The Sumerian civilization and Sumerian mythology are considered to be one of the most ancient in the history of all mankind. The golden age of this people, who lived in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), fell on the third millennium BC. The Sumerian pantheon consisted of many different gods, spirits and monsters, and some of them were preserved in the beliefs of subsequent cultures of the Ancient East.
Common features
The basis on which the Sumerian mythology and religion was based was communal beliefs in numerous gods: spirits, demiurge deities, patrons of nature and the state. It arose as a result of the interaction of the ancient people with the country that fed them. This faith did not have mystical teachings or orthodox doctrine, as was the case with the beliefs that gave birth to modern world religions - from Christianity to Islam.
Sumerian mythology had several fundamental features. She recognized the existence of two worlds - the world of the gods and the world of phenomena, which they ruled. Each spirit in it was personified - it possessed the features of living beings.
Demiurges
The main god of the Sumerians was An (another spelling is Anu). It existed beforeseparation of earth from heaven. He was portrayed as an adviser and manager of the assembly of the gods. Sometimes he was angry with people, for example, he once sent a curse on the city of Uruk in the form of a heavenly bull and wanted to kill the hero of ancient legends Gilgamesh. Despite this, for the most part, Ahn is inactive and passive. The main deity in Sumerian mythology had its own symbol in the form of a horned tiara.
An was identified with the head of the family and the ruler of the state. The analogy was manifested in the depiction of the demiurge along with the symbols of royal power: a staff, a crown and a scepter. It was An who kept the mysterious "me". So the inhabitants of Mesopotamia called the divine forces that ruled the earthly and heavenly world.
Enlil (Ellil) was considered the second most important god by the Sumerians. He was called Lord Wind or Lord Breath. This creature ruled over the world located between earth and sky. Another important feature that Sumerian mythology emphasized was that Enlil had many functions, but they all boiled down to dominion over wind and air. Thus, it was an elemental deity.
Enlil was considered the ruler of all foreign countries for the Sumerians. It is in his power to arrange a disastrous flood, and he himself does everything to expel people alien to him from his possessions. This spirit can be defined as the spirit of the wild nature, which resisted the human collective trying to settle in desert places. Enlil also punished kings for neglecting ritual sacrifices and ancient holidays. As punishment, the deity sent hostile mountain tribes to peaceful lands. Enlil was associated with natur althe laws of nature, the passage of time, aging, death. In one of the largest Sumerian cities, Nippur, he was considered their patron. It was there that the ancient calendar of this lost civilization was located.
Enki
Like other ancient mythologies, Sumerian mythology included directly opposite images. So, a kind of "anti-Enlil" was Enki (Ea) - the lord of the earth. He was considered the patron saint of fresh waters and all mankind as a whole. The master of the earth was assigned the traits of a craftsman, magician and master, who taught his skills to the younger gods, who, in turn, shared these skills with ordinary people.
Enki is the protagonist of Sumerian mythology (one of the three along with Enlil and Anu), and it was he who was called the protector of education, wisdom, scribal craft and schools. This deity personified the human collective, trying to subjugate nature and change its habitat. Enki was especially often called upon during wars and other grave dangers. But in peaceful periods, its altars were empty, there were no sacrifices, so necessary to attract the attention of the gods.
Inanna
In addition to the three great gods, in Sumerian mythology there were also the so-called elder gods, or gods of the second order. Inanna is included in this host. She is best known as Ishtar (an Akkadian name that was later used also in Babylon during its heyday). The image of Inanna, which appeared among the Sumerians, survived this civilization and continued to be revered in Mesopotamia and later.time. Its traces can be traced even in Egyptian beliefs, but in general it existed until Antiquity.
So what does Sumerian mythology say about Inanna? The goddess was considered associated with the planet Venus and the power of military and love passion. She embodied human emotions, the elemental force of nature, as well as the feminine principle in society. Inanna was called the warrior maiden - she patronized intersexual relations, but she herself never gave birth. This deity in Sumerian mythology was associated with the practice of cult prostitution.
Marduk
As noted above, each Sumerian city had its own patron god (for example, Enlil in Nippur). This feature was associated with the political features of the development of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization. The Sumerians almost never, except for very rare periods, did not live within the framework of one centralized state. For several centuries, their cities formed a complex conglomerate. Each settlement was independent and at the same time belonged to the same culture, connected by language and religion.
Sumerian and Akkadian mythology of Mesopotamia left its traces in the monuments of many Mesopotamian cities. She also influenced the development of Babylon. In a later period, it became the largest city of antiquity, where its own unique civilization was formed, which became the basis of a large empire. However, Babylon was born as a small Sumerian settlement. It was then that Marduk was considered his patron. Researchers attribute it to a dozenthe elder gods that Sumerian mythology spawned.
In short, Marduk's importance in the pantheon grew with Babylon's gradual rise in political and economic influence. His image is complex - as he evolved, he included the features of Ea, Ellil and Shamash. Just as Inanna was associated with Venus, Marduk was associated with Jupiter. Written sources of antiquity mention its unique healing powers and the art of healing.
