Nammu is a goddess of the Mesopotamian tradition.
Primeval sea and primordial mother, from whose clay the first humans were made.
Nammu is the Sumerian primordial mother goddess, the embodiment of the primeval sea; her name and the element share the same cuneiform sign.
As Enki’s mother she wakes him in the myth Enki and Ninmah, and together with Ninmah and seven helper goddesses she forms the first humans from clay.
Type: primordial mother goddess, embodiment of the primeval sea
Origin: Early Dynastic period, myth Enki and Ninmah
Texts: Sumerian texts, god lists
Period: Early Dynastic to Old Babylonian
Appearance: barely worshipped, a temple in Ur is attested
Attested from the Early Dynastic period, central to the myth Enki and Ninmah; from the Old Babylonian period on, also regarded as the mother of An and Ki.
Southern Mesopotamia: Ur, Nippur, Babylon; widespread worship is not recorded.
Sumerian texts and god lists, less frequently attested than other primordial deities.
Language: Nammu is usually translated as creator; her name shares the sign for the fresh-water deep. The best-known reference is the royal name Ur-Nammu, servant of Nammu.
Appearance
Nammu embodies the primordial waters and the fertile marshland of southern Mesopotamia.
Effect
Unlike chaotic primordial figures, she bears maternal traits and forms the first humans from clay.
The key aspects of the primordial mother goddess at a glance.
Sumerian cosmogony, the oldest layer, predating the god lists.
The primeval sea and the creation of the first humans from clay.
No fixed iconography; conceived as water and as a kneading hand.
Nammu is regarded as a primordial mother goddess; her name shares the sign for the freshwater deep, and she is the mother of Enki.
In the myth Enki and Ninmah, she wakes her son, who has her shape humans from clay together with Ninmah, that is, Ninhursag. In Old Babylonian tradition she is also the mother of An and Ki.
Nammu is received in modern goddess and matriarchy literature as a forgotten primordial mother; this reception goes beyond the thin source material and should be treated with caution. In religious studies she stands for the primordial water as the origin of all being.
Nammu was not widely venerated in cult; a temple dedicated to her in Ur is attested in the Old Babylonian period, along with texts from Nippur and Babylon. The royal name Ur-Nammu is understood to mean ‘servant of Nammu’. Holy water, salt and amulet draw on this tradition.
Who created humans according to the Sumerians?
According to Enki and Ninmah, Nammu shapes humans from clay, together with Ninmah and seven goddesses.
How are Nammu and the Abzu connected?
Her name denotes the same freshwater deep as the Abzu.
Recommended internal links:
Further standard works in the bibliography.
Nammu, goddess of the primordial waters, Sumerian primordial mother of gods and humans, is the origin from which the first humans were shaped in clay.
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