The theonym Numushda was usually written in cuneiform as dnu-muš-da, with variants such as dnu-umuš.muš-da (known from Sargonic and Ur III periods) and nu-mu-uš-ta (found in a single Emesal text) being sparsely attested.
[2] Antoine Cavingeaux and Manfred Krebernik [de] note its resemblance to ME nu-MUŠ/BU-DU, a term attested in an Early Dynastic list of cultic personnel, though they ultimately conclude it is possible it had no Sumerian etymology.
[3] In a late Akkadian astrological text it is explained as nammaššu, a word which depending on the context can mean "people", "settlement" or "wild animals", though as noted by Jeremiah Peterson this is unlikely to be its original etymology.
[2] The only known hymn dedicated to Numushda and a number of other literary texts describe him as a god associated with wild nature, and compare him to both real animals, such as lions, and to mythical mušḫuššu.
[6] Numushda was often regarded as the son of the moon god Nanna (Suen) and his wife Ningal, though this tradition is absent from the earliest sources, dated to the third millennium BCE, which might indicate it only developed later on.
[3] This genealogy was likely meant to serve as a way assimilate him into the conventional pantheon of southern Mesopotamia, and might have been based on perceived similarity to another son of Nanna, Ningublaga, though no evidence for syncretism between these two deities is attested in god lists.
[5] It is a literary text which describes how he was appointed to the position of the city god of Kazallu by Enlil, and how in the aftermath of this event one of them sends a spring flood which lets birds and fish flourish.
[12] The latter initially offers him gold and precious stones as a reward instead of the hand of his daughter in marriage, and only agrees to permit him to marry her because Martu provides a large number of bridal gifts, chiefly livestock.
[6] Numushda was the tutelary god of Kazallu,[1] a city located in the proximity of Marad and Kish, in the central part of modern Iraq.
[7] A cadastre from the reign of Ur-Namma demarcating newly established provinces of his kingdom mentions various locations tied to Numushda, including a tower and a shrine.
[22] Numushda also had a prominent role in Marad, as evidenced by references to him in the year names of local kings,[2] including Sumu-ditana, Sumu-numhim and Sumu-atar, who all made donations to him.
[25] A hymn dedicated to Numushda was composed during the reign of Sin-Iqisham of Larsa,[8] presumably during a short lived period of peace between his kingdom and Kazallu.
[8] In the Old Babylonian period Numushda also came to be worshiped in cities located in modern Syria, including Mari, where he is attested in an offering list from the reign of Zimri-Lim as the recipient of two sheep.