Ninshubur (; Ninšubur, "Lady of Subartu" or "Lady of servants"), also spelled Ninšubura, was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the sukkal (divine attendant) of the goddess Inanna. While it is agreed that in this context Ninshubur was regarded as female, in other cases the deity was considered male, possibly due to syncretism with other divine messengers, such as Ilabrat. No certain information about her genealogy is present in any known sources, and she was typically regarded as unmarried. As a sukkal, she functioned both as a messenger deity and as an intercessor between other members of the pantheon and human petitioners.
Due to the belief that she could intercede with higher ranking deities, Ninshubur was popular in everyday religion, and many theophoric names invoking her and other references to personal worship are known. Her original cult center was Akkil, but in the Early Dynastic Period she was already worshiped in nearby Uruk. She was also introduced to the pantheon of the state of Lagash, where her cult center was Girsu. Multiple kings of this area regarded her as their personal deity. In the Ur III period she was also introduced to Ur. Further cities where Ninshubur was worshiped include Adab, Nippur, Malgium, and more.
In myths, Ninshubur is portrayed as a companion of Inanna and helps her during various exploits. In Inanna's Descent to the Netherworld, she is responsible for securing Inanna's return by pleading with Enlil, Nanna and Enki. After being resurrected, Inanna protects her from the galla demons sent to find someone to replace her in the land of the dead. Ninshubur's mourning is contrasted with Dumuzi's attitude which leads to his death in this composition. In Inanna and Enki, Ninshubur helps Inanna escape from Enki's servants after theft of the me.
Names Ninshubur Frans Wiggermann translates Ninshubur's name as "Lady of Subartu". or alternatively "Lady of servants" (or "Lady of Subarian servants") based on another meaning of the second element, šubur, "servant," and in reference to her role as a benevolent intercessory deity. Earlier translations, for example Wilfred G. Lambert's from 1976, which relied on two lexical lists from the first millennium BCE explaining it as bel erseti - "lord of the earth" or "lord of the underworld" - are regarded as erroneous, as no other sources explain the meaning of šubur as erseti. It is possible this uncommon understanding was based on a local tradition associating Ninshubur with Nergal.
The Sumerian term Shubur or Subir (Subartu) originally designated areas north of Mesopotamia. Both in ancient documents and in past scholarship the terms "Subartu" and "Subarians" usually refer to Hurrians. Ninshubur is described as a resident of the "mountain-lands of Subartu (kur šubur)" brought to Mesopotamia by Utu in the Early Dynastic UD.GAL.NUN text CUT 4, a narrative dealing with the sun god traveling to various mountainous areas to bring deities or animals from them. It is possible that echoes of Ninshubur's association with Subartu survived as late as in the Neo-Assyrian period in texts pertaining to Papsukkal.
While dnin-šubur was the standard writing of Ninshubur's name in cuneiform, a variant with a genitive suffix (-ak) is attested in a variety of sources as well, including personal names from the Ur III period and Old Babylonian literary texts. Wiggermann additionally argues that sometimes the name was rendered simply as Shubur, but this assumption is not universally accepted. Additionally, two forms of Ninshubur's name in the Emesal dialect are known, Gashanshubur, referring to the female form of this deity, and Umunshubur, referring to the male one, though the latter is only known from a single source.
Ninakkil Ninakkil, "lady and Akkil", was a title applied to Ninshubur as the tutelary goddess of Akkil. Frans Wiggermann assumes that it already occurs in the Zame Hymns, based on the possible identification of the teoponym AB.KID.KID as Akkil and its namesake tutelary deity as Ninakkil. The thirty ninth (out of seventy) hymn is dedicated to her. This identification is also supported by Joan Goodnick Westenholz. and Jan Lisman in their commentary of this text argue that it cannot be established with certainty that AB.KID.KID and its deity dNIN.AB.KID.KID are necessarily Akkil and Ninakkil, respectively, as usually assumed based on the later convention of writing the toponym Akkil as AB.KID, though they do not rule out this possibility. They ultimately conclude that dNIN.AB.KID.KID must have been at least analogous to Ninshubur as both deities are described fulfilling the same role in relation to Inanna.
Nin-ŠUBUR.AL The theonym Nin-ŠUBUR.AL might be either an alternate form of Ninshubur's name or a separate, though similarly named, deity. Manfred Krebernik and Jan Lisman suggest reading this name as Ninšuburmaḫ. In the Zame Hymns the sixty fourth hymn is dedicated to this deity, with the corresponding cult center being GIN2.U9.ŠA3.GA (reading uncertain). The same deity is also attested in the Early Dynastic god list from Fara, between two separate entries for Ninshubur, but is absent from an analogous text from Abu Salabikh, where only the two Ninshuburs occur. Ultimately the identity of this deity remains uncertain.
Sukkalanna Sukkalanna, "heavenly vizier", is attested as a further alternate name of Ninshubur. It is her most common epithet, and additionally occurs as a theophoric element in names from the Ur III period. From the Old Babylonian period onwards, it starts to alternate with sukkal-zi-Eanna, which according to Frans Wiggermann likely indicates that the element anna was understood as the abstract noun "heaven" and not as a reference to the god Anu.
Other names A total of fourteen names and titles of Ninshubur are listed in the god list An = Anum (tablet I, lines 31-44). In addition to the primary name they include Kakka, Meninnuanna ("fifty ordinances of heaven"), Iggalla ("big door", originally a distinct deity), Kabaninukurru ("whose promise cannot be changed"), Anzaggalla ("seat of honor"), Anšarkin ("who directs the totality of heaven"), Anšargia ("who exercises authority over the totality of heaven"), Enḫun ("appeasing lord"), den-ḫun-ga2-ŠE3 ("lord involved in appeasing"), dŠUBUR-ḫa-mun and Sagilla ("who exalts"). Since all of the names are provided with complex Sumerian explanations, Ryan D. Winters proposes that this section might have been incorporated into An = Anum from another source. The Old Babylonian forerunner of An = Anum only lists two names of Ninshubur, Ninshubur and dḫa-mun-ŠUBUR.
Additional names of Ninshubur can be found in An = Anum ša amēli (lines 61-69), an explanatory god list focused on epithets of major deities, in which her section appears between Shala's and Ninurta's. In addition to the primary name they include dSUKKAL (a logographic writing of the name), Papsukkal, Papgal, Iggalla, Gandu, Gangu, dLAMMA and Dukuga. The names Gandu and Gangu are likely variants of each other and might be related to a term referring to a part of a door; Dukuga is derived from the Duku, a mythical location after which a type of seat located in temples was named.
Character Ninshubur is regarded by Assyriologists as "the earliest and most important" sukkal, linked to the deities she served "not as cause and effect, but as command and execution". Her two main functions were these of "intercessory goddess" and "archetypal attendant of the gods". She served Inanna, but also Anu and by extension the entire divine assembly. The association with Anu is known from sources from the reign of Third Dynasty of Ur onward, and might be a secondary development, with Inanna being her primary and original mistress. As Inanna's sukkal, Ninshubur was believed to implement divine rules and regulations on her behalf. Her role as a popular intercessory deity in Mesopotamian religion was derived from her position as a servant of major deities, which resulted in the belief that she was capable of mediating with her masters on behalf of human petitioners. A hymn (CBS 14073) describes her as a servant of not only her usual masters, but also Enlil, Enki, Damgalnuna, Nanna, Ningal, Ninurta, Ninhursag and Utu. Frans Wiggermann notes that Ninshubur's association with the divine assembly treated as a whole indicates that even though she shared many of her roles with another well attested sukkal, Nuska, she was ultimately considered the higher-ranked member of the pantheon.
In addition to her usual title, Ninshubur could also be called sukkal anna, "heavenly attendant". An inscription of Rim-Sîn I refers to her as a sukkalmaḫ. According to Wiggermann, while this term is attested as an administrative rank and in this context refers to an official responsible for managing the activities of multiple people holding the rank of sukkal, there is no indication that it had a similar meaning when applied to deities, and in this context its use is most likely only meant to exalt the bearer. Ninshubur was also referred to as sukkalmaḫ in Malgium, though according to Raphael Kutscher in this case the use of this title should be considered the result of Elamite cultural influence. Ninshubur could also be referred to as SAL.ḪÚB2. This term is sparsely attested overall, and it assumed that it referred to a deity considered to be a sukkal who was viewed as emotionally close to their lord or lady. In most of cases SAL.ḪÚB2 appears in literary texts in parallel with "sukkal". Ninshubur is the only deity referred to as SAL.ḪÚB2 in more than one or two sources, with seven instances known as of 2014. dNIN.AB.KID.KID, who might be identical with Ninshubur, is already described as the SAL.ḪÚB2 of Inanna in the thirty ninth of the Zame Hymns. Ninshubur is also referred to with this title in an Old Babylonian dedicatory inscription from the reign of Samsu-iluna. In another text, she is described as the "beloved SAL.ḪÚB2 of Inanna", and appears in a short list of members of her family right after Dumuzi.
A number of references to Ninshubur as the "mother of the land" are known. A theological text composed during the reign of the Third Dynasty of Ur states that "Ninshubur occupies the land" and includes her among the highest ranking gods, alongside Enlil, Ninlil, Nanna, Inanna, Enki, Nergal, Ninurta and Nuska. The deified hero Gilgamesh appears in it as well, seemingly to elevate his standing among gods due to his role in the royal ideology of that time period. Gábor Zólyomi notes that a hymn focusing on Ninshubur in the role of "mother of the land" (BL 195, known from the tablet Ash. 1911.326 from the Ashmolean Museum) employs multiple topoi related to abundance in Sumerian literature, for example building of cattle pens and sheepfolds under her command, otherwise not associated with her. Another hymn (CBS 14073) mentions both her role as a divine attendant and that of "mother of the land". In addition to this metaphorical role, Ninshubur was also referred to as a "mother" in personal names. However, references to her as an actual "birth mother" are uncommon and unusual according to Julia M. Asher-Greve. It is possible that this aspect of her character was responsible for her unusual and unparalleled placement in the Old Babylonian Mari god list, where she occurs after Ninhursag and Nintur and before Aruru.
Some hymns indicate that the role of a divine healer was occasionally ascribed to Ninshubur.
Gender