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Ninurta
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== Iconography == [[File:Shamash.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Male figure in an Assyrian [[winged sun]] emblem from the Northwest Palace at Kalhu; some authors have speculated that this figure may be Ninurta, but most scholars reject this assertion as unfounded]] On ''[[kudurru]]s'' from the [[Kassites|Kassite Period]] ({{circa}} 1600 – {{circa}} 1155 BC), a plough is captioned as a symbol of Ninĝirsu.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=142}} The plough also appears in [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian]] art, possibly as a symbol of Ninurta.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=142}} A perched bird is also used as a symbol of Ninurta during the Neo-Assyrian Period.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=142–143}} One speculative hypothesis holds that the winged disc originally symbolized Ninurta during the ninth century BC,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=143}} but was later transferred to Aššur and the sun-god [[Utu|Shamash]].{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=143}} This idea is based on some early representations in which the god on the winged disc appears to have the tail of a bird.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=143}} Most scholars have rejected this suggestion as unfounded.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=143}} Astronomers of the eighth and seventh centuries BC identified Ninurta (or [[Pabilsaĝ]]) with the constellation [[Sagittarius (constellation)|Sagittarius]].{{sfn|van der Toorn|Becking|van der Horst|1999|page=628}} Alternatively, others identified him with the star [[Sirius]],{{sfn|van der Toorn|Becking|van der Horst|1999|page=628}} which was known in Akkadian as ''šukūdu'', meaning "arrow".{{sfn|van der Toorn|Becking|van der Horst|1999|page=628}} The constellation of [[Canis Major]], of which Sirius is the most visible star, was known as ''qaštu'', meaning "bow", after the bow and arrow Ninurta was believed to carry.{{sfn|van der Toorn|Becking|van der Horst|1999|page=628}} In the [[MUL.APIN]] Ninurta is consistently identified with [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]],{{sfn|Koch|1995|p=127}}{{sfn|Hunger|Steele|2018|p=127}}{{sfn|Horowitz|1998|p=172}} as it is read: "Mercury whose name is Ninurta travels the (same) path the Moon travels." However, in Babylonian times, Ninurta was associated with the planet [[Saturn]],{{sfn|Kasak|Veede|2001|pages=25–26}} while Mercury became associated with [[Nabu]].
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