Also known as: Narunte, Narunde,Naruddi

Hailed as: “Sister of the Sebittu”

Pray to her for: Victory, triumph after long battle, material success, care for women

Invoke her with: A stone chalice and a palm frond. If you wish, you can put a bit of wine into the chalice and pour it out onto clean earth the next day.

The cult of Narundi has been documented over a long period of time in history and has been invoked in attesting oaths and treaties between rulers, in curses and warnings and in seeking success and well-being.

A statue which has been found by archaeologists show the goddess seated on a throne, holding a chalice in one hand and a palm frond in another. She is surrounded by lions on her sides and behind her throne. Her feet rest on lions before her throne as well.  The lions behind her are armed with spears, defending her and warding off the enemy.

Lions were always associated with power, as companions to divinity, and as guardians of the sacred portals. They were also symbols of strength and victory in warfare.

Narundi was also known as a goddess who specially looked after women. Female names from the time show their devotion to this great mother goddess- for example, Narundi-Ummi, meaning ‘Narundi is my mother’.  They would turn to her, as they would, to a mother, for protection, for healing and for easing their suffering. She would also be appealed to in difficult childbirths.

Narundi has in later times been called sister of the seven great gods of the Mesopotamians, or wife of the Igigi, the group of ‘great gods’ of heaven. In Babylonian periods, this was a group of ten, while in the Epic of Creation there are said to be three hundred Igigu. Narundi has often been called “Sister of the Sebittu”, or seven benevolent demons whose powers could be invoked against evil.

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