Nidaba

Nidaba (DNÍDABA 𒀭𒉀, DNIDABA 𒀭𒊺𒉀), also Nanibgal (DNANIBGAL 𒀭𒀭𒉀, DNÁNIBGAL 𒀭𒀭𒊺𒉀) or Nisaba, was the Sumerian[1] goddess of writing, learning, and the harvest.[2] Her sanctuaries were E-zagin at Eresh and at Umma.

Mythology

Place in the Pantheon

As with many Sumerian deities, Nisaba's exact place in the pantheon and her heritage appears somewhat ambiguous. She is the daughter of An and Urash. From Sumerian texts, the language used to describe Urash is very similar to the language used to describe Ninhursag. Therefore, the two goddess may be one and the same. Nisaba is the sister of Ninsun, the mother of Gilgamesh. If Urash and Ninhursag are the same goddess, then Nisaba is also the half sister of Nanshe and (in some versions) Ninurta.

In some other tales, she is considered the mother of Ninlil, and by extension, the mother-in-law of Enlil.

Genealogy

An
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ninḫursaḡ
 
 
 
 
 
Enki
born to Namma
 
 
 
Ninkikurga
born to Namma
Nidaba
born to Uraš
 
 
 
Ḫaya
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ninsar
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ninlil
 
 
 
Enlil
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ninkurra
 
 
Ningal
maybe daughter of Enlil
 
 
 
SuenNergal
maybe son of Enki		Ninurta
maybe born to Ninḫursaḡ
 
Baba
born to Uraš
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
UttuInana
maybe daughter of Enki
 
Dumuzī
maybe son of Enki		UtuNinkigal
married Nergal
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
MeškiaḡḡašerBanda
 
 
 
Ninsumun
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EnmerkarGilgāmeš
 
 
Urnungal

Functions

The god of wisdom, Enki, organized the world after creation and gave each deity a role in the world order. Nisaba was named the scribe of the gods, and Enki then built her a school of learning so that she could better serve those in need. She keeps records, chronicles events, and performs various other bookwork-related duties for the gods. She is also in charge of marking regional borders.

She is the chief scribe of Nanshe. On the first day of the new year, she and Nanshe work together to settle disputes between mortals and give aid to those in need. Nisaba keeps a record of the visitors seeking aid and then arranges them into a line to stand before Nanshe, who will then judge them. Nisaba is also seen as a caretaker for Ninhursag's temple at Kesh, where she gives commands and keeps temple records.

As the goddess of writing and teaching, she was often praised by Sumerian scribes. Many clay-tablets end with the phrase 𒀭𒉀𒍠𒊩, (DINGIR.NAGA.ZAG.SAL; Dnisaba za3-mi2), “Nisaba be praised” to honor the goddess. She is considered the teacher of both mortal scribes and other divine deities. In the Babylonian period, she was replaced by the god Nabu, who took over her functions. In some instances, Nisaba was his instructor or wife before he replaced her.

As the goddess of knowledge, she is related to many other facets of intellectual study and other gods may turn to her for advice or aid. Some of these traits are shared with her sister Ninsina. She is also associated with grain, reflecting her association with an earth goddess mother.

Depictions

VAM Nisaba Lagasch

On a depiction found in Lagash, she appears with flowing hair, crowned with horned tiara bearing supporting ears of grain and a crescent moon. Her dense hair is evoked in comparison in the description of similarly hairy Enkidu in the Gilgamesh epic.

Cuneiform NAGA

Unicode 5.0 encodes the NAGA sign at U+12240 𒉀 (Borger 2003 nr. 293). AN.NAGA is read as NANIBGAL, and AN.ŠE.NAGA as NÁNIBGAL. NAGA is read as NÍDABA or NÍSABA, and ŠE.NAGA as NIDABA or NISABA.

The inverted (turned upside down) variant is at U+12241 𒉁 (TEME), and the combination of these, that is the calligraphic arrangement NAGA-(inverted NAGA), read as DALḪAMUN7 "whirlwind", at U+12243 𒉃. DALḪAMUN5 is the arrangement AN.NAGA-(inverted AN.NAGA), and DALḪAMUN4 is the arrangement of four instances of AN.NAGA in the shape of a cross.

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ "Sumerian Goddesses". Goddess-guide.com. 2015-03-29. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  2. ↑ "nidaba | Journeying to the Goddess". Journeyingtothegoddess.wordpress.com. 2012-11-01. Retrieved 2015-07-10.

External links

Look up 𒉀 in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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