Ninkasi: Beer Goddess Mesopotamia
- Sylvia Rose
- Apr 22, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Ninkasi is a goddess of beer and brewing in ancient Mesopotamia. She embodies the pleasant, ambrosial and aphrodisiac effects of beer as well as the ravaging destructive side. She's cognate or related to Siris.
With Siris (Siraš) she's worshipped as a courtier of Enlil, father of the Gods. Her main cult center is the ancient Sumerian city Nippur. She may be associated with underworld figures such as prison goddess Nungal and death deity Laṣ, linked to negative effects of drinking.
Ninkasi is connected to beer brewing, process and ingredients. Ancient beer and other alcoholic beverages worldwide are usually made from grains. Barley and emmer wheat are two basics of Mesopotamian beer.
Symbols of Ninkasi include a cup or goblet. She appears in artistic scenes of entertainment and banquets, on libation vessels. She's shown on game boards such as the Royal Game of Ur (c. 2400 BCE); and in hymns or on musical instruments.
Her worship extends back to the Early Dynastic Period c. 2900 - 2350 BCE. Theophoric names invoking Ninkasi in the Early Dynastic and Sargonic (c. 2334 - 2279 BCE) periods include Amar-Ninkasi and Ur-Ninkasi.
The five children of Ninkasi embody terms related to beer, drinking and drunkenness. They are
Meḫuš ("glowing me")
Mekù (or Menkù, "beautiful me" or "beautiful crown")
Ememete (or Menmete, "ornate speech" or "ornate crown")
Kitušgirizal ("magnificent seat")
Nušiligga ("not drying up")
The me or mes are divine decrees basic to Sumerian religious and social institutions. They encompass the morals, technology, human behavior and conditions comprising Mesopotamian civilization and human destiny.
Ninkasi has no spouse or consort, a trait she shares with Siris. Another deity associated with both Siris and Ninkasi is Patindu, a god linked to ritual libation. His name is interpreted to mean "he who makes the stream of wine sweet."
Ninkasi is known as the "brewer of Ekur (mountain house of the gods)." She's equal in rank to Ninimma, the scribe of Enlil; divine butcher Ninšar; and Enlil's snake charmer Ninmada, sometimes a daughter of Ninkasi.
Snakes relate to medicine, poison, underworld, sensuality, prosperity and conquest of fear. These qualities are also connected to beer or drinking. Despite a reference as a "divine barmaid," Ninkasi is not associated with purveyance or sale of beer.
A hymn to Ninkasi is known from the Old Babylonian period (c. 1894 -1595 BCE) A poetic description of the brewing, it depicts the main ingredient ss bappir, a type of bread. Scholars believe bappir refers to sourdough.
References to honey appear in the hymn, but seen as lyric praise of the quality and aroma of beer brewed by Ninkasi. In administrative texts, only barley and emmer wheats are described as beer ingredients.
Honey mead however is known since Neolithic times. The Mesopotamian hero Lugalbanda calls her "the expert woman, who redounds to her mother's credit."
He says her fermenting vat is made of lapis lazuli, and her cask of silver and gold. At one point "the wooden dahaša (a cup or vessel) of Ninkasi" puts him to sleep.
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