Temple hymn sources identify her as the "true and great lady of heaven"[This quote needs a citation] (possibly in relation to her standing on the mountain) and kings of Lagash were "nourished by Ninhursag's milk".

She had many names including Ninmah ("Great Queen");[10] Nintu ("Lady of Birth");[10] Mamma or Mami (mother);[10] Aruru (Sumerian: 𒀭𒀀𒊒𒊒)[10] and Belet-Ili (mistress of the gods, Akkadian).

In older literature, the name was transcribed as dMah, but the correct reading was confirmed through the existence of a syllabically written Emesal form, Dimmermah.

[20][21] Although she was originally an epithet of Ninhursag, Dingirmah eventually developed into a separate goddess at the end of the Early Dynastic period.

[27] Like Dingirmah, Ninmah was initially an epithet of Ninhursag who later developed into a separate goddess at the end of the Early Dynastic period.

[22] In a text known as Archive of Mystic Heptads, Ninmah was labeled separately from Ninhursag as the "Bēlet-ilī of the Emaḫ temple" in an enumeration of seven goddesses of birth.

[28] As evidenced by the large number of names, epithets, and areas of worship associated with her cult, Ninhursag's function in religion had many different aspects and shifted notably over time.

[31] This term of mother, Julia Asher-Greve and Joan Westenholz argue, was analogous to the generic 'father' used for gods such as Anu and Enki, and therefore transcends the biological concept of motherhood.

[32] In the Old Babylonian Period some posit a decline in her worship, as she loses her high status as part of the four supreme deities of the pantheon.

[33] Votive objects dedicated to her Diĝirmaḫ name were recovered in Adab, dating to the Early Dynastic Period.

[34] One text in Sumerian, the Disputation between Summer and Winter, describes the creation of the seasons as a result of the copulation of Ninhursag (the earth) and Enlil.

[37] One composition, a dedication of Ninhursag's Kes temple, mentions deer, bison, and wild goats in connection to the building.

[39] As Ninmah she has appeared occasionally in medical texts, such as one from Sultantepe[40] which describes a ritual and offerings to be performed for the goddess in order to cure bedwetting.

[50] Marcos Such-Gutiérrez suggests that Ashgi was initially Ninhursag's husband in Adab due to Šulpae being sparsely attested in sources from this city from the third millennium BCE, and was only viewed as her son in later periods.

[52] In the An = Anum god list, Ninhursag was assigned sixteen additional children besides Paniĝinĝarra, Lillu, Ashgi, and Lisin, named Atugula, Atutur, NIN.LA2, NIG-gumaḫa, Burukaš, Zarzaru, Zurmuzarmu, Nin-BUR.SAL, Šazumaḫ, Ušumšasu, Naĝaršaga, Anmea, Amaea, UR-guru, Urra, and Amaniranna.

[53] NIN.LA2 is generally accepted to be the same goddess as Egime, because NIN was glossed as e-gi, while the sign LA2 (𒇲) is believed to have been derived from ME (𒈨).

Six deities named Saĝšutašubšuba, KA.NI-šu-KID.DU.DU, Adgigi, Gudub, Ekurabsa, and Nin-Aruru (not to be confused with Aruru) were designated as her gud-balaĝ ("bull lyres").

[64] These seven appear in Enki and Ninmah to assist in fashioning humankind from clay alongside their mistress, and are listed as Ninimma, Shuzianna, Ninmada, Ninšar, Ninmug, Mumudu, and Ninniginna.

[67] Frédéric Grillot considered them to be equivalent to one another, but partially based his conclusion on an assumed parallel between the presumed union of Ninhursag and Enki with that of Kiririsha and Napirisha.

[68] In a bilingual Akkadian-Amorite lexical list from the Old Babylonian period which presumably originated in southern Mesopotamia,[69] DIĜIR.MAḪ (Bēlet-ilī) was equated with an Amorite deity named ʔAṯeratum (a-še-ra-tum), but according to Andrew R. George and Manfred Krebernik [de] in this context the name designated Athirat, the goddess also known from Ugarit, rather than the Mesopotamian goddess Ašratum.

[70] Ninhursag was commonly depicted seated upon or near mountains,[71] her hair sometimes in an omega shape and at times wearing a horned head-dress and tiered skirt.

[78] Joan Goodnick Westenholz and Julia M. Asher-Greve argue that the symbol should be interpreted as a schematic representation of a woman's hair rather than the shape of an uterus.

Ninsar matures quickly, and after Enki spots her walking along the bank, sleeps with her, resulting in a daughter, Ninkurra.

[86] The fox is able to retrieve Ninhursag, and she then cures Enki, giving birth to eight minor deities from his ailing body parts.

As suggested by Samuel Kramer and W. F. Albright, Enki's eating of the eight plants and the consequences following his actions can be compared to the consumption of the fruit of knowledge by Adam and Eve.

[90] The ending of the text is not well understood (due to damage on the tablet), but is likely Enki consoling Ninmah and possibly finding a place for the human he made.

[91] In the Anzû epic, Ninhursag under the name Bēlet-ilī or Mami speaks in support of Ninurta her son, and is given the epithet "The Mistress of All Gods".

[56] In another myth involving her son, Ninurta's Exploits, the titular god goes out to conquer the mountain land to the north of Babylonia, and piles the bodies of its stony kings into a great burial mound.

[92] Theories posit that, in earlier times, Ninhursag was the highest ranking female deity, but was later displaced from that status by Ninlil, before the Old Babylonian period where she was syncretized with other birthing goddesses.