Together with the goddess Gula, Marduk knew how to resurrect the dead. Also, the Sumerian-Akkadian mythology put him in the place of the patron of irrigation, without which the economic prosperity of the cities of the Middle East was impossible. In this regard, Marduk was considered the giver of prosperity and peace. His cult reached its apogee during the period of the Neo-Babylonian kingdom (7th-6th centuries BC), when the Sumerians themselves had long since disappeared from the historical scene, and their language was forgotten.
Marduk vs Tiamat
Thanks to cuneiform texts, numerous legends of the inhabitants of ancient Mesopotamia have been preserved. The confrontation between Marduk and Tiamat is one of the main plots that Sumerian mythology has preserved in written sources. The gods often fought among themselves - similar stories are known in Ancient Greece, where the legend of gigantomachy was widespread.
The Sumerians associated Tiamat with the global ocean of chaos, in which the whole world was born. This image is associated with the cosmogonic beliefs of ancient civilizations. Tiamat was depicted as a seven-headed hydra and a dragon. Marduk entered with her intowrestling, armed with a club, a bow and a net. God was accompanied by storms and heavenly winds, called by him to fight with monsters, generated by a powerful opponent.
Each ancient cult had its own image of the foremother. In Mesopotamia, Tiamat was considered to be her. Sumerian mythology endowed her with many evil traits, because of which the rest of the gods took up arms against her. It was Marduk who was chosen by the rest of the pantheon for the decisive battle with the ocean-chaos. Having met the foremother, he was horrified by her terrible appearance, but joined the battle. A variety of gods in Sumerian mythology helped Marduk prepare for battle. The demons of the water element Lahmu and Lahamu granted him the ability to summon a flood. Other spirits prepared the rest of the warrior's arsenal.
Marduk, who opposed Tiamat, agreed to fight the ocean-chaos in exchange for the recognition of the rest of the gods of their own world domination. A deal was made between them. At the decisive moment of the battle, Marduk drove a storm into the mouth of Tiamat so that she could not close it. After that, he shot an arrow into the monster and thus defeated a terrible rival.
Tiamat had a consort husband, Kingu. Marduk de alt with him, taking away the tables of fate from the monster, with the help of which the winner established his own dominance and created a new world. From the upper part of the body of Tiamat he created the sky, the signs of the zodiac, the stars, from the lower part - the earth, and from the eye the two great rivers of Mesopotamia - the Euphrates and the Tigris.
Then the hero was recognized by the gods as their king. In gratitude, Marduk was presented with a sanctuary in the form of the city of Babylon. It contained a lottemples dedicated to this god, among which were the famous monuments of antiquity: the Etemenanki ziggurat and the Esagila complex. Sumerian mythology left much evidence of Marduk. The creation of the world by this god is a classic story of ancient religions.
Ashur
Ashur is another god of the Sumerians, whose image survived this civilization. Initially, he was the patron of the city of the same name. In the 24th century BC, the Assyrian kingdom arose there. When in the VIII-VII century BC. e. this state reached the peak of its power, Ashur became the most important god of all Mesopotamia. It is also curious that he turned out to be the main figure of the cult pantheon of the first empire in the history of mankind.
The king of Assyria was not only the ruler and head of state, but also the high priest of Ashur. This is how theocracy was born, the basis of which was still Sumerian mythology. Books and other sources of antiquity and antiquity indicate that the cult of Assur lasted until the 3rd century AD, when neither Assyria nor independent Mesopotamian cities existed for a long time.
Nanna
The god of the moon among the Sumerians was Nanna (the Akkadian name Sin is also common). He was considered the patron of one of the most important cities of Mesopotamia - Ur. This settlement existed for several millennia. In the XXII-XI centuries. BC, the rulers of Ur united all of Mesopotamia under their rule. In this regard, the importance of Nanna also increased. His cult had an important ideological significance. The eldest became the high priestess of Nanna.daughter of the King of Ur.
The moon god favored cattle and fertility. He determined the fate of animals and the dead. For this purpose, every new moon, Nanna went to the underworld. The phases of the Earth's celestial satellite were associated with his numerous names. The Sumerians called the full moon Nanna, the crescent moon Zuen, and the young sickle Ashimbabbar. In the Assyrian and Babylonian tradition, this deity was also considered a soothsayer and healer.
Shamash, Ishkur and Dumuzi
If the god of the moon was Nanna, then the god of the sun was Shamash (or Utu). The Sumerians considered the day to be the product of the night. Therefore, Shamash, in their view, was Nanna's son and servant. His image was associated not only with the sun, but also with justice. At noon, Shamash judged the living. He also fought evil demons.
The main cult centers of Shamash were Elassar and Sippar. The first temples (“houses of radiance”) of these cities are attributed by scientists to the incredibly distant 5th millennium BC. It was believed that Shamash gives we alth to people, freedom to captives, and fertility to lands. This god was depicted as a long-bearded old man with a turban on his head.
