Kesh was an ancient Sumer

Sumer

Sumer was a civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age....

ian city and religious site, whose patron goddess was Ninhursag

Ninhursag

In Sumerian mythology, Ninhursag or Ninkharsag was the earth and mother goddess, one of the seven great deities of Sumer. She is principally a fertility goddess. Temple hymn sources identify her as the 'true and great lady of heaven' and kings of Sumer were 'nourished by Ninhursag's milk'...

. Its location is uncertain; some of the possible sites put forth include Al-Ubaid

Al-Ubaid

Al-Ubaid is one of the Arab Tribes in Iraq settled around Kirkuk. The tribe migrated from the Baghdad area to the area of Hawija and Khabour early in the 19th Century...

, near Ur

Ur

Ur was an important city-state in ancient Sumer located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar in Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate...

, or Tell al-Wilayah near Adab

Adab

Adab or Udab was an ancient Sumerian city between Telloh and Nippur. It was located at the site of modern Bismaya or Bismya in the Wasit Governorate of Iraq.-History:...

 or Abu Salabikh

Abu Salabikh

The low tells at Abu Salabikh, around 12 miles northwest of the site of ancient Nippur in Al-Qādisiyyah province, Iraq mark the site of a small Sumerian city of the mid third millennium BCE, with cultural connections to the cities of Kish, Mari and Ebla...

. Robert D. Biggs

Robert D. Biggs

Robert D. Biggs is an Assyriology professor. He received his PhD at Johns Hopkins University. He is an editor of the Journal of Near Eastern Studies.-External links:*...

 suggested it could have just been a variation in the spelling of Kish

Kish

-Geography:*Kish Island, an Iranian island and a city in the Persian Gulf*Kish, Iran, a city on Kish Island*Kish District, an administrative subdivision of Iran*Kish Rural District, an administrative subdivision of Iran...

.

There is a famous Kesh temple hymn

Kesh temple hymn

The Kesh Temple Hymn or Liturgy to Nintud or Liturgy to Nintud on the creation of man and woman is a Sumerian myth, written on clay tablets as early as 2600 BC...

http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.4.80.2# about Ninhursag's temple in Kesh, where she is called Nintud. The goddess Nisaba appears as the temple's caretaker and decision maker.