Ninlil’s Family Tree

About Ninlil →

Family

• Enlil(spouse),Enbilulu(child),Nergal(child),Ninazu(child),Sin(child)— Marriage

  Enlil impregnated Ninlil by a canal in Nippur, and the gods banished him to the underworld. Ninlil followed, and along the way Enlil fathered three substitute deities — Nergal, Ninazu, and Enbilulu — so that their firstborn Sin could ascend to heaven.

  ⚠ The Enlil and Ninlil text names Nergal among Enlil's underworld sons, while An = Anum lists him under Anu's lineage.

• Enlil(spouse),Ninurta(child),Nusku(child)— Marriage

  Enlil and Ninlil produced Ninurta, the warrior champion of the gods, and Nusku, the fire god who served as Enlil's faithful vizier at the Ekur.

  ⚠ Nippur tradition names Ninlil as Ninurta's mother, while other city-state traditions and the Anzu myth give Ninhursag/Ninmah in that role.

• Haya(parent),Nisaba(parent)— Marriage

  Haya and Nisaba raised their daughter Sud in the city of Eresh, where Enlil caught sight of the young goddess and courted her with gifts of jewels and fruits until she became his bride Ninlil.

  ⚠ Enlil and Ninlil (ETCSL 1.2.1) names Nunbarshegunu as Ninlil's mother, while Enlil and Sud (ETCSL 1.2.2) identifies her parents as Haya and Nisaba.

• Ashur(spouse)— Marriage

  Ashur and Ninlil, known as Mullissu in Assyrian tradition, were the divine royal couple of the Assyrian pantheon, enthroned together at the great temple of Assur.

• Nunbarshegunu(parent)

  Nunbarshegunu, Ninlil's mother, sent her young daughter to bathe in the pure canal of Nippur, unknowingly setting in motion Enlil's desire and the chain of events that would reshape the cosmos.

  ⚠ Enlil and Sud (ETCSL 1.2.2) names Haya and Nisaba as Ninlil's parents, while Enlil and Ninlil (ETCSL 1.2.1) identifies Nunbarshegunu as her mother.

Member of

• Anunnaki

  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.