14 GODS OF MESOPOTAMIA AND THEIR STORIES - HISTORY - 2025

The gods of Mesopotamia are the set of deities that were venerated by the ancient Mesopotamian civilization. They were characterized by their anthropomorphic appearance and by practicing customs similar to those of human beings: they all married, ate, had children, fought, among other things.

Likewise, the gods of Mesopotamia were vindictive and cruel. In fact, on many occasions they were merciless with men. Such cruelty can be seen in the narrative of the Flood, where the god Enlil decided to exterminate human beings because they were very noisy and interrupted their sleep.

Engraving of the god Enki. Source: Unknown

The author María Isabel Contreras, in the article Religion in Mesopotamia (nd), affirms that Mesopotamian culture did not profess love for its deities. It was rather a mixture of fear, fear and submission towards these entities.

Not even the monarchs were spared from the wrath of the gods, who had to attend an oracle to find out if the deities were in agreement with their political and military decisions.

List of gods of Mesopotamia

It is important to highlight that each city of Mesopotamia had a patron god, who had to protect and guard his respective city; on this protection depended the prosperity of nations.

Therefore, the future of each region depended on the existing harmony in the relationship between kings and gods. Below is a list of the most important Mesopotamian deities:

Enlil, god of water

Within the ancient Sumerian religion, Enlil was the god of the earth and the heavens, as well as of water. His name is composed of two Sumerian words: en (lord) and lil (wind or storm). Therefore, its possible translation would be Lord of the Wind or Lord of the Storm.

For Mesopotamian culture, the climate was not the one that guided the success or failure of crops. In this case, the bonanza depended on the course of the rivers. This is one of the reasons why Enlil was so fearsome and wrathful, as this deity only manifested itself in negative events such as floods, storms, and river changes.

Enlil is named in the Hammurabi Code. In addition, it was worshiped by various Mesopotamian populations such as the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Akkadians, and the Canaanites. According to mythology, Enlil tried to eradicate humans three times, as their noisy habits disturbed him.

Ninlil, the goddess of air

For the ancient Sumerian civilization, Ninlil was the mistress of the air and was known to be the wife of Enlil. Its original name was Sud, nevertheless, it happened to be Ninlil after contracting marriage with Enlil. In most texts she is mentioned as the daughter of the gods Nammu and An.

There is an ancient text called Enlil and Ninlil, where it is related that the goddess previously lived in the commercial enclaves of Dilmun. She decided to bathe in the river naked, where she was taken by force by Enlil (an act censored within the Mesopotamian tradition).

This led to Enlil being banished from the city, however, Ninlil decided to follow him. From the union with the god of water, three gods from beyond the grave were born.

Enki, the lord of the earth

Within Sumerian mythology, Enki was the god of the earth. He is considered one of the most important Mesopotamian deities, since his main objective was to create human beings and motivate the other gods to create them as well. Likewise, Enki is the one who endowed men in various knowledge such as arts and agriculture.

Similarly, Enki is associated to some extent with the water world. His kingdom is in Apsu, a town located in the depressions of the earth, where the primordial waters emanate. Enki has an epithet: Nadimmud, which means "doer."

In turn, this deity is considered the god of wisdom, the arts, magic, design, construction and creation. It began to be worshiped for the first time in the vicinity of the Euphrates and in the Tigris valley.

Enki is also credited with creating the apkallu ("man of the great sea"), who are wise spirits with half of their body shaped like a fish and the other half with human appearance. It is said that they were the priests of this deity and their mission was to advise the first mythological rulers.

Anu, the god of the sky

Anu is the king of the gods, lord of the constellations and god of the sky. He is married to the goddess Ki and lives in the highest areas of the sky. This deity was attributed the power to judge those who had committed crimes. It was also thought that he had built the stars with the aim that they were a kind of soldiers destined to fight the evil ones.

It is one of the oldest deities within the Sumerian pantheon. In addition, he is part of the triad of the most important gods along with Enki and Enil. According to the records, Anu has a temple in the city of Uruk, called E-anna. Said temple was in the south of Babylon. Some consider that Anu at one time was the husband of the goddess Inanna.

According to Sumerian mythology, Anu brought down hemp, barley and wheat from his heavenly kingdom in order to deliver them to earth. However, his son Enil decided to pile up all this food and hide it in the mountain. The gods of the underworld, Ninazu and Ninmah, took pity on the Sumerians and decided to reveal the secret hiding place to this community.

Ki, the goddess of the earth

It was one of the most important female entities within the Mesopotamian religion. Some connoisseurs associate her with Ninhursag, the mother goddess, so both would represent the same figure. However, this is still not entirely clear.

Furthermore, certain academics question the existence of this deity. This occurs because no evidence of his cult has been found and his name appears only in the Sumerian texts associated with creation. Later, Ki would take the name of Antu.

Inanna, the goddess of love

Inanna sculpture. Source: British Museum

Inanna was the goddess of war and love. In addition, she was the protector of the town of Uruk. With the arrival of the Akkadian population, this deity became associated with the goddess Ishtar. She is related to Venus, so she is linked to Aphrodite, the popular Greek goddess.

