Ningišzida

Ningišzida , also Ningischzida, Ningiszida, Ningizzida ( Sumerian ^D NIN.GIŠ.ZI.DA), was the son of Ninazu, a chthonic god of the underworld, healing and fertility. Depending on the mythology, he was married to Geštinanna , Dumuzi's sister, or to Azimua . Its symbol is accordingly the caduceus and is thus the oldest attested form of this symbolism, which later served other gods such as Hermes , Asclepius but also Moses as an attribute. Accordingly, Ningizzida, like his father Ninazu, was invoked as the god of healing, who made sure that the harmful demons remained in the underworld

Gudea vase from Lagash. Today at the Louvre

Its symbolic animal is the horned snake. Accordingly, his zodiac sign is the Hydra and he is represented on cylinder seals with two horned snakes on his shoulders. The name Ningizzida can be translated as "Lord / Mistress of the good tree", which is why the idea that its symbolism (tree and horned snake) also flowed into the tree of temptation, like the snake in paradise. However, this could not be confirmed perfectly.

According to Temple Hymn 15, his main shrine is in Ǧišbanda . It is described as a deep, dark shrine, but also as a radiant pedestal. The city of Ǧišbanda has not yet been found. The temple of Ningizzida in Girsu , which Gudea had built by Lagaš , is famous . He called Ningizzida his dearest god and even called him his father.

On the foundation nail, Gudea notes: "Gudea, city prince of Lagasch, the servant of the goddess Gatumdug, built his temple in Girsu to Ningizzida, his god."

Ningizzida is not a pure underworld god. In the myth "Adapa and the south wind" he appears together with Dumuzi as the door guard of the god An , who offers Adapa the water of life. And in the lament "Ningizzida's way into the underworld" it becomes clear that the death of Ningizzida is being mourned here. The chthonic properties are confirmed by the An-Anum list of gods.

literature

• Helmut Freydank u. a .: Lexicon of the Old Orient. Egypt * India * China * Western Asia . VMA-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1997, ISBN 3-928127-40-3 .
• Brigitte Groneberg : The gods of the Mesopotamia. Cults, myths, epics . Artemis & Winkler, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-7608-2306-8 .
• FAM Wiggermann: Nin-gišzida . In: Dietz-Otto Edzard u. a. (Ed.): Real Lexicon of Assyriology and Near Eastern Archeology . Volume 9: Nab - Nuzi . de Gruyter, Berlin 1998-2001, ISBN 3-11-017296-8 , pp. 368-373.
• Erich Ebeling: death and life according to the ideas of the Babylonians. de Gruyter, Berlin 1931.
• Gwendolyn Leick: A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology. New York 1998. ISBN 978-0-415-19811-0

Individual evidence

1. ^ Ninḫursanga # Enki and Ninhursaja
2. ↑ Erich Ebeling: Death and life according to the ideas of the Babylonians, p. 129f
3. ^ Gwendolyn Leick: A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology, p 131
4. ^ Jacobsen, Th. (1973) 'Notes on Nintur', Orientalia 42
5. ↑ http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr173.htm

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