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Ninlil

A reference page linking a name, group, or concept to the materials that discuss it.

Goddess later associated with Enlil and Nippur; early writings require distinguishing sign labels from place context.

Modern evidence comparison for Nanna, Ninlil and An, not divine portraits or birth order. Name clarity depends on sign and context
Modern evidence comparison for Nanna, Ninlil and An, not divine portraits or birth order. Name clarity depends on sign and contextIL Archive · original explanatory diagram · CC BY 4.0 · CC BYImage source

Text

Ninlil is EnlilEnlilProminent Mesopotamian god associated with Nippur and Ekur, highly ranked in Early Dynastic texts before the earliest known Anunna attestation.Glossary · Click to read the explanation’s consort in later Sumerian traditions. ORACC cites UrukUrukAncient city at Warka in southern Iraq, a major urban centre around 3200 BCE that preserved early writing and accounting tablets.Glossary · Click to read the explanation IV/III attestations through Englund, but each early writing needs examination.[1]

PCSL uses the conventional sign label NINLIL, including a city-list occurrence in P000643. This is not a set of secure goddess references and cannot project her later family into Uruk. The modern diagram shows differing evidence, not an ancient representation.[2][3]

References and notes

  1. Nicole Brisch. Ninlil (goddess). Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses, ORACC. Indexed Uruk IV/III attestation statement citing Englund, plus later Enlil/Nippur associations. Does not make every archaic occurrence a direct divine name; compared with the sign list and Englund. Return to the text ↑
  2. ORACC PCSL. NINLIL, sign o0901578; DCCLT, P000643, Archaic Cities (W23998,1). Indexed table lists four published Uruk III occurrences, not four secure goddess references. City list P000643, obverse II 4: E2a NINLIL. Relevant indexed original-site passages read; direct access failed. Return to the text ↑
  3. Robert K. Englund (2011). Notes on KIDa. Cuneiform Digital Library Notes 2011:6. Discussion of conventional “Ninlil,” city/divine writings, speculative Uruk IV forms and the absence of a clear Early Dynastic pantheon in that form from the archaic corpus. An argument within debate, not a divine birth ranking. Return to the text ↑

Research history

Substantive changes are retained here. Minor copy edits remain in the internal operational log.

  1. Edition 2 · 11 October 2026 · editor:aladmin

    Substantive record update

    Read this revision in its original language (Arabic)

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Cite this record

IL Archive, «Ninlil», Edition 2, https://ilarchive.com/en/entities/ninlil