Ninisina

deity earth dogs single tradition · 8

Ninisina is a medicine goddess. Bau came to be associated, and partially syncretised, with Ninisina, most likely for political reasons.

↻ synthesized from 8 sources

When

First attested
3000 BCE
Attested period
-3000 – 0
Historical notes
Attested from the early third millennium BCE through the Old Babylonian period.

Relationships

syncretized with
Gula, Nintinugga, Ninkarrak, Bau, Gatumdug, Inanna
parent of
Damu, Gunura, Šumaḫ
consort of
Pabilsag
served by
Šumaḫ
child of
Anu, Urash
allied with
Dagan, Išḫara
equivalent to
Meme

Expand to full subgraph →

Sources

Source passages

“A degree of syncretism occurred between Bau and Ninisina, and the former is explained as the name of the latter used in Girsu in the composition Ninisina and the Gods. A hymn composed on behalf of Ishme-Dagan describes Bau with epithets which normally belonged to Ninisina.”

#10914 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“In an early example of a syncretic hymn, the Old Babylonian composition Ninisina and the gods (Ninisina F in the ETCSL), Gatumdug is instead equated with the eponymous goddess.”

#11010 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“Gula, later a distinct goddess, was possibly initially an epithet of Ninisina, as references to Ninisina-gula ("Ninisina, the great") occur in Neo-Sumerian (Ur III) sources and in a hymn from the reign of Ishbi-Erra. Gula's name could be used as a translation of Ninisina's in Akkadian versions of Sumerian compositions”

#11315 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“Incantations indicate that the medicine goddess Ninisina was invoked to counter Namtar's influence. The same function was also attributed to Asalluhi.”

#13576 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“The pairing of Zababa with Bau reflects a broader archetypal pattern of couples consisting of a warrior god and a medicine goddess. Examples include Ningirsu and Bau, Ninisina and Pabilsaĝ, and Ninurta and Ninnibru.”

#34085 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5