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NinurtaByKatolophyromai

Ninurta, also known as Ninĝirsu, was the ancient Mesopotamian god and Babylonian god of war, hunting, agriculture, exorcism and the planet Saturn. He was the son of Enlil and either Ninlil or Ninhursag, and the consort of Nintinugga.

Myths[]

Anzû-myth[]

In the myth Anzû and the Tablet of Destinies, Ninurta pursues the monstrous Anzû-bird, a former servant of the head-god Enlil, steals the powerful Tablets of Destiny, the head of the Sumerian pantheon, which causes chaos in the world: the rivers dry up and the gods themselves loose their powers.

Several gods are sent to retrieve the tablets, among them Adad, the god of the storms, Gerra, the god fire and Shara, a minor god of war, but all of them fail. Ea eventually decides that Ninurta should be sent to battle the Anzû-bird.

The Anzû-bird managed to originally avoid Ninurta's attacks. Using the Tablets of Destiny, the monster managed to turn time back and undo the weapons of the god: shafts turned back into canebrake, the feathers back into living birds, the arrowheads returned to the quarry, bow returned to the forest and the wool bowstring turned into a living sheep.

Eventually Ninurta managed to kill the Anzû-bird by ripping it's wings of with the help of the South Wind. When the bird tried to regenate himself by summoning his feather back, he also summoned Ninurta's arrows, injuring the creatrure. Ninurta takes the tablets then manages to kill Anzû by slitting it's throat. The god, now possessing the Tablets of Destiny, returns to court of the gods and is rewarded with a higher position within the pantheon

Zu-buru-dabbeda[]

Ninurta (alongside Marduk and Adad) mentioned in Zu-buru-dabbeda, a text filled with spells to protect the crop fields from pests like locusts, grasshoppers, insect larvae, and weevils (who are considered subjects of the god Ninkilim:

Accept, O East Wind that averts [storm-damage!] Eat the tasty food, drink [the sweet liquid!] Get rid of the great dogs of [Ninkilim,] locusts whose mouths are a Deluge, [a tempest,] mice whose mouths are a Deluge, [a tempest!] Come [around] to this plot of farmland and lead them [away . . . !] Seize them by the hand, [take them away! Take them off ] to the latch of the heavens! Roast them, [ . . . them!] By command of Marduk, [lord of exorcism,] by command of Adad, [king of plenty,] by command of Ninurta, foremost one of E-kur!

Pop Culture[]

  • In the Chronicles of the Nephilim, a fantasy book series by Brian Godawa, Ninurta is one of the forms by the fallen watcher Gadreel, who was also known as Marduk and Baal.
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