Ninildu (Sumerian: 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒅆𒉄𒁍, dNin-IGI.NAĜAR.BU; also read Ninduluma[1]) was a Mesopotamian god associated with carpentry. He was chiefly worshiped in the city of Zabalam and in its proximity. He appears in a number of literary texts, such as the Epic of Erra.
| Ninildu | |
|---|---|
God of carpentry | |
| Major cult center | Zabalam, Duluma |
Name and character
The oldest writing of the name is dNin-NAĜAR.BU, attested in the god lists from Abu Salabikh and Fara and in the zami hymns from the Early Dynastic period, though later on dNin-IGI.NAĜAR.BU was employed.[1] A logographic writing, dNAĜAR, is attested in the god list An = Anum.[2] While the name is commonly rendered as Ninildu in Assyriological literature, the alternate reading Ninduluma has been proposed based on an unpublished incantation from Meturan, which reportedly uses a phonetic spelling.[1] Jeremiah Peterson renders the name as Ninildum due to the presence of an apparent auslaut in a number of sources.[3] It is agreed the deity was male.[4]
Ninildu was associated with carpentry.[1] One source (tablet K 3248) directly calls him ilu ša nāgarri, "the god of the carpenters."[5] He could be called the "chief carpenter,"[6] or the "great carpenter of Anu."[7]
An incantation states that Ninildu was one of the deities created by Ea with clay from the Apsu,[8] and that he was tasked with the construction of temples alongside Ninsimug and Arazu.[9] Lexical lists also attest the existence of a tradition in which he was equated with Enki (Ea), though it is agreed that it represented a secondary development.[1] A Mîs-pî ritual refers to him as "Ea of the carpenters."[9]
Attestations
The worship of Ninildu in Zabalam is well attested in sources from the third millennium BCE, such as administrative texts from Umma.[10] He also had a cult center in the direct proximity of the former of these two cities.[11] Douglas Frayne states it was named Dulum, in accordance with the reading of the name of the god he uses.[4] It might correspond to modern (Tell) Salbuḫ.[11] In the third millennium BCE Ninildu is also attested in the names of two individuals from Adab and in a list of offerings from the Old Akkadian period which might have originated in the same city. [12]
A text from the reign of Nabu-apla-iddina describing the preparation of a new statue of Shamash mentions Ninildu among the deities aiding Ea in the process, alongside Kusigbanda, Ninkurra and Ninzadim.[13] In a first millennium BCE bilingual incantation from Assur, Ninildu is invoked alongside Ninagal during the production of a new royal throne.[6] An inscription of Esarhaddon lists Ninildu among the deities connected to the rites of Ekazaginna, the temple of Ea in Babylon.[13]
Literary texts describing Ninildu's functions include the Curse of Agade and the Epic of Erra.[1] In the former, he is implored to hinder the growth of trees.[3] According to the latter, he was equipped with a "glittering hatchet."[14] In a late composition, known only from a copy found in Kuyunjik, Ninildu and Sirsir are responsible for constructing the boat of Enki.[15]