Ningal

Ningal is the moon's wife and the mother of the sun — Nanna's consort at Ur, and by him the parent of Utu and Inanna, which places her at the head of the most important family in the Sumerian pantheon. She is a goddess of reeds, which is less humble than it sounds in a country built out of marsh. The Lament for Ur turns on her: it is her grief, as the city's goddess, that carries the poem. Her name travelled west as Nikkal and was still being used in Arabia long after Ur was gone.

Domains

• motherhood
• reeds and marsh

Relations

• consort of: NannaConsort of Nanna at Ur; the Lament for Ur puts her grief at the city's destruction at its centre.Reference treatment of Ningal as consort of Nanna, the moon god. (secondary)
• mother of: UtuMother of the sun god Utu.Reference treatment of Ningal as mother of Utu. (secondary)
• mother of: InannaMother of Inanna.Reference treatment of Ningal as mother of Inanna. (secondary)

Sources

• Ningal, 'Great Lady', is the goddess of reeds, daughter of Enki and consort of the moon god Nanna at Ur, mother of the sun god Utu and of Inanna.: Reference treatment of Ningal, her parentage, her consort and her children. (secondary)