About this deity
Ninurta (Sumerian: 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒅁) was a major Sumerian deity associated with agriculture and harvest. In the Assyrian period, he was more closely associated with war and fighting.
Source record No.BM 124571MediumPrint sketchOrientationFrontImage date1851CreatorAusten Henry LayardSource notesLayard, Monuments From Nineveh, 19 [plate no. 5].
Also known as
NinurtaNinĝirsu ("Lord of Girsu")𒀭𒊩𒌆𒄈𒋢 (Ninĝirsu; Sumerian cuneiform)𒀭𒊩𒌆𒅁 (Ninurta; Sumerian cuneiform)Nimrod (disputed)Nimroud (disputed)ܢܝܼܫܪܵܟ݂ (Aramaic)Νεσεραχ (Greek)Nesroch (Latin)נִסְרֹךְ (Hebrew)
Parent belief system
Sumerian religion refers to spiritual beliefs practiced from ca. 4500-1900 BCE in Mesopotamia, or modern-day southern Iraq. Many deities were diffused into other Mesopotamian cultures.
Top myths
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The Song of the Hoe | Epic of Anzu | Epic of Atrahasis | |
Creation myth | Prestige myth | Creation, Flood myth | |
Unknown author | Unknown author | Ipiq-Aya | |
Read myth | Read myth | Read myth | |
The iconic image of Ninurta chasing the Anzu bird comes from an artifact at the British Museum: BM 124571. It was first discovered between 1851-1853 by Austen Henry Layard while he was doing excavation work at Nineveh; and, it was published as plate no. 5 in Layard's 1853 publication. According to Jeremy Black, Ninurta lost popularity in the Sumerian tradition by the time of the Old Babylonian period.