Urash (Uraš) Primal Queen of the Gods
- Sylvia Rose
- Jan 14, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 30
Urash (Uraš) is an ancient Mesopotamian earth goddess and wife of Anu, sky god and oldest deity. Anu has two other consorts, different aspects of the same divinity. They're thought to first emerge as a triple goddess.
The title Queen of the Gods is usually taken by the wife of the Sky God or King of the Gods. In Mesopotamia Queen of the Gods also applies to Ninhursag, the great mountain mother, even though her consort is the demon warrior Shulpae.
The name Urash is sometimes interchangeable with that of Ninhursag. Urash is later seen as equivalent to Hera, Greek Queen of the Gods, and similar deities such as the Roman Juno and Norse Frigg.
Urash is considered a very ancient goddess, Anu's other wives Antu (Akkadian) and Ki (Sumerian) are equated with her or aspects of one. The origin of Urash's name is thought to be either Akkadian or Sumerian.
With Anu she has several children who go on to distinguish themselves, for better or worse, in the growing pantheon of the ancient world. Little does Anu know some will one day rise up against the dominant ideology and overthrow him.
They include:
Ishkur - storm god cognate with Hadad
Ishtaran - local god and divine judge
Ninisina - medicine goddess, tutelary deity of Isin
Ninkarrak - divine physician medicine goddess
... and possibly Enki, Geshtinanna, Lugalbanda and Ninsun. In one famous story Geshtinanna is sister to Dumuzid, agriculture god, who ends up in Kur for half the year. In this case she's a child of Enki and Duttur, Dumuzi's parents. Lugalbanda is alternately known as Ninun's consort.
Urash may have a temple in Nippur, central Mesopotamia. Nippur is home to major deities of the pantheon. Signs of her worship are found from the 22nd century BCE. She's often given offerings together with Anu.
Urash is the Earth, associated with fertility and rebirth, the female principle and the Underworld. Fertility deities have some ties to the Underworld and Urash also represents the place all mortals must go.
Mesopotamians don't usually practice cremation. Bodies are buried, thus the earth holds a complex symbolism, being a place of both life and death.
Urash is also the name of a male god of agriculture in Dilbat on the west bank of the Euphrates. It's not known if there's a connection. In some myths Urash is seen as an ancestor of Enlil, numbered among the Enki-Ninki primordial deities.
The Enki-Ninki are similar to the Old Gods of Hurrian myth and literature. These primeval deities are banished permanently to the Underworld by the younger gods but Urash and her equivalents Antu and Ki are not.
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