Bau is a Mesopotamian goddess associated with healing and health, medicine, protection, personal guidance or guardianship. She's tutelary goddess of the Sumerian city Girsu by c. 4000 BCE, and later Lagash and Kish, Babylonia, as well.
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Her father is the god Anu, the oldest of the Gods, born of the primal seas. Her goddess mother Abba is poorly documented. Initially, Bau is a life-giving goddess associated with creation.
She retains that aspect as she moves into the healing sphere during the 3-2nd millennium BCE. Her symbol in art is a vase with flowing streams of water. Bau is often called upon to mediate with deities on behalf of worshippers. She's known as a divine midwife.
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After the Old Babylonian Period (1894 - 1595 BCE) Bau becomes the wife of Zababa, a war deity and the tutelary god of Kish. The ancient Sumerian city of Kish is located in the Babylonian Empire, about the center of today's Iraq.
Bau's sukkal is Mesopotamian goddess Lammašaga (Lamashaga) meaning "the good spirit". Lamashaga belongs to the Lamma, a class of protective deities.
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They're associated with the portal protector statues Lammassu, colossal human-headed bull eagles of Assyria. Lamma can refer to the class of deities, or as the given name for an individual spirit of that class.
Along with Bau, Lammašaga is worshipped in Girsu and Lagash, a center just north of the Tigris-Euphrates river junction in the heart of Babylonia. Beyond her esteemed sukkal status Lammashaga has various attributes.
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A medicine goddess, Lammašaga can form a triad with Bau and Gula. The goddesses might be invoked in incantations against evil spirits and demons such as Lamashtu, especially during pregancy and childbirth, but for any disease or ailment.
Skilled in the medical arts, Ninisina is also considered a divine physician or midwife. She has the power to exorcise various demons and banish their evil. Disease demons such as Asag and his henchmen can cause a whole household to die.
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An astronomical text states the star Lamma corresponds to the sukkal of Bau, to be identified with Lammašaga. The same astral body is associated with Urmašum, the sukkal of Gula. The star is thought to be Vega.
Developing to an influential medicine goddess, Bau may appear with Gula, whose popularity as a supreme goddess of healing burgeons in the 2nd and first millennia. Gula is linked to dogs. Canine figurines are common votive offerings to her.
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Bau's husband Ningirsu, also called Ninurta, is Gula's husband too. Gula and Bau may be equated, or appear as a divine dyad. They are not seen as one entity, retaining their personal characteristics.
In the ancient world medicines are usually plant-based such as healing herbs, potions, ointments and oils, or spiritually based such as an exorcism of the demon causing the illness. Chemistry doesn't enter medicine until the late Renaissance period. It's built upon preceding studies in alchemy.
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Healing plants grow naturally in the forests and fields. Trade introduces new species. Local healing plants and herbs include chamomile, nettle, plantain, blackseed and on the Mediterranean, rosemary. Mushrooms such as fly agaric, widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, might also be used medicinally.
Praises of many kings appear in inscriptions to Bau from the joint cities of Lagash and Girsu. King Uru'inimgina in the 24th century BCE calls her 'divine mother'. Some stories say it was she who gave Gula her healing powers. This is in keeping with the character of local tutelary deities.
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Bau is associated more with domestic and plant-based healing than official medical practices. She isn't affiliated with dogs, unlike other goddesses of medicine, but has strong connections to birth and midwifery.
She may appear with Gula in the birthing chamber of the mother to help protect mother and child from the evil of life-snatching demons. Small figurines or statuettes representing Bau are placed in the house, nursery or bedroom.
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According to a praise hymn of the late 20th century BCE, Bau is instrumental in the safe delivery of the child of Queen Kaubum. Bau is described as 'merciful mother' and also seen as a goddess of abundance.
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