Aruru is the sister of Enlil and one of seven great deities of Sumer. She is called Ninmah, Great Queen, and Ninhursaga, Queen of the Mountain. She is also called Mama or Mami (Mother) and Nintu, Lady of Birth. The Akkadians named her Belet-ili, Lady of the Gods, and she was worshipped throughout Mesopotamia. Other titles include Nin-ziznak (lady of the embryo), Nin-dim (lady fashioner), Nagar-sagak (carpenter of insides), Nin-bahar (lady potter), Nin-mag (lady vulva), Nin-sig-sig (lady of silence), Mud-kesda (blood stauncher), Ama-dug-bad (mother spreading the knees), Ama-ududa (mother who has given birth), Sag-zu-dingirenak (mid-wife of the gods), and Ninmenna (lady of the crown). She is also called Mammetum in her role of decreeing destinies.
In the oldest Babylonian myth, Marduk did not create the ‘seed of mankind’ with his own blood or with that of Kingu. Instead, he had the help of Aruru. If nothing else can be inferred from her many titles, she was a goddess of fertility and birth. As a Babylonian mother-goddess, she created Enkidu as companion to Gilgamesh from clay and her saliva.
The “omega” sign has been hers since at least second century BCE though it has be depicted in art from 3000 BCE. It appears on upper tier of kudurru boundary stones, indicating her importance. More so than even Inana, Aruru is identified with pregnancy and birth. She is often depicted as a mid-wife or with her breasts bare and carrying a child in her left arm. The kings of Sumer were said to be nourished by her milk, and she was responsible for the investiture of their crowns. On her head was a horned headdress, and she wore a tiered skirt. She carried bow cases on her shoulders and a mace or baton surmounted by the “omega” motif or some derivative. Sometimes a lion cub accompanied her on a leash.