Enki and Ninhursag begot Ninsar, Lady of Plants, in the paradise of Dilmun, and Nanshe, goddess of social justice and dream interpretation, in the hymnic tradition of Lagash.
When Enki lay dying from the forbidden plants he had devoured in Dilmun, Ninhursag drew his pain from eight ailing organs and gave birth to eight healing deities — among them Ninti for his rib, Ninkasi for his mouth, and Enshag for his limbs.
Enlil and Ninhursag produced Ninurta, the warrior champion who recovered the Tablets of Destiny from Anzu and slew the demon bird in single combat.
Shulpae appears as the consort of Ninhursag in Ur III hymns, pairing the great mother goddess with the god of feasting whose celestial form was the planet Jupiter.
Ninhursag (Aruru) created Enkidu from clay as a wild counterpart to Gilgamesh, in answer to the people of Uruk's prayers for relief from their king's tyranny.
Enki devised the plan to create Lullu from clay mixed with the blood and flesh of the slain god We-ilu, while Ninhursag shaped the fourteen pieces of clay into the first seven pairs of men and women to bear the gods' labor.
The Anunnaki, the great gods of heaven and earth, assembled at Nippur to decree the fates of gods and mortals — their collective verdicts shaping the course of creation, sending floods to destroy mankind, and raising or casting down kings and deities alike.
Ninhursag intervened to protect Uttu from Enki's advances, wiping his seed from the weaving goddess's body and planting it in the earth, where it grew into the eight sacred plants that Enki would later devour.
After Enki ate eight sacred plants without permission, Ninhursag cursed him with eight afflictions and withdrew her gaze. She later relented and healed each ailment by birthing a healing deity for each organ.
Ninhursag accused Enlil of causing the Great Flood that nearly destroyed humanity. After the waters receded, she confronted him before the divine assembly, mourning the loss of the humans she had helped create.
Ninhursag, in her form as Aruru, created Enkidu from clay in the wilderness as Gilgamesh's equal, answering the people of Uruk's prayers for someone who could match their tyrannical king in strength and energy.
In the Atrahasis epic, the Igigi rebelled against forced labor, burning their tools and besieging Enlil's temple. In response, Ninhursag (as Mami) created humanity from clay and divine blood to bear the gods' burden.
Nammu and Ninhursag together shaped the first humans from clay above the Abzu, with Nammu providing the primordial substance and Ninhursag molding it into human form at the urging of Enki.
In the Lugal-e, Ninurta presented the mountain stones he conquered to his mother Ninhursag. She received them and assigned their fates, establishing the properties and uses of each type of stone.
Ninhursag, the mother goddess who had shaped humanity from clay, wept bitterly as the Great Flood destroyed her creation — crying out that she had borne mankind only to fill the sea like dragonfly larvae, and afterward she swore the gods would never forget the devastation.
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