Ninurta

The Sumerian name Ninurta is retained in ETCSL translations. The connection with Ninĝirsu appears in variants of the exploits poem, where one manuscript uses Ninĝirsu in a place where others read Ninurta.

Ninurta’s exploits, Sumerian composition preserved in manuscripts of different dates. A long poem about the conflict with Asag, the distribution of water, and the fates of stones.

Šar-ur announces danger in the mountains. Ninurta’s exploits opens with praise of Enlil’s son, seated in his place of honor. The weapon Šar-ur looks toward the mountains and begins to speak.

The poems place Ninurta in the setting of Nibru, the Sumerian name for Nippur. The return mentions Enlil’s E-kur, the reception by Nuska, and the hero’s entry into the E-šu-me-ša.

The mace Šar-ur has speech and mobility in the exploits poem. The return depicts chariot and trophies as literary images of the victor.

War and farming. The poem links the defeat of Asag to control of water and recovery of harvests. Calling Ninurta an agricultural god has a basis in this text, but omitting the preceding destruction would erase the narra…

ORACC’s academic project on ancient Kalhu describes Ninurta’s later importance to Assyrian ideology of victory. This evidence of historical reception belongs to a different context from the Sumerian songs.

The weapon Šar-ur itself informs Ninurta about Asag’s ambitions and carries messages between him and Enlil. In the return song, Nuska meets Ninurta before his entry into the E-kur.

Mace Sharur. A talking, flying mace that counsels its bearer and strikes down monsters and armies.