Sumerian art - Nina / Nisaba / Ishtar / Innana date / fertility Goddess relief carving fragment & hymn tablet. Mesopotamian mythology

Nisaba / Nina / Ishtar / Innana



Sumerian date goddess relief and cuneiform tablet featuring a hymn to the goddess.



Dimensions of relief -

Height - 24cm / 9 inches

Width - 18.4 cm / 7 - 1/4 inches

Depth - 2cm / 3/4 inches

Hymn to Nisaba tablet Dimensions :-

Height - 8 cm / 3-1/4 inches

Width - 6.4 cm / 2-1/2 inches


* Combined postage offered

On offer here is a nicely aged replica set of the Sumerian goddess Nisaba, also known at different times as Nina, Innana, Ishtar and linked to the name Ninsurhag. Known as a goddess of dates and wine, she is also a symbol of fertility. The date tree itself, a symbol of life in a harsh desert environment offering obvious inspiration for the early foundations of Sumerian religion.

Made of a limestone and quartzite composition stone the relief and tablet have an aged ochre patina.

The image on the relief is a fascinating depiction of the goddess as she clutches a bunch of dates while her swirling hair spirals and morphs into the form of palm fronds. Amidst dual representations of the crescent moon, buds appear atop her head while on her shoulders protrude what has been interpreted as phallic symbols but could also be a date tree bloom.

Cuneiform writing can be seen above the image which indicates that the fragment was once part of the wall of a stone, date wine vat.

Nisaba was one of the most significant goddesses of the Sumerian cultures and presided over the success of crops with some inscriptions focusing on the palm date as her most special and reliable crop.

She was also a goddess associated with writing and the stylus was her emblem. From surviving fragments she was described as "she who opens men's ears" (imparting wisdom) & "word knower" - patron Goddess of the 'E.DUB.BA'. This was the house of inscribed tablets and the main center for learning the scribal arts in all of Sumer.

Numbers, mathematics and science also were equally important to her. The ancient king Gudea specifically stated that she was a "Goddess who knows numbers". With all of these significant cultural attributes, she was seen by the general populace as an overall goddess of wisdom.

The original artifact the inscribed tablet was based upon, was found in the ruins of the most sacred temple precinct in the city of Lagash.

The inscription describes the Goddess as "she who acquired fifty great ME's (instructions and decrees from other gods) 'she, the possessor of the stylus of seven numbers'.