Enki and Ninmah and The Creation of Man

*Enki and Ninmah*, not to be confused with *Enki and Ninhursag*, though the two myths feature the same deities as Ninmah is another name for Ninhursag, is a Sumerian creation myth describing the cause and method of the creation of humankind from clay. The story also explains the origins of several deformed versions of human.

### The Creation of Humankind

The Anunnaki, the gods of the underworld, rule over the Igigi, gods of the heavens. The Igigi grow tired of the hard labor of crushing clay and carrying baskets of earth imposed on them by their leaders, and thus they complain to the god of water and wisdom, **Enki**, who is asleep and doesn't stir. **Namma**, the primeval mother goddess of the sea, equated to the Babylonian **Tiamat**, hears the cries of the Igigi and their tears to her son, Enki, rousing him. Namma is distraught by the upset Igigi and urges Enki to make a creature that would serve to substitute the gods, relieving the Igigi of their toil.

Enki is annoyed at being pestered, but he agrees to the creation of such an entity. He instructs Namma to make humanity of clay from the top of the **Absu**, the underground water in which Enki lives, with **Ninhursag**, otherwise known as **Ninmah**, acting as midwife along with **Ninimma** (daughter of Enki and **Ninkura** and fertility goddess associated with female genitalia), **Suzianna**, **Ninmada** (brother of **Ninazu**), **Ninbarag**, **Ninmug**, and **Ninguna**. After the completion of the creation of the first humans, their fate of carrying baskets decreed by Ninhursag, the gods have a feast in celebration of Enki's wisdom and the birth of humanity. At this party, Enki and Ninhursag drink too much, becoming elated and drowsy.

### A Contest of Creation

Ninhursag claims to Enki that while his invention of the human body way be good or bad, their fate would be good or bad according to her will. Enki retorts by saying that whatever fate, good or bad, Ninhursag ordains for humans, Enki will improve their lot.

Without assistance from Namma, Ninhursag creates a man from clay without the ability to reach out and grasp things, and Enki destined to him to serve the king, for he's unable to steal. Next, she created a blind man, who Enki gives him the gift of music and destines him a minstrel to the king. Third, Ninhursag makes a man who is described as either having broken paralyzed feet, and therefore being destined by Enki to the role of silversmith, or an idiot destined to serve the king. Ninhursag's fourth creation is a man who cannot hold back his semen or urine; Enki cures him with a magical bath, dispelling the *namtar-*demon from the man's body. The fifth creation of Ninhursag is an infertile woman, fated to be either a prostitute or a weaver in the queen's household. Ninhursag's sixth and final creation is a person without a penis or vagina, whom Enki calls "eunuch" and places in the service of the king.

Defeated, Ninhursag throws the clay to the ground. Enki retrieves it and, in an effort to further outdo Ninhursag, decides to create people of his own. The first being he makes is a woman with difficulty giving birth. Ninhursag could not reverse her fate. Enki then makes an old man, afflicted in the heart, lungs, and bowels, unable to stand or talk. Ninhursag attempts to feed the man, but is unable to help him eat. Ninhursag complains, saying that Enki has crafted a being neither alive nor dead. Enki responds with the fact that he was able to improve the lot of Ninhursag's creations, and the Mother Goddess curses him, both for the curse he has placed on his creations and for her losing of the competition. This apparent inability attributed to the feminine aspect, even in a an act as feminine as creation, can be seen as part of a bigger pattern prevalent in Mesopotamia of the supplanting of female deities by more powerful male counterparts, known as the "marginalization of goddesses." Thus this story explains the cause of various physical ailments.asfdasdasda

## Sources

https://www.ancient.eu/Enki/

https://www.ancient.eu/Ninhursag/

http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.1.2#

http://www.gatewaystobabylon.com/myths/texts/enki/enkininmah.htm

https://www.meta-religion.com/World\_Religions/Ancient\_religions/Mesopotamia/Summerian/summerian\_deities.htm

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ninhursag

http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/mothergoddess/index.html