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Updated: June 18, 2025
From the manner in which she is associated with Nin-girsu, aiding the latter in guarding his temple E-ninnu, and uniting with the god in granting the sceptre to Gudea, one is tempted to conclude that the two towns, Girsu and Ninâ, were amalgamated before their absorption into Lagash, so that the god and goddess acquired the relationship to one another of husband and consort.
One of these is the zikkurat to Nin-girsu at Lagash, which Gudea describes as 'the house of seven divisions of the world'; the other, the tower at Uruk, which bore the name 'house of seven zones. The reference in both cases is, as Jensen has shown, to the seven concentric zones into which the earth was divided by the Babylonians.
The transference of the quality of 'brilliancy' from the town to the goddess would be expressed by calling the latter the offspring of that part of visible nature which is associated in the mind with 'brilliancy. Somewhat mysterious, and still awaiting a satisfactory explanation, is the title 'sacrificer, or 'priest of Anu, which one of the rulers of Lagash, Ur-Nin-girsu, assumes.
Hence his temple is called the 'mountain house. From being regarded as the inhabitant of the mountain, he comes to be identified with the mountain itself. The latter calls the goddess 'the mother of the gods, which further establishes her identity with the consort of Bel. Entemena, another governor of Lagash, places his domain under the protection of Nin-khar-sag.
At Lagash De Sarzec found, besides cones, a large number of copper statuettes of gods and goddesses and of animals, chiefly bulls, all terminating in a sharp point or attached to a cone-shaped object. Others again are clearly human figures, either male personages holding the cone in their hands, or females holding baskets on their heads, the customary attitude of making an offering.
We may indeed go further and assume that Girsu and Uru-azagga are the two oldest quarters of the city, the combination of the two representing the first natural steps in the development of the principality, afterwards known as Lagash, through the addition of other quarters . She is indeed explicitly called the consort of Nin-girsu; and this relation is implied also, in the interesting phrase used by Gudea, who presents gifts to Bau in the name of Nin-girsu, and calls them 'marriage gifts'. It is interesting to find, at this early period, the evidence for the custom that still prevails in the Orient, which makes the gifts of the bridegroom to his chosen one, an indispensable formality.
One of the rulers of Lagash has embodied the name of the goddess in his name, calling himself Ur-Bau. It is natural, therefore, to find him more especially devoted to the worship of this deity. He does not tire of singing her praises, and of speaking of the temple he erected in her honor.
The worship at Nippur, however, remained most prominent. Nin-girsu. In the inscriptions of Gudea and of his time, the god most prominently mentioned is the "Lord of Girsu." Girsu itself, as the inscriptions show, is one of the four sections into which the capitol city of Lagash was divided.
His view is plausible, but it still remains to be proved. The Telloh tablets appear to be largely lists of offerings made to the temples at Lagash, and temple accounts. Our knowledge of the documents of this period is due chiefly to Strassmaier and Meissner. At times under rather curious forms, e.g., Shush-sha; Strassmaier, Warka, no. 30, l. 21. Meissner, no. 42.
Whether at this time, Sumer and Akkad included the whole of Babylonia, or, as seems more likely, only the southern part, in either case, Lagash would fall under the jurisdiction of these kings, if their title is to be regarded as more than an empty boast.
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