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The Mesopotamian mother goddess is known under many names, the most prominent of which is the Sumerian name Nintud/Nintur. Other frequent names are Ninmah and Belet-ili. She was in charge of pregnancy and birth and, especially in earlier periods, appears as the creator of humankind.
Boundary stone (kudurru) of the Kassite ruler Melishipak (r. 11861172 BCE) at the Louvre Museum,
showing in the top right corner an inverted thought to be a symbol of the mother goddess. Sb 22. (c) RMN.
Functions
A recent and comprehensive study of the mother goddess(es) in ancient Mesopotamia is still lacking. Black and Green (1998: 132) already pointed out that the terms 'mother goddess' and 'fertility goddess' are problematic since many goddesses could at times include these aspects. Because the functions of the three goddesses mentioned here overlap significantly, the three goddesses Nintur, Ninmah, and Belet-ili are treated in one article. For other names of the 'mother goddess' see Krebernik (1993-98a: 503-7). The term 'mother goddess' is retained here as a matter of convenience. In the third and second millennium BCE, the mother goddess was in high standing within the divine hierarchy of gods, as for example in the Lamentation over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur (ETCSL 2.3.3, line 55; Michalowski 1989: 39) or in the Lament over Nibru (ETCSL 2.3.4, line 237; Tinney 1996: 115), where she is mentioned together with the highest gods of the Mesopotamian pantheon, An, Enlil, and Enki. In the course of the second millennium BCE this situation changes and the goddess loses some of her high standing in favour of the healing goddess Gula and the goddess of love and war, Itar (Krebernik 1993-98a: 512). One of her main functions was associated with pregnancy and childbirth. She guides children when they are still in the womb and feeds them after they have been born (Stol 2000: 80). The mother goddess also appears as the creator of humankind. In the Akkadian myth of Atrahasis, the Mesopotamian flood story, Nintur created humankind by mixing clay with blood of a slain god (Lambert and Millard 1969: 57-61), and in the Sumerian tale of Enki and Ninmah (ETCSL 1.1.2) the two deities compete by creating various creatures out of clay, resulting ultimately in the creation of humans. The clay is said to come from the top of the abzu TT , the cosmic underground waters. In her role as the creator of humankind she is eventually replaced by the god Enki/Ea, as visible in Enma eli TT (tablet VI, lines 32-36). Frymer-Kensky (1992: 70-80) referred to the diminishing importance of goddesses even in primarily female functions, such as creation, as the "marginalization of goddesses".
Cult Place(s)
The main city where the mother goddess was worshipped is the city of Ke (not Ki), which has not been located yet (for possible locations and further literature see Edzard 1976-80b: 573). It has been suggested that Ke was the sacred district of the city of Urusagrig (Irisagrig), close to Adab (Wilcke 1972: 55). An inscription of the Neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus indicates that Ke was still in existence in the first millennium (Foster 1983). Other major cities where her cult is attested are: Adab, Assur, Babylon, Laga, Larsa, Malgium, Mari, Nippur, Sippar-Aruru, Susa, Umma, and Ur (Krebernik 1993-98a: 511-2). For evidence of worship of Ninhursaa see Heimpel 1998-2001b.
Iconography
In Mesopotamian iconography, the mother goddess is represented by the sign, which is thought to represent a uterus (Seidl 1993-98). Sometimes the sign is accompanied by a knife, which is interpreted as the tool that is used to cut the umbilical cord after birth. Specific anthropomorphic representations of the mother goddess are difficult to distinguish from depictions of other goddesses (Seidl ibid.). The so-called Gttertypentext (Stol 2000: 80) contains a passage describing the looks of the mother goddess.