Ninurta
| 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, Mercury |
| Symbol | Plow and perched bird |
| Mount | Beast with the body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion |
| Parents | Enlil and Ninhursag As Urash, An |
| Consort | As Ninurta: Gula As Ninĝirsu: Bau |
| Equivalents | |
| Greek | Cronus |
| Caananite | Attar |
| Eblaite | Aštabi |
| Roman | Saturn |
Ninurta (Sumerian: 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒅁: DNIN.URTA, possible meaning "Lord [of] Barley"), also known as Ninĝirsu (Sumerian: 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒄈𒋢: DNIN.ĜIR2.SU, 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 his earliest depictions, he is a god of agriculture and of healing with the power to cure illness and to exorcise demons. As Mesopotamia grew more militarized, Ninurta became a warrior deity, though he retained many of his earlier agricultural attributes. In Babylonian astrology, Ninurta was associated with the planet Saturn.
Ninurta was regarded as the son of the chief god Enlil and his main cult center in Sumer was the Eshumesha temple in Nippur. As Ninĝirsu, Ninurta was honored by King Gudea of Lagash (r. 2144–2124 BC). Later, Ninurta was revered as a formidable warrior by the Assyrians. The Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883–859 BC) had a large temple built for Ninurta at Kalhu which became the god's most important cult center.
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. 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.
It has been suggested that Ninurta was the inspiration for the figure of Nimrod, a "mighty hunter" who is mentioned in association with Kalhu in the Book of Genesis, although the view has been disputed.