Named for the Sumerian goddess of wine and beer. She aided the god Lugalbanda in rescuing the tablets of fate from the demon Zu. In Semitic mythology, Ninkasi was also considered god of the Vine, corresponding to the Greek Dionysus {see planet  (3671)}. An ode to Ninkasi, inscribed in cuneiform on 4000-year old clay tablets, provides a recipe that was used successfully by Fritz Maytag and Solomon H. Katz to recreate Sumerian beer. (M 20522) _ _.