The Simon Necronomicon Pantheon Part 4: NINSHUBUR

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Moving along with our previous exploration of the Simon Necronomicon’s Pantheon, we know come to NINSHUBUR. NINSHUBUR is mentioned several times in the MAGAN Text, in the account entitled, Of the Sleep of ISHTAR. Notice page 174 of the Simon Necronomicon, it states:

“Our Father ENKI
Lord of Magick
Receiving word by NINSHUBUR
ISHTAR’s servant NINSHUBUR
He hears of ISHTAR’s Sleep
In the House of Death
He hears how GANZIR has been
Opened
How the Face of Abyss
Opened wide its mouth
And swallowed the Queen of Heaven
Queen of the Rising of the Sun.”

NINSHUBUR had an interesting relationship with ENKI, as she is seen in the passage above working once again as the faithful servant of ISHTAR. Yet is must also be remembered that it was NINSHUBUR who aided ISHTAR in another desperate time of need. This event occurred when ISHTAR acquired the mes from ENKI. It was NINSHUBUR who was able to effectively ward off the two enkums that tried to recover the mes that ENKI had given to ISHTAR. Here is one translation of this event entitled INANNA and ENKI:

NINSHUBUR is also associated with the planet Mercury. One aspect about NINSHUBUR that has stirred up recent controversy is gender. I recently found this matter being discussed in an article entitled Sumerian Goddess by Diane Wolkstein.

“If Harold Bloom had not been so predetermined to view the telling of Inanna and her stories as a feminine tract, he might not have made such gross errors of judgment and scholarship in his review of Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth [NYR, October 13]. What’s more he might have had the pleasure of perceiving the first recorded stories in history as a much larger and important event than a feminist issue….Another of Bloom’s gross errors occurs when he writes, “Curious alterations of detail tellingly occur in Wolkstein’s text. Thus the faithful messenger Ninshubur, a male in the versions of Kramer and Sandars, is a female here….” If Bloom had cared to read Kramer’s latest translation of The Descent (American Philosophical Society, 1980, August) he might have read on line 30, “Ninshubur threw herself at her feet by the gate of the ganzir.” In his latest translations Kramer has for years been calling Ninshubur a woman and translating her name as “Queen of the East.” But N.K. Sandars because she used Kramer’s earlier versions without acknowledgment described Ninshubur as a man. In fact, the role of sukkal (faithful messenger) which Ninshubur enacts for Inanna is very complex. A sukkal is a kind of spiritual mirror of his or her master. Bloom might better have looked to Enki, the God of Wisdom’s faithful messenger, who is a male like his master, before making unfounded accusations of my alterations of the Sumerian text.”

More detail about this article can be view at the following site:

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/5994

Although, I personally address NINSHUBUR as a Goddess, I think the perspective, as expressed by Gavin White in his book, BABYLONIAN STAR-LORE An Illustrated Guide to the Star-lore and Constellations of Ancient Babylonia. On page 212 Mr. White expresses the following:

“The divine name Ninsubur is applied to both a male and a female deity, their name can accordingly be translated as the ‘Lord’ or ‘Lady of the east.’ As a masculine deity, Ninsubur is primarily regarded as the messenger of Anu, but after he was identified with Papsukkal he too, was thought of as a messenger serving all the gods…,As a female deity Ninsubur is the minister of Inanna.”

It should also be noted that the depiction of NINSHUBUR as a male deity occurred not in the Sumerian period, but during the Akkadian era. Some accounts also refer to NINSHUBUR as one of ISHTAR”s lovers according to the Wikipedia report. This may have been offensive to some of the invading Akkadians. Another point to consider is that since there was a shift in the Pole star from Thuban to Polaris, certain cosmological correspondences took on different meanings. In any event, the legacy of NINSHUBUR unlocks another chapter in the Simon Necronomicon Pantheon. In the account mentioned earlier, Of the Sleep of ISHTAR, we are able to get a good idea of how the Watcher works on our behalf. If you notice that the Sleep of ISHTAR reads much differently than the Descent of ISHTAR, and this is entirely intentional. In the Simon Necronomicon’s Sleep of ISHTAR, NINSHUBUR goes directly to ENKI on behalf of ISHTAR for aid. The relationship between NINSHUBUR and ISHTAR is echoed with our relationship with our WATCHER, or HGA. Keeping in mind how NINSHURBUR spoke to ENKI on ISHTAR”S behalf, notice what the Mad Arab states about our relationship with our Watcher, as found on page 71 of the SN:

“And this special Conjuration may be made at any time the Priest feels he is in danger, whether his life or his spirit, and the Three Watchers and the One Watcher will rush to his aid.”

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