According to the Sumerian texts, Inanna was the daughter of Nannar and Ningal. Additionally, she had a twin sister known as Utu. She was married to Dumuzi, who was a demigod and hero of the city of Uruk. Within the archetypes, Inanna symbolizes the Mother Goddess.

This goddess had seven main temples along with eight minor temples. The oldest of them was in the city of Uruk and is known as E-anna. This building was dedicated to the goddess and Anu.

Ninazu, the god with healing powers

He was a secondary god within Sumerian mythology. It is believed that he was the god of the underworld within the kingdom of the goddess Ereshkigal. It is also stated that he is the son of Ninlil and Enil, however, there are texts where it is stated that he actually comes from the union between Ereskigal and Gugalana.

Ninazu is credited with healing powers. Likewise, she was venerated in the temple of the town of Esnunna. It was represented with the image of a serpent dragon.

Nammu, first deity

Nammu was the goddess who represented the abyss of the waters of the first ocean. For this reason, he is considered the first deity and the origin of all things. Nammu is also the goddess of birth and was worshiped in the town of Ur.

In most texts she is identified as the wife of Anu and mother of the god Enki. It is said that she had the ability to produce water and that she was probably Ki's progenitor. Nammu participated together with Ninmah and Enki in the construction of the human race.

Ereshkigal, goddess of the underworld

In the Sumerian-Akkadian religion, Ereshkigal ruled in the underworld together with her husband Nergal. She is considered to be the daughter of the god Anu and the sister of the goddess Inanna. Before she was part of the heavenly gods, but was kidnapped by the serpent Kur, who took her to the underworld. There she became the queen.

Legend has it that the god Nergal was sent to the underworld as punishment. Enki advised him that for no reason should he accept any gift from the goddess Ereshkigal; Nergal should not take any type of food or drink, nor should he take a seat in the world of the dead and should resist the temptation to sleep with Ereshkigal, characterized by her striking beauty.

Upon reaching the underworld, Ereshkigal lusted after Nergal. He offered him a seat, but the god refused. Then he brought him food and drink, but the god again refused. However, Ereshkigal told Nergal that he would go to bathe, allowing him to observe his body for a few moments.

The god tried to resist, but ultimately gave in to Ereshkigal's charms. They were together for seven nights and then he returned to the celestial world without notifying the goddess. Ereshkigal was greatly distressed and threatened to send all her dead if Nergal did not return with her.

For this reason, the god had to return to the underworld. But he was upset with the goddess, so he grabbed her hair to decapitate her. The goddess confessed that she loved him and offered to rule the nether world at his side. Nergal was pleased with the proposal and from that moment on they ruled the world of the dead together.

Kur

For the Sumerians, the universe was a primordial sea of ​​salt water that arose from Nammu. At the bottom, there was a freshwater ocean that was the underworld. That was the Kur, also known as Irkalla, which is represented as a dragon serpent, with very terrible and frightening gesticulations.

Nannar or Sin

Son of Enlil and Ninlil, Nannar was revered for being the god of the moon. It is known as Nannar by the Sumerians, while the name Sin was adopted by Babylonians and Arcadians.

Nannar became supreme god of the pantheon when the city of Ur was dominant in the region. He is also considered the father of wisdom. His figure was drawn like an old horned man, wearing a lapis lazuli beard.

Nigal

She is Nannar's wife. Also known as Nigal, she is considered the goddess of the moon. Like her husband, she was venerated by cattle herders.

Nigal is sometimes understood to be a cow goddess and Sin is a bull god. This identification of the animals also makes them an amulet for fertility. She had two children: Utu and Innanna.

Utu or Shamash

He was the god of justice and the sun, and the twin brother of the goddess Inanna. It is known as Utu among the Sumerians and Tammuz for the Babylonians. His ancestry caused many disagreements in time and place.

First, he was identified as the son of Anu or Enill. The Babylonians consider Tammuz consort of Inanna. His symbols were the balance and a burning man.

Erra

In both Babylon and Arcadia, Erra was considered the god of war, revolts, uprisings and any armed movement.

References

1. Black, J. (1992) Gods, demons and Symbols. Retrieved on January 10, 2020 from Academia: academia.edu
2. Bottéro, J. (sf) The oldest religion: Mesopotamia. Retrieved on Jan 10. of 20 from fb-rpi.itkm.ru
3. Cubas, M. (sf) Religion in Mesopotamia. Retrieved on January 10, 2020 from historiaeweb.com
4. Fernández, C. (nd) The exaltation of the divinity in Mesopotamia. Retrieved on January 10, 2020 from Dialnet: Dialnet.net
5. Lambert, W. (1990) Ancient mesopotamian gods: superstition, philosophy, theology. Retrieved on January 10, 2020 from JSTOR: jstor.org
6. SA (nd) Ereshkigal. Retrieved on January 10, 2020 from Wikipedia: es.wikipedia.org
7. SA (sf) Anu. Retrieved on January 10, 2020 from Wikipedia: es.wikipedia.org
8. SA (sf) Inanna. Retrieved on January 10, 2020 from Wikipedia: es. Wikipedia.org