Urnunta-ea

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Urnunta-ea was a Mesopotamian goddess worshiped in the city of Girsu. She was considered a daughter of Ningirsu and Bau and is thought to be linked with rain clouds. She is known from several ancient texts, including an Early Dynastic inscription of Urukagina, later writings from the Second Dynasty of Lagash, and the god list An = Anum.

In An = Anum, Urnunta-ea appears not with Bau and Ningirsu, but among deities associated with Lisin, a different cult center. The name Urnunta-ea means “who comes out of the lap of the prince,” referring to Ningirsu, and it was written dúr-nun-ta-è-a. It is sometimes spelled Urnunta'ea or Urnuntaea. A variant reading, Uragrunta-ea, has been proposed by some scholars, but most consider it incorrect. Another variant, dúr-é-nun-ta-è-a, appears in the Gudea cylinders, and a Kish/Adab list reading dbur-nun-ta-è-a is known from other sources, reflecting reinterpretations of the name.

From Urukagina’s reign, Urnunta-ea was treated as a child of Bau and Ningirsu. In the Gudea cylinders, she is listed with Zazaru, Nipa'e, Ḫegirnuna, Ḫesaga, Zurmu, and Zarmu as the daughters of Bau and Ningirsu, and as lukur (high-ranking attendants) of Ningirsu. This group is described as a source of abundance, leading some scholars to think they personified rain clouds.

Some scholars also note that Ḫegirnuna may have originally been more important, so Urnunta-ea, Zazaru, and Nipa'e might have formed an early subgroup of Bau’s daughters. In An = Anum, Urnunta-ea appears among the children of Lisin, which suggests there was some overlap between the Bau group and the local pantheon of Kesh.

Urnunta-ea was worshiped in Girsu. The earliest reference comes from Urukagina’s inscription about building chapels for Urnunta-ea, Nipa'e, and Zazaru in a temple of Lammašaga near Girsu. Fragments of this inscription have been found in Girsu. A later inscription from one of Lagash’s rulers named Ur-Ningirsu mentions building a house of worship for Urnunta-ea in Girsu, likely a chapel in the temple of Lammašaga.

In the Gudea cylinders, a hymn about restoring Ningirsu’s temple Eninnu also mentions Urnunta-ea, who is shown praying for Gudea alongside six other goddesses who are also considered Bau and Ningirsu’s daughters.