this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2025
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[–] Uruanna@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Enki and Ninhursag https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.1.1&charenc=j

Enki, Sumerian god of water and knowledge, goes around distributing his semen to various goddesses for generations, and attempts to get busy with one who happens to be his great granddaughter, Uttu, after posing as a gardener. Ninhursag, the mother goddess of mountains, says no and takes out the semen from wherever he splashed it, then plants it in the ground. Various fruits, trees, vegetable, grass, plants grow from the place she planted it, and Enki eats them - to know what they are and determine their destiny because that's what he does as the god of knowledge. No kinkshaming.

Shortly after, Enki feels pain all over his body. Ninhursag asks where it hurts, and it turns out the pain comes from the plants and basically the semen is spreading inside his body. The top of his head hurt, Ninhursag removes the source of the pain which gives birth to a god of vegetation; a lock of hair, his nose, his mouth, throat, arm... give birth to multiple goddesses like Ninkasi goddess of beer, Nanshe goddess of the sea.

And then his rib hurts, and Ninhursag gives birth to Ninti out of it. Ninti translates to lady of life / lady who gives life, but it's believed that this part is a play on words that would mean lady of the rib. The Eve of Hebrew myth is thought to have been inspired by Ninti.

I don't know about versions of biblical texts, but the tradition that Eve came from a rib may come from people who were aware that this story was derived from Enki and Ninhursag. This myth involves a garden and stuff associated with the land of Dilmun, which was at some point connected to Eden. Plus Adam as a gardener eating the fruit to gain knowledge. Adam eats the seed of the apple but more like his own seed.

ETA: oh yeah, apparently Ninti "lady of life" literally translates into chavah in Hebrew meaning "to live" or "to give life" which became Havah then Eve. so Eve's name also carries that play on word with lady rib, except it was lost in translation (I'll just assume Hebrew for rib is different).