Sometimes these changes expand upon or continue older stories, but often different scribes in various eras simply rewrote the tales to suit their purposes. He was the patron deity of Girsu and one of the patron deities of Lagash. Mark, Joshua J. The god of heaven, Anu, was his father, and Shalash was his consort. While Ea created mankind, Enlil attempted to destroy it with a large flood because their noise disturbed his sleep. Thank you so much for the info on Mesopotamia. He was also thought to be an oracle and was associated with Sin, the god of the moon. Eshnunna , c. 1800 av. The pantheon of gods in Mesopotamia was an extension of their culture and spiritual beliefs. He rode on a winged dragon called Sirrush, which initially belonged to his father. The ancient god of earth and air, Enlil, was among the chief deities of the Sumerian pantheon. Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary... Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. In this particular version of the myth, the hero Lugalbanda retrieves the tablets, while in others it is Ninurta or Marduk who are the champions. Atrahasis does as he is told, the flood comes, and life on earth is destroyed. Where hurricanes and storms were symbols of his anger towards his enemies and represented darkness and death, the rain showed his happiness. Babylon has replaced Nippur as the dwelling place of the gods. He first originated in Sumer as Ningirsu, and texts from this time say he was the son of Enlil and Ninlil. In other myths, however, these three gods have different parents and Ninazu, especially, is more commonly known as the son of Gula, goddess of healing. World History Encyclopedia. According to scholar Adam Stone, "Enlil's power was clearly remembered for even [these gods] were referred to as the 'Assyrian Enlil' or the 'Enlil of the gods'" (2). "Enlil." Ea / Enki Dieu de la mythologie mésopotamienne Statuette en terre cuite du dieu Enki/Ea sur un trône, une coupe à la main. There were no temple services, as one would understand them today, but the temple still served as an integral aspect of every city. His symbol was a stylus on a tablet, and due to this, clay tablets with calligraphy writing were offered at his temples. He planned to use clay to create humans so that they could serve the gods by performing their work. When they can find no suitable material to make these new beings out of, the god We-llu (also known as llawela) volunteers to be sacrificed and is killed. Gibil imparted wisdom about metallurgy, and many writers describe him as “the god of the forge.” He had a mind so vast that even the other gods were unable to fathom it. After the fall of the Assyrian empire in 612 BCE, Enlil suffered the fate of many Mesopotamian gods associated with Assyrian rule: his statues were destroyed and his temples sacked. Enkidu was a wild man whom the gods had created to put a stop to the oppression faced by the people who lived under the rule of Gilgamesh. All of these seeming contradictions stem from Mesopotamia's long history and the different cultures which adopted Sumerian gods and made them their own with additions and alterations to their stories. He was also one of the triad of deities alongside Enlil and Anu. Enlil must then go to Nisaba and ask for her daughter's hand in marriage. The Babylonians also identified him with the planet Mercury. Sumerian myths were passed down through the oral tradition until the invention of ... 106 who was one of the matron deities of Nippur and was believed to reside in the same temple as Enlil. Enlil's temples were still active during the time of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (912-612 BCE) when the gods Assur, Marduk, and Nabu were considered the supreme deities. Enlil is involved in a Sumerian myth where he is seen separating heaven (An) from earth (Ki) as an act of making the land a place for humans. Mark, J. J. In the modern world the remains of these early religions can be seen in Egypt's pyramids, tombs for the pharaohs, and in Mesopotamia's ziggurats, temples to the gods. Up until 1500 BC, he had associations with growth and harvest. He then disguises himself as each one, and when Ninlil approaches and asks where Enlil has gone, he says he will not tell her. Worship of Enlil dates from the Early Dynastic Period I (c. 2900-2700 BCE) at Nippur and firmly from the time of the Akkadian Empire (2334 - c. 2083 BCE) down until he was absorbed and assimilated into the god Marduk during the reign of Hammurabi of Babylon (1792-1750 BCE). The son of Sin or Nanna (the moon god), Shamash was also known by the name of Utu in Sumerian mythology. Learn More. (118). Mark, Joshua J. In the Babylonian myth related to the flood, Enlil is depicted as the flood itself. I love history. As time went on, the gods changed and developed. Nabu, the god of art, wisdom, and scribes, was also known as Nisaba in Sumerian mythology. As well as being the god of fire, he was also the refiner of metallic objects, and hence the patron of metalworkers. Meanwhile, Marduk fulfills an earlier promise to provide provisions for the junior gods if he gains victory as their supreme leader. Inanna, Inana, Ininni of Astghik was een hemelgodin en de allergrootste godin van de Soemerische religie.Gedurende haar bestaan kreeg zij meerdere, soms tegenstrijdige rollen. In the Myth of Anzu, Enlil was viewed as the epitome of kingship, acting as a mediator