View source for Nintinugga

===Nintinugga and other healing goddesses===
Various goddesses associated with healing, namely Nintinugga, [[Gula (goddess)|Gula]], [[Ninisina]], [[Ninkarrak]], [[Bau (goddess)|Bau]] and [[Meme (Mesopotamian goddess)|Meme]], formed an interconnected network in [[Ancient Mesopotamian religion|Mesopotamian religion]], either due to analogous functions or shared associations with other deities.{{sfn|Sibbing-Plantholt|2022|p=14}} The existence of multiple similar goddesses responsible for medicine reflected the well attested phenomenon of local pantheons typical for individual cities or regions.{{sfn|Böck|2015|p=328}} However, while a degree of interchangeability is attested,{{sfn|Sibbing-Plantholt|2022|p=156}} Nintinugga was usually regarded as distinct from the other similar goddesses.{{sfn|Westenholz|2010|p=396}} Their individual character was reflected in distinct traditions regarding their parents and spouses, as well as in associations with separate cult centers.{{sfn|Böck|2015|p=328}} For example, while Nintinugga was associated with [[Nippur]], Ninisina was the goddess of [[Isin]], Gula most likely originated in [[Umma]],{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=82}} and Ninkarrak was worshiped in [[Sippar]].{{sfn|Westenholz|2010|p=385}}

An association between Nintinugga and Ninisina is attested in sources from the Old Babylonian period, and might have been meant to strengthen the ties between their respective cities, Nippur and Isin.{{sfn|Sibbing-Plantholt|2022|pp=150-151}} However, they were not necessarily interchangeable, and references to the former traveling to visit the latter in Isin are known from literary texts.{{sfn|Böck|2015|p=331}}{{sfn|Sibbing-Plantholt|2022|p=148}}

In the ''Gula Hymn of [[Bulluṭsa-rabi]]'', a [[syncretistic]] work composed at some point between 1400 and 700 BCE{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=100}} which equates the eponymous goddess both with other medicine goddesses and with deities of different character, such as [[Nanshe]] and [[Ninigizibara]] (a minor goddess from the entourage of [[Inanna]], described as a harpist), Nintinugga appears as one of the names assigned to her.{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=115}} Despite the syncretistic approach, each section focuses on the individual traits of each deity,{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=116}} and that dedicated to Nintinugga highlights both her character as a healing goddess and her connection to the underworld.{{sfn|Sibbing-Plantholt|2022|p=101}} However, sources from Nippur indicate that local theologians equated Gula with Ninisina, not Nintinugga, possibly due to their respective characters being more similar.{{sfn|Sibbing-Plantholt|2022|p=156}}