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Worshiped especially by herders in southern Mesopotamia, she was originally represented as a cow and was considered to be the divine power behind all the qualities that herders wanted in their cattle. She was also represented in human form and could give birth to human offspring. Her son was the wild bull Dumuzi, whom she lamented in a yearly ritual, and her husband was the legendary hero Lugalbanda. Her Sumerian counterparts included {{link=Ninhursag">Ninhursag .