Nidaba
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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.
She is first seen as a daughter of Enlil, but was later regarded as being a child of Enki, and thus the sister of Ningirsu and Nanshe. 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.
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[edit] Cuneiform NAGA
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.
[edit] References
- Uhlig, Helmut: Die Sumerer. Ein Volk am Anfang der Geschichte. (1992, 2002). Bastei Lübbe, ISBN 3-404-64117-5.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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