The Sumerians were tribes that settled the territory of the Tigris and Euphrates valleys at the end of the 4th millennium. When the first city-states were formed in Mesopotamia, ideas about gods and deities were also formed. For the tribes, the deities were patrons who personified the creative and productive forces of nature.
The Sumerians explained the origin of the universe as follows. In Sumerian mythology, heaven and earth were originally thought of as a mountain, the base of which was the earth, personified in the goddess Ki, and the top was the sky, the god An. From their union, the god of air and wind Enlil was born, himself called the “Great Mountain,” and his temple in the city of Nippur was called the “house of the Mountain”: he separated the sky from the earth and organized the cosmos - the Universe. Thanks to Enlil, the luminaries also appear. Enlil falls in love with the goddess Ninlil and takes possession of her by force as she sails down the river in her barge. For this, the elder gods banish him to the underworld, but Ninlil, who has already conceived a son, the moon god Nanna, follows him, and Nanna is born in the underworld. In the underworld, Enlil three times takes the form of guards of the underworld and gives birth to three underground gods from Ninlil. They return to the heavenly world. From now on, Nanna travels in a bark, accompanied by stars and planets, across the sky at night, and through the underworld during the day. He gives birth to a son - the solar god Utu, who wanders through the sky during the day, and at night he travels through the underworld, bringing light, drink and food to the dead. Then Enlil develops the earth: he raised “the seed of the fields” from the earth, brought into being “everything useful,” and invented the hoe.
There is another version of the creation myth.
The beginning of this story is quite beautiful. A long time ago, when there was neither heaven nor earth, there lived Tiamat, the goddess of sweet waters, Apsu, the god of salty waters, and their son, the fog rising above the water.
Then Tiamat and Apsu gave birth to two pairs of twins: Lahma and Lahama (demons), and then Anshar and Kishar, who were smarter and stronger than the elders. Anshar and Kishar had a child named Annu. Annu became the god of the sky. Ea was born to Annu. This is the god of underground waters, magic S. Kramer “The Mythology of Sumer and Akkad”, M.: Education, 1977.
The younger gods - Lahma, Lahama, Anshar, Kishar, Annu and Ea - gathered every evening for a noisy feast. They prevented Apsu and Tiamat from getting enough sleep. Only Mummu, the eldest son of Apsu and Tiamat, did not take part in these amusements. Apsu and Mummu appealed to the younger gods with a request to stop the celebrations, but they were not listened to. The elders decided to kill everyone who interfered with sleep. Ea decided to kill Apsu, who had started a conspiracy against the younger ones. Tiamat decided to take revenge for the death of her husband. Her new husband, the god Kingu, strongly supported this idea. So Tiamat and Kingu hatched a plan for revenge. Having learned about Tiamat's plan, Ea turned to his grandfather Anshar for advice. Anshar suggested striking Tiamat with magic, since her husband was dealt with in this way. But Ea's magical powers do not affect Tiamat. Anu, Ea's father, tried to reason with the angry goddess, but nothing worked. Since magic and negotiations came to nothing, all that remained was to turn to physical force. Who should we send to battle? Everyone decided that only Marduk could do this. Anshar, Anu and Ea initiated the secrets of divine magic into young Marduk. Marduk is ready to fight Tiamat, demanding the undivided power of the supreme god as a reward for victory. Young Marduk gathered all the Anunnaki (as the gods called themselves) so that they would approve the war with the supreme goddess and recognize him as their king. Anshar sent his secretary Kaku to call Lakhma, Lahama, Kishara and Damkina. Having learned about the impending war, the gods were horrified, but a good dinner with plenty of wine calmed them down. In addition, Marduk demonstrated his magical powers, and the gods recognized him as king. The merciless battle lasted for a long time. Tiamat fought desperately. But Marduk defeated the goddess. Marduk took the “tables of destinies” from King (they determined the movement of the world and the course of all events) and put them around his neck. He cut the body of the slain Tiamat into two parts: from one he made the sky, from the other - the earth. People were created from the blood of the murdered Kingu.
What should be highlighted from these myths... In Sumerian mythology we find the same concept as in Egyptian and other mythologies, the concept of the primordial nature of the sea, the emergence of earth from the sea, the separation of heaven from earth. The act of separation is attributed to Enlil as the god of air and wind. In the first myth, the earth and sky are personified, unlike the second, where the earth and sky originate from the divided body of Tiamat. This option is the most common in other mythologies. Unlike the more archaic Sumerian myths, the creation epic of Tiamat and the lesser gods is not etiological, but cosmogonic. Just like the Egyptian cosmogonic myths, it is permeated with the pathos of ordering the primary water chaos. This ordering, however, occurs differently than in Egyptian mythology, has not a harmonious, but an acute conflict character, is accompanied by struggle and violence, and requires effort and initiative from representatives of the new world
Sumerian civilization and Sumerian mythology are rightfully considered one of the most ancient in the history of all mankind. The golden age of this people, who lived in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), occurred in 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 Sumerian mythology and religion rested were communal beliefs in numerous gods: spirits, demiurge deities, patrons of nature and the state. It arose as a result of the interaction of an ancient people with the country that fed them. This faith did not have a mystical teaching or orthodox doctrine, as was the case with the beliefs that gave rise to modern world religions - from Christianity to Islam.
