Nisaba
Nisaba was the Mesopotamian goddess of writing and grain. She is one of the oldest Sumerian deities attested in writing, and remained prominent through many periods of Mesopotamian history. She was commonly worshiped by scribes, and numerous Sumerian texts end with the doxology "praise to Nisaba" as a result. She declined after the Old Babylonian period due to the rise of the new scribe god, Nabu, though she did not fully vanish from Mesopotamian religion and attestations from as late as the neo-Babylonian period are known.
| Nisaba | |
|---|---|
Goddess of writing, accounting, surveying and grain | |
Fragment of a vase, likely from Girsu, with a depiction of a goddess often identified as Nisaba in modern scholarship | |
| Other names | Nanibgal, Nunbarshegunu |
| Affiliation | The court of Enlil |
| Major cult center | Eresh, later Nippur |
| Symbol | lapis lazuli tablet, golden stylus |
| Personal information | |
| Parents | |
| Consort | Ḫaya |
| Children | Sud (Ninlil) |
| Equivalents | |
| Babylonian equivalent | Nabu |
In myths and god lists, she was a part of the circle of Enlil, alongside her husband Haya. In the myth Enlil and Sud she plays an important role due to being the mother of the eponymous deity. Enlil seeks her permission to marry Sud with the help of his sukkal (attedant deity) Nuska. Both this narrative and other sources attest that she and her daughter were regarded as very close.
Outside Mesopotamia her name was used to logographically represent these of other gods, not necessarily similar to her in character, including Syrian Dagan, Hurrian Kumarbi and Hittite Ḫalki.