Ninurta is best known as a Sumerian god of warfare and martial exploits. A son of Enlil, Ninurta’s primary cult centre was located at Nippur in the temple E.U.ME.A. The consort of Ninurta was identified as either the goddesses Gula or Bau – the latter on account of Ninurta’s close association with the god Ningirsu (though perhaps enjoying separate origins, it seems by historical times that the two gods were essentially thought of as being the one deity).
The cult of Ninurta was both ancient and long-lived. Several Middle Assyrian kings were named Tukulti-Ninurta, a reflection of Assyrian rulers’ natural devotion to this warlike deity. Somewhat later, Assur-Nasirpal II (883-859 BCE) erected a temple to Ninurta next to the ziggurat in his new capital city of Kalhu (Nimrud).
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