Ningishzida
Ningishzida (sum: dnin-g̃iš-zid-da) is a Mesopotamian deity of vegetation and the underworld.  Thorkild Jacobsen translates Ningishzida as Sumerian for "lord of the good tree".

Mythology

In Sumerian mythology, he appears in Adapa's myth as one of the two guardians of Anu's celestial palace, alongside Dumuzi. He was sometimes depicted as a serpent with a human head.

Lagash had a temple dedicated to Ningishzida, and Gudea, patesi of Lagash in the 21st century BC (short chronology), was one of his devotees. In the Louvre, there is a famous green steatite vase carved for King Gudea of Lagash, dedicated by its inscription: "To the god Ningiszida, his god Gudea, Ensi (governor) of Lagash, for the prolongation of his life, has dedicated this".

Ningishzida is sometimes the son of Ninazu and Ningiridda, even though the myth Ningishzida's journey to the netherworld suggests he is the son of Ereshkigal. Following an inscription found at Lagash, he was the son of Anu, the heavens.

His wife is Azimua and also Geshtinanna, while his sister is Amashilama. In some texts Ningishzida is said to be female, which means "Nin" would then refer to Lady, which is mostly how the word is used by the Sumerians. He or she was one of the ancestors of Gilgamesh.

The Adapa myth mentions Ningishzida.

The death of vegetation is associated with the travel to the underworld of Ningishzida.

In popular culture

The god appears in the Simon Necronomicon under the spelling "Ninnghizhidda".
In Marilyn Manson's 1998 autobiography The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell, Manson encountered a suburban Occultist who pays tribute to Ningishzida.
On Nile's Black Seeds of Vengeance album in the song 'Defiling The Gates Of Ishtar' there is an invocation to Ninnghizzhidda: 'Baad Angarru Ninnghizzhidda'