Sumerian mythology had several fundamental features. She recognized the existence of two worlds - the world of gods and the world of phenomena that they controlled. Each spirit in it was personified - it possessed the features of living beings.
Demiurges
The main god of the Sumerians was considered An (another spelling is Anu). It existed even before the separation of Earth from Heaven. He was depicted as an advisor and manager of the assembly of the gods. Sometimes he was angry with people, for example, he once sent a curse in the form of a heavenly bull to the city of Uruk and wanted to kill the hero of ancient legends, Gilgamesh. Despite this, for the most part An 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 “meh”. This is how the inhabitants of Mesopotamia called the divine forces that controlled the earthly and heavenly worlds.
Enlil (Ellil) was considered the second most important god by the Sumerians. He was called Lord Wind or Mr. Breath. This creature ruled the world located between earth and sky. Another important feature that Sumerian mythology emphasized: Enlil had many functions, but they all boiled down to dominion over the wind and air. Thus, it was an elemental deity.
Enlil was considered the ruler of all countries foreign to the Sumerians. He has the 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 wild nature that resisted the human collective trying to inhabit 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 the natural 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 vanished civilization was located.
Enki
Like other ancient mythologies, Sumerian mythology included exactly the 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 humanity in general. The lord of the earth was prescribed the characteristics of a craftsman, a magician and an artist who taught his skills to the younger gods, who, in turn, shared these skills with ordinary people.
Enki is the main character of Sumerian mythology (one of the three along with Enlil and Anu), and it was he who was called the protector of education, wisdom, scribes and schools. This deity personified the human collective, which was trying to subjugate nature and change its habitat. Enki was especially often turned to during wars and other serious dangers. But during periods of peace, its altars were empty; sacrifices, so necessary to attract the attention of the gods, were not made there.
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 counted among this host. She is best known as Ishtar (an Akkadian name that was later also used in Babylon during its heyday). The image of Inanna, which appeared among the Sumerians, survived this civilization and continued to be revered in Mesopotamia in later times. Its traces can be traced even in Egyptian beliefs, and 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 power 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 ancient Mesopotamian civilization. The Sumerians almost never, with the exception of very rare periods, lived 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, bound by language and religion.
Sumerian and Akkadian mythology of Mesopotamia left its traces in the monuments of many Mesopotamian cities. It 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 began as a small Sumerian settlement. It was then that Marduk was considered his patron. Researchers classify him as one of the dozen elder gods that Sumerian mythology gave birth to.
In short, Marduk's importance in the pantheon grew along with the gradual growth of Babylon's 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 his unique healing powers and the art of healing.
Together with the goddess Gula, Marduk knew how to resurrect the dead. Also, Sumerian-Akkadian mythology placed 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 in the period (VII-VI centuries BC), when the Sumerians themselves had long disappeared from the historical scene, and their language was consigned to oblivion.
Marduk vs Tiamat
Thanks to cuneiform texts, numerous tales of the inhabitants of ancient Mesopotamia have been preserved. The confrontation between Marduk and Tiamat is one of the main plots that Sumerian mythology 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 into a fight with her, armed with a club, a bow and a net. God was accompanied by storms and heavenly winds, called by him to fight monsters generated by a powerful enemy.
Each ancient cult had its own image of the foremother. In Mesopotamia, Tiamat was considered 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 his foremother, he was horrified by her terrible appearance, but entered into battle. A variety of gods in Sumerian mythology helped Marduk prepare for battle. The water demons Lahmu and Lahamu gave him the ability to summon floods. 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 by the other gods of their own world domination. A corresponding deal was concluded between them. At the decisive moment of the battle, Marduk drove a storm into Tiamat's mouth so that she could not close it. After that, he shot an arrow inside the monster and thus defeated his terrible rival.
Tiamat had a consort husband, Kingu. Marduk dealt with him too, taking away the tables of destinies from the monster, with the help of which the winner established his own dominance and created a new world. From the upper part of Tiamat's body 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.
The hero was then recognized by the gods as their king. In gratitude to Marduk, a sanctuary in the form of the city of Babylon was presented. Many temples dedicated to this god appeared in it, including the famous ancient monuments: the Etemenanki ziggurat and the Esagila complex. Sumerian mythology left many evidences about Marduk. The creation of the world by this god is a classic plot of ancient religions.
Ashur
Ashur is another Sumerian god whose image survived this civilization. He was originally the patron saint of the city of the same name. In the 24th century BC it arose there. When in the 8th-7th centuries 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 Sumerian mythology. Books and other sources of antiquity and antiquity indicate that the cult of Ashur existed until the 3rd century AD, when neither Assyria nor independent Mesopotamian cities existed for a long time.
Nanna
The Sumerian moon god was Nanna (also a common Akkadian name Sin). He was considered the patron saint 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 increased. His cult had important ideological significance. The eldest daughter of the king of Ur became the High Priestess of Nanna.
The moon god was favorable to 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 crescent Ashimbabbar. In the Assyrian and Babylonian traditions, this deity was also considered a soothsayer and healer.
Shamash, Ishkur and Dumuzi
If the moon god was Nanna, then the sun god was Shamash (or Utu). The Sumerians believed that day was a product of night. Therefore, in their minds, Shamash 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. Scientists date the first temples (“houses of radiance”) of these cities to the incredibly distant 5th millennium BC. It was believed that Shamash gave wealth to people, freedom to prisoners, 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 god of thunder is Ishkur (another name is Adad). His name often appeared in cuneiform sources. Ishkur was considered the patron saint 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, which had important religious and state significance. 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 underworld. This lower underground world was inhabited by the souls of the dead and terrible demons. In cuneiform texts, hell was often called "the land of no return." There are dozens of underground Sumerian deities - information about them is fragmentary and scattered. As a rule, each individual 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 depicted as the 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 Nergalov cult. Babylonian astrologers personified the planet Mars using 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 Anunnaki. The main temple of Ereshkigal was located in the large city of Kut.
Another important chthonic deity of the Sumerians was Nergal's brother Ninazu. Living in the underworld, he possessed the art of rejuvenation and healing. His symbol was a snake, which later became the personification of the medical profession in many cultures. Ninaza was revered with special zeal in the city of Eshnunn. His name is mentioned in the famous Babylonian ones where it is said that offerings to this god are obligatory. In another Sumerian city - Ur - there was an annual holiday in honor of Ninazu, during which abundant sacrifices were held. The god Ningishzida was considered his son. He guarded the demons imprisoned in the underworld. The symbol of Ningishzida was the dragon - one of the constellations of Sumerian astrologers and astronomers, which the Greeks called the constellation Serpent.
Sacred trees and spirits
Spells, hymns and prescription books of the Sumerians testify to the existence of sacred trees among this people, each of which was attributed to a specific deity or city. For example, tamarisk was especially revered in the Nippur tradition. In Shuruppak's spells, this tree is considered to be Tamarisk, used by exorcists in rites of purification and treatment of diseases.
Modern science knows about the magic of trees thanks to the few traces of conspiracy traditions and epics. But even less is known about Sumerian demonology. Mesopotamian magical collections, which were used to drive out evil forces, were compiled already 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.
There were spirits of ancestors, guardian spirits and hostile spirits. The latter included the monsters killed by the heroes, as well as personifications of illnesses and diseases. The Sumerians believed in ghosts, very similar to the Slavic hostages of the 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 masters of cities and demiurge gods. At the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, conspiracies and temple hymns appeared. A hierarchy of gods emerged. It began with the names An, Enlil and Enki. Then came the suns and moons, warrior gods, etc.
The second period is also called the period of Sumerian-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 human history arose. It subjected to strict ranking and accounting not only people, but also the disparate and multifaceted gods. It was during the Third Dynasty that Enlil was placed at the head of the assembly of gods. An and Enki were on either side of him.
Below were the Anunnaki. Among them were Inanna, Nanna, and Nergal. About a hundred more minor deities were located 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 of the III dynasty of Ur in Mesopotamia it disappeared for some time. In the second millennium BC, the Sumerians lost their independence, finding themselves under the rule of the Assyrians. A mixture of these peoples later gave rise to the Babylonian nation. Along with ethnic changes, religious changes also occurred. When the former homogeneous Sumerian nation and its language disappeared, the mythology of the Sumerians also sank into the past.
The Sumerian religion was almost entirely based on polytheism. Not one god, not one deity or goddess had the status of the main being. possessed several supreme deities, among which were individual favorites of the people, but no more. Along with this, the Sumerian mythology also had regional differences. Each major region had its own unique pantheon, priestly traditions, and religious celebrations. The Sumerian faith focused on fulfilling the will of deities and ideas about a mythological afterlife.
Sumerian mythology - life story
As such, the Sumerians did not have myths about the creation of the universe. There were only some references to the fact that in the beginning there was an endless sea, and then Sumerian mythology says that due to unknown events the universe was born - an-ki (heaven and earth).
The Sumerians saw the earth as a flat disk located under the dome of the sky. Between them, according to Sumerian mythology, there was a certain substance called “Lel”, in which stars and other celestial objects floated. Later, plants and animals appeared on earth. At the end of the path, the first people were born - Gilgamesh and Enkidu, and with them the lower world was created. Sumerian mythology says that this variety of worlds was ruled by a whole pantheon of anthropomorphic gods who had control over the elements. The Sumerians called their gods dingir.
There are also teachings about paradise in Sumerian mythology, however, unlike the Christian version, only the gods themselves and a few heroes who glorified these same gods during their lives could get into the Sumerian paradise. Initially, Sumerian mythology awarded the status of the most influential deity to the god An, who was the patron of heaven. Later, his place was taken by Enlil, the lord of the wind and, according to some myths, the creator of humanity. In addition, Enlil had control over all the elements existing in the universe, allowing him to both create and destroy. Ironically, it was Enlil who deity in Sumerian mythology, was the initiator of the idea to send a global flood to the Earth, because it was he who created the Earth, just as An created the gods before him. Sumerian mythology says that the children of An included the gods of cattle breeding Enten and Emesh, the goddesses Lahar and Ashnan, as well as the popularly revered god Enki. The symbol of the gods who occupied a unique supreme position, the gods Enlil and An, was invariably a horned tiara, located on the sacred altar. The city of Nippur was considered the main ceremonial center for the worship of Anu. An, as Sumerian mythology says, was a ferocious god who did not forgive people for their offenses, but at the same time he was also an indifferent god, not particularly worried about the fate of people or the Earth.
The wife of the supreme god was the revered goddess Ninlil, who gave birth to his first child, who became the god of the Moon - Nanna. The children of Nenlil were also the gods: Nergal (“The Power of the Great Abode”) and Namtar, the patron of fate.
Religion of the Sumerians and their beliefs
Another no less important god for local beliefs was Enki - the ruler of the underground world ocean, in the depths of which wisdom rested. It is Enki, as he says Sumerian religion, gave people knowledge, patronized crafts and sciences, in particular astronomy. Enki also served as the deity of fortune tellers and soothsayers.
Enki was the most merciful deity in the Sumerian religion towards people; he is a kind, all-seeing and all-knowing god. It was supposed that it was Enki who filled the Tigris River with pure peppery waters, fish and seaweed used to make spices.
The goddess Ninhursag, “Lady of the Wooded Mountain,” also achieved special respect among the people, as the Sumerian religion says. This is the mother goddess, whose works were located at the origins of the development and emergence of human civilization. Another woman occupied a special place in the pantheon - the goddess Inanna, who patronized wars, fertility and carnal love. The Sumerian religion placed her on a sacred pedestal for the common man. The Sumerians held colorful celebrations in honor of Inanna, depicted in images and examples of ancient art. The main gods glorified by the mythology and religion of the Sumerians include Nanna, the moon god and the sun god - Utu. Utu, according to legend, each sun wandered across the sky, and in the evening left the heavens and descended into the underworld, giving way to Nannu. In addition, as the Sumerian religion says, Utu was directly involved in the trial of the dead.
A special place in the Sumerian religion was given to myths, tales and legends about the afterlife, called the “land of no return.” It looked something like this: the dead passed through the seven gates of the underworld, where they were met by the gatekeeper Neti. The border of the underworld was a river that absorbed people, through which they were transported by Ur-Shanabi, a ferryman on a boat. The Sumerian religion was cruel, the fate of those who died and died by natural causes was not enviable. Bread for people underground was stale, water was tasteless, and everyday life was harsh, even for those who suffered during their earthly life.
The religion of the Sumerians, ancient myths and tales, preserved the idea of the judgment of the dead, where people who were responsible for their actions on earth appeared before the gods. After the trial, those who were lucky enough to be buried were awarded a more or less tolerable life. Those who died in battle were also lucky. The Sumerian religion taught that man was born to serve the gods. His duties during life and after death are to provide food and drink to the gods and pleasure through his service. Man tried in every way to increase the greatness and wealth of his gods, while at the same time ruining and destroying the temples of unrecognized deities.
Gods in Sumerian mythology were adamant. No one was able to leave the land of the dead or escape their judgment; escaping from what was destined was simply impossible. The only option is to look into the future with the help of priestly predictions and try to change something in your life. The Sumerian religion did not forgive misdeeds, so people carefully monitored both their actions and the actions of their neighbors. The judges in the underworld were the Anunnaki, who sat before Ereshkigal, the mistress of the underworld, who passed judgment on the souls of people. The mythology of the Sumerians and Akkadians was of a constant nature, the trial process always took place according to the same pattern: the names of the dead were entered into her book by the female scribe Geshtinanna, after which the buried people went on a journey across the river, and a cruel fate awaited those who were not buried.
Mythology of the Sumerians and their religious life
A special position in the beliefs of the Sumerian people was occupied by mythological lower souls, mostly evil and destructive. The mythology of the Sumerians made them patrons of the elements: air, water, earth. These creatures were associated with diseases, uncleanness and evil spirits that affected people.
Priests, who constituted a special class, also occupied a privileged position in Sumerian mythology. It was a closed caste, the highest ranks of which were held by birthright. The status of priests was inherited, and the mythology of the Sumerians made them into demigods, half-humans. However, in rare cases, an educated man, perfect in both spirit and body, could be accepted as a priest. The external appearance for the Sumerians was no less important than the internal appearance. The high priest was chosen through a special ceremony, during which fortune telling was performed on the carcass of the sacrificed animal. As he says Sumerian mythology, the main tasks of the priest included: maintaining temples, idols, maintaining them in a condition suitable for rituals, appeasing the gods with the help of sacrifices and offerings, as well as conducting rituals and ceremonies.
The Sumerian faith was adamant. The Sumerian king was considered a descendant of the gods, embodied in a human body. In many cities, temples were built in honor of one or another god-king. These temples were built with funds received as a result of the forced collection of property from wealthy citizens and the extortion of the poor. In one of the royal burials, researchers were able to find the ashes of a woman, presumably the king’s wife. Along with her in the grave were the remains of court ladies and a certain man who did not let go of the harp until his last breath, which speaks of incredible obedience and true faith in traditions and customs.
The religion of the ancient Sumerians was not particularly favorable to servants in general. So, in one of the graves about 60 people who at one time served the royal family were found. It is likely that they all voluntarily followed their king and his wife, committing suicide or voluntary sacrifice. Be that as it may, people revered and revered their gods and their representatives on earth without limit.
From the first written sources (the earliest pictographic texts of the so-called Uruk III - Jemdet-Nasr period date back to the end of the 4th - beginning of the 3rd millennium), the names (or symbols) of the gods Inanna, Enlil, etc. are known, and from the time of the so-called. n. the period of Abu-Salabiha (settlements near Nippur) and Fara (Shuruppak) 27-26 centuries. - theophoric names and the most ancient list of gods (the so-called “list A”).
The earliest actual mythological literary texts - hymns to the gods, lists of proverbs, presentation of some myths (for example, about Enlil) also go back to the Farah period and come from the excavations of Farah and Abu-Salabih. From the reign of the Lagash ruler Gudea (c. 22nd century BC), building inscriptions have come down that provide important material regarding cult and mythology (description of the renovation of the main temple of the city of Lagash Eninnu - the “temple of the fifty” for Ningirsu, the patron god of the city ). But the bulk of Sumerian texts of mythological content (literary, educational, actually mythological, etc., one way or another connected with myth) belong to the end. 3 - beginning 2nd thousand, to the so-called the Old Babylonian period - a time when the Sumerian language was already dying out, but the Babylonian tradition still preserved the system of teaching in it.
Thus, by the time writing appeared in Mesopotamia (late 4th millennium BC), a certain system of mythological ideas was recorded here. But each city-state retained its own deities and heroes, cycles of myths and its own priestly tradition. Until the end 3rd millennium BC e. there was no single systematized pantheon, although there were several common Sumerian deities: Enlil, “lord of the air,” “king of gods and men,” god of the city of Nippur, the center of the ancient Sumerian tribal union; Enki, lord of underground fresh waters and the world ocean (later the deity of wisdom), the main god of the city of Eredu, the ancient cultural center of Sumer; An, the god of keb, and Inanna, the goddess of war and carnal love, the deity of the city of Uruk, who rose to the top. 4 - beginning 3rd millennium BC e.; Naina, the moon god worshiped at Ur; the warrior god Ningirsu, worshiped in Lagash (this god was later identified with the Lagash Ninurta), etc.
The oldest list of gods from Fara (c. 26th century BC) identifies six supreme gods of the early Sumerian pantheon: Enlil, An, Inanna, Enki, Nanna and the solar god Utu. Ancient Sumerian deities, including astral gods, retained the function of a fertility deity, who was thought of as the patron god of a separate community. One of the most typical images is that of the mother goddess (in iconography she is sometimes associated with images of a woman holding a child in her arms), who was revered under different names: Damgalnuna, Ninhursag, Ninmah (Mah), Nintu. Mom, Mami. Akkadian versions of the image of the mother goddess - Beletili (“mistress of the gods”), the same Mami (who has the epithet “helping during childbirth” in Akkadian texts) and Aruru - the creator of people in Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian myths, and in the epic of Gilgamesh - “wild” man (symbol of the first man) Enkidu. It is possible that the patron goddesses of cities are also associated with the image of the mother goddess: for example, the Sumerian goddesses Bay and Gatumdug also bear the epithets “mother”, “mother of all cities”.
In the myths about the gods of fertility, a close connection between myth and cult can be traced. Cult songs from Ur (late 3rd millennium BC) speak of the love of the priestess “Lukur” (one of the significant priestly categories) for King Shu-Suen and emphasize the sacred and official nature of their union. Hymns to the deified kings of the 3rd dynasty of Ur and the 1st dynasty of Isin also show that a ritual of sacred marriage was annually performed between the king (at the same time the high priest “en”) and the high priestess, in which the king represented the incarnation of the shepherd god Dumuzi, and the priestess the goddess Inanna.
The content of the works (constituting a single cycle “Inanna-Dumuzi”) includes motives for the courtship and wedding of hero-gods, the descent of the goddess into the underworld (“the land of no return”) and her replacement by a hero, the death of the hero and crying for him, and the hero’s return to land. All the works of the cycle turn out to be the threshold of the drama-action, which formed the basis of the ritual and figuratively embodied the metaphor “life - death - life”. The numerous variants of the myth, as well as the images of departing (perishing) and returning deities (which in this case is Dumuzi), are connected, as in the case of the mother goddess, with the disunity of Sumerian communities and with the very metaphor “life - death - life” , constantly changing its appearance, but constant and unchanged in its renewal.
More specific is the idea of replacement, which runs like a leitmotif through all the myths associated with the descent into the underworld. In the myth about Enlil and Ninlil, the role of the dying (departing) and resurrecting (returning) deity is played by the patron of the Nippur community, the lord of the air Enlil, who took possession of Ninlil by force, was expelled by the gods to the underworld for this, but managed to leave it, leaving instead himself, his wife and son "deputies". In form, the demand “for your head - for your head” looks like a legal trick, an attempt to circumvent the law, which is unshakable for anyone who has entered the “country of no return.” But it also contains the idea of some kind of balance, the desire for harmony between the world of the living and the dead.
