Ninurta Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Ninurta 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒅁
God of agriculture, hunting, and war
Assyrian stone relief from the temple of Ninurta at Kalhu, showing the god with his thunderbolts pursuing Anzû, who has stolen the Tablet of Destinies from Enlil's sanctuary (Austen Henry Layard Monuments of Nineveh, 2nd Series, 1853)
Abode	Eshumesha temple in Nippur Later Kalhu, during Assyrian times
Planet	Saturn
Symbol	Plow and perched bird
Mount	Sometimes shown riding a beast with the body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion
Consort	As Ninurta: Gula As Ninĝirsu: Bau
Parents	Usually Enlil and Ninhursag, but sometimes Enlil and Ninlil

Ninurta, also known as Ninĝirsu (meaning “Lord of Girsu”), is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with farming, healing, hunting, law, scribes, and war who was first worshipped in early Sumer. In the earliest records, he is a god of agriculture and healing, who releases humans from sickness and the power of demons. In later times, as Mesopotamia grew more militarized, he became a warrior deity, though he retained many of his earlier agricultural attributes. He was regarded as the son of the chief god Enlil and his main cult center in Sumer was the Eshumesha temple in Nippur. Ninĝirsu was honored by King Gudea of Lagash (ruled 2144–2124 BC), who rebuilt Ninĝirsu's temple in Lagash.

Later, Ninurta became beloved by the Assyrians as a formidable warrior. The Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (ruled 883–859 BC) built a massive temple for him at Kalhu, which became his most important cult center from then on. After the fall of the Assyrian Empire, Ninurta's statues were torn down and his temples abandoned because he had become too closely associated with the Assyrian regime, which many conquered peoples saw as tyrannical and oppressive.

In the epic poem Lugal-e, Ninurta slays the demon Asag using his talking mace Sharur and uses stones to build the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to make them useful for irrigation. In a poem sometimes referred to as the "Sumerian Georgica", Ninurta provides agricultural advice to farmers. In an Akkadian myth, he was the champion of the gods against the Anzû bird after it stole the Tablet of Destinies from his father Enlil and, in a myth that is alluded to in many works but never fully preserved, he killed a group of warriors known as the "Slain Heroes". His major symbols were a perched bird and a plow.

Ninurta may have been the inspiration for the figure of Nimrod, a "mighty hunter" who is mentioned in association with Kalhu in the Book of Genesis. Conversely, and more conventionally, the mythological Ninurta may have been inspired by a historical person, such as the biblical Nimrod purports to be. He may also be mentioned in the Second Book of Kings under the name Nisroch. In the nineteenth century, Assyrian stone reliefs of winged, eagle-headed figures from the temple of Ninurta at Kalhu were commonly identified as "Nisrochs" and they appear in works of fantasy literature from the time period.

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Gudea dedication tablet to God Ningirsu: "For Ningirsu, Enlil's mighty warrior, his Master; Gudea, ensi of Lagash"
The Gudea cylinders, dating to c. 2125 BC, describe how King Gudea of Lagash rebuilt the temple of Ninĝirsu in Lagash as the result of a dream in which he was instructed to do so
1853 restoration of what the city of Kalhu, Ninurta's main cult center in the Assyrian Empire, might have originally looked like, based on the excavations of the British archaeologist Austen Henry Layard there in the 1840s
Male figure in an Assyrian winged sun emblem from the Northwest Palace at Kalhu; some authors have speculated that this figure may be Ninurta, but most scholars reject this assertion as unfounded
Limestone bust of a goddess from Girsu, possibly Ninurta's consort Bau, wearing a horned cap
Ninurta with his thunderbolts pursues Anzû, who has stolen the Tablet of Destinies from Enlil's sanctuary (Austen Henry Layard Monuments of Nineveh, 2nd Series, 1853)
Sumerian cylinder seal impression dating to c. 3200 BC showing an ensi and his acolyte feeding a sacred herd; Ninurta was an agricultural deity and, in a poem known as the "Sumerian Georgica", he offers detailed advice on farming
Nimrod (1832) by David Scott. Nimrod, the "great hunter" mentioned in Genesis 10:8–12, is believed by many scholars to be inspired by either Ninurta himself or the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I, named after him
Stone relief carving of an eagle-headed genius from the temple of Ninurta at Kalhu; such depictions were widely, but erroneously, identified as Ninurta in the nineteenth century and were popularly known as "Nisrochs"

Ninurta facts for kids

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