Talk:Ninhursag

8 referenses for the name, seriously?

References are good, but 8 for the name only? Why bother? Does the name even need a reference? And Ninkharsag is a spelling of the name I've yet to see, and I'm an assyriology student. This article does indeed need a lot of work, but, I just don't know what I should do by looking at it! The first thing I see is 8 referenses for the name, and then just 2 more in the rest of the article... Aa ili'a! --130.243.187.211 (talk) 23:12, 27 April 2012 (UTC)

Needs work

This article needs considerable work. -- Zoe is ninhursag also ninlil/nilina/mylita.they are both described as mother of nergal.is she also ereskigal.they both married nergal.this would make her sister of ishtar.[jonny]

Replete with errors, especially names and cult center identifications. For example, the main lemma should be Ninhursaĝa Lady of the Mountain Range, i.e. the low mountains to the east of Mesopotamia, which is a genitive form: nin-hursaĝ-ak with regular deletion of the final /k/. Cf. Enki's consort Damgalnuna < dam-gal-nun-ak Great Spouse of the Prince (i.e. Enki). Damgalnuna is the normal consort of Sumerian Enki. Her Akkadian name is Damkina, consort of the Akkadian god Ea. Careful use of Prof. Jeremy Black's book cited in reference number 10 would do wonders.Dubsarmah (talk) 14:08, 24 July 2019 (UTC)

Information

Ninhursag means : queen of the mountains.
Ninmah means : the exalted lady.
Nintu means : the lady who gave birth.
source : http://www.faqs.org/faqs/mythology/assyrbabyl-faq/

Nin does not mean queen, but rather "Lady" or "Woman" Ninkur whould be lady of the mountain, Ninhursag means "Lady of the Sacred Mountain" (The Kur was the mound of Eridu!)John D. Croft 16:30, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

The sign NIN has two readings, one plain old nin, which does mean (as you say) lady (as the equivalent of lord, not as a genteel woman), but the second reading, eresh, does indeed mean queen. So, for example, the Netherworld ruling deity Ereshkigal is actually spelled with the signs NIN-KI-GAL. Such ambiguity, naturally, affords a lot of interpretive space. However, if someone wants to read NIN as queen, then they have to transliterate it eresh. Thus, if Ninhursag were to be taken as meaning Queen of the Mountain Range, the name would have to be read Ereshhursag, which no scholar has ever done, or ever argued for. Also, hursag is a compound; both signs together mean mountain, or perhaps mountain range. In any case, it's a smaller mountain than a kur. Halloran (Sumerian Lexicon) takes it as hill-country, mountainous region. -Mother of Otherness 08:22, 7 August 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mother of Otherness (talk • contribs)

Contradicts itself

The article seems to contradict itself. It says that Ninhursag is also Ki, but that Ninhursag is Ki's daughter. Can someone clarify this? —Lowellian (talk) 06:26, August 9, 2005 (UTC)

I axed that sentence as I couldn't make it out even without its external contradictions. If the original contributor wishes to add it back I have no problem, but they may want to word that section differently. 68.39.174.238 02:26, 19 October 2005 (UTC)

The religion contradicts itself many times. Being a religion that lasted for 3000, perhaps more back in the past, years in various city states the pantheon and the relationship between the gods tended to shift from place to place and time to time. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.243.187.211 (talk) 23:09, 27 April 2012 (UTC)

Not Enki's Wife

I thought Ninhursag was NOT Enki's/Ea's wife, but his Maitresse. They brought forth Ninti (who is believed to be Eve). Enki was officially married with Ninki/Damkina, and they brought forth Marduk. Ki was a name of Ninhursag, which means earth/life and is found later in the asian Khi and Chi (power of life) and Ninhursag means so much as the first mother or mothergoddess. Ninhursag was also Enlil's maitresse at a later time, and they brought forth Ninurta/Ningirsu. Enlil was officially Ninlil's husband. (okdewit@gmail.com)

