[3] She is known from the curse formula "May the dogs of Nikarawas eat away his head" from Carchemish from the ninth or eighth century BCE,[1] more precisely dated to the reign of Yariri, the successor of Astiruwa.
[6] This form of the name is attested in a curse from Tabal which invokes her alongside Kubaba,[7] and possibly in a damaged inscription from the same ancient kingdom found in Kayseri, which mentions a deity whose name begins with the signs ní-ka.
[9] This view more recently received support from Joan Goodnick Westenholz,[1] but it has been subsequently challenged by Sylvia Hutter-Braunsar.
[10] She argues that they are unlikely to be one and the same due to distinct function of Nikarawa's dogs, who in contrast with Ninkarrak's were regarded as dangerous.
[11] However, the identification is still considered plausible as of 2022,[3] and Irene-Sibbing Plantholt groups the inscription from Carchemish with western attestations of Ninkarrak from Ugarit, Emar, Terqa and Mari.