Ninkilim

The god Ninkilim, inscribed dnin-PEŠ2, is a widely referenced Mesopotamian deity from Sumerian to later Babylonian periods whose minions include wildlife in general and vermin in particular.  His name, Nin-kilim, means "Lord Rodent," where rodent, pronounced šikku but rendered nin-ka6, is a homograph.  

He is described in the Sumerian language as a.za.lu.lu “lord of teeming creatures”, and in Akkadian as Bēl-nammašti “lord of wild animals” and features in much of the incantation texts against field pests, such as the Zu-buru-dabbeda.  Although Ninkilim is feminine in the great god-list, and the Sumerian Farmer's Almanac – (which entreats the farmer to pray to Ninkilim, goddess of field mice, so that she will keep her sharp-toothed little subjects away from the growing grain), the field-pest incantations know him as masculine, as do other texts of the later periods. 

The 8th year of Iddin-Dagān celebrates his selection “by means of the omens (of) the high-priestess of Nin-kilim.”  He was one of the patron deities, with the goddess Bēlit-ilī, of the city of Diniktum. 

Ningilin was conflated at an early date with Ningirima, a god of magic who was commonly invoked for protection against snakes.  She is probably a goddess, but might have sometimes been considered a god.  She was so closely associated with mongooses that the Akkadian word for "mongoose" was later written using the Sumerian symbol for her name. 

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Category:Mesopotamian gods