Nanshe (Sumerian: 𒀭𒀏 dNANŠE (AB×ḪA)[2]) was a Mesopotamian goddess in various contexts associated with the sea, marshlands, the animals inhabiting these biomes, namely bird and fish, as well as divination, dream interpretation, justice, social welfare, and certain administrative tasks.

She is also attested in a number of other cities in other parts of Mesopotamia, including Adab, Nippur, Umma, Ur and Uruk, but her importance in their local pantheons was comparatively smaller.

[11] Andrew R. George notes that in the Canonical Temple List Sirara, a toponym associated with Nanshe, might have been reinterpreted as an alternate name of her.

"[24] Niek Veldhuis argues that this role might be only valid for Nanshe understood as the divine mother of the kings of Lagash, as she does not appear as a dream interpreter in other contexts, and female relatives of the protagonist were often responsible for it in Mesopotamian literary works, as attested in the Epic of Gilgamesh, where Ninsun interprets the dreams of her son, or in narratives focused on Dumuzi, where it is the task of his sister Geshtinanna.

[30] Like other deities considered to be major members of the Mesopotamian pantheon, Nanshe was believed to have various relatives, as well as a divine court.

[36] They are attested together in various texts from Lagash, for example Entemena mentions border dikes dedicated to them both, while Gudea credits them with facilitating the arrival of goods from distant lands.

[39][4] Walther Sallaberger notes she had much in common with her mother, for example the location of their respective cult centers (Gu'abba and Nina), the use of birds as symbols of them both in art, and the connection to the sea.

[39] Additional members of the pantheon mentioned in association with her in hymns include Nisaba, Haya, Ningublaga, Ningishzida and Ištaran, though in the case of the last two the context in which they appear is unclear.

[32] None of the deities associated with Nanshe in Lagash appear in the texts from the Sealand, with the exception of Ningirsu, who is only present in a single offering list.

[44] Their absence might indicate that the earlier tradition of this state had no bearing on the new dynasty who came to worship Nanshe,[45] or that the latter only controlled a small part of the former Lagashite territory.

[54] Wilfred G. Lambert concluded this singular source might be an example of the influence of Enūma Eliš on other theological works, and as such does necessarily represent an independent tradition.

[7] Manfred Krebernik [de] and Jan Lisman suggest that the goddess Kiki (also known as Ninkiki), who occurs in the Zame Hymns as the tutelary deity of the unidentified location AB×AŠ2 (hymn 28) and in the contemporary god lists from Fara and Abu Salabikh was at some point syncretised with Nanshe, as she shared her association with water birds and appears only in Early Dynastic sources.

[65] It was located in the southeastern part of what eventually came to be the state of Lagash, eight kilometers to the southeast of its eponymous capital, and has been identified with modern Tell Zurghul in Iraq.

[17] According to Dietz Otto Edzard, Sirara, another toponym associated with Nanshe, might have been a sacred precinct of Nina or the name of a temple located in it, though they might have also been two separate nearby settlements, which perhaps at some point fused into a single urban area, similarly to Uruk and Kullaba.

[65] It is mentioned alongside Nina as a cult center of Nanshe in the thirty third of the Zame Hymns[69] from Early Dynastic Abu Salabikh.

[68] Gebhard J. Selz states that it is possible that Ur-Nanshe, who was the founder of the first dynasty of Lagash, the first attested local user of the title lugal, and a devotee of Nanshe, came from a family which originally lived in the proximity of Nina.

[44] According to Wolfgang Heimpel, she was the second main deity locally, with Ningirsu, her and the "great gods of Lagash" constituting what he deems the "essential pantheon," though he notes a longer sequence places them respectively in the sixth and seventh spot rather than first and second, after Anu, Enlil, Ninhursag, Enki and Suen.

[71] Nanshe played a role in the royal ideology during the reign of Ur-Nanshe[36] and might have been connected to the religious legitimization of his dynasty, as evidenced by the fact that Entemena credited her with granting him rule over his kingdom.

[22] Nanshe was also known in Adab,[94] but the evidence is limited to an Early Dynastic literary text, a single offering list and a handful of theophoric names, such as Lu-Nanshe, Me-Nanshe and Ur-Nanshe, all from the Sargonic period.

[44] In the beginning of the second millennium BCE, the influence of the area of Lagash declined, which also resulted in the loss of importance of local deities, including Nanshe.

[103] It is possible the Sealand state controlled her old cult center Nina,[46] but most likely the former Lagashite territories were neither the core area of the kingdom nor the point of origin of its ruling house.

[108] Despite appearing frequently in offering lists, she is presently only known from a single theophoric name,[109] Uk-ku-lu-dNa-zi, the first element of which might be Akkadian and mean "exceedingly dark [is]" or less plausibly Elamite, in which case the translation "grandiose" has been proposed.

[119] A late reference to the cult of Nanshe in the Sealand occurs on a kudurru (inscribed boundary stone) of Enlil-nadin-apli of the Second Dynasty of Isin (eleventh century BCE), which mentions that a parcel of land which was the subject of described dispute had originally been donated by "Gulkišar, king of the Sealand, to Nanše, his lady", though it is not certain if it refers to a historical document.

[123] Niek Veldhuis refers to it as a goose in his edition of the text,[124] and points out that identifying it as a cormorant, pelican or gull is implausible, as the u5 is described in other sources as a grain-eating bird which can raise its voice.

[125] Wolfgang Heimpel in the Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie argues that it is possible the term for the goose was kur-gi16, and u5 might refer to the swan instead.

[126] Julia M. Asher-Greve notes that from a comporative perspective it is important to point out that in contrast with swans and geese, cormorants rarely, if ever, appear as symbolic animals in any culture.

[126] It is sometimes questioned if the restoration is correct,[16] though Niek Veldhuis argues the composition shows a degree of similarity to Nanshe and the Birds,[136] and points out that a number of animal names and uncommon writings of well attested ones are shared by both texts.

[138] The plot focuses on a banquet to which a figure referred to as the "queen of the fishermen," often interpreted as Nanshe, invites various fish,[139] presumed to be freshwater species.

[146] After he offers bread to her,[148] she reveals to him that his dream was an indication Ningirsu wants him to rebuild the Eninnu, and that he will be supported in this endeavor by his personal god Ningishzida, as well as Nisaba and Nindub.

[149] In the Song of the Plowing Oxen, Nanshe acts as a dream interpreter, and advises the anonymous king who serves as the narrative's protagonist.