most of the third millennium BCE, Ninlil's name was written with the Sumerian cuneiform sign LÍL (KID), while Enlil's with identically pronounced É. From the Ur III period onward LÍL started to be used for both deities. The causes of these phenomena remain unknown. The pronunciation Ninlil is confirmed by a gloss writing the name syllabically as ni-in-lil. The meaning of the second element of the name is not certain, though a late explanatory text translates the name Ninlil as GAŠAN za-qí-qí, "lady of the breeze," which matches a common theory according to which Enlil's name should be understood as "lord wind." A variant Akkadianform of the name was Mullilu, in neo-Assyrian sources spelled as Mullissu, in Aramaic texts as mlš, and in Mandaic as mwlyt. This form of the name was also known to Greek authors such as Herodotus (who transcribes it as "Mylitta") and Ctesias. It is possible that it originally developed as a feminine equivalent of Enlil's dialectical Emesal name Mullil (derived from Umum-lil, umun being the Emesal form of en). The names Mullil and Mullissu could also be connected with the Akkadian word elēlu, and therefore it is possible they were understood as "he who makes clean" and "she who makes clean," respectively. According to the god list An = Anum, an alternate name of Ninlil was Sud, written dSU.KUR.RU. It originally referred to the tutelary deity of Shuruppak, who was syncretised with Ninlil. Jeremiah Peterson proposes that the Sumerian writing of Sud's name was misunderstood as an Akkadian noun based on a single copy of the Nippur god list in which a deity named dsu-kur-ru-um occurs. This view is not supported by Manfred Krebernik, who argues this entry has no relation to Sud and represents a deified cult emblem, specifically a lance (Akkadian: šukurrum). The deified lance is elsewhere attested in association with the god Wer. Character As the wife of Enlil, Ninlil was believed to be responsible for similar spheres of life, and stood on the top of the pantheon alongside him. Like him, she was believed to be in charge of the determination of fates, and in a few inscriptions even takes precedence over him in this role. A late hymn states that she was the ruler of both earth and heaven, and that Enlil made no decision without her. Kings from the Third Dynasty of Ur considered both of them to be