to her role in incantations. Šauška was also the tutelary goddess of Nineveh, and in Hurrian myths she is often called the "queen" of that city. Other Hurrian texts refer to her as Ninuwawi, "she of Nineveh," or Ninuvaḫi, "the Ninevite." The association is also present in Mesopotamian texts: these from the Ur III period label her as ni-nu-a-kam, "of Nineveh," while an Old Babylonian god list from Uruk mentions her under the name dINANNA ni-nu-a. Unlike the Mesopotamian Ishtar, as well as the other "Ishtars" known to Hurrians and Hittites (such as Ishtar of Samuha, possibly the same deity as the enigmatic "Goddess of the Night," DINGIR.GE6), Šauška did not have a pronounced astral character. The role of a divine representation of Venus was instead played by Pinikir in the Hurrian pantheon. Like Šauška, she was associated with Ishtar. A single ritual text pairs them together. Androgynous or genderfluid characteristics While primarily referred to as a goddess, Šauška had both a feminine and masculine aspect and in reliefs from the Yazılıkaya sanctuary appears twice, once among the gods, accompanied also by her handmaidens Ninatta and Kulitta, and once among goddesses. A Hurrian ritual text separately mentions offerings to "male attributes" and "female attributes" of Šauška. Hittitologist Gary Beckman states that "ambiguous gender identification" was a characteristic of a category he refers to as "Ishtar type" goddesses, encompassing also the likes of Ninsianna and Pinikir. In visual arts Šauška was commonly depicted in the company of and her two attendants, Ninatta and Kulitta, both on reliefs and on cylinder seals. A Hittite text describing the appearance of statues of various deities mentions two depictions of Šauška, one seated, winged and holding a cup, and another, masculine, also winged and armed with a golden ax. Both were said to be flanked by Ninatta and Kulitta and accompanied by an awiti, a mythical winged lion. On a relied from Yazılıkaya, the masculine form of Šauška appears in the procession of male deities (figure designated as 38 in modern reference works), accompanied by Ninatta and Kulitta (figures 36 and 37). While beardless, he wears the same pointed headwear as the other male deities, as well as a robe exposing one leg and pointed shoes. An inscription placed above a gap between figures 55 and 56 in the procession of female deities indicates that originally feminine Šauška was depicted there as well, but this