Ninurta (identified with Ningirsu, Pabilsag, and the biblical Nimrod) is the Sumerian and Akkadian hero-god of war, hunting, and the south wind. He first appears in texts in the early 3rd millennium BCE as an agricultural god and local deity of the town of Girsu (as Ningirsu) and the city of Larak (as Pabilsag), both Sumerian communities.
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Definition
Timeline
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c. 3000 BCE - c. 2000 BCENinurta first mentioned as Ningirsu, an agricultural god who evolves into a war god.
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c. 2600 BCEReferred to as Ninurta regularly in inscriptions.
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c. 2000 BCE - c. 1000 BCENinurta, though still associated with agriculture, is primarily a hero-god of war.
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c. 1700 BCE - c. 1500 BCEComposition date for The Instructions of Ninurta, the world's first "Farmer's Almanac".
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c. 1244 BCE - 1208 BCEReign of Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I who honors the god by taking his name.
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884 BCE - 859 BCEReign of Assyrian King Ashurnasirpal II who dedicates the city of Kalhu to Ninurta.
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879 BCEAshurnasirpal II declares Kalhu capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, dedicates temple to Ninurta.
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681 BCE - 669 BCEReign of Esarhaddon of Neo-Assyrian Empire, who regularly invokes Ninurta.
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668 BCE - 627 BCEReign of Ashurbanipal of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, regularly mentions Ninurta in his inscriptions.
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612 BCEFall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and destruction of Ninurta's temples.
