Ninkasi
Sumerian goddess of beer
Ninkasi was the Mesopotamian goddess of beer and brewing. It is possible that in the first millennium BC she was known under the variant name Kurunnītu, derived from a term referring to a type of high quality beer. She was associated with both positive and negative consequences of the consumption of beer. In god lists, such as the An = Anum list and the Weidner god list, she usually appears among the courtiers of the god Enlil, alongside deities such as Ninimma and Ninmada. She could also be paired with Siraš, a goddess of similar character, who sometimes was regarded as her sister. A possible association between her and the underworld deities Nungal and Laṣ is also attested, possibly in reference to the possible negative effects of alcohol consumption.
A number of works of Mesopotamian literature refer to Ninkasi, for example the myths Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave and Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird. A hymn dedicated to her, known simply as the Hymn to Ninkasi, is also known. It is commonly discussed and quoted in modern literature.
Name
Ninkasi's name, written in cuneiform as dNin-ka-si, means "mistress of beer." The explanation "lady who fills the mouth" has been proposed in the past but according to Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie should be considered implausible.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Ninkasi” as sumerian goddess of beer. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as sumerian goddess of beer. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1088421. VIAF identifies the subject as 15171395884130522252. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ninkasi” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.