity,[4] a phenomenon also attested in the cases of the artisan goddess Ninmug and Ninshubur, the sukkal (attendant deity) of Inanna.[10]
It is possible that in art Ninkasi was depicted holding a cup.[11] Furthermore, she might be among the deities shown in banquet scenes on items such as gaming boards and fragments of musical instruments.[12]
Worship
Ninkasi was already worshiped in the Early Dynastic period,[8][4] but there is no evidence that she was the tutelary deity of a specific city at any point in time.[8] She was instead worshiped as a "universal" deity in various parts of Mesopotamia.[4] While a city is mentioned in the Hymn to Ninkasi, it should be understood not as a reference to a hitherto unknown cult center, but rather as a poetic indication that any city where beer was drunk can be considered a city of Ninkasi.[13]
The worship of Ninkasi is attested in Early Dynastic administrative documents from
Attestations of worship of Kurunnītu are rare.[19] In Nippur she was venerated in the temple of Gula.[1] A festival held in Babylon in honor of the same goddess involved Kurunnītu (dKAŠ.DIN.NAM), as well as Belet Eanna (Inanna of Uruk), Belet Ninua ("Lady of Nineveh"), Ninlil and Bizilla (who both acted as the divine representatives of Kish in this case).[6] A few documents indicate that she was worshiped in Uruk, and the Eanna archive attests that during the reign of Nabopolassar various elements of jewelry were prepared for her statue.[20] Sennacherib plundered a statue of her from Uruk in 693 BC.[19] Another was returned to Der by Esarhaddon.[1] She is also attested in a kudurru (boundary stone) inscription from the reign of Marduk-apla-iddina I.[1]
Associations with other deities
Ninkasi's parents were Enki and Ninti, but according to the Hymn to Ninkasi, she was raised by Ninhursag rather than by her mother.[22] Ninhursag was generally not associated with raising children otherwise, and the childhood of deities is typically not described in Mesopotamian texts.[22] It is possible that a deity corresponding to Ninti precedes Ninkasi and Siraš (also known as Siris), another goddess associated with beer, in the Nippur god list.[23]
Ninkasi and Siraš were commonly associated with each other,[2] but the nature of the connection between them varies between sources.[24] In the god list An = Anum they are equated with each other and in a bilingual Neo-Assyrian version of one of the myths about Lugalbanda Ninkasi in the Sumerian version corresponds to Siraš in Akkadian, but in a version of the Weidner god list from Assur with an explanatory column they are stated to be sisters instead.[23] According to Richard L. Litke, a tradition in which Ninkasi was the wife of Siraš, in this case seemingly treated as a male deity, might be attested in a single source, most likely a late copy of an Old Babylonian list of deities, though he notes it might also be interpreted as a reference to the two being sisters instead.[24] According to Manfred Krebernik, no references to either of them having a spouse is known.[8] A further deity associated with both of them was Patindu,[7] a god linked with ritual libations whose name might mean "he who makes the stream of wine sweet."[25]
The god list An = Anum mentions a group of five children of Ninkasi. According to Manfred Krebernik, their names seem to allude to terms related to beer, binge drinking and inebriation: Meḫuš ("glowing
Ninkasi was also regarded as the "brewer of Ekur," and in this role appears in lists of courtiers of Enlil alongside deities such as his scribe Ninimma, his butcher Ninšar, or his snake charmer Ninmada.[26] For example, Ninimma, Ennugi, Kusu, Ninšar, Ninkasi and Ninmada appear in sequence in at least two sources, An = Anum and the Canonical Temple List.[26] Another similar group, consisting of Šuzianna, Nuska, Ninimma, Ennugi, Kusu, Ninšar and Ninkasi appears in an offering list from the Ur III period and in an esoteric explanatory text.[27] It has been proposed that Ninkasi's classification as a deity from the circle of Enlil relied on his link with Nisaba, commonly regarded as his mother in law, who in addition to being a goddess of writing was also associated with grain, which was also indirectly linked to Ninkasi as the main resource used to produce beer.[8] A single document in which Ninkasi appears alongside Šala also likely depends on a similar connection.[28]
The Weidner god list places both Ninkasi and Siraš between
In the incantation series
Literature
Hymn to Ninkasi
A hymn dedicated to Ninkasi is known.
It is assumed that it is a poetic description of the process of brewing.
Other texts
In the myth
A fragment of a myth known from Abu Salabikh mentions Ninšar slaughtering cattle and sheep while Ninkasi brewed beer.[45]
Ninkasi is one of the eight deities born in the end of the myth Enki and Ninhursag.[46] Her name is reinterpreted as a pun on the word ka, "mouth," in this composition, and like in the other passages her birth corresponds to Enki announcing a specific body part.[46] Ninti makes a similarly brief appearance as her sister, rather than mother, according to Dina Katz because the names of the eight deities in this scene were "not selected for theological reasons but to suit body parts," with Ninti's name being reinterpreted as a pun on the word ti, "rib."[46]
Modern relevance
The asteroid 4947 Ninkasi, discovered in 1988 by Carolyn S. Shoemaker and Eugene Merle Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory, is named after the goddess.[47]
The
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Beaulieu 2003, p. 321.
- ^ a b c d Krebernik 1998, p. 442.
- ^ a b Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 6.
- ^ a b c d e Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 55.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 7.
- ^ a b Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 124.
- ^ a b c d Krebernik 1998, p. 443.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Krebernik 1998, p. 444.
- ^ a b c Black 1998, p. 85.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 18.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 184.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 168.
- ^ a b Sallaberger 2012, p. 308.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 58.
- ^ Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 101.
- ^ a b George 1993, p. 168.