Damkina is a shortened Akkadian form of Damgulnana, "Great spouse of heaven" which WAS a name given to Ninhursag. So Ninhursag was Enki's wife (She shared the sacred Kur with him, as she, like Enki, had a temple at Eridu).John D. Croft 16:27, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

her mother nammu was originally called ki, and her grand mother before that[kishar].ki may be an inherited title.[jonny] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.66.20.58 (talk) 07:09, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Another contradiction

"In Sumerian mythology, Ninhursag (NIN.ḪURSAG 𒊩𒌆𒉺𒂅) was the earth and mother goddess"

"Temple hymn sources identify her as the 'true and great lady of heaven'"

How can the Earth goddess be the Lady of Sky? 86.12.4.23 (talk) 11:53, 2 October 2010 (UTC) anto

Because she married him? --dab (𒁳) 09:47, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

Interestingly enough, Ninhursag is never described in Sumerian texts as Ki (earth). She is however spoken of as Lady of Heaven. Also the goddess Anat (who came later) was called “Lady of the Mountain” like Ninhursag, while she has “An” (Heaven) in her name. It‘s pretty clear that someone simply assumed that Ninhursag was an earth goddess, yet actual Sumerian writings say otherwise. NC360 (talk) 19:53, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

And, in Sumerian, a vowel is added to her name, making it "Ninhursaga". Bombadil.Esquire (talk) 02:54, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

Mami Merge

Can I get support to take this tag off. Whoever put this on may well suggest that the Jesus page is merged with Mohammed next and they shouldn't be encouraged. Paul Bedson (talk) 01:06, 10 March 2011 (UTC)

Plagiarism

I have found a site that is the exact same as this one. If any wikipedia administrators are reading this, or you can tell someone about it go to this site. http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Ninhursag.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cwerry1 (talk • contribs) 21:56, 17 October 2014 (UTC)

@Cwerry1: Thanks, but if you go to the bottom of that page and click on 'full article', it takes you here. They also make it clear where that page comes from by putting "The article content of this page came from Wikipedia and is governed by CC-BY-SA." at the bottom of the article which fullfills all the copyright obligations. Dougweller (talk) 11:47, 19 October 2014 (UTC)

It might be possible Ninhursag might actually be something like a honorary title like "Bel"

Through my deep research of web-articles, and online books I noticed many specific goddesses have this alternative Name/Title, and even Ishtar has this name at one point. I've come to some kind of understanding that Ninhursag that was originally a goddess that eventually turned into nothing more than a Honorary title bestowed upon Earth/Healing/Mother type goddesses within Mesopotamia. This is pretty similar to Bel and it's variants which at one point was a god itself, but used as a honorary title for specific gods.

I wanted to point this out because it seems to make more sense in the grand scheme of things, but if I'm wrong then I tried my best figuring it out. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.11.51.217 (talk) 19:34, 22 October 2015 (UTC)

Adding personal opinions to article

It is okay to cite an opposing or different opinion from another scholar to contrast one presented in the article. It is not okay to add your own opinion or an unsourced opinion. Please CITE your additions. Skyerise (talk) 23:31, 27 June 2021 (UTC)

Infobox

I've recently had a discussion with Skyerise regarding what should and shouldn't be included in Ninhursag's infobox. We could not reach a consensus, so we agreed that it would be better to discuss it here to see what other editors think. The discussion concerns whether or not infoboxes should contain additional details on things such as familial relationship. To illustrate, here's how they prefer the infobox to be:

Ninhursag 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒄯𒊕
Mother goddess, goddess of fertility, mountains, and rulers
Akkadian cylinder seal impression depicting a vegetation goddess, possibly Ninhursag, sitting on a throne surrounded by worshippers (circa 2350-2150 BC)
Symbol	Omega-like symbol
Genealogy
Siblings	Enlil
Consort	Šulpae Enki Enlil
Children	Ashgi, Panigingarra, Lisin, and Lillu (with Šulpae) Egime Ninurta

