NINURTA

Real Name: Ninurta

Occupation: Adventurer, god of storm, rain and lightning, god of the south wind, Tutelary god of Gudea

Legal Status: Citizen of Celestial Dilmun

Identity: The general populace of Earth is unaware of the existence of Ninurta except as a mythological deity.

Other Aliases: Nin Ur (alternate spelling), Lord of the South Wind, Ningirsu (Early Sumerian name), Tasmisu/Tasmisum (Hittite name), Astabis (Hurrian name), Pabilsag (Akkadian name), Zaraba/Zarama (Babylonian name)

Place of Birth: Nippur, Sumeria (now part of modern Iraq)

Marital Status: Married

Known Relatives: Anu (father), Asherah (mother), Ea (uncle), Eriskegal, Damkina, Mami (aunts), Enlil/Dagon, Hadad/Teshub, Martu (brothers), Nergal, Gibil, Kinyras, (half-brothers), Ishtar/Inanna, Ninlil, Zarpandit (half-sisters), Gatumdug (wife, alias Bau/half-sister), Dumuzi (son, alias Tammuz), Gestinanna (Belitseri) and the Lagas (daughters), Shamash, Nanna (nephews), Marduk (cousin)  

Group AffiliationsThe Igigi (Gods of Mesopotamia)

Base of Operations: Celestial Dilmun

First Appearance: "Pantheons of the Megaverse" by C.J. Carella

History: Ninurta is the son of Anu, ruler of an extra-dimensional race of beings known as the Anunnaki, who were worshipped as gods by the ancient tribes of Mesopotamia, and his wife, Asherah, goddess of heaven and earth. (Some references call Ninurta the son of Kumarbis, another name for Enlil, but this may be an effort to downplay his importance. In Hittite and Hurrian myth, they are brothers.) Ninurta and his brothers were born physically powerful over the rest of the Mesopotamian gods and protected the gods and Earth for threats to it. He battled and slew the storm-bird Anzu for stealing the Tablets of Destiny and returned the tablets to the gods. 

Enlil, the god of thunder, however, overthrew their father to become king of the gods, and Anu departed Earth for the heavens. Ninurta sided with Hadad against him and they sought help from Ea the sea-god to overthrow Enlil from power and place Hadad on the throne, sending Enlil into exile, but their reign was not to last. Sometime afterward, Shamash the sun-god viewed Enlil returning from exile accompanied by the giant Ullikummis and rallied the Anunnaki of their approach. Ishtar revealed Mount Hazzi to the west as the best vantage point to view the battle, and Ninurta delivered the bulls of Hadad to Mount Imgarra as he prepared for battle. Ninurta lead seventy gods in battle and used storms to attack Ullikummis, but being the son of a water-goddess, the giant grew in size when he became wet and Hadad was forced to relinquish the throne back to Enlil. Ninurta convinced Hadad to once again seek Ea's help on how to defeat Ullikummis, obtaining a saw to sever the tendons of the giant's feet. With Ullikummis slain, Enlil was ousted from power yet again and Hadad once again seized the throne.

Ninurta took the harvest-goddess, Gatumdug, as his wife and they had several children. His son, Dumuzi, became the beloved of Ishtar, but he was abducted by Eriskegal. His daughter, Gestinanna, was taken by his brother, Martu as his wife and sired the Gulses, or goddesses of destiny. Ninurta also fathered the seven Lagas, goddesses of health and medicine.  

Over millennia, the Mesopotamian gods began to live apart from mortals after living among them for millennia. They began trafficking between Celestial Dilmun, the other-dimensional realm created by Anu during his absence, and Earth, gradually separating into the Igigi, the gods of sky and heaven, and the Anunnaki, the gods of earth and the underworld. When certain gods felt their time on Earth had come to an end, they departed Earth for one final time to live in Celestial Dilmun. Ninurta became one of the Igigi in the heavens with Hadad, now limited to the underworld, leading over the Anunnaki. When Adapa, the King of Erech (Uruk), accidentally struck Ninurta with an arrow fired into the heavens, Ninurta complained to his father for retaliation over the injury. Anu saw through his slighted son's injury and sought to peacefully seek restitution. He had Isum, the messenger-god, deliver Adapa into Celestial Dilmun and invited the mortal king to eat from the table of the gods, but fearing it was actually the table of the dead, Adapa refused the offer. Because Adapa refused to eat the food of the gods, Anu told him that mortal man would be forever assigned to the underworld rather than sharing life with the gods in heaven. The crafty subterfuge placated Ninurta for his injury and mortal man lost the chance for immortality.

Eventually, worship of the Mesopotamian gods was overwhelmed by the Olympian gods worshipped by the invading Greeks. Ninurta has great enmity with the gods of Olympus as a result. Worship of the Olympian gods was eventually replaced by the Hebrew and Christian faiths as well as by the Islamic and Hindu religions. Ninurta departed Earth for several centuries until he became aware of gods like Thor and Hercules visiting Earth posing as mortal champions. Ninurta has followed in kind to protect the descendants of the Sumerians on Earth.

Height: 7' 0"
Weight: 525 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black

Strength Level: Ninurta possesses Class 100 level strength enabling him to lift (press) over 100 tons under optimal conditions.

Known Superhuman Powers: Ninurta possesses the conventional physical attributes of the Anunnaki or Mesopotamian gods. Like all of the Anunnaki, he is exceptionally long-lived, but he is not immortal like the Olympian gods. He has not aged since reaching adulthood and cannot die by any conventional means. He is immune to all Earthly diseases and is resistant to conventional injury. If he were somehow wounded, his godly life force would enable him to recover with superhuman speed. It would take an injury of such magnitude that it dispersed a major portion of his bodily molecules to cause him a physical death. Even then, it might be possible for a god of significant power, such as Anu, Ea or Ishtar or for a number of Mesopotamian gods of equal power working together to revive him. Ninurta also possesses superhuman strength and his Anunnaki metabolism provides him with far greater than human endurance in all physical activities. (Anunnaki flesh and bone is about three times as dense as similar human tissue, contributing to the superhuman strength and weight of the Mesopotamian gods.)

Ninurta is physically stronger and more durable than any other Mesopotamian god with the possible exception of Anu and Enki. Her can perform strenuous acts for long periods of time without tiring. He has exceptional endurance and stamina, any injury he sustains can heal within minutes.

Ninurta can also call upon the aspects of storm on a level equal to Zeus or Thor. He can create thunderstorms and direct lightning strikes, channeling immense amounts of electrical energy without harm. He can create a minor rain storm or force a small rain to escalate into a hurricane. He can also decrease the size of a natural storm into any size he wants. He can direct lightning even though controlled by other gods and summon weather conditions in any dimension he visits.   

Abilities: Ninurta is a capable warrior trained in both armed and unarmed combat.

Weapons: Ninurta sometimes wields a sword or bow and arrow.

Comments: Ninurta has not yet appeared in the Marvel or DC Universes. In the DC Universe, the Mesopotamian gods were impersonated by the extra-terrestrial Oan race just as the Eternals impersonated the Olympian gods in the Marvel Universe.

According to Sumerian myth, Ninurta is the son rather than the brother of Enlil (Kumarbis), but this may be a way of denoting his importance to him. In the Hittite, Hurrian and Hattic texts, they are brothers. This scenario agrees with the general mythological pattern in accordance with their assignments of the cardinal points of the compass: Ninurta (south), Enlil (north), Hadad (east) and Martu (west). 

Ninurta is sometimes mythologically merged with Ningirsu and Nergal, who are otherwise considered separate deities.

Last updated: 06/08/08

 

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