Ninsun is a goddess of Mesopotamia, mother of legendary king of Uruk, Gilgamesh. She's revered through the lands as a goddess of wisdom, health, dream interpretation, herds and cow-herds. Her symbol is a wild cow.
READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Adventure
See also:
In the Epic of Gilgamesh she advises the hero and explains his dream. Kings of Uruk adopt her as their sacred mother, making them brother to Gilgamesh and reinforcing their divine connection to the throne.
READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Adventure
Her father is the god Anu, and her mother is the Great Goddess Urash. She's sometimes considered the mother of Dumuzi (Dumuzid), a vegetation god who has to spend half a year in the Underworld Kur.
See also:
Besides Gilgamesh, Ninsun and her husband, deified king Lugalbanda of Uruk, have ten children. The cow herself is a symbol of motherhood, generosity and abundance. She produces milk, butter, cheese and more cows.
Cows are domesticated by c. 8200 BCE, but Homo sapiens is lactose intolerant. Ingesting milk and dairy from cows, sheep and goats, despite the effects, creates a healthier human and a mutant gene. The adaptation permits many people to consume dairy products.
See also:
In society, cattle are a sign of wealth and prosperity. Kings are recorded as giving thousands of cattle as gifts and temple offerings. In the cross-cultural hierarchy of sacrificial animals, the human male is most important, followed by the bull, then cow.
The wild cow is Bos primigenius, or the Aurochs. During the Bronze Age and much later the Aurochs is most widespread wild cattle, which include the gaur (Bos gaurus). A wild variety of cattle, it's still found in hilly country of India, Myanmar and Malay peninsula.
See also:
During the Bronze Age three subspecies of aurochs exist: the Eurasian, Indian and North African aurochs. They inhabit temperate forests and grasslands. Earliest evidence of cattle domestication is the Pre-Pottery Neolithic cultures in the Taurus Mountains.
The earliest known cattle cult is in northwest Arabia dating to c. 6000 BCE. The last Aurochs is killed in 1627 CE. Since then, attempts have been made to genetically reconstruct them.
See also:
The Cosmic Cow is a feature of Egyptian myth and art. She may be the goddess Hathor or primeval deity Nut. She stretches her body across the firmament. The speckles on her belly are the stars and constellations.
READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Adventure
Writings from the Mesopotamian city Lagash refer to Ninsun as a lamma or protector deity goddess. The lamma may be an early incarnation of the guardian angel. Lamma figurines can be worn as protective amulets or placed in the home as domestic protectors.
See also:
The Lamma or lamassu wears a flounced robe and her headdress wrapped with multiple horns is weathered down. She's about 5,000 years old, made of bronze and baked clay. The Lamma are multiple goddesses. As well, certain goddesses are given lamma attributes.
Ninsun is sometimes depicted leading her husband by the wrist, although lamma goddesses usually walk behind those they protect. She's also ascribed the power to bestow a lamma of protection to a king. She's associated with Lammašaga, who's usually the sukkal of Bau.
See also:
In the Epic of Gilgamesh Ninsun welcomes wild man Enkidu into the family. Enkidu lives in the forest and is "civilized" over two weeks by the sacred prostitute Shamhat.
In Old Babylonian texts Ninsun is sometimes equated with Gula, a medicine goddess on the rise. The worship of Gula becomes second only to that of Inanna (Ishtar) in ancient Mesopotamia.
See also:
Throughout the second millennium BCE new gods take root, but worship of Ninsun continues through to the first millennium BCE and later. In Seleucid Uruk (c. 320 BCE), she's celebrated during the New Year's festival of Inanna.
The meeting of Ninsun and her husband Lugalbanda is a myth of the Early Dynastic period (c. 2900 - 2575 BCE). Only one legible copy survives. Ninsun offers beer bread to Lugalbanda, after which she spends the night with him in a mountain house in Elam.
See also:
Upon awaking, she receives a tablet and explains to Lugalbanda they must go to Uruk to meet the ruler. When they arrive, goddess Inanna appears, to explain to Lugalbanda how to approach the father of Ninsun to request her as his wife.
The ending shows a celebration, no doubt the wedding of the two. Some sources suggest the birth of Gilgamesh comes from these incidents.
See also:
Ninsun also plays a role in the Epic of Gilgamesh when she advises her son not to accept the offer of goddess Inanna to be her consort. The result is that Inanna wheedles the Bull of Heaven from her father and sends it to kill Gilgamesh.
Associated with dream interpretation, Ninsun helps Gilgamesh understand his dreams foretelling the appearance of Enkidu, whom he doesn't yet know. Ninsun prophesizes a great friendship between them. References suggest they are more than friends.
See also:
Ninsun prays to sun god Shamash and his wife Aya, goddess of the dawn, to help Gilgamesh in his travels. She convinces Shamash to give Gilgamesh thirteen winds to help him on his way the great cedar forest of Humbaba.
At one point, she admits he's destined to dwell in the Underworld alongside deities such as Ningishzida, a vegetation god, and Irnina, personification of victory. Ninsun holds Sun God Shamash responsible for Gilgamesh's planned journey and expects Shamash to help him.
See also:
In the later Old Babylonian version, Gilgamesh prays to Shamash himself, without the intercession of his mother. Neither Ninsun nor dream sequences appear in the Hittite translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh, known from Hattusa.
As with any other deity, worship waxes and wanes. Ninsun has been characterized as a well-known goddess in all periods. Her qualities as benevolent creator appeal to women. She's among the medicine or protector deities invoked in pregnancy, childbirth and infancy.
See also:
The spiritual milk of the Cow Goddess can nourish a nation. Major industries spring up around all she produces. Even the faerie folk love milk. She is the true originator of the milk of human kindness.
See also: