AN- The Sumerian god of heaven, son of Nammu, father of Enlil, and spouse of Ki.
ANU- The ancient Sumero-Babylonian god of the firmament, the 'great above', and the son of the first pair of gods, Ansar and Kisar, descendant of Apsu and Tiamat. He is referred to as "the Father" and "King of the Gods", which signifies his importance in the Mesopotamian pantheon. Not only is he the father of the gods, but also of a great number of demons, whom he sends to humans. In the Sumerian cosmology there was, first of all, the primeval sea, from which was born the cosmic mountain consisting of heaven, 'An', and earth, 'Ki'. They were separated by Enlil, then Anu carried off the heavens, and Enlil the earth. Anu later retreated more and more into the background. He retires to the upper heavens and leaves the affairs of the universe to Marduk and a younger generation of gods. His consort was Antu (Anatum), a goddess of creation, but she was later replaced by Ishtar. Temples dedicated to Anu could be found in Uruk and Assur.
ANUNNAKU- The Akkadian name for a group of gods of the underworld. They function as judges in the realm of the dead. Their counterparts are the Igigi (although in some texts the positions are reversed). The Annunaku show many similarities with the Sumerian Anunna. The Anunnaku are the offspring of Anu.
APSU- A primeval Sumero-Akkadian god who personifies the primordial abyss of sweet waters underneath the earth. He is the consort of Tiamat, the primordial abyss of salt waters of Chaos. In the later mythology of the Enuma Elish, the sweet water mingled with the bitter waters of the sea and with a third watery element, perhaps cloud, the first gods were engendered. The waters of Apsu were thought of as held immobile underground by the 'spell' of Ea in a death-like sleep, but it is also said that Ea had Apsu fallen asleep and had killed him. From the clay of Apsu man was fashioned. This appears to be a Sumerian myth, because in the Enuma Elish, Kingu's blood serves this purpose. Apsu's vizir, Mummu, was imprisioned in a house built on his body.
DUMUZI- The Sumerian form of Tammuz. A god of vegetation and fertility, and also of the underworld. He is called 'the Shepherd' and 'lord of the sheepfolds'. As the companion of Nigizzida 'to all eternity' he stands at the gate of heaven. In the Sumerian Descent of Inanna he is the husband of the goddess Inanna, the Sumerian counterpart of Ishtar. According to the Sumerian King-List Gilgamesh was descended from 'Dumuzi a shepherd'. Dumuzi was originally a mortal ruler whose marriage to Inanna ensured the fertility of the land and the fecundity of the womb. This marriage, however, according to a myth whose denouncement has only recently come to light, ended in stark tragedy when the goddess, offended by her husband's unfeeling behavior toward her, decreed that he be carried off to the netherworld for six months of each year-hence the barren, sterile months of the hot summer. At the autumnal equinox, which marked the beginning of the Sumerian new year, Dumuzi returned to the earth. His reunion with his wife caused all animal and plant life to be revitalized and made fertile once again.
EA- The ancient Sumero-Babylonian god of the sweet waters. He is the son of Ansar and Kisar and his consort is the mother goddess Damkina, with whom he is the father of Marduk. Ea knows everything and is regarded as the source and patron of wisdom, magic, and medical science. He is one of the creators of mankind, towards whom he is usually well-disposed, and their instructor and taught them arts and crafts. It was Ea who discovered Tiamat's designs to kill her offspring, and managed to kill her consort Apsu. Ea, who was friendly to man, also revealed Enlil's design of destroying mankind by a flood to Utnapishtim, the Babylonian version of Noah. Ea was one of the foremost gods of the ancient Mesopotamian pantheon and formed with Anu and Ellil an important and powerful triad of gods. The center of his cult was the city of Eridu, where lived 'in the deep'. He is shown on the seals with streams of water and fish flowing from his shoulders, attended by a two-faced minister, the bird Anzu, and Ishtar as Venus rising.
ELLIL- The Akkadian god of earth and wind. He is the son of Ansar and Kisar, the primordial deities, and the father of the moon god Sin. Together with Ea and Anu he forms a powerful triad of gods in the ancient Mesopotamian religion. He is represented wearing a headband which is decorated with horns. He is equivalent to the Sumerian god Enlil.
EN- The Sumerian title for 'lord' or 'god'. The word forms a component of several names of gods, such as Enki, Enlil, etc. Later, En became the title of the high priests.
ENKI-The Sumerian high god of water and intellect, creation, wisdom and medicine who could restore the dead to life. He was the source of all secret and magical knowledge of life and immortality. Enki possessed the secret of me, 'culture, civilization', which is the genius of progress in knowledge to lead humanity. He invented civilization for the people and assigned to each his destiny. He created order in the cosmos. He filled the rivers with fish. He invented the plough and the yoke so that farmers could till the earth with oxen. He made the grain grow. He is the father of all plants. In most myths his consort is Damkina, or Ninhursag, who gave him a daughter. Enki is depicted on a relief holding Zu, the storm-bird. His main cult center was Eridu in ancient Sumer, one of the first cities in the world. He was called Ea in Babylonian, King of Apsu.
