There was a city, there was a city, the one we live in.
Nippur was the city, the city in which we live.
Dur-jicnimbar was the city, the city in which we live.
Id-sala is their sacred river, Kar-jectina is their quay.
Kar-asar is the quay where the boats moor.
Pu-lal is its freshwater well.
Nunbirdu is its branching canal,
and if you measure it out,
its arable land is 50 sar in each direction.
Enlil was one of their young men.
Ninlil was one of their young women.
Nisaba was one of the wise old women.
In those days, the mother who had given birth to the girl Ninlil advised her daughter. Nisaba advised Ninlil:
"The canal is sacred, daughter! The canal is pure - don't bathe in it! Ninlil, do not walk along the banks of the Nunbirdu canal! His eye is bright, the eye of the Lord is bright, he will look at you! The strong rock, father Enlil - his eye is bright, he will look at you! The shepherd, the decider - his eye is bright, he will look at you! Immediately he will want to have intercourse, he will want to kiss you! He will be happy to pour lusty seed into your womb, and then he will leave you to it!"
She advised her from the heart, she gave her wisdom.
Ninlil bathed in the pure canal anyway. She was about to return to the banks of the Nunbirdu. As Ninlil walked back to the banks of the Nunbirdu, his eyes lit up. Enlil's eyes shone. He looked at her. The strong rock, father Enlil, looked at her with shining eyes. The shepherd, the decider, looked at her with shining eyes. He said to her:
"Let me make love to you!"
But he could not get her to agree. Enlil said to her:
"Let me kiss you!"
But he couldn't get her to agree. Ninlil replied:
"My vagina is small, it doesn't know pregnancy.
My lips are young, they don't know kissing.
If my mother finds out, she will slap me!
If my father finds out, he'll lay a hand on me!
The eternal house, whose judgment is profound,
will call me to account!"
When Enlil heard this, he decided to change it. He commissioned his capable minister Nuska to make the preparations. As Nuska worked tirelessly, it happened that strong winds (symbolizing Enlil's power) arose in the E-Kur.
"Pure maiden, gain maturity and attraction.
Ninlil, gain maturity and attraction."
He (Enlil) completed the utterance of these important words, he himself completed it.
Father Enlil swam downstream towards Ninlil. He actually wanted to have intercourse with her, he actually wanted to kiss her! He grabbed her, the one he was looking for. He was actually supposed to have intercourse with her, he was actually supposed to kiss her!
He came to lie with her on a small sandbank. As he embraced her, he held her hands and followed the urge to kiss her lips. For her part, she lay down next to him on her bottom and the small wet spot. He followed the urge to make that love, followed the urge to kiss those lips, and in his first lovemaking, in his first kiss, he poured the seed, the seed of Suen, the moon god, the bright lone divine traveler, into her womb!
Enlil walked around in the Ki-ur. When Enlil was wandering in the Ki-ur, the fifty great gods and the seven gods who decide the destinies had Enlil arrested in the Ki-ur.
"Enlil, you have defiled the rites, leave the city! Lord, who can decree destinies, you have confused the rites of the gods, leave the city!"
Enlil, in accordance with what had been decided, left the city. Nunamnir, in accordance with what had been decided, left the city. Ninlil followed. Nunamnir left the city, the young woman followed him.
He led Ninlil to the guard of the city gate. Enlil spoke to the guard of the city gate:
"Guardian of the city gate! Guardian of the gate! Gatekeeper! Guardian of the sacred barrier! If your mistress Ninlil comes and asks for me, don't tell her where I've gone!"
Ninlil turned to the gatekeeper:
"Guardian of the city gate! Guardian of the gate! Gatekeeper! Guardian of the sacred barrier! Where has Enlil, your master, gone?"
Enlil made the man at the city gate answer::
"My lord has not deigned to exchange pleasantries with me. Enlil did not deign to exchange pleasantries with me!"
Ninlil replied:
"I will make my purpose clear and explain my intention. You too can fill my womb. Enlil, lord of all lands, has slept with me! As Enlil is your lord, so I am your mistress!"
The city gatekeeper replied:
"And you are my mistress. Let my hand touch your genitals!"
Ninlil said:
"A sperm, your future master,
a shining sperm, is in my womb.
A seed, germ of Suen the Moon God,
a shining seed is in my womb!"
The gatekeeper replied:
"The seed of my lord can ascend to the heavens! Let my seed stay down! Let my seed stay down instead of my master's seed!"
The gatekeeper of the city made her lie down in the chamber. There he had intercourse with her, there he kissed her. In this one intercourse, in this one kiss, he poured the seed of Nergal, the lord of Meslam, into her womb.
Enlil left. Ninlil followed. Nunamnir left, the young woman followed him.
Enlil led Ninlil to the man of Id-kura, the great river of the netherworld, the man-eating river. Just as Ninlil had previously consorted with the city gatekeeper, she now consorted with him. In this one intercourse, in this one kiss, he poured the seed of Ninazu, the future owner of the temple estate Egida (in Enegi), into her womb.
Enlil left. Ninlil followed. Nunamnir left, the young woman followed him.
Enlil led Ninlil to Siluigi, the man of the ferryboat. Just as Ninlil had previously consorted with Enlil in the form of the man from Id-kura, she now consorted with him. In this one intercourse, in this one kiss, he poured the seed of Enbilulu, the future overseer of the canal construction, into her womb.
Enlil, you are the Lord! You are king! Nunamnir, you are the Lord! You are king! You are the supreme lord, you are the most powerful lord, whose sayings cannot be changed at all, whose original utterances cannot be altered! For the glorious destiny you have chosen for Ninlil, the mother, praise be to you, father Enlil!
The myth is much more complex than it appears at first glance. It can be summarized as follows:
Enlil was a young man living in Nippur at a time when the gods were human and the cities were not yet populated by humans. Enlil had fallen in love with the beautiful Ninlil. Ninlil, although not averse to him, followed her parents' advice and rejected Enlil because of her inexperience and youth. Enlil then abused his power with the help of his minister Nuska and made her more mature and attractive. This allowed him to have consensual sex with Ninlil and impregnate her with Nanna, who later became the moon god.
As Enlil had abused his power by confusing the rites of the gods, he had to leave Nippur as punishment and visit the underworld. Ninlil followed him at a distance. Ninlil then met with all the men Enlil had spoken to on his way. Nergal, Ninazu and Enbilulu were conceived during these encounters.
At the end of the myth, Enlil is praised as the god whose utterances cannot be changed. He is praised for having established Ninlil as the goddess of fertility.
This myth is also of particular importance because in it the influential moon god Nanna is conceived, who is the father of Inanna and Utu.
The crucial passage where Enlil disrupted the rites of the gods by changing Ninlil's fate is often overlooked in translations of the myth. As a young man, he was probably not yet authorized to decree destinies. Perhaps he was allowed to decree fates, but not the fates of high-ranking gods like Ninlil. Since he did so anyway, the other gods saw their power threatened and banished him from the city.
It is unclear whether he went to the netherworld of his own free will or whether he was to be banished there. In any case, when he was on his way there, he managed to extend his influence over the netherworld by fathering Nergal and Ninazu, which is probably why he did not have to visit it after all.
When he arrived at the ferryboat, he probably already realized that he no longer needed to board it. He therefore did not have another netherworld god fathered here, but Enbilulu, whom he would later commission to supervise the construction of the canals.
As Ninlil herself had emphasized, the procreation of Nergal, Ninazu and Enbilulu was part of a strategic plan and did not serve to satisfy sexual needs. The procreation of Nergal, Ninazu and Enbilubu allowed Enlil to consolidate his power.
