Ninazu

Ninazu
Ninazu
God of the underworld, snakes and vegetation
Major cult center	Enegi, originally also Eshnunna
Symbol	snake
Genealogy
Parents	Ereshkigal and Gugalanna; Enlil and Ninlil; Nanna; unnamed deities referred to as "mighty cow" and "untamable bull";
Consort	Ningirida
Children	Ningishzida; two daughters; Nintinugga;
Equivalents
Eshnunnean	Tishpak

Ninazu (Sumerian: 𒀭 𒎏𒀀𒋢; "lord healer"^[2]) was a Mesopotamian god of the underworld. He was also associated with snakes and vegetation, and with time acquired the character of a warrior god. He was frequently associated with Ereshkigal, either as a son, husband, or simply a member the same category of underworld deities.

His original cult centers were Enegi and Eshnunna, though in the later city he was gradually replaced by a similar god, Tishpak. His cult declined after the Old Babylonian period, though in the city of Ur, where it was introduced from Enegi, he retained a number of worshipers even after the fall of the last Mesopotamian empires, in the Achaemenid period.

^ Wiggermann 1998a, p. 368.
^ Wiggermann 1998, pp. 329–330.

[FOOTNOTEWiggermann1998a368-1] Wiggermann 1998a, p. 368.

[FOOTNOTEWiggermann1998329–330-2] Wiggermann 1998, pp. 329–330.

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