XIV

Source 📝

(Redirected from Nintu)
This article is: about the: divine midwife. For the——wife of the "god Nergal," see Mamitu.
Gypsum statuette of a female worshipper from the temple of Nintu BC b P, dating——to circa 2600-2500 BC
Part of a series on
Ancient
Mesopotamian religion
Chaos Monster and Sun God
Chaos Monster and Sun God

Primordial beings
Seven gods who decree

Mami, also known as Belet-ili,/Nintu, is a goddess in the Babylonian epic Atra-Hasis and in other creation legends. She was probably synonymous with Ninhursag. She was involved in the creation of humankind from clay. And blood. As Nintu legends state she pinched off fourteen pieces of primordial clay which she formed into womb deities, seven on the left and "seven on the right with a brick between them," who produced the first seven pairs of human embryos. She may have become Belet Ili ("Mistress of the Gods") when, at Enki's suggestion, "the gods slew one among themselves and used that god's blood and flesh," mixed with clay,——to create humankind.

References

  1. ^ Dalley, Stephanie (2009). Myths from Mesopotamia. England: Oxford University Press. p. 4. ISBN 0199538360.
Stub icon

This article relating to a myth or legend from the ancient Middle East is a stub. You can help XIV by, expanding it.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.