- ^ a b George 1993, p. 158.
- ^ Clayden 2014, pp. 53–54.
- ^ a b Beaulieu 2003, p. 320.
- ^ Beaulieu 2003, pp. 321–322.
- ^ Such-Gutiérrez 2005, p. 27.
- ^ a b Asher-Greve & Westenholz 2013, p. 144.
- ^ a b Peterson 2009, p. 57.
- ^ a b Litke 1998, p. 61.
- ^ Krebernik 2005, p. 365.
- ^ a b c George 1993, p. 24.
- ^ Lambert 2013, pp. 213–214.
- ^ Jursa 2001, p. 85.
- ^ Beaulieu 2003, p. 312.
- ^ Sallaberger 2012, p. 315.
- ^ Wiggermann 1998, p. 572.
- ^ a b c Civil 2017, p. 287.
- ^ Katz, Maytag & Civil 1991, p. 27.
- ^ Sallaberger 2012, p. 293.
- ^ Sallaberger 2012, p. 306.
- ^ Sallaberger 2012, p. 307.
- ^ Katz, Maytag & Civil 1991, p. 32.
- ^ Sallaberger 2012, pp. 292–293.
- ^ Sallaberger 2012, pp. 312–313.
- ^ Sallaberger 2012, p. 313.
- ^ Katz, Maytag & Civil 1991, p. 30.
- ^ Black 1998, p. 58.
- ^ Black 1998, pp. 85–86.
- ^ Black 1998, p. 122.
- ^ Cavigneaux & Krebernik 1998, p. 485.
- ^ a b c Katz 2008, p. 336.
- ^ Schmadel 2003, p. 426.
- ^ a b Verive 2013.
- ^ Fulton 2021.
Bibliography
- Asher-Greve, Julia M.; Westenholz, Joan G. (2013). Goddesses in Context: On Divine Powers, Roles, Relationships and Gender in Mesopotamian Textual and Visual Sources (PDF). ISBN 978-3-7278-1738-0.
- Beaulieu, Paul-Alain (2003). The pantheon of Uruk during the neo-Babylonian period. Leiden Boston: Brill STYX. OCLC 51944564.
- Black, Jeremy (1998). Reading Sumerian Poetry. Athlone Publications in Egyptology & Ancient Near Eastern Studies. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-0-485-93003-0. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
- Cavigneaux, Antoine; Krebernik, Manfred (1998), "dNin-šár", Reallexikon der Assyriologie (in German), retrieved 2022-05-26
- Civil, Miguel (2017) [1964]. "A Hymn to the Beer Goddess and a Drinking Song". Studies in Sumerian Civilization. Selected writings of Miguel Civil. Publicacions i Edicions de la Universitat de Barcelona. OCLC 1193017085.
- Clayden, Tim (2014). "Kassite housing at Ur: the dates of the EM, YC, XNCF, AH and KPS houses". Iraq. 76. Cambridge University Press: 19–64. S2CID 113217437. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
- Fulton, Mariel (2021-06-20). "World's Best Homebrewers Honored at 43rd Annual National Homebrew Competition". Brewers Association. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
- George, Andrew R. (1993). House most high: the temples of ancient Mesopotamia. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns. OCLC 27813103.
- Jursa, Michael (2001). "Göttliche Gärtner? Eine bemerkenswerte Liste". Archiv für Orientforschung. 48/49. Archiv für Orientforschung (AfO)/Institut für Orientalistik: 76–89. JSTOR 41668539. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
- Katz, Dina (2008). "Enki and Ninhursaga, Part Two". Bibliotheca Orientalis. 65 (3). Peeters Publishers: 320–342. ISSN 0006-1913.
- Katz, Solomon H.; Maytag, Fritz; Civil, Miguel (1991). "Brewing an Ancient Beer". Archaeology. 44 (4). Archaeological Institute of America: 24–33. JSTOR 41765984. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
- Krebernik, Manfred (1998), "Nin-kasi und Siraš/Siris", Reallexikon der Assyriologie (in German), retrieved 2022-05-25
- Krebernik, Manfred (2005), "Patindu", Reallexikon der Assyriologie (in German), retrieved 2022-05-25
- Lambert, Wilfred G. (2013). Babylonian creation myths. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns. OCLC 861537250.
- Litke, Richard L. (1998). A reconstruction of the Assyro-Babylonian god lists, AN:dA-nu-um and AN:Anu šá Ameli (PDF). New Haven: Yale Babylonian Collection. OCLC 470337605.
- Peterson, Jeremiah (2009). God lists from Old Babylonian Nippur in the University Museum, Philadelphia. Münster: Ugarit Verlag. OCLC 460044951.
- Sallaberger, Walther (2012). "Bierbrauen in Versen: Eine neue Edition und Interpretation der Ninkasi-Hymne". Altorientalische Studien zu Ehren von Pascal Attinger. Fribourg, Göttingen: Academic Press Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. OCLC 811590755.
- ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
- Such-Gutiérrez, Marcos (2005). "Untersuchungen zum Pantheon von Adab im 3. Jt". Archiv für Orientforschung (in German). 51. Archiv für Orientforschung (AfO)/Institut für Orientalistik: 1–44. JSTOR 41670228. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
- Verive, John (2013-08-16). "Oregon craft brew legend Ninkasi expands, Total Domination is coming". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
- Wiggermann, Frans A. M. (1998), "Niraḫ, Irḫan", Reallexikon der Assyriologie, retrieved 2022-05-26
See also
External links
- Hymn to Ninkasi (Ninkasi A) in the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
- Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird in the ETCSL
- Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave in the ETCSL
- Enki and Ninhursag in the ETCSL