Urash

Uraš (), or Urash, was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the personification of the earth. She should not be confused with a male deity sharing the same name, who had agricultural character and was worshiped in Dilbat. She is well attested in association with Anu, most commonly as his spouse, though traditions according to which she was one of his ancestors or even his alternate name are also known. She could be equated with other goddesses who could be considered his wives, namely Ki and Antu, though they were not always regarded as identical. Numerous deities were regarded as children of Urash and Anu, for example Ninisina and Ishkur. However, in some cases multiple genealogies existed, for example Enki was usually regarded as the son of Nammu and Geshtinanna of Duttur, even though texts describing them as children of Urash exist. Not much evidence for the worship of Urash is available, though offerings to her are mentioned in documents from the Ur III period and it is possible she had a temple in Nippur.

==Name and character== Urash's name was usually represented by the cuneiform sign IB, typically prefaced by the so-called "divine determinative", DINGIR, though phonetic syllabic spellings such as ur5-ra-aš or u4-ra-aš are also attested, in some cases, for example in the god list An = Anum, as glosses. The precise origin of the name is a matter of dispute, though it is agreed that regardless of whether it originated in Sumerian or Akkadian, it was understood as "earth" or "tilth". Urash was accordingly considered the deification of the earth. She has been characterized as a primeval deity, comparable in that regard to Anu or Nammu. In some cases, Urash could be inserted into texts dealing with the Enki-Ninki deities, the ancestors of Enlil, due to shared association with the earth.