Ninkurra- Mesopotamian GodDeity"Lady of the Mountain"
Also known as: Ninkura
Titles & Epithets
Domains
Description
In the paradise of Dilmun, Enki seduced his own daughter Ninsar, who bore Ninkurra. When Ninkurra grew, Enki seduced her too, and she bore Uttu the weaving goddess. Each pregnancy lasted nine days, a chain of divine generations that would end only when Ninhursag intervened.
Mythology & Lore
The Chain of Generations
Ninkurra, "Lady of the Mountain," appears in the myth of "Enki and Ninhursag," set in the paradise land of Dilmun. After the god of wisdom impregnated the earth goddess Ninhursag, she gave birth to Ninsar, Lady of Plants. Enki then seduced Ninsar, who bore Ninkurra after a pregnancy of only nine days. When Ninkurra grew to womanhood and wandered to the riverbank, Enki saw her from the marshes and desired her as he had desired her mother before. He seduced her in turn, and she bore Uttu, the goddess of weaving, after another nine-day term.
The Crisis
The chain broke with Uttu. Warned by Ninhursag, Uttu resisted Enki's advances. Ninhursag intervened and took Enki's seed from Uttu's body. From that seed she grew eight plants. Enki, unable to resist, ate them all. Ninhursag cursed him to die and departed.
Enki sickened. Eight of his organs failed, one for each plant consumed. Only when a fox persuaded Ninhursag to return did she relent, creating eight healing deities to cure him, one for each wound.