In Sumerian mythology, Ninhursag (or Ki) was the earth and mother-goddess. She may have been in some traditions the offspring of Nammu were originally An (the heavens or sky,) and Ki, (the Earth). But she usually appears as the sister of Enlil.
Ninhursag means 'Lady of the Foothills'. She had many other names: Nintur 'Lady Birth', Ninmah 'Lady August', Dingirmah, Aruru, and as wife of Enki was usually called Damgalnunna.
In Akkadian she was Belit-ili 'Lady of the gods' and Mama and as wife to Ea, Enki's Akkadian counterpart, she was called Damkina. Her prestige decreased as Ishtar's increased, but her aspect as Damkina mother of Marduk, the supreme god of Babylonia, still held a secure place in the pantheon.
In union with Enki she also bore Ninsar, goddess of the pasture(?).
Significantly, She is shown singing two laments, one before the city had been destroyed, in an attempt to avert the imminent destruction; and then afterwards, when the city had been ravaged, bemoaning the loss of the city and Her home.
The Great Lamentation over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur demonstrates that lamenting was the job of the goddess of the city, not of the god.
And when Ningal cries over Ur, "Her hair, she tears out as if it were rushes: on Her chest, on the silver-fly ornament, she smites and cries "woe, my city"; her eyes, well with teras, bittlerly She weeps".
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