Editing Ninurta (section)

== Worship ==
[[File:Gudea dedication tablet to Ningirsu.jpg|thumb|[[Gudea]] dedication tablet to God Ningirsu: "For Ningirsu, [[Enlil]]'s mighty warrior, his Master; Gudea, [[Ensi (Sumerian)|ensi]] of [[Lagash]]"]]
[[File:Cylindres de Gudea - Musée du Louvre Antiquités orientales AO MNB 1511 ; MNB 1512.jpg|thumb|The [[Gudea cylinders]], dating to {{circa}} 2125 BC, describe how [[Gudea|King Gudea]] of Lagash rebuilt the temple of Ninĝirsu in Lagash as the result of a dream in which he was instructed to do so]]

Ninurta was worshipped in Mesopotamia as early as the middle of the third millennium BC by the ancient [[Sumer]]ians,{{sfn|Robson|2015}} and is one of the earliest attested deities in the region.{{sfn|Robson|2015}}{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=142}} His main cult center was the Eshumesha temple in the Sumerian city-state of [[Nippur]],{{sfn|Robson|2015}}{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=142}}{{sfn|Penglase|1994|page=42}} where he was worshipped as the god of agriculture and the son of the chief-god [[Enlil]].{{sfn|Robson|2015}}{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=142}}{{sfn|Penglase|1994|page=42}} Though they may have originally been separate deities,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=142}} in historical times, the god Ninĝirsu, who was worshipped in the Sumerian city-state of [[Girsu]], was always identified as a local form of Ninurta.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=142}} According to the Assyriologists [[Jeremy Black (assyriologist)|Jeremy Black]] and Anthony Green, the two gods' personalities are "closely intertwined".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=142}} As the city-state of Girsu declined in importance, Ninĝirsu became increasingly known as "Ninurta".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=138}} He became primarily characterized by the aggressive, warlike aspect of his nature.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=142}}

In later times, Ninurta's reputation as a fierce warrior made him immensely popular among the Assyrians.{{sfn|Robson|2015}}{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=143}} In the late second millennium BC, Assyrian kings frequently held names which included the name of Ninurta,{{sfn|Robson|2015}} such as [[Tukulti-Ninurta I|Tukulti-Ninurta]] ("the trusted one of Ninurta"), [[Ninurta-apal-Ekur]] ("Ninurta is the heir of [Ellil's temple] Ekur"), and [[Ninurta-tukulti-Ashur]] ("Ninurta is the god Aššur's trusted one").{{sfn|Robson|2015}} Tukulti-Ninurta I (ruled 1243–1207 BC) declares in one inscription that he hunts "at the command of the god Ninurta, who loves me."{{sfn|Robson|2015}} Similarly, [[Adad-nirari II]] (ruled 911–891 BC) claimed Ninurta and Aššur as supporters of his reign,{{sfn|Robson|2015}} declaring his destruction of their enemies as moral justification for his right to rule.{{sfn|Robson|2015}} In the ninth century BC, when [[Ashurnasirpal II]] (ruled 883–859 BC) moved the capital of the Assyrian Empire to [[Kalhu]],{{sfn|Robson|2015}} the first temple he built there was one dedicated to Ninurta.{{sfn|Robson|2015}}{{sfn|Lewis|2016}}{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=143}}{{sfn|Penglase|1994|page=43}}

[[File:The Palaces at Nimrud Restored.jpeg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|1853 restoration of what the city of [[Kalhu]], Ninurta's main cult center in the Assyrian Empire, might have originally looked like, based on the excavations of the British archaeologist [[Austen Henry Layard]] there in the 1840s]]
The walls of the temple were decorated with stone relief carvings, including one of Ninurta slaying the Anzû bird. Ashurnasirpal II's son [[Shalmaneser III]] (ruled 859–824 BC) completed Ninurta's [[ziggurat]] at Kalhu and dedicated a stone relief of himself to the god.{{sfn|Robson|2015}} On the carving, Shalmaneser III's boasts of his military exploits{{sfn|Robson|2015}} and credits all his victories to Ninurta, declaring that, without Ninurta's aid, none of them would have been possible.{{sfn|Robson|2015}} When [[Adad-nirari III]] (ruled 811–783 BC) dedicated a new endowment to the temple of Aššur in [[Assur]], they were sealed with both the seal of Aššur and the seal of Ninurta.{{sfn|Robson|2015}}

After the capital of Assyria was moved away from Kalhu, Ninurta's importance in the pantheon began to decline.{{sfn|Robson|2015}} [[Sargon II]] favored [[Nabu]], the god of scribes, over Ninurta.{{sfn|Robson|2015}} Nonetheless, Ninurta still remained an important deity.{{sfn|Robson|2015}} Even after the kings of Assyria left Kalhu, the inhabitants of the former capital continued to venerate Ninurta,{{sfn|Robson|2015}} who they called "Ninurta residing in Kalhu".{{sfn|Robson|2015}} Legal documents from the city record that those who violated their oaths were required to "place two [[mina (unit)|mina]]s of silver and one mina of gold in the lap of Ninurta residing in Kalhu."{{sfn|Robson|2015}} The last attested example of this clause dates to 669 BC, the last year of the reign of [[Esarhaddon|King Esarhaddon]] (ruled 681 – 669 BC).{{sfn|Robson|2015}} The temple of Ninurta at Kalhu flourished until the end of the Assyrian Empire,{{sfn|Robson|2015}} hiring the poor and destitute as employees.{{sfn|Robson|2015}} The main cultic personnel were a ''šangû''-priest and a chief singer, who were supported by a cook, a steward, and a porter.{{sfn|Robson|2015}} In the late seventh century BC, the temple staff witnessed legal documents, along with the staff of the temple of Nabu at [[Ezida]].{{sfn|Robson|2015}} The two temples shared a ''qēpu''-official.{{sfn|Robson|2015}}