Ninlil is Queen of the Gods and wife of Creator God Enlil. A senior matriarch of the Mesopotamian pantheon, Ninlil holds a position of authority. She shares her husband's responsibilities, such as deciding the fate of humankind, and is portrayed as his equal.
See also:
She equates with mother goddess Athirat of Ugarit, and the Semitic Asherah. She's also compared to great goddess Shalash, wife of god king Dagan. Her Assyrian equivalent, in Ashur, is Mullissu.
Her parents are Nisaba, earliest goddess of writing, and her husband Haya, associated with scribes. Haya is also considered a divine accountant and archivist. The first written language is Sumerian cuneiform c. 3400 BCE.
See also:
Children of Enlil and Ninlil are many. They include powerful entities such as Nergal, fearsome Underworld god of war, disease, death, inflicted death; Inanna, dazzling strong-minded goddess of love and war; and Ninurta, the agriculture god who becomes a warrior hero of the people.
Husband Enlil is a God of Creation. He's worshiped as a deity of wind, air, earth and storms. Both Enlil and Ninlil are associated with grains, including selective breeding and other agricultural developments. Worshippers ask for crop success.
See also:
The Sumerian site of Eresh, near Uruk on the Euphrates, is the center of worship for Ninlil and her husband Enlil. Other major cult centers include Sumerian cities Nippur near Babylon; Tummal, near Nippur; and Shuruppak.
At Shuruppak she has the name Sud, goddess of grain and air. It's identified with her elsewhere. Later she appears at Ḫursaĝkalamma near Kish. She's worshiped with goddess Bizilla, a goddess of love and her sukkal in that town.
See also:
In Sumerian literature Ninlil is one of four goddesses called ama, or Mother. The others are Nintur, a birth goddess; Ninsina, a divine physician; and Bau, a goddess of healing. One source attributes the title Divine Merchant to her, a role she shares with Enlil. She's called tamkartum, a rare feminine form of 'merchant'.
Ninlil bears godly witness to oaths. Through connections with other deities, Ninlil also has qualities of healing. A later hymn attests she is ruler of both earth and heaven, and Enlil makes no decision without her.
See also:
Kings from the Third Dynasty of Ur (2193 - 2004 BCE) consider the deific couple Enlil and Ninlil to be the source of earthly royal authority, or bestowal of kingship. The pair are also responsible for giving the gods their special qualities and divine places in the pantheon.
In Mesopotamian astronomy, she's linked to 'the Wagon', corresponding to Ursa Major, and 'the Goat", relating to constellation Lyra. She's also called the Cow, meaning a richly flowing source of abundance.
See also:
Ninlil is incorporated into the Hurrian religion, and assimilated by the Assyrians. The court of Ninlil includes her sukkal Bizilla, her husband Enlil, attendants, throne bearer and a divine counselor.
She's also accompanied by a good udug - in the role of a protective spirit - and her second sukkal, Ninĝidru, described as the divine representation of the Scepter. Ningidru is associated with goddess Ninmena, who embodies the royal crown. As Ninlil is a mother goddess, a few fertility figures might color up her entourage.
See also:
Ninlil's Syrian equivalent is Shalash, wife of the god Dagan. Athirat is her Ugartic equation. She's named Millissu in Assyrian religion and seen as a consort of god king Ashur. She wears a horned headdress, a bovine feature linking her to abundance.
See also: