Mesopotamia Part 13 Ancient Mesopotamian religion
Contents 1 Ancien Ancientt Mesopotamia Mesopotamiann religi religion on
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1.1 Rec Reconst onstructi ruction on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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1.22 Hi 1. Hist stor oryy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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1.2.1
Effectt of Assyrian religi Effec religious ous belief beliefss on its political political structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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1.2.2
Later Meso Mesopotami potamian an hist history ory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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1.3 Myt Mytho holo logy gy 1.3. 1. 3.11
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Deit De itie iess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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1.4 Cult Cultic ic prac practice tice
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1.4.1
Public Publ ic de devoti votions ons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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1.4.2
Private Pri vate de devoti votions ons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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1.5 Mora Morality lity,, virtue and sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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1.6 Af After terlif lifee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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1.7 Esc Escha hatol tology ogy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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1.8 Hist Historic orical al stud studyy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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1.8.1 1.8 .1
Challllen Cha enges ges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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1.8.2
Panbab Pan babylo ylonis nism m . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . .. . .
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1.9 Conti Continui nuing ng influ influenc encee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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1.9.1 1.9 .1
Popu Po pular lar cu cultu lture re . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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1.9.2
New rel religi igious ous mov moveme ements nts
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1.9.3
Biblica Bibl icall esc eschato hatology logy
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1.10 Fringe theories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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1.11 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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1.12 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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1.13 Ref Reference erencess
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1.14 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2 Religi Religions ons of the ancie ancient nt Near Near East
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2.1 Ov Overv ervie iew w . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2.2 Me Mesop sopota otami miaa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.2.1 2.2 .1
Astrol Ast rology ogy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.2. 2. 2.22
Ethi Et hicc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2.3 2.2 .3
Demono Dem onolo logy gy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3 Gre Greate aterr Ira Irann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 i
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CONTENTS
2.44 Eg 2. Egyp yptt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 2.55 Le 2. Leva vant nt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 2.66 An 2. Anat atol olia ia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 2.77 Bo 2. Book okss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 2.7. 2. 7.11
Gene Ge nera rall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.7.2 2.7 .2
Canaan Can aan and Ugar garit it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.88 Se 2. Seee al also so . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 2.9 Ref Refere erence ncess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 2.10 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 3 Sume Sumerian rian reli religio gionn
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3.11 Wor 3. orsh ship ip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 3.1.1
Written Wri tten Cune Cuneif iform orm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.1.2 3.1 .2
Archi Arc hitec tectur turee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.1.3 3.1 .3
The Pri Pries estho thood od . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.1.4 3.1 .4
Cerem Cer emon onyy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.2 Cos Cosmo molo logy gy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 3.2.1 3.2 .1
Creati Cre ation on sto story ry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.33 De 3. Deit itie iess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 3.4 Earli Earliest est dei deities ties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3.4. 3. 4.11
Pant Pa nthe heon on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.55 Le 3. Lega gaccy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3.5.1 3.5 .1
Akkadi Akk adians ans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.5.2 3.5 .2
Babyl Bab yloni onians ans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.5. 3. 5.33
Hurr Hu rria ians ns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.5.4 3.5 .4
Paral Pa ralle lels ls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.66 Se 3. Seee al also so . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3.7 Ref Refere erence ncess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3.8 Ex Exter ternal nal li links nks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 4 Bab Babylo ylonia niann reli religio gionn
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4.1 Myth Mytholo ology gy and cos cosmol mology ogy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 4.2 Rel Religi igious ous fe festi stival valss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 4.3 Impo Importanc rtancee of ido idols ls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 4.4 Influence on Abrahami Abrahamicc reli religions gions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 4.55 Se 4. Seee al also so . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 4.6 Ref Refere erence ncess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 4.7 Fur Furthe therr re readi ading ng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 5 Lis Listt of Meso Mesopotami potamian an dei deitie tiess
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5.1 Ma Major jor Dei Deitie tiess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 5.2 Min Minor or de deiti ities es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
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CONTENTS
5.3 Primordial beings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 5.4 Demigods and Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 5.5 Spirits and demons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 5.6 Legendary beasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 5.7 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 6 Mesopotamian prayer
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6.1 Prayers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 6.2 Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 6.2.1
Incantation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
6.2.2
Gottesbriefe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
6.2.3
Ikribus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
6.2.4
Royal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
6.2.5
Hymns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
6.2.6
Šigû . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
6.2.7
Namburbi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
6.3 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 6.4 Citations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 6.5 Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 6.6 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 6.6.1
Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
6.6.2
Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
6.6.3
Content license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Chapter 1
Ancient Mesopotamian religion worship of forces of nature as providers of sustenance. In the 3rd millennium BCE objects of worship were personified and became an expansive cast of divinities with particular functions. The last stages of Mesopotamian polytheism, which developed in the 2nd and 1st millenniums, introduced greater emphasis on personal religion and structured the gods into a monarchical hierarchy with the national god being the head of the pantheon. [1] Mesopotamian religion finally declined with the spread of Iranian religions during the Achaemenid Empire and with the Christianization of Mesopotamia.
1.1 Reconstruction As with most dead religions, many aspects of the common practices and intricacies of the doctrine have been lost and forgotten over time. Fortunately, much of the information and knowledge has survived, and great work has been done by historians and scientists, with the help of religious scholars and translators, to re-construct a working knowledge of the religious history, customs, and the role these beliefs played in everyday life in Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia during this time. Mesopotamian religion is thought to have been an influence on subsequent religions throughout the world, including Canaanite, Aramean, and ancient Greek. Mesopotamian religion was polytheistic, worshipping over 2,100 different deities, [2] many of which were associated with a specific city or state within Mesopotamia such as Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, Assur, Nineveh, Ur, The god Marduk and his dragon Mušḫuššu Uruk, Mari and Babylon. Some of the most significant Mesopotamian religion refers to the religious beliefs and of these deities were Anu, Enki, Enlil, Ishtar (Astarte), practices of the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia. Ashur, Shamash, Shulmanu, Tammuz, Adad/Hadad, Sin The religious development of Mesopotamia and (Nanna), Kur, Dagan, Ninurta, Nisroch, Nergal, Tiamat, Mesopotamian culture in general was not particularly Bel and Marduk. influenced by the movements of the various peoples into Mesopotamian religion has the oldest body of recorded and throughout the area. Rather, Mesopotamian religion literature of any religious tradition. What is known was a consistent and coherent tradition which adapted about Mesopotamian religion comes from archaeological to the internal needs of its adherents over millenia of evidence uncovered in the region, particularly literary development.[1] sources, which are usually written in cuneiform script on The earliest undercurrents of Mesopotamian religious clay tablets and which describe both mythology and cultic thought date to the 4th millennium BCE, and involved the practices. Other artifacts can also be useful when recon1
2 structing Mesopotamian religion. As is common with most ancient civilizations, the objects made of the most durable and precious materials, and thus more likely to survive, were associated with religious beliefs and practices. This has prompted one scholar to make the claim that the Mesopotamians’ “entire existence was infused by their religiosity, just about everything they have passed on to us can be used as a source of knowledge about their religion.”[3] While Mesopotamian religion died out by approximately 400 CE, it has still had an influence on the modern world, predominantly because many biblical stories that are today found in Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Mandaeism were possibly based upon earlier Mesopotamian myths, in particular that of the creation myth, the Garden of Eden, the flood myth, the Tower of Babel and figures such as Nimrod and Lilith. It has also inspired various contemporary Neo-pagan groups.
1.2 History
CHAPTER 1. ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION
early wheeled vehicles, astronomy, astrology, written code of law, organised medicine, advanced agriculture and architecture, and the calendar. They created the first city-states such as Uruk, Ur, Lagash, Isin, Kish, Umma, Eridu, Adab, Akshak, Sippar, Nippur and Larsa, each of them ruled by an ensí . The Sumerians remained largely dominant in this synthesised culture, however, until the riseofthe AkkadianEmpire under Sargonof Akkad circa 2335 BCE, which united all of Mesopotamia under one ruler. [4] There was increasing syncretism between the Sumerian and Akkadian cultures and deities, with the Akkadians typically preferring to worship fewer deities but elevating them to greater positions of power. Circa 2335 BCE, Sargon of Akkad conquered all of Mesopotamia, uniting its inhabitants into the world’s first empire and spreading its domination into ancient Iran, the Levant, Anatolia, Canaan and the Arabian Peninsula. The Akkadian Empire endured for two centuries before collapsing due to economic decline, internal strife and attacks from the north east by the Gutian people.
See also: Sumerian religion and Babylonian religion Following a brief Sumerian revival with the Third DyIn the fourth millennium BCE, the first evidence for what nasty of Ur, Mesopotamia broke up into a number of Akkadian states. Assyria asserted itself in the north circa 2100 BCE in the Old Assyrian Empire and southern Mesopotamiafragmented into a number of kingdoms, the largest being Isin, Larsa and Eshnunna. In 1894 BCE the initially minor city-state of Babylon was founded in the south by invading West Semitic-speaking Amorites. It was rarely ruled by native dynasties throughout its history. Some time after this period, the Sumerians disappeared, becoming wholly absorbed into the Akkadian-speaking population. Assyrian kings are attested from the late 25th century BCE and dominated northern Mesopotamia and parts of Anatolia and northeast Syria. Overview map of ancient Mesopotamia.
is recognisably Mesopotamian religion can be seen with the invention in Mesopotamia of writing circa 3500 BCE. The people of Mesopotamia originally consisted of two groups, Akkadian speakers (later divided into the AssyriansandBabylonians) andthe people of Sumer, who spoke a language isolate. These peoples were members of various city-states and small kingdoms. The Sumerians left the first records, although it is not known if they migrated into the area in prehistory or whether they were its original inhabitants. They resided in southern Mesopotamia, which was known as Sumer (and later, Babylonia), and had considerable influence on the Akkadian speakers and their culture. Akkadian names first appear in the king lists of these states circa 2800 BCE.
Circa 1750 BCE, the Amorite ruler of Babylon, King Hammurabi, conquered much of Mesopotamia, but this empire collapsed after his death, and Babylonia was reduced to thesmall state it hadbeen upon itsfounding. The Amorite dynasty was deposed in 1595 BCE after attacks from mountain-dwelling people known as the Kassites from the Zagros Mountains, who went on to rule Babylon for over 500 years. Assyria, having been the dominant power in the region with the Old Assyrian Empire between the 20th and 18th centuries BCE before the rise of Hammurabi, once more became a major power with the Middle Assyrian Empire (1391–1050 BCE). Assyria defeated the Hittites and Mitanni, and its growing power forced the New Kingdom of Egypt to withdraw from the Near East. The Middle Assyrian Empireat itsheight stretched fromthe Caucasus to modern Bahrain and from Cyprus to western Iran.
The Sumerians were advanced: as well as inventing writing, they also invented early forms of mathematics, The Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–605 BCE) was the most
3
1.2. HISTORY
dominant power on earth and the largest empire the world had yet seen between the 10th century BCE and the late 7th century BCE, with an empire stretching from Cyprus in the west to central Iran in the east, and from the Caucasus in the north to Nubia, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula in the south, facilitating the spread of Mesopotamian culture and religion far and wide under emperors such as Ashurbanipal, TukultiNinurta II, Tiglath-Pileser III, Shalmaneser IV, Sargon II, Sennacherib and Esarhaddon. During the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Mesopotamian Aramaic became the lingua franca of the empire, and also Mesopotamia proper. The last written records in Akkadian were astrological texts dating from 78 CE discovered in Assyria. The empire fell between 612 BCE and 605 BCE after a period of severe internal civil war in Assyria which soon spread to Babylonia, leaving Mesopotamia in a state of chaos. A weakened Assyria was then subject to combined attacks by a coalition of Babylonians, Chaldeans, Medes, Scythians, Persians and Cimmerians beginning in 616 BC. These were led by Nabopolassar of Babylon and Cyaxares of Media and Persia. Nineveh was sacked in 612 BCE, Harran fell in 608 BCE, Carchemish in 605 BCE, and final traces of Assyrian imperial administration disappeared from Dūr-Katlimmu by 599 BCE. Babylon had a brief late flowering of power and influence, initially under the migrant Chaldean dynasty, which took over much of the empire formerly held by their northern kinsmen. However, the last king of Babylonia, Nabonidus of Assyria, paid little attention to politics, preferring to worship the lunar deity Sin, leaving day-to-day rule to his son Belshazzar. This and the fact that the Persians and Medes to the east were growing in power now that the might of Assyria that had held them in vassalage for centuries was gone, spelt the death knell for native Mesopotamian power. The Achaemenid Empire conquered the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 539 BCE, after which the Chaldeans disappeared from history, although Mesopotamian people, culture and religion continued to endure after this.
1.2.1 Effect of Assyrian religious beliefs on its political structure Like many nations in Mesopotamian history, Assyria was originally, to a great extent, an oligarchy rather than a monarchy. Authority was considered to lie with “the city”, and the polity had three main centres of power— an assembly of elders, a hereditary ruler, and an eponym. The ruler presided over the assembly and carried out its decisions. He was not referred to with theusual Akkadian term for “king”, šarrum; that was instead reserved for the city’s patron deity Ashur, of whom the ruler was the high priest. The ruler himself was only designated as “steward of Assur” (iššiak Assur ), where the term for steward is a borrowing from Sumerian ensí . The third centre of power
was the eponym ( limmum), who gave the year his name, similarly to the eponymous archon and Roman consuls of classical antiquity. He was annually elected by lot and was responsible for the economic administration of the city, which included the power to detain people and confiscate property. The institution of the eponym as well as the formula iššiak Assur lingered on as ceremonial vestiges of this early system throughout the history of the Assyrian monarchy. [5] Religion in the Neo-Assyrian Empire The religion of the Neo-Assyrian Empire centered around the Assyrian king as the king of their lands as well. However, kingship at the time was linked very closely with the idea of divine mandate. [6] The Assyrian king, while not being a god himself, was acknowledged as the chief servant of the chief god, Ashur. In this manner, the king’s authority was seen as absolute so long as the high priest reassured the peoples that the gods, or in the case of the henotheistic Assyrians, the God, was pleased with the current ruler. [6] For the Assyrians who lived in Assur and the surrounding lands, this system was the norm. For the conquered peoples, however, it was novel, particularly to the people of smaller city-states. In time, Ashur was promoted from being the local deity of Assur to the overlord of the vast Assyrian domain, which spread from the Caucasus and Armenia in the north to Egypt, Nubia and the Arabian Peninsula in the south, and from Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean Sea in the west to central Iran in the east. [6] Assur, the patron deity of the city of Assur from the late Bronze Age, was in constant rivalry with the patron deity of Babylon, Marduk. Worship was conducted in his name throughout the lands dominated by the Assyrians. With the worship of Assur across much of the Fertile Crescent, the Assyrian king could command the loyalty of his fellow servants of Assur.
1.2.2 Later Mesopotamian history In 539 BCE, Mesopotamia was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire (539-332 BCE), then ruled by Cyrus the Great. This brought to an end over 3,000 years of Semitic Mesopotamian dominance of the Near East. The Persians maintained and did not interfere in the native culture and religion and Assyria and Babylon continued to exist as entities (although Chaldea and the Chaldeans disappeared), and Assyria was strong enough to launch major rebellions against Persia in 522 and 482 BCE. During this period the Syriac language and Syriac script evolved in Assyria. Then, two centuries later in 330 BCE the Macedonian Greek emperor Alexander the Great overthrew the Persians and took control of Mesopotamia itself. After Alexander’s death increased Hellenistic influence was brought to the region by the Seleucid Empire.[7] Assyria
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CHAPTER 1. ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION
and Babylonia later became provinces under the Parthian Empire (Athura and province of Babylonia), Rome (province of Assyria) and Sassanid Empire (province of Asuristan). Babylonia was dissolved as an entity during the Parthian Empire, though Assyria endured. During the Parthian Empire there was a major revival in Assyria (known as Athura and Assuristan) between the 2nd century BCE and 4th century AD, [8] with temples once more being dedicated to gods such as Ashur, Sin, Shamash and Ishtar in independent Neo Assyrian states such as Assur, Adiabene, Osroene, Beth Garmai and Beth Nuhadra.[9][10] With the Christianization of mesopotamia in the 1st century CE the independent Assyrian states of Adiabene, Osroene, Assur, Hatra, Beth Nuhadra and Beth Garmai were largely ruled by converts to Christianity and Judaism. Gnostic sects such as Sabianism and the still extant Mandeanism also became popular, though native religions still existed among the populace, gods such as Ashur and Sin were still worshiped until the 4th century CE in Assyria. In the 3rd century CE another native Mesopotamian religion flourished, Manicheanism, which incorporated elements of Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism, as well as local Mesopotamian elements. [11]
1.3 Mythology There are no specific written records explaining Mesopotamian religious cosmology that survive to us today. Nonetheless, modern scholars have examined various accounts, and created what is believed to be an at least partially accurate depiction of Mesopotamian cosmology. [12] In the Epic of Creation , dated to 1200 BCE, it explains that the god Marduk killed the mother goddess Tiamat and used half her body to create the earth, and the other half to create both the paradise of šamû and the netherworld of irṣitu.[13] A document from Representation of the Goddess Ishtar , winged and wearing a vera similar period stated that the universe was a spheroid, sion of the horned cap of divinity. Detail of the so-called “Ishtar with three levels of šamû, where the gods dwelt, and vase”, early 2nd millennium BCE (Louvre AO 17000)[15] where the stars existed, above the three levels of earth below it.[14]
1.3.1 Deities
god Marduk was associated with Babylon.[17] Though the full number of gods andgoddesses found in Mesopotamia is not known, K. Tallqvist, in his Akkadische Götterepitheta (1938) counted around two thousand four hundred that we now know about, most of which had Sumerian names. In the Sumerian language, the gods were referred to as dingir , while in the Akkadian language they were known as ilu and it seems that there was syncreticism between the gods worshipped by the two groups, adopting one another’s deities.[2]
Further information: List of Mesopotamian deities Mesopotamian religion was polytheistic, thereby accepting the existence of many different deities, both male and female, though it was also henotheistic,[16] with certain gods being viewed as superior to others by their specific devotees. These devotees were often from a particular city or city-state that held that deity as its patron deity, for instance the god Enki was often associated The Mesopotamian gods bore many similarities with huwith the city of Eridu, the god Ashur with Assur and mans, and were anthropomorphic, thereby having huAssyria, Enlil with Nippur, Ishtar with Arbela, and the manoid form. Similarly, they often acted like humans,
5
1.4. CULTIC PRACTICE
requiring food and drink, as well as drinking alcohol and subsequently suffering the effects of drunkenness,[18] but were thought to have a higher degree of perfection than common men. They were thought to be more powerful, all-seeing and all-knowing, unfathomable, and, above all, immortal. One of their prominent features was a terrifying brightness ( melammu) which surrounded them, producing an immediate reaction of awe and reverence among men. [19] In many cases, the various deities were family relations of one another, a trait found in many other polytheistic religions.[20] The historian J. Bottéro was of the opinion that the gods were not viewed mystically, but were instead seen as high-up masters who had to be obeyed and feared, as opposed to loved and adored.[21] Nonetheless, many Mesopotamians, of all classes, had names that were devoted to a certain deity; this practice appeared to have begun in the third millennium BCE among the Sumerians, but also was later adopted by the Akkadians as well. [22]
1.4.1 Public devotions
Each Mesopotamian city was home to a deity, and each of the prominent deities was the patron of a city, and all known temples were located in cities, though there may have been shrines in the suburbs.[26] Thetemple itself was constructed of mud brick in the form of a ziggurat, which rose to the sky in a series of stairstep stages. Its significance and symbolism have been the subject of much discussion, but most regard the tower as a kind of staircase or ladder for the god to descend from and ascend to the heavens, though there are signs which point towards an actual cult having been practiced in the upper temple, so the entire temple may have been regarded as a giant altar. Other theories treat the tower as an image of the cosmic mountain where a dying and rising god “lay buried.” Some temples, such as the temple of Enki in Eridu contained a holy tree (kiskanu) in a holy grove, which was the central point of various rites performed by the king, who Initially, the pantheon was not ordered, but later functioned as a “master gardener.”[27] Mesopotamian theologians came up with the concept of ranking the deities in order of importance. A Sumerian Mesopotamian temples were originally built to serve as list of around 560 deities that did this was uncovered dwelling places for the god, who was thought to reside court on earth for the good of the city and at Fâra and Tell Abû Ṣalābīkh and dated to circa 2600 and hold [28] BCE, ranking five primary deities as being of particular kingdom. Hispresence was symbolizedby an image of the god in a separate room. The god’s presence within the importance.[23] image seems to have been thought of in a very concrete One of the most important of these early Mesopotamian way, as instruments for the presence of thedeity.”[29] This deities was the god Enlil, who was originally a Sumerian is evident from the poem How Erra Wrecked the World , divinity viewed as a king of the gods and a controller of in which Erra deceived the god Marduk into leaving his the world, who was later adopted by the Akkadians. An- cult statue.[30] Once constructed, idols were consecrated other was the Sumerian god An, who served a similar role through special nocturnal rituals where they were given to Enlil and became known as Anu among the Akkadi- “life”, and their mouth “was opened” ( pet pî ) and washed ans. The Sumerian god Enki was later also adopted by (mes pî ) so they could see and eat. [27] If the deity apthe Akkadians, initially under his original name, and later proved, it would accept the image and agree to “inhabit” as Éa. Similarly the Sumerian moon god Nanna became it. These images were also entertained, and sometime esthe Akkadian Sîn while the Sumerian sun god Utu be- corted on hunting expeditions. In order to service the came the Akkadian Shamash. One of the most notable gods, the temple was equipped with a household with goddesses was the Sumerian sex and war deity Inanna. kitchens and kitchenware, sleeping rooms with beds and With the later rise to power of the Babylonians in the 18th side rooms for the deity’s family, as well as a courtyard century BCE, the king, Hammurabi, declared Marduk, a with a basin and water for cleansing visitors, as well as a deity who before then had not been of significant impor- stable for the god’s chariot and draft animals.[31] tance, to a position of supremacy alongside Anu and Enlil Generally, the god’s well-being was maintained through in southern Mesopotamia.[24] service, or work ( dullu). The image was dressed and Perhaps the most significant legend to survive from served banquets twice a day. It is not known how the god Mesopotamian religion is the Epic of Gilgamesh, which was thought to consume the food, but a curtain was drawn tells the story of the heroic king Gilgamesh and his wild before the table while he or she “ate”, just as the king friend Enkidu, and the former’s search for immortality himself was not allowed to be seen by the masses while which is entwined with all the gods and their approval. he ate. Occasionally, the king shared in these meals, and the priests may have had some share in the offerings as well. Incense was also burned before the image, because it was thought that the gods enjoyed the smell. Sacrificial 1.4 Cultic practice meals were also set out regularly, with a sacrificial animal seen as a replacement ( pūhu) or substitute (dinānu) "Enlil! his authority is far-reaching; his word is sublime for a man, and it was considered that the anger of the and holy. His decisions are unalterable; he decides fate gods or demons was then directed towards the sacrificial forever! His eyes scrutinize the entire world!" animal. Additionally, certain days required extra sacriA prayer to the god Enlil.[25] fices and ceremonies for certain gods, and every day was
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CHAPTER 1. ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION
sacred to a particular god. [32]
or mašmašu) was required. Incantations and ceremonies The king was thought, in theory, to be the religious leader were also used to cure diseases which were also thought activity, sometimes mak(enu or šangū) of the cult and exercised a large num- to be associated with demonic[41] ber of duties within the temple, with a large number of ing use of sympathetic magic. Sometimes an attempt specialists whose task was to mediate between men and was made to capture a demon by making an image of it, gods:[33] a supervising or “watchman” priest ( šešgallu), placing it above the head of a sick person, then destroypriests for individual purification against demons and ma- ing the image, which the demon was somehow likely to were also made and gicians (āšipu), priests for the purification of the tem- inhabit. Images of protecting spirits[42] ple (mašmašu), priests to appease the wrath of the gods placed at gates to ward off disaster. with song and music (kalū), as well as female singers Divination was also employed by private individuals, with (nāru), male singers ( zammeru), craftsmen (mārē um- the assumption that the gods have already determined the māni ), swordbearers ( nāš paṭri ), masters of divination destinies of men and these destinies could be ascertained (bārû), penitents (šā'ilu), and others.[34] through observingomens and through rituals (e.g., casting lots).[42] It was believed that the gods expressed their will through “words” (amatu) and “commandments” (qibitu) 1.4.2 Private devotions which were not necessarily spoken, but were thought to manifest in the unfolding routine of events and things. [43] Besides the worship of the gods at public rituals, indi- There were countless ways to divine the future, such as viduals also paid homage to a personal deity. As with observing oil dropped into a cup of water (lecanomancy), other deities, the personal gods changed over time and lit- observing the entrails of sacrificial animals ( extispicy), tle is known about early practice as they are rarely named observation of the behavior of birds (augury) and observor described. In the mid-third millennium BCE, some ing celestial and meteorological phenomena ( astrology), rulers regarded a particular god or gods as being their as well as through interpretation of dreams. Often interpersonal protector. In the second millennium BCE, per- pretation of these phenomena required the need for two sonal gods began to function more on behalf of the com- classes of priests: askers (sa'ilu) and observer (baru), and mon man,[35] with whom he had a close, personal rela- also sometimes a lower class of ecstatic seer (mahhu) that tionship, maintained through prayer and maintenance of was also associated with witchcraft.[44] his god’s statue.[36] A number of written prayers have survived from ancient Mesopotamia, each of which typically exalt the god that they are describing above all others. [37] The historian J. Bottéro stated that these poems display 1.5 Morality, virtue and sin “extreme reverence, profound devotion, [and] the unarguable emotion that the supernatural evoked in the hearts of those ancient believers” but that they showed a people “Do not return evil to the man who disputes with you, who were scared of their gods rather than openly cele- requite with kindness your evil-doer, maintain justice to brating them.[21] They were thought to offer good luck, your enemy... Let not your heart be induced to do evil... success, and protection from disease and demons, [35] and Give food to eat, beer to drink, the one begging for alms one’s place and success in society was thought to depend honor, clothe; in this a man’s god takes pleasure, it is on his personal deity, including the development of his pleasing to Shamash, who will repay him with favour. Be certain talents and even his personality. This was even helpful, do good” taken to thepoint that everything he experienced was con- Incantation from the Šurpu series.[45] sidered a reflection of what was happening to his personal Although ancient paganism tended to focus more on duty god.[36] When a man neglected his god, it was assumed and ritual than morality, a number of general moral that the demons were free to inflict him, and when he virtues can be gleaned from surviving prayers and myths. revered his god, that god was like a shepherd who seeks It was believed that man originated as a divine act of crefood for him.[38] ation, and the gods were believed to be the source of life, There was a strong belief in demons in Mesopotamia, and private individuals, like the temple priests, also participated in incantations (šiptu) to ward them off. [39] Although there was no collective term for these beings either in Sumerian or Akkadian, they were merely described as harmful or dangerous beings or forces, and they were used as a logical way to explain the existence of evil in the world.[40] They were thought to be countless in number, and were thought to even attack the gods as well. Besides demons, there were also spirits of thedead, (etimmu) who could also cause mischief. Amulets were occasionally used, and sometimes a special priest or exorcist ( āšipu
and held power over sickness and health, as well as the destinies of men. Personal names show that each child was considered a gift from divinity. [46] Man was believed to have been created to serve the gods, or perhaps wait on them: the god is lord ( belu) and man is servant or slave (ardu), and was to fear ( puluhtu) the gods and have the appropriate attitude towards them. Duties seem to have been primarily of a cultic and ritual nature, [47] although some prayers express a positive psychological relationship, or a sort of conversion experience in regard to a god.[48] Generally the reward to mankind is described as success and long life. [46]
7
1.7. ESCHATOLOGY
Every man also had duties to his fellow man which had some religious character, particularly the king’s duties to his subjects. It was thought that one of the reasons the gods gave power to the king was to exercise justice and righteousness, [49] described as mēšaru and kettu, literally “straightness, rightness, firmness, truth” [50] Examples of this includenot alienating and causingdissension between friends and relatives, setting innocent prisoners free, being truthful, being honest in trade, respecting boundary lines and property rights, and not putting on airs with subordinates. Some of these guidelines are found in the second tablet of the Šurpu incantation series.[45] Sin, on the other hand, was expressed by the words hitu (mistake, false step), annu or arnu (rebellion), and qillatu (sin or curse), [45] with strong emphasis on the idea of rebellion, sometimes with the idea that sin is man’s wishing to “live on his own terms” (ina ramanisu). Sin also was described as anything which incited the wrath of the gods. Punishment came through sickness or misfortune,[48] which inevitably lead to the common reference to unknown sins, or the idea that one can transgress a divine prohibition without knowing it— psalms of lamentation rarely mention concrete sins. This idea of retribution was also applied to the nation and history as a whole. A number of examples of Mesopotamian literature show how war andnatural disasterswere treated as punishment from the gods, and how kings were used as a tool for deliverance. [51] forgiveness, [1]
In spite of some similarities in sin and when compared with traditional Abrahamic morality, Mesopotamian religion and culture were highly sexualized, particularly in Babylon, where free sexual expression was viewed as one of the natural benefits of civilized life—same gender attraction, transgender individuals, and male and female prostitution were tolerated, and in some cases considered sacred. The worship of Inanna/Ishtar, which was prevalent in Mesopotamia could involve wild, frenzied dancing and bloody ritual celebrations of social and physical abnormality. It was believed that “nothing is prohibited to Inanna”, and that by depicting transgressions of normal human social and physical limitations, including traditional gender definition, one could cross over from the “conscious everyday world into the trance world of spiritual ecstasy.”[52]
viously enjoyed on earth: they were considered merely weak and powerless ghosts. The myth of Ishtar’s descent into theunderworld relatesthat “dust is their food andclay their nourishment, they see no light, where they dwell in darkness.” Stories such as the Adapa myth resignedly relate that, due to a blunder, all men must die and that true everlasting life is the sole property of the gods. [19]
1.7 Eschatology There are no known Mesopotamian tales about the end of the world, although it has been speculated that they believed that this would eventually occur. This is largely because Berossus wrote that the Mesopotamians believed the world to last “twelve times twelve sars"; with a sar being 3,600 years, this would indicate that at least some of the Mesopotamians believed that the Earth would only last 518,400 years. Berossus does not report what was thought to follow this event, however. [55]
1.8 Historical study 1.8.1 Challenges Themodern study of Mesopotamia (Assyriology)isstilla fairly young science, beginning only in the middle of the Nineteenth century,[56] and the study of Mesopotamian religion can be a complex and difficult subject because, by nature, their religion was governed only by usage, not by any official decision, [57] and by nature it was neither dogmatic nor systematic. Deities, characters, and their actions within myths changed in character and importance over time, and occasionally depicted different, sometimes even contrasting images or concepts. This is further complicated by the fact that scholars are not entirely certain what role religious texts played in the Mesopotamian world.[58]
For many decades, some scholars of the Ancient Near East argued that it was impossible to define there as being a singular Mesopotamian religion, with Leo Oppenheim (1964) stating that “a systematic presentation of Mesopotamian religion cannot and should not be written. "[59] Others, like Jean Bottéro, the author of Reli gion in Ancient Mesopotamia, disagreed, believing that it 1.6 Afterlife would be too complicated to divide the religion into many The ancient Mesopotamians believed in an afterlife that smaller groups, stating that: was a land below our world. It was this land, known alternately as Arallû, Ganzer or Irkallu, the latter of which Should we dwell on a certain social or culmeant “Great Below”, that it was believed everyone went tural category: the “official religion, " the “prito after death, irrespective of social status or the acvate religion, " the religion of the “educated”... [53] tions performed during life. Unlike Christian Hell, the Should we emphasisea certain city or province: Mesopotamians considered the underworld neither a punEbla, Mari, Assyria? Should we concentrate [54] ishment nor a reward. Nevertheless, the condition of on a certain period in time: the Seleucid, the the dead was hardly considered the same as the life preAchaemenid, the Chaldean, the Neo-Assyrian,
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CHAPTER 1. ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION
the Kassite, the Old Babylonian, the NeoSumerian, or the Old Akkadian period? Since, contrary to what some would imprudently lead us to believe, there were no distinct religions but only successive states of the same religious system... – such an approach would be excessive, even pointless. [60]
1.8.2 Panbabylonism
1.9.3 Biblical eschatology In the New Testament book of Revelation, Babylonian religion is associated with religious apostasy of the highest order, the archetype of a political/religious system heavily tied to global commerce, and it is depicted as a system which, according to the author, continued to hold sway in the first century CE, eventually to be utterly annihilated. According to some interpretations, this is believed to refer to the Roman Empire,[63] but according to other interpretations, this system remains extant in the world until the Second Coming.[64][65][66]
Main article: Panbabylonism •
According to Panbabylonism, a school of thought founded by Hugo Winckler and held in the early 20th century among primarily German Assyriologists, there was a common cultural system extending over the Ancient Near East which was overwhelmingly influenced by the Babylonians. According to this theory the religions of the Near East were rooted in Babylonian astral scienceincluding the Hebrew Bible and Judaism. This theory of a Babylonian-derived Bible originated from the discovery of a stele in the acropolis of Susa bearing a Babylonian flood myth with many similarities to the flood of Genesis, the Epic of Gilgamesh. However the Flood story appears in almost every culture around the world, including cultures that never had contact with Mesopotamia. The fundamental tenets of Panbabylonism were eventually dismissed as pseudoscientific,[61] however Assyriologists and biblical scholars recognize the influence of Babylonian mythology on Jewish mythology and other Near Eastern mythologies, albeit indirect. Indeed, similarities between both religious traditions may draw from even older sources. [62]
1.9 Continuing influence 1.9.1 Popular culture Mesopotamian religion, culture, history and mythology has influenced some forms of music. As well as traditional Syriac folk music, many heavy metal bands have named themselves after Mesopotamian gods and historical figures, including the partly Assyrian band Melechesh.
•
Revelation 17:5: “And upon her forehead was a name written, mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth,” Revelation 18:9: “The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously withher will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, 'Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.' And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more...”
1.10 Fringe theories The unusual and apparently physical closeness of gods to men in these stories has prompted various speculations including Julian Jaynes's theory of the bicameral mind and Zecharia Sitchin's ancient astronauts theory. While rejected in scholarship, such speculations have influenced many science fiction stories and movies.
1.11 See also •
Sumerian religion
•
Babylonian religion
•
Mesopotamian prayer
1.12 Notes [1] Encyclopedia Brittanica: Mesopotamian religion
1.9.2 New religious movements Various new religious movements in the 20th and 21st centuries have been founded that venerate some of the deities found in ancient Mesopotamian religion, including various strains of neopaganism that have adopted the worship of the historical Mesopotamian gods.
[2] Bottéro (2001:45) [3] Bottéro (2001:21–22) [4] Bottéro (2001:7–9) [5] Larsen, Mogens Trolle (2000). “The old Assyrian citystate”. In Hansen, Mogens Herman. A comparative study of thirty city-state cultures: an investigation / conducted by the Copenhagen Polis Centre. pp. 77–89.
