n of 'ladyship.' The worship of this goddess
centers in the district of Lagash. Ur-Bau (c. 3000 B.C.), who addresses
her as 'glorious and supreme,' builds a temple in her honor at
Gishgalla, and Gudea refers to a temple known as E-anna, _i.e._,
heavenly house in Girsu.[64] For Gudea, Ninni is the "mistress of the
world." Another ruler of Lagash whose name is doubtfully read as
E-dingir-ra-na-gin,[65] but who is even earlier than Ur-Bau, declares
that he has been 'called' by Innanna to the throne. She is mentioned by
the side of Nin-khar-sag. We are still in the period where local
associations formed a controlling factor in ensuring the popularity of a
deity, and while the goddesses attached to the gods of the important
centers are still differentiated, the tendency already exists to
designate the female consorts simply as the 'goddess,'--to apply to all,
the traits that may once have been peculiar to one. As we pass from one
age to the other, there is an increasing difficulty in keeping the
various local 'goddesses' apart. Even the names become interchangeable;
and since these goddesses all represented essentially the same principle
of generation and fertility, it was natural that with the union of the
Babylonian states they should become merged into one great
mother-goddess. A 'local' goddess who retains rather more of her
individuality than others, is

Nana.

Her name is again playfully interpreted by the Babylonians--through
association with Nin--as 'the lady' _par excellence_. She was the chief
goddess of the city of Uruk. Her temple at Uruk is first mentioned by
Ur-Gur, of the second dynasty of Ur. It is restored and enlarged by
Dungi, the successor of Ur-Bau, and so thoroughly is she identified with
her edifice known as E-anna (again a play upon her name), that she
becomes known as the Lady of E-anna.[66] She appears to have had a
temple also at Ur, and it is to this edifice that later rulers of
Larsa--Kudur-Mabuk and Rim-Sin, as well as the kings of the Isin
dynasty, Gamil-Ninib, Libit-Ishtar, and Ishme-Dagan--refer in their
inscriptions.

The members of the Isin dynasty pride themselves upon their control over
Uruk, and naturally appear as special devotees to Nana, whose chosen
"consort" they declare themselves to be, wielding the sceptre, as it
were, in union with her. Already at this period, Nana is brought into
connection with the moon-god, being called by Kudur-Mabuk the daughter
of Sin. The relationsh