between the higher powers & the mortal world. His wife was Gula, the goddess of healing. Depicted as a courageous warrior, he held a bow and an arrow along with a mace called a sharur. In the Sumero-Akkadian pantheon, Nergal was a secondary Mesopotamian god. In another Sumerian flood myth, Enlil rewards Ziusudra with immortality for surviving the massive flood. Gods who had managed to transcend their association with Assyria in the minds of the people, like Marduk, lived on, and in transferring Enlil's qualities to the younger god, Enlil survived under that name until c. 141 BCE, by which time veneration of Marduk had declined and Enlil was forgotten. Zu watched his opportunity and, one morning when Enlil had taken off his crown and set it down on a stand, and was washing his face with clean water, Zu snatched the Tablet from him and flew away with it into the mountains. Mesopotamian mythology is so vast that it would be difficult to cover every aspect of the pantheon. Gibil was worshiped in Mesopotamia before the beginning of the Seleucid period. He convinces the other gods of the necessity of his plan and sets it in motion. He was worshipped as the god of war, agriculture, and one of the Sumerian wind gods. For example, the Sumerian god of the sun Utu became Shamash for the Akkadians. Ancient History Encyclopedia has a new name! This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. He had his primary temple in ancient Ugarit and was known as the god of the Philistines in Palestine. J.‑C. Ancients hymns also show him to be the god of devastation, hunger, and pestilence. With your help we create free content that helps millions of people learn history all around the world. Are we not reading the same stories retold in different religious settings. The New Year's Festival … He was believed to be the benefactor of humans, listening to their prayers, bringing life from death, and protecting livestock and agriculture. For the people of Mesopotamia, the moon was of more importance than the sun, and the role of the sun only became significant when they began to learn about agriculture. Although Enki is regarded as the creator, since humanity was his idea, nothing could move ahead without Enlil's consent, and so he was regarded as the great father of men and women. The people of Mesopotamia were highly religious, and Mesopotamian scribes recorded more than a hundred gods and goddesses. Some of the mythology resembles the Biblical accounts of the creation of the earth where land was separated from the sky, and also a replica of the story of Noah’s flood and the ark. It is from him that the figure of Capricorn derives. Cite This Work Written by Joshua J. Tashmet, the Akkadian goddess was his wife. The Mesopotamian storm god varied from place to place. He has taught history, writing, literature, and philosophy at the college level. Unusually, in the cult of Nanna, the moon was thought to be the father of the sun. His iconography depicts him as standing with his hands in the posture of a priest wearing a horned cap on his head. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. Later the Babylonians, Akkadians, Hurrians, and Assyrians also began worshiping him. World History Encyclopedia, 24 Jan 2017. And last but not the least, his seduction of the goddess Ninlil in different guises resulted in the birth of Nanna, the moon god and the deities Nergal, Enbilulu, and Ninazu who belonged to the underworld. Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment. He was represented as a half-fish, half-goat creature. Ningal, “the great lady” was his wife, the sun god Utu-Shamash was his son, and Inanna, the goddess of love, was his daughter. Enlil cannot understand what is happening since somehow everything he sends against the creatures seems to simply help them multiply more abundantly, and so he decides to destroy them all in a great flood. Nippur was the center of religion in Mesopotamia in 5000 B.C.E. His cult declined in 1230 BC when Nippur was taken over by the Elamites. Enlil speaks to each of the keepers of the gates or important personages of the underworld instructing them not to tell Ninlil where he has gone if she should ask. Ninlil is also arrested and exiled and follows him out of the gates but at some distance behind him. 01 Mar 2021. The charge against him seems to have nothing to do with Ninlil's seduction, however. The son of Enlil and Ninhursag, Ninurta first appeared in texts during the third millennium BC as the god of local towns and agriculture. The sweet smell of the sacrifice reaches the heavens and Enlil, although only just upset about his flood, is furious that a human somehow survived. Enlil continued to be worshiped up through the reign of Hammurabi when the Babylonian god Marduk, son of Enki, became supreme. A family might sell a daughter to the temple, and they were honored to have a priestess in the family. Zu coveted this tablet and determined to take it and rule in his stead. The second century BC witnessed a fall in his worship when cuneiform became nothing more than a lost art. He was the son of the god of the heavens Anu (also known as An) and, with Anu and Enki (god of wisdom), formed a triad which governed the heavens, earth, and underworld or, alternately, the universe, sky and atmosphere, and earth. She becomes pregnant and gives birth to the moon god Nanna. While the relationship between Ea and Marduk is marked by harmony and an amicable abdication on the part of the father in favour of his son, Marduk's absorption of the power and prerogatives of Enlil of Nippur came at the expense of the latter's prestige. Ea has associations with magic, incantations, and wisdom, and was important to exorcists and diviners. In Aleppo, Assyria, and Babylonia he was also known as the god of divination and oracles. Ninlil (also known as Sud) is a young and beautiful goddess who is attracted to Enlil as he is to her. Ancient Nippur was the site of the chief temple to Enlil, while Babylon was the location of Marduk's sanctuary. We have also been recommended for educational use by the following publications: Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada. The creatures turn out to be exceptionally fertile, however, and soon there are hundreds and then thousands of them, and they keep multiplying and begin to become louder and louder and cause more and more problems among themselves. The gods of the Mesopotamian region were by no means uniform in... Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses: Enlil by Adam Stone, The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion. World History Encyclopedia. Enki then tells Atrahasis to open the ark and make a sacrifice to the gods, and he does so. Though he had no cult under his name, he was worshiped widely, particularly in the cities of Babylon and Ashur. He became one of the important gods known as the lords of Abzu or Apsu, the god of fresh water. From Nippur, his worship spread north to Akkad and throughout Sumer, with temples at Kish, Lagash, Babylon, and other cities. Afterwards, as Enlil is walking through the city, he is arrested by the other gods for being ritually impure and exiled from the city to the underworld. (2017, January 24). At first, he was no more than a local deity, but soon his worship was taken to another level. According to some stories, Inanna was his twin sister who encompassed several powers, and Sumerian texts show a strong bond between the two. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/Enlil/. Once Enlil was absorbed into Marduk, his worship declined but he was still honored in shrines in many cities, and even in Babylon it was understood that Enlil and Anu had willingly conferred their power and blessings on Marduk. He was a god who performed great deeds, but he was also seen as flawed in many ways. Ancient History Encyclopedia Limited is a non-profit company registered in the United Kingdom. Enlil. World History Encyclopedia. Web. These new creatures are placed on the earth and, at first, perform exactly as the gods had hoped; they do all the work in maintaining the land and provide worship and sacrifice to the gods in thanks for their lives. Marduk, hero of the Enuma Elish, was represented as defeating the forces of chaos, creating human beings and the earth they lived on, and establishing law and agriculture. His disciples often credited him as the inventor of the plough. In each version, however, Enlil is shown as the legitimate king of the gods, authorized to act by the Tablets of Destiny and fully supported by the supreme god Anu. In the Babylonian myths Atra-hasīs and the Epic of Gilgamesh, Ea acts as both the creator and protector of humankind. He sends a drought, a pestilence, and a famine upon the people, but each time they appeal to their creator Enki for help and he secretly informs them what to do to save themselves and return balance to the earth. Thebes and the temple complex of Karnak were home to the worship of Amen-Ra. He is referred to as 'Father of the Black-headed People' (the Sumerians) and 'Father of the Gods' in some inscriptions, but other ancient texts make clear that Enki conceived of creating human beings and the gods were either born of Anu and Uras (Heaven and Earth) or, according to the Babylonian Enuma Elish, from Apsu and Tiamat (Fresh and Salt Water) or their children Anshar and Kishar (also Heaven and Earth). Ninlil's mother, Nisaba (goddess of writing and scribe of the gods), cautions her against going to bathe in the river and encouraging the advances of young Enlil, warning her against the dangers of losing her virginity. From these ancient temples, and to a greater extent, through cuneiform writings of hymns, myths, lamentations, and incantations, archaeologists and mythographers afford the modern reader a glimpse into the religious world of the Sumerians. Enkidu challenged the king to take a test of strength which Gilgamesh passed, and finally the two become friends. Our latest articles delivered to your inbox, once a week: Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University and Michigan State University and University of Missouri. His central temple was the temple of Ekur in Nippur, which people believed he had built for himself. . Being the god of water, he was the patron deity of cleaners as well. He is among the oldest of the Mesopotamian gods. Ninlil ignores this advice, however, goes to the river, and is seduced by Enlil. People would worship Enlil by bringing offerings with supplications or in thanks for gifts given, and the god's statue and inner sanctum would be cared for by the high priest. He took so much pride in his holiness that he thought the other gods should not even look upon him. Mark, published on 24 January 2017 under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. The younger gods have no time for themselves, and so Enki proposes they make lesser creatures who will work for them. As time went on, the gods changed and developed. Soon his role changed as cities became militarized and began to fight each other. His birth is related to the myth of Enlil and Ninlil where Enlil seduces Ninlil and she becomes pregnant. His union with Gula helped him invoke magical spells to head off demons and diseases. Nippur is an urban center of the gods in this story and governed by divine law. Known as Enki in the Sumerian language, Ea was the Mesopotamian god of water. The mother goddess Ninhursag then kneads his flesh, blood, and intelligence into clay to create 14 human beings: seven male and seven female. Période paléo-babylonienne , début du II e millénaire av. Nearly 6,000 years later, it was also an important site for Christianity, housing a bishop in 800 C.E. Scholar E. A. Wallis Budge relates one version of the myth: The Zu bird [also known as the Anzu], the symbol of storm and tempest, was a god of evil who waged war against Enlil, the holder of the "Tablets of Fate", whereby he ruled heaven and earth. According to scholar Jeremy Black, Enlil was so powerful and awe-inspiring that "the other gods might not even look upon his splendour" (76). Some Rights Reserved (2009-2021) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. Nanna was the son of Ninlil and Enlil who later came to be known as Sin in Akkadian mythology. Being the sun god, he overpowered the evils of darkness, and when night took over, he was one of several judges of the underworld. The pantheon of gods in Mesopotamia was an extension of their culture and spiritual beliefs. However, as the polytheistic religion practiced by Mesopotamians included both gods and goddesses, women were also priestesses, some of them not only important, but powerful. He was Ninurta was the son of Enlil and Ninlil. Musée national d'Irak . From the Early Dynastic Period until Hammurabi's reign, Enlil was worshiped at his temple in Nippur, the most important religious site in southern Mesopotamia other than Eridu (associated with Enki). Enlil almost instantly regrets his decision, and the gods mourn the passing of their creatures, but none of them can do anything about the situation. In the early myth known as Enlil and Ninlil, Enlil is seen as a young god living in the city of Nippur before the creation of human beings. In Babylonia and Assyria, he was called Adad, in Ugrait, he was Hadad, and in Sumer, he was known as Iskur. (111). As was customary throughout Mesopotamia and Egypt, none but the high priest could enter the presence of the god or commune with him in the temple, and most people's interactions with their deities were through private rituals at home or public festivals. As a storm god, he destroyed life, and as a rain god, he gave life. He turns on Enki who explains himself and invites the gods to join him in accepting the sacrifice. In this light, Enlil was viewed as the epitome of kingship, acting as a mediator between the higher powers and the mortal world. Mark has lived in Greece and Germany and traveled through Egypt. He had many other sanctuaries, such as those found at Beth-Dagon in Asher and Gaza. The two young deities, defying the laws which would keep them apart, join together to produce life, and even when they are banished to the underworld, they cannot be separated and continue the creative act. Further, although Inanna is frequently depicted as a daughter of Enki, she is also mentioned as Enlil's child. World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. In The Atrahasis (c. 17th century BCE), the elder gods live a life of leisure while forcing the younger gods to do all the work in maintaining the universe. With such a long life span, Nippur has been a treasure for archaeologists since the end of the 19th century. Babylon became … For … Nippur is an urban center of the gods in this story and governed by divine law. License. He became famous in Babylon during the first millennium as he was the son of the god Marduk. Nabu was said to be the inventor of writing. He was brought into the pantheon by the Amorites in the third millennium BC. Aware of Enlil’s intentions, Ea had already told the sage Atrahasis to construct an ark to help humanity escape the devastation. This god had a two-edged aspect: he was both the giver and the destroyer. Enlil/Ellil was a family man, married to Ninlil (also called Sud), and with her he raised a brood that included - among others - the moon-god Nanna/Sin, the sun-god Utu-Shamash, the weather god Ishkur/Adad, and the love-goddess Inanna/Ishtar. He was identified with Meslamtaea and Irra as the god of war and scorched earth. Last modified January 24, 2017. Enlil as the rebel who defies the laws of the gods to pursue his own desires changes in other myths into the authority who wields the power of divine law and whose judgments cannot be questioned. Enlil meant Lord Wind: both the hurricane and the gentle winds of spring were thought of as the breath issuing from his mouth and eventually as his word or command. Though the names of the gods differed among different Mesopotamian civilizations, their roles were the same. Related Content Worship of Enlil, as with other Mesopotamian gods, focused on the temple and temple complex which served multiple purposes for the community. Families could also sell their daughters into prostitution or slavery.