In the Akkadian text about the descent of Ishtar (corresponding to the Sumerian Inanna), as well as in the Akkadian epic about Erra, the god of plague, this idea is formulated more clearly: Ishtar at the gates of the “land of no return” threatens, if she is not allowed in, to “release the dead eating the living,” and then “the dead will multiply more than the living,” and the threat is effective. Myths related to the cult of fertility provide information about the Sumerians' ideas about the underworld. There is no clear idea about the location of the underground kingdom (Sumerian Kur, Kigal, Eden, Irigal, Arali, secondary name - Kur-nugi, “land of no return”; Akkadian parallels to these terms - Erzetu, Tseru). They not only go down there, but also “fall through”; The border of the underworld is the underground river through which the ferryman ferries. Those entering the underworld pass through the seven gates of the underworld, where they are greeted by the chief gatekeeper Neti. The fate of the dead underground is difficult. Their bread is bitter (sometimes it is sewage), their water is salty (slop can also serve as a drink). The underworld is dark, full of dust, its inhabitants, “like birds, dressed in the clothing of wings.” There is no idea of a “field of souls”, just as there is no information about the court of the dead, where they would be judged by their behavior in life and by the rules of morality. The souls for whom funeral rites were performed and sacrifices were made, as well as those who fell in battle and those with many children are awarded a tolerable life (clean drinking water, peace). The judges of the underworld, the Anunnaki, who sit before Ereshkigal, the mistress of the underworld, pronounce only death sentences. The names of the dead are entered into her table by the female scribe of the underworld Geshtinanna (among the Akkadians - Beletseri). Among the ancestors - inhabitants of the underworld - are many legendary heroes and historical figures, for example Gilgamesh, the god Sumukan, the founder of the III dynasty of Ur Ur-Nammu. The unburied souls of the dead return to earth and bring misfortune; the buried are crossed across the “river that separates from people” and is the border between the world of the living and the world of the dead. The river is crossed by a boat with the ferryman of the underworld Ur-Shanabi or the demon Khumut-Tabal.
The actual cosmogonic Sumerian myths are unknown. The text "Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Underworld" says that certain events took place at the time "when the heavens were separated from the earth, when An took the sky for himself, and Enlil the earth, when Ereshkigal was given to Kur." The myth of the hoe and the ax says that Enlil separated the earth from the heavens, the myth of Lahar and. Ashnan, goddesses of livestock and grain, describes the still fused state of earth and heaven (“mountain of heaven and earth”), which, apparently, was in charge of An. The myth "Enki and Ninhursag" talks about the island of Tilmun as a primeval paradise.
Several myths have come down about the creation of people, but only one of them is completely independent - about Enki and Ninmah. Enki and Ninmah sculpt a man from the clay of the Abzu, the underground world ocean, and involve the goddess Nammu - “the mother who gave life to all gods” - in the creation process. The purpose of human creation is to work for the gods: to cultivate the land, graze cattle, collect fruits, and feed the gods with their victims. When a person is made, the gods determine his fate and arrange a feast for this occasion. At the feast, drunken Enki and Ninmah begin to sculpt people again, but they end up with monsters: a woman unable to give birth, a creature deprived of sex, etc.
In the myth about the goddesses of cattle and grain, the need to create man is explained by the fact that the Anunnaki gods who appeared before him do not know how to conduct any farming. The idea that people used to grow underground, like grass, comes up repeatedly. In the myth of the hoe, Enlil uses a hoe to make a hole in the ground and people come out. The same motive sounds in the introduction to the hymn of the city of Ered. Many myths are dedicated to the creation and birth of gods.
Cultural heroes are widely represented in Sumerian mythology. The creator-demiurges are mainly Enlil and Enki. According to various texts, the goddess Ninkasi is the founder of brewing, the goddess Uttu is the creator of weaving, Enlil is the creator of the wheel and grain; gardening is the invention of the gardener Shukalitudda. A certain archaic king Enmeduranka is declared to be the inventor of various forms of predicting the future, including predictions using the pouring out of oil. The inventor of the harp is a certain Ningal-Paprigal, the epic heroes Enmerkar and Gilgamesh are the creators of urban planning, and Enmerkar is also the creator of writing. The eschatological line is reflected in the myths of the flood and the wrath of Inanna. In Sumerian mythology, very few stories have been preserved about the struggle of gods with monsters, the destruction of elemental forces, etc. (only two such legends are known - about the struggle of the god Ninurta with the evil demon Asag and the struggle of the goddess Inanna with the monster Ebih). Such battles in most cases are the lot of a heroic person, a deified king, while most of the deeds of the gods are associated with their role as fertility deities (the most archaic moment) and bearers of culture (the most recent moment). The functional ambivalence of the image corresponds to the external characteristics of the characters: these omnipotent, omnipotent gods, creators of all life on earth, are evil, rude, cruel, their decisions are often explained by whims, drunkenness, promiscuity, their appearance can emphasize unattractive everyday features (dirt under the nails, Enki's dyed red, Ereshkigal's disheveled hair, etc.).