In any ancient pantheon there were personifications of each natural element. So, in Sumerian mythology, the thunder god is Ishkur (another name for Adad). His name often appeared in cuneiform sources. Ishkur was considered the patron of the lost city of Karkara. In myths, he occupies a secondary position. Nevertheless, he was considered a warrior god, armed with terrible winds. In Assyria, the image of Ishkur evolved into the figure of Adad, who had an important religious andstate importance. Another nature deity was Dumuzi. He personified the calendar cycle and the change of seasons.
Demons
Like many other ancient peoples, the Sumerians had their own hell. This lower underworld was inhabited by the souls of the dead and terrible demons. Hell was often referred to in cuneiform texts as "the land of no return". There are dozens of underground Sumerian deities - information about them is fragmentary and scattered. As a rule, each city had its own traditions and beliefs associated with chthonic creatures.
Nergal is considered one of the main negative gods of the Sumerians. He was associated with war and death. This demon in Sumerian mythology was portrayed as a distributor of dangerous epidemics of plague and fever. His figure was considered the main one in the underworld. In the city of Kutu there was the main temple of the Nergal cult. Babylonian astrologers personified the planet Mars with the help of his image.
Nergal had a wife and his own female prototype - Ereshkigal. She was Inanna's sister. This demon in Sumerian mythology was considered the master of the chthonic creatures of the Anunnaki. The main temple of Ereshkigal was located in the large city of Kuta.
Another important chthonic deity of the Sumerians was Nergal's brother Ninazu. Living in the underworld, he possessed the art of rejuvenation and healing. Its symbol was a snake, which later in many cultures became the personification of the medical profession. With special zeal, Ninaza was revered in the city of Eshnunne. His name is mentioned in the famous Babylonian laws of Hammurabi, which states that offerings to this god are obligatory. In another Sumerian city - Ur - there was an annual festival in honor of Ninazu, during which plentiful sacrifices were arranged. The god Ningishzida was considered his son. He guarded the demons imprisoned in the underworld. The symbol of Ningishzida was a dragon - one of the constellations of the Sumerian astrologers and astronomers, which the Greeks called the constellation Serpent.
Sacred trees and spirits
Spells, hymns and recipes of the Sumerians testify to the existence of sacred trees among this people, each of which was attributed to a particular deity or city. For example, tamarisk was especially revered in the Nippur tradition. In the spells of Shuruppak, this tree is considered the world tree. Tamarisk was used by exorcists in rites of purification and cure of diseases.
Modern science knows about the magic of trees thanks to the few traces of conspiracy traditions and epic. But even less is known about Sumerian demonology. Mesopotamian magical collections, according to which evil forces were expelled, were already compiled in the era of Assyria and Babylonia in the languages of these civilizations. Only a few things can be said for sure about the Sumerian tradition.
Different ancestral spirits, guardian spirits and hostile spirits. The latter included the monsters killed by the heroes, as well as the personifications of illnesses and diseases. The Sumerians believed in ghosts, very similar to the Slavic mortgaged dead. Ordinary people treated them with horror and fear.
Evolution of mythology
The religion and mythology of the Sumerians went through three stages of its formation. At the first, communal-tribal totems evolved into the owners of cities and gods-demiurges. At the beginning of the III millennium BC, incantations and temple hymns appeared. There was a hierarchy of gods. It began with the names of Ana, Enlil and Enki. Then came Inanna, the sun and moon gods, warrior gods, etc.
The second period is also called the period of Sumero-Akkadian syncretism. It was marked by a mixture of different cultures and mythologies. Alien to the Sumerians, the Akkadian language is considered the language of the three peoples of Mesopotamia: the Babylonians, Akkadians and Assyrians. Its oldest monuments date back to the 25th century BC. Around this time, the process of merging the images and names of Semitic and Sumerian deities began, performing the same functions.
The third, final period is the period of unification of the common pantheon during the III Dynasty of Ur (XXII-XI centuries BC). At this time, the first totalitarian state in the history of mankind arose. It subjected to strict ranking and accounting not only people, but also scattered and many-sided gods before. It was during the III dynasty that Enlil was placed at the head of the assembly of the gods. An and Enki were on either hand of him.
Below were the Anunnaki. Among them were Inanna, Nanna, and Nergal. About a hundred more minor deities were placed at the foot of this staircase. At the same time, the Sumerian pantheon merged with the Semitic one (for example, the difference between the Sumerian Enlil and the Semitic Bela was erased). After the Fall IIIDynasty of Ur in Mesopotamia for some time the centralized state disappeared. In the second millennium BC, the Sumerians lost their independence, falling under the rule of the Assyrians. The mixture of these peoples later gave rise to the Babylonian nation. Along with ethnic changes came religious changes. When the former homogeneous Sumerian nation and its language disappeared, the mythology of the Sumerians also disappeared into the past.
