Ninlil: The Goddess of Wind

Ninlil, also known as Mulliltu in Assyria, is Enlil's spouse. She may be the daughter of Nammu and Anu or Nunbarsegunu and Haia, according to the evidence. She is allegedly the daughter of Antu and Anu, according to another version. She used to reside in Dilmun, where Enlil pregnant her when they were both lying by the sea. She gave birth to Nanna or Suen, the moon deity. Enlil was sent to the underworld with Ninlil for impregnating her. Later, while she was posing as a gatekeeper, he had her pregnant once more, giving birth to Nergal, the god of death. Only after her death did she transform into the goddess of wind and Enlil into the storm deity.

Ninlil was mostly revered in her husband Enlil's cult centers. As a result, Nippur was also linked to her, as evidenced by early dynastic period sources. An inscription of a certain Ennail, probably a lugal (ruler) of Kish, who claims to have gathered first fruit offerings for Enlil and Ninlil, may be one of the first writings referencing the worship of Ninlil. The only copies of the text that have survived are from the Ur III era, but a statuette fragment from Nippur shows that a ruler by the name of Ennail ruled at some point prior to the Sargonic era. Ninlil was worshiped in the Kiur (Sumerian: "leveled area"), which is referred to as a "complex" in contemporary scholarly literature, in the Ekur temple complex.