The degree of activity and passivity of each deity is also varied. Thus, Inanna, Enki, Ninhursag, Dumuzi, and some minor deities turn out to be the most alive. The most passive god is the “father of the gods” An. The images of Enki, Inaina and partly Enlil are comparable to the images of the demiurge gods, “carriers of culture”, whose characteristics emphasize elements of the comic, the gods of primitive cults living on earth, among people whose cult supplants the cult of the “supreme being”. But at the same time, no traces of “theomachy” - the struggle between old and new generations of gods - were found in Sumerian mythology. One canonical text of the Old Babylonian period begins with a listing of 50 pairs of gods who preceded Anu: their names are formed according to the scheme: “the lord (mistress) of so-and-so.” Among them, one of the oldest, according to some data, gods Enmesharra (“lord of all me”) is named. From an even later source (a New Assyrian spell of the 1st millennium BC) we learn that Enmesharra is “the one who gave the scepter and dominion to Anu and Enlil.” In Sumerian mythology, this is a chthonic deity, but there is no evidence that Enmesharra was forcibly cast into the underground kingdom.
Of the heroic tales, only the tales of the Uruk cycle have reached us. The heroes of the legends are three consecutive kings of Uruk: Enmerkar, the son of Meskingasher, the legendary founder of the First Dynasty of Uruk (27-26 centuries BC; according to legend, the dynasty originated from the sun god Utu, whose son Meskingasher was considered); Lugalbanda, fourth ruler of the dynasty, father (and possibly ancestral god) of Gilgamesh, the most popular hero of Sumerian and Akkadian literature. The common outer line for the works of the Uruk cycle is the theme of the connections of Uruk with the outside world and the motif of the journey (journey) of the heroes.
The theme of the hero's journey to a foreign country and the test of his moral and physical strength in combination with the motifs of magical gifts and a magical assistant not only shows the degree of mythologization of the work compiled as a heroic-historical monument, but also allows us to reveal the early motives associated with initiation rites. The connection of these motifs in the works, the sequence of a purely mythological level of presentation, brings Sumerian monuments closer to a fairy tale.
In the early lists of gods from Fara, the heroes Lugalbanda and Gilgamesh are assigned to the gods; in later texts they appear as gods of the underworld. Meanwhile, in the epic of the Uruk cycle, Gilgamesh, Lugalbanda, Enmerkar, although they have mytho-epic and fairy-tale features, act as real kings - the rulers of Uruk. Their names also appear in the so-called. “royal list” compiled during the period of the III dynasty of Ur (apparently ca. 2100 BC) (all dynasties mentioned in the list are divided into “antediluvian” and those who ruled “after the flood”, the kings, especially the antediluvian period, are attributed mythical number of years of reign: Meskingasher, the founder of the Uruk dynasty, “son of the sun god,” 325 years old, Enmerkar 420 years old, Gilgamesh, who is called the son of the demon Lilu, 128 years old). The epic and extra-epic tradition of Mesopotamia thus has a single general direction - the idea of the historicity of the main mytho-epic heroes.
It can be assumed that Lugalbanda and Gilgamesh were posthumously deified as heroes. Things were different from the beginning of the Old Akkadian period. The first ruler who declared himself during his lifetime to be the “patron god of Akkad” was the Akkadian king of the 23rd century. BC e. Naram-Suen; During the III dynasty of Ur, cult veneration of the ruler reached its apogee. The development of the epic tradition from myths about cultural heroes, characteristic of many mythological systems, did not, as a rule, take place on Sumerian soil.
A characteristic actualization of ancient forms (in particular, the traditional motif of travel) often found in Sumerian mythological texts is the motif of a god’s journey to another, higher deity for a blessing (myths about Enki’s journey to Enlil after the construction of his city, about the journey of the moon god Naina to Nippur to Enlil, his divine father, for a blessing). The period of the III dynasty of Ur, the time from which most of the written mythological sources came, is the period of development of the ideology of royal power in the most complete form in Sumerian history.
Since myth remained the dominant and most “organized” area of social consciousness, the leading form of thinking, it was through myth that the corresponding ideas were affirmed. Therefore, it is no coincidence that most of the texts belong to one group - the Nippur canon, compiled by the priests of the III dynasty of Ur, and the main centers most often mentioned in myths: Eredu, Uruk, Ur, gravitated towards Nippur as the traditional place of general Sumerian cult. “Pseudomyth”, a myth-concept (and not a traditional composition) is also a myth that explains the appearance of the Semitic tribes of the Amorites in Mesopotamia and gives the etiology of their assimilation in society - the myth of the god Martu (the very name of the god is a deification of the Sumerian name for the West Semitic nomads).
The myth underlying the text did not develop an ancient tradition, but was taken from historical reality. But traces of a general historical concept - ideas about the evolution of humanity from savagery to civilization (reflected - already on Akkadian material - in the story of the “wild man” Enkidu in the Akkadian epic of Gilgamesh) appear through the “actual” concept of myth. After the fall at the end of the 3rd millennium BC. e. under the onslaught of the Amorites and Elamites of the III dynasty of Ur, almost all the ruling dynasties of individual city-states of Mesopotamia turned out to be Amorites. However, in the culture of Mesopotamia, contact with the Amorite tribes left almost no trace.