Their preference is for the infobox to not contain any additional information beyond simply listing the names of the consorts and children, with, at most, a footnote attached linking to the details contained in the article body. Whereas here's how I prefer for it to be:

Ninhursag 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒄯𒊕
Mother goddess, goddess of fertility, mountains, and rulers
Akkadian cylinder seal impression depicting a vegetation goddess, possibly Ninhursag, sitting on a throne surrounded by worshippers (circa 2350-2150 BC)
Symbol	Omega-like symbol
Genealogy
Siblings	Enlil
Consort	Šulpae Enki (only in Enki and Ninhursag through syncretism with Damgalnuna) Enlil (only in Lagash and other early traditions)
Children	Ashgi, Panigingarra, Lisin, and Lillu (with Šulpae) Egime (implicitly, following the genealogy of Ashgi) Ninurta (only in Lagash and other early traditions)

Citations are optional, since they'll be present in the article body anyway, but I believe the added context in the parentheses is fundamentally important information. I believe it should be possible for a reader to, at a glance, be able to understand that Šulpae was widely regarded as Ninhursag's consort throughout most of Mesopotamian history, while Enki and Enlil were only attested as such in isolated traditions. Simply listing their names without context makes the infobox somewhat misleading, as it could just as easily imply that the three might have been her consorts simultaneously, or sequentially, which was not remotely true. It should be noted that most articles I've recently read seem to more closely mirror the style I prefer, usually clarifying divergent traditions within the infobox rather than just listing the names. I wish to know what others think on the matter, and which style they prefer. The Wikia Editor (talk) 23:39, 30 March 2023 (UTC)

I support @The Wikia Editor's idea. I would just switch Enlil and Enki around, as the latter is by far the least important of the three gods who ought to be brought up in this context, with the connection effectively limited to one literary text with limited, if any, link to actual worship. I think "Lagash and other early traditions" is a bit ambiguous but I cannot think of a better way to phrase it, especially when a lot of the relevant attestations seem to be implicit (ex. the use of Ninhursag's name as a logogram to designate Dagan's spouse in Mari gets counted as evidence of the pairing of Enlil and Ninhursag in some unspecified location the Mari scribes were presumably in contact with).

If the notes regarding Enki and Enlil cannot be added to the infobox, in my opinion both should be removed altogether from the section, with only Šulpae left, as it will be closer to accurately reflecting the modern consensus regarding primary sources. HaniwaEnthusiast (talk) 22:07, 30 March 2023 (UTC)

A further small addition: obviously the information should also be in the article itself, though; rn all three partners are mentioned, and the sources given are credible, but the section definitely could be expanded to be more precise. Much like the lead, the infobox should pretty much just summarize the contents of the article. I presume it is safe to say this is something The Wikia Editor can handle, though, since they clearly are familiar with the consensus on the matter, so this has no bearing on my support for the proposal. HaniwaEnthusiast (talk) 22:15, 30 March 2023 (UTC)

Thank you very much for your support @HaniwaEnthusiast. If no one objects by tomorrow, then I'll alter the infobox, and I'll also add your suggestion of switching around Enlil and Enki. The article as a whole should also be reworked, since it currently treats Damgalnuna and Aruru as though they're the same as Ninhursag. The Wikia Editor (talk) 18:47, 1 April 2023 (UTC)

Ninhursag's children

Why are Ninhursag's children from the story Enki and Ninhursag not listed in this article? They are Ninsar, Ab-u, Ninsikila, Ningiriudu, Ninkasi, Nazi, Azimua, Ninti and Ensag. 58.105.78.220 (talk) 14:38, 14 November 2023 (UTC)

Tell al-'Ubaid

While rebooting the Tell al-'Ubaid article I noted that the excavators declared it a cult site of Ninhursag, based on some inscriptions and a foundation tablet and that the name was probably Nutur. No idea but I thought to mention it here. Ploversegg (talk) 18:32, 28 November 2024 (UTC)