It is possible that in the first millennium BC she was known under the variant name Kurunnītu, derived from a term referring to a type of high quality beer.
"[3] The explanation "lady who fills the mouth" has been proposed in the past but according to Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie should be considered implausible.
[1] The Sumerian compound KAŠ.DIN represents the word kurun (Akkadian: kurunnum), a type of beer regarded, in Mesopotamian texts, as being of a particularly high quality .
[17] A socle dedicated to her, E-ušumgalanna ("house of the ušumgal," translated by Andrew R. George as "dragon of heaven") was built there by the official Sin-balassu-iqbi,[17] who was active during the period of neo-Assyrian rule over Babylonia, before the rise of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
[22] It is possible that a deity corresponding to Ninti precedes Ninkasi and Siraš (also known as Siris), another goddess associated with beer, in the Nippur god list.
[8] A further deity associated with both of them was Patindu,[7] a god linked with ritual libations whose name might mean "he who makes the stream of wine sweet.
[26] Ninkasi was also regarded as the "brewer of Ekur," and in this role appears in lists of courtiers of Enlil alongside deities such as his scribe Ninimma, his butcher Ninšar, or his snake charmer Ninmada.
[26] For example, Ninimma, Ennugi, Kusu, Ninšar, Ninkasi and Ninmada appear in sequence in at least two sources, An = Anum and the Canonical Temple List.
[26] Another similar group, consisting of Šuzianna, Nuska, Ninimma, Ennugi, Kusu, Ninšar and Ninkasi appears in an offering list from the Ur III period and in an esoteric explanatory text.
[7] Similarly, Kurunnītu in multiple documents appears in association with the goddess Bēlet-balāṭi, who might be a late form of Manungal, and as such was likely an underworld deity.
[29] It has been proposed that this possible association between beer and underworld deities was meant to serve as a reflection of negative effects of alcohol consumption.
[35] Due to lack of references to historical events and the purposely archaic style of literary texts it is not possible to precisely date the composition of the hymn, but it is agreed that the known tablets come from the Old Babylonian period.
[37] However, recent studies conducted by archaeologist Adelheid Otto, brewing technician Martin Zarnkow and Assyriologist Walther Sallaberger indicate that the instructions given in the hymn as usually translated do not fully align with known information about the production of beer in ancient Mesopotamia, which creates the need for further analysis and a retranslation of fragments of the composition in accordance with newer discoveries.
[41] In the myth Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird, the eponymous hero describes Ninkasi and her activity in detail while planning a banquet for the Anzû's family.
[9] He refers to her as "the expert woman, who redounds to her mother's credit," and states that her fermenting vat is made of lapis lazuli, while her cask - from silver and gold.
[42] According to Jeremy Black, the passage about the goddess should be understood as a part of an elaborate metaphorical description of beer Lugalbanda plans to serve, and she is not herself a participant in the events of the myth.
[43] She is also referenced in passing in Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave, where at one point "the wooden dahaša (a type of vessel) of Ninkasi" puts the hero to sleep, which is most likely another metaphor pertaining to the consumption of beer.
[46] Her name is reinterpreted as a pun on the word ka, "mouth," in this composition, and like in the other passages her birth corresponds to Enki announcing a specific body part.