Originally Ninib seems to have been a solar deity, a personification of the sun.  He was early identified with the solar deity Nin-girsu (q.v.)  He is described as the offspring of Ekur, the earth, and as "the one who pursues his path over the wide world."  Sargon celebrates him as "Nin-ib, who lays the foundations of the city."  In the Deluge-story he plays an active part in producing the storm.  And it is he who tells Bel (q.v.) that Ea (q.v.) has allowed some of mankind to escape.  His consort was Gula (q.v.).  He was identified with Saturn (q.v.).  It has been pointed out that the morning sun came to be represented by Ninib, the sun of the early spring by Marduk (q.v.), and the mid-day sun by Nergal. (An Encyclopedia of Religions, Canney, 1921)