Ninkharsag – Serpent Lady – Goddess of Irrigation

Ninkharsag = Ninil = role name Gabri-el = governor or the Latin gubernator. With the modern equivalent Ninkharsag was Governor of the Garden in Eden. Also said to be in charge of the Serpents and the Cherubim. Kharsag Epic No.3 where Enlil says to the Keeper of the Gate: This is thy lady – the exalted Lady Ninlil; Where water cultivates, she commands in my name.
 
The name serpent comes through in the translations of the earliest text in terms of the Archangels being described as Two Eyed Serpents and Angels described as One Eyed Serpents – both also being called Anannage or Anannuki.
 
The archaic form of the Sumerian language, the serpent (also mush - messiah – anointed one), evolved into three separate ideograms, the first of which had four attached meanings: 1. A serpent. 2. The Dog’s tongue plant. 3. The God Shakan. 4. The God Sir.  The second expressed meanings which included: 1. The Goddess Ishtar of Erech. 2. The priest or one cleansed. 3. The God Shushinak. 4. Splendour and magnificence.  The third continued the list of goddess names with: 1. Goddess Inanna. 2. Goddess Ishtar.
 
Ninkharsag, Inanna, Ishtar, Isis, Astarte, Ceres, Kali in India, Ka in Indonesia and Coatlicue in the America’s, are all described as Serpent Lady, or nearer our own times as the Lady of the Serpents. Historically the serpent became associated with:

1. Rejuvenation. 2. The healing arts. 3. The symbol of the caduceus – the badge of the medical profession. 4. Wisdom – Be ye therefore as wise as serpents - Matthew X:16:5. 5. Shrewdness – Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild beats. – Genesis 3:1. 6. The Devil – derivation of the temptation of Eve.