Like her, he was not the object of active worship, though references to it are made in literary texts, and additionally some incantations entrust him with keeping various other malevolent forces in the underworld.
[1] It can be differentiated from the ordinary word "fate" in Sumerian texts due to being preceded by the dingir sign, so-called divine determinative, used to identify the names of deities.
[3] Aicha Rahmouni compares the role of Namtar in Mesopotamian beliefs to that played by Mot, the personified death, in Ugaritic texts.
[4] The primary roles of Namtar in the Mesopotamian pantheon were those of a minor god of the underworld and of a disease demon,[3] especially strongly associated with headaches and heart pain.
[11] However, Namtar could in turn be implored to take care of other demons, for example an incantation against Mimma Lemnu, the personified "Any Evil," entrusts him with keeping this being imprisoned in the underworld.
[3] A single late text, Underworld Vision of an Assyrian Prince, might also mention a feminine counterpart of Namtar, Namtartu, though the restoration of the name is uncertain.
[5] A single Old Babylonian letter associates Lugal-namtarra, a deity possibly analogous to Namtar, with Ninshubur, and invokes both of them to bless the recipient.
[17] Lugal-namtarra, as well as a deity whose name was written as dSUKKAL, who according to Odette Boivin might be analogous to Ninshubur, both appear in association with Shamash in texts from the archives of the First Sealand dynasty in place of his usual attendants (such as Bunene).
[7] In the myth Enki and Ninmah Namtar is mentioned in passing as one of the gods invited to the banquet celebrating the creation of mankind.