This is the shortest Sumerian epic poem, and there is no mention of any gods. Apparently, this legend can be considered as a historiographical text. Tablets with this myth were found by an expedition of the University of Pennsylvania in Nippur and date back to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, possibly being copies of earlier Sumerian texts.
The Lord of Uruk, Gilgamesh, is in a gloomy mood, tormented by thoughts of death. That’s when he decides that if he is destined to die like all mortals, then he will at least glorify his name before leaving for the “land of no return.” He intends to go to the distant mountains, cut down cedars there and deliver them to his homeland. Gilgamesh reveals his plans to his faithful servant Enkidu, but he advises his master to first notify the sun god Utu, who owns that country.
The poem begins with a prologue about the divine act of creation, the separation of earth and sky, the overthrow of the goddess Ereshkigal into the underworld, and the battle of Enki with the monster of the lower world. The following describes the huluppu tree (possibly willow), which grew on the banks of the Euphrates. It was uprooted by the merciless south wind, but Inanna found it and planted it in her garden. She looked after him, apparently hoping to make a throne and bed out of him in the future.
Beautiful Inanna, Queen of Heaven, daughter of the bright moon god Nanna, lived in a palace at the edge of the sky. When she descended to the ground, from each of her touches the soil was covered with greenery and flowers. The goddess had no equal in beauty, and both the divine shepherd Dumuzi and the divine farmer Enkimdu fell in love with her. Both of them wooed the lovely maiden, but she hesitated and delayed answering. Her brother, the sun god Utu, tried in every possible way to persuade her to turn her gaze to the meek Dumuzi.
Once upon a time there lived a gardener named Shukalletuda. He very diligently cultivated his garden, watered the trees and beds, but all his efforts were in vain - the dry desert wind dried out the soil and the plants died. Exhausted by failures, Shukalletuda turned his gaze to the starry heavens and began to ask for a divine sign. He probably received the command of the gods, because by planting a sarbatu tree (origin unknown) in the garden, which stretches its shadow from west to east, Shukalletuda got the desired result - all the plants in his garden bloomed in lush colors.
Inanna, the queen of heaven, the patron goddess of Uruk, once passionately desired to raise her city and make it the capital of all Sumer, which would contribute to her veneration and glory. She knew that the god of wisdom Enki, who lives in the underground world ocean Abzu, is in charge of all divine crafts and all the foundations of the universe. He kept a hundred tablets on which were imprinted the essence of things, the foundations of being and the mysterious institutions of life. If Inanna had managed to obtain them in any way, the power of Uruk would have become unsurpassed. Therefore, the goddess goes to the city of Eridu, where the entrance to the Abzu was located, to meet with Enki. The wise Enki learns that a great guest is approaching his city and sends his messenger, the two-faced Isimuda, to meet her.
The king of Uruk, Enmerkar, once planned to make a campaign against Aratta and conquer the rebellious country. He called out across the cities and lands, and hordes of warriors began to flock to Uruk. This campaign was led by seven mighty and famous heroes. Lugalbanda joins them.
They had barely covered half the distance when Lugalbanda was attacked by some strange disease. Weakness and pain shackled the hero; he could not move his arm or leg. Friends decided that he had died and thought for a long time what to do with him. In the end, they leave him on Mount Hurum, laying him a magnificent bed, leaving him with all kinds of food. On the way back from the campaign, they plan to pick up his body and take it to Uruk.
Lugalbanda wanders alone in the mountains for a long time. Finally it occurred to him that if he could somehow please the wonderful eagle Anzud, he would be able to help the hero find the army of Uruk.
So he did. He found a huge tree on the top of a rock, in which Anzud built a nest, waited until the giant bird went hunting, and began to please the little eaglet in every possible way. He fed him various delicacies, tinted his eyes with kohl, decorated him with fragrant juniper, and placed a crown on his head.
Unfortunately, the tablet on which the myth was written has not been completely preserved, and the beginning of the myth has been lost. We can fill in the meaning of the missing fragments from its later Babylonian version. It is inserted as a story into the epic of Gilgamesh “On Who Has Seen Everything...”. The first lines read tell about the creation of man, the divine origin of royal power and the founding of the five oldest cities.
Further, we are talking about the fact that at the council of the gods it was decided to send a flood to the earth and destroy all of humanity, but many gods are upset by this. Ziusudra, the ruler of Shuruppak, appears to be a pious and God-fearing king who is in constant anticipation of divine dreams and revelations. He hears the voice of a god, most likely Enki, informing him of the gods' intention to “destroy the human seed.”
Inanna, Queen of Heaven, the ambitious goddess of love and war who married the shepherd king Dumuzi, decides to become the ruler of the lower world. Her sister Ereshkigal, the goddess of death and darkness, ruled there. Apparently the relationship between the sisters left much to be desired, since before entering the “land of no return,” Inanna gives instructions to her servant Ninshuburu. They agree that if the goddess does not return within three days, then Ninshubura should go to Nippur and pray to Enlil there for her salvation. If Enlil refuses, then it was necessary to go with the same request to Ur to the moon god Nanna. If he did not help, it was necessary to go to Eridu to Enki.
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