ENLIL- In ancient Sumero-Babylonian myth, Enlil ("lord wind") is the god of air, wind and storms. Enlil is the foremost god of the Mesopotamian pantheon, and is sometimes referred to as Kur-Gal ("great mountain"). In the Sumerian cosmology he was born of the union of An heaven and Ki earth. These he separated, and he carried off the earth as his portion. In later times he supplanted Anu as chief god. His consort is Ninlil with whom he has five children: Nanna, Nerigal, Ningirsu, Ninurta, and Nisaba. Enlil holds possession of the Tablets of Destiny which gives him power over the entire cosmos and the affairs of man. He is sometimes friendly towards mankind, but can also be a stern and even cruel god who punishes man and sends forth disasters, such as the great Flood which wiped out humanity with the exception of Atrahasis. Enlil is portrayed wearing a crown with horns, symbol of his power. His most prestigious temple was in the city Nippur, and he was the patron of that city. His equivalent is the Akkadian god Ellil.
ERESHKIGAL- The Sumerian and Akkadian goddess of the underworld, sister of the sky goddess Ishtar. Together with her consort Nergal she rules the underworld, also called 'the big land', from which no-one returns. One day Nergal was sent to her from heaven with an offering of food. They fell in love with each other, and when he had to leave, she was in tears and threathened Anu that she would revive all the dead, over whom she ruled, and send them back to earth, 'so that they will outnumber the living', unless Nergal was send back to her, for ever, as a husband. Her minister Namtar had to go to heaven as her messenger, for Ereshkigal felt that she was already pregnant. At last Nergal came stroming down the stairs, broke down the seven gates and burst into the goddess' palace straight into her passionate embrace, 'to wipe her tears.' Ereshkigal is dark and violent, befitting her role as goddess of the underworld. As ruler over the shades, Ereshkigal receives the mortuary offerings made to the dead. In the Sumerian cosmogony she was carried off to the underworld after the separation of heaven and earth. She is often praised in hymns. Ereshkigal was probably once a sky-goddess.
GILGAMESH- The great hero of Sumerian and Babylonian epic poetry. He is the precursor of Heracles and other folk heroes. Gilgamesh is the son of the goddess Ninsun and Lugalbanda or a priest of Kullab (part of Uruk), and fifth king of Uruk after the flood. He was famous as a great builder and as a judge of the dead. The Epic of Gilgamesh was preserved on clay tablets which were deciphered in the last century. It contains the adventures of the great King of Uruk (southern Babylonia) in his fruitless search for immortality and of his friendship with Enkidu, the wild man from the hills. Most of the poems of this epic were already written down in the first centuries of the second millenium BCE, but probably existed in much the same form many centuries earlier. The final recension, and most complete edition, comes from the seventh century library of Assurbanipal, antiquary and last great king of the Assyrian empire.
IGIGI- The collective name for the great gods of heaven. The counterparts of the lesser gods who belong to the Anunnaku.
INANNA- Inanna is the most important goddess of the Sumerian pantheon in ancient Mesopotamia. She is a goddess of love, fertility, and war. Inanna figures prominently in various myths, such as 'Inanna's descent to the underworld'. In this particular myth she travels to the realm of the dead and claims its ruling. However, her sister Ereshkigal, who rules the place, sentences her to death. With Inanna's death, however, nature died with her and nothing would grow anymore. Through the intervention of the god Enki she could be reborn if another person took her place. She choose her beloved consort Dumuzi, who would from then on rule the underworld every half year. Inanna is regarded as a daughter of the sky-god An, but also of the moon-god Nanna. A variation of her name is Ninnanna, which means 'queen of the sky'. She is also called Ninsianna as the personification of the planet Venus. Inanna is portrayed as a fickle person who first attracts men and then rejects them. She is depicted as richly dressed goddess or as a naked woman. Her symbol is the eight-pointed star. Important sanctuaries of Inanna were in Uruk, Zabalam, and Babylon. The Akkadians called her Ishtar.
ININNA- An early Sumerian name of the Mesopotamian fertility and war-goddess Ishtar.
ISHTAR- Ishtar was the ancient Sumero-Babylonian goddess of love and fertility. She is often described as the daughter of Anu, the god of the air. In most of the myths concerning her, she is described as an evil, heartless, women who destroyed her mates and lovers. Her greatest lover was the farm god Tammuz, who is similar to the Greek Adonis. After he died she went into the underworld to retrieve him but her efforts were vain and she returned to the living world alone. Later, in the great epic of Gilgamesh, she tried to make Gilgamesh her husband, but he refused her and reminded her of her former lovers, whom she mercilessly killed or left injured. She reported this to her father, Anu, and he gave her the mystical bull of heaven to avenge herself. Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu stopped and killed the mighty creature and threw its headless body at her feet. They also insulted her, and she responded by sending disease to kill Gilgamesh's best friend Enkidu. She is one of Aphrodite's counterparts.
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