ions' of male deities, with no sharply marked traits of their
own, would naturally come to be confused with one another, and finally
be regarded as various forms of one and the same goddess. A member of
the dynasty ruling in Isin, En-anna-tuma, earlier even than Nur-Ramman,
invokes Nin-gal in an inscription found in the ancient capital, Ur.
Here, too, the goddess appears in association with Nannar; but,
curiously enough, she is designated as the mother of Shamash. It will be
borne in mind that in the city of Ur, the sun-god occupied a secondary
place at the side of the moon-god. This relationship is probably
indicated by the epithet 'offspring of Nin-gal,' accorded to Shamash in
the inscription referred to. The moon being superior to the sun, the
consort of the moon-god becomes the mother of the sun-god.

Reference has several times been made to

Nin-gish-zida,

who, originally a distinct solar deity, becomes scarcely distinguishable
from Nin-girsu, and is eventually identified with the great Nin-ib.[89]
It is noticeable that these four deities, Nin-girsu, Nin-shakh,
Nin-gish-zida, and Nin-ib, who are thus associated together, all contain
the element _Nin_ in their names,--a factor that may turn out to be of
some importance when more abundant material shall be forthcoming for
tracing their development in detail. One of Gudea's inscriptions[90]
begins with the significant statement, 'Nin-gish-zida is the god of
Gudea'; and elsewhere when speaking of him, he is 'my god,' or 'his
god.' None of the ancient Babylonian rulers make mention of him except
Gudea, though in the incantation texts he is introduced and
significantly termed 'the throne-bearer' of the earth. The purely local
character of the deity is, furthermore, emphasized by the reference to
his temple in Girsu, on a brick and on a cone containing dedicatory
inscriptions, inscribed by Gudea in honor of the god.[91]

Shul (or Dun)-pa-uddu.

The wife of the famous Gudea, Gin-Shul-pa-uddu, bears a name in which
one of the elements is a deity, the phonetic reading of whose name is
still uncertain.[92] The elements comprising it, namely, 'lord' (?),
'sceptre,' and 'radiant,' leave little doubt as to the solar character
of the god. Besides Gudea's wife, a ruler, Ur-Shul-pa-uddu,[93]
belonging apparently to a somewhat earlier period, embodies this deity
in his name. The worship of the deity, therefore, belongs to a very
early epoch, and appears at one time to have