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Nidaba
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nanibgal (DNANIBGAL 
𒀭𒀭𒉀, DNÁNIBGAL 𒀭𒀭𒊺𒉀), also Nisaba or Nidaba (DNÍDABA 𒀭𒉀, DNIDABA 𒀭𒊺𒉀) was the Sumerian goddess of fertility, in particular of the date palm and the reed. In Assyrian times, she came to be regarded as the goddess of writing, learning and astrology. Her sanctuaries were E-zagin at Eresh and at Umma. On a depiction found in Lagash, she appears with flowing hair, crowned with horned tiara bearing supporting ears of corn and a crescent moon. Her dense hair is evoked in comparison in the description of similarly hairy Enkidu in the Gilgamesh epic.
While she is seen as a grain goddess, she is worshiped primarily as the goddess of learning. She is the patron goddess of writing and serves as an instructor and record keeper to both men and gods alike. She was tutor to the Babylonian Nabu, the son of Marduk. In earlier tales, she is the chief scribe of Nanshe, a goddess of social justice. It was Nisaba's task to record all who entered the temple for aid and determine whether or not they were able to stand before her mistress or not. As the goddess of writing, she was revered in scribal schools. It was custom to finish a composition by praising Nisaba, and many recovered tablets have a final line under their main body of text that honors the goddess.
She is looked upon fondly by Enki, who assisted her in establishing a place of learning. Her parentage is unknown or disputed, but as she is sometimes seen as a sister to Nanshe, it may be Enki who is her father and Ninhursag, the goddess of earth, her mother. Some texts occasionally referred to Enlil as her father. It is uncertain whether these are meant to represent blood relationships or mere association, as referring to a god as 'father' is sometimes nothing more than a title of honor and respect.
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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.
- Uhlig, Helmut: Die Sumerer. Ein Volk am Anfang der Geschichte. (1992, 2002). Bastei Lübbe, ISBN 3-404-64117-5.
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