9
1.12. NOTES
[6] Bertman, Stephen (2005). Handbook to Life in Ancient [38] Dhorme, P. (1910). La Religion Assyro-Babylonienne. Paris. p. 199. Mesopotamia. New York: Oxford UP. p. 66. [7] Bottéro (2001:17–18)
[39] Ringgren (1974: 89)
[8] ^ Crone & Cook 1977, p. 55
[40] Bottéro (2001:63)
[9] Curtis, John (November 2003). “The Achaemenid Pe- [41] Ringgren (1974: 90–91) riod in Northern Iraq” (PDF). L’archéologie de l’empire [42] Ringgren (1974: 92–93) achéménide (Paris, France [10] Crone & Cook 1977, p. 55
[43] Bottéro (2001:92)
[11] Widengren, Geo (1946). Mesopotamian elements [44] Ringgren (1974: 93–95) in Manichaeism (King and Saviour II): Studies in Manichaean, Mandaean, and Syrian-gnostic religion. [45] Ringgren (1974:113–115) Lundequistska bokhandeln. [46] Ringgren (1974:108) [12] Bottéro (2001:77–78)
[47] Ringgren (1974:111–112)
[13] Bottéro (2001:79)
[48] Ringgren (1974:116)
[14] Bottéro (2001:80)
[49] Ringgren (1974:110)
[15] Jeremy Black; Anthony Green (1992). Gods, Demons, [50] Ringgren (1974:112) and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary. p. 144. ISBN 0-292-70794-0. [51] Ringgren (1974:118) [16] Bottéro (2001:41)
[52] Meador (2000:164)
[17] Bottéro (2001:53)
[53] Bottéro (2001:108)
[18] Bottéro (2001:64–66)
[54] Choksi, M. “Ancient Mesopotamian Beliefs in the Afterlife”. Ancient History Encyclopedia . Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
[19] Ringgren (1974: 50) [20] Bottéro (2001:50) [21] Bottéro (2001:37) [22] Bottéro (2001:39) [23] Bottéro (2001:48–49) [24] Bottéro (2001:54) [25] Bottéro (2001:30–31) [26] Schneider (2011: 39) [27] Ringgren (1974:78) [28] Schneider (2001: 66) [29] Ringgren (1974:77) [30] Bottéro (2001:65) [31] Schneider (2011:68) [32] Ringgren (1974: 81–82) [33] Ringgren (1974: 79) [34] Ringgren (1974:80) [35] Schneider (2011: 59) [36] Bottéro (2001:91ff) [37] Bottéro (2001:29–30)
[55] Bottéro (2001:95) [56] Scheider (2011: 128) [57] Bottero (2001: 47) [58] Schneider (2011:38–39) [59] Bottéro (2001:26) [60] Bottéro (2001:27) [61] The Freudian Orient: Early Psychoanalysis, Anti-Semitic Challenge, and the Vicissitudes of Orientalist Discourse [62] R. Herbert, PhD. (September–October 2013). “Creation, Flood, and Covenant - In the Bible and Before”. The Sabbath Sentinel . pp. 19–20. [63] Keener, Craig S. (1993). The IVP Bible Background Commentary, New Testament . Downers Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press. p. 806. [64] Clarke, Adam. Commentary and Critical Notes. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press. p. 1045.
3.
[65] Jamieson, Rev. Robert; Fausset, Rev. A. R.; Brown, Rev. David. Commentary, Critical and Explanatory of The Whole Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House. p. 591. [66] Barker, Kenneth L.; Kohlenberger, John (1994). The NIV Bible Commentary. 2. p. 1209.
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1.13 References •
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•
•
•
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Bottéro, Jean (2001). Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0226067179. Bottéro, Jean (2001b). Everyday Life In Ancient Mesopotamia. JHU Press. ISBN 978-0801868641. Chavalas, Mark W. (2003). Mesopotamia and the Bible. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-567-08231-2. Davies, Owen (2009). Grimoires: A History of Magic Books. New York: Oxford University Press. Moorey, Peter Roger Stuart (1991). A Century of Biblical Archaeology . Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-25392-9.. Schneider, Tammi (2011). An Introduction To Ancient Mesopotamian Religion. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. Ringgren, Helmer (1974). Religions of The Ancient Near East , Translated by John Sturdy. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press. Meador, Betty De Shong (2000). Inanna, Lady of Largest Heart . Austin: University of Texas Press.
1.14 External links •
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Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses Comprehensive list of Mesopotamian gods (Ancient History Encyclopedia)
Chapter 2
Religions of the ancient Near East The religions of the ancient Near East were mostly polytheistic, with some early examples of primitive monolatry (Mardukites), Ashurism and Monism (Atenism). Some scholars believe that the similarities between these religions indicate that the religions are related, a belief known as patternism.[1] Many religions of the ancient near East and their offshoots can be traced to Proto-Semitic religion. Other religions in the ancient Near East include Ancient Egyptian religion, the Luwian and Hittite religions of Asia Minor and the Sumerian religion of ancient Mesopotamia. Offshoots of Proto-Semitic religion include AssyroBabylonian religion, Canaanite religion, and Arabian religion. Judaism is a development of Canaanite religion, both Indo-European and Semitic religions influenced the ancient Greek religion, and Zoroastrianism was a product of ancient Indo-Iranian religion. In turn these religious traditions strongly influenced the later monotheistic religions of Christianity, Mandeanism, Sabianism, Gnosticism, Islam, and Manicheanism, which inherited their monotheism from Judaism and Zoroastrianism.
2.1 Overview
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The Caucasus and the Armenian Highland (Urartu)
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Ancient Iran (Elam, Media, Persia): Zoroastrianism Cyprus, Crete (Minoan civilization): Minoan religion
The earliest sources, from c. 2500 BC, allow glimpses of Sumerian mythology and Egyptian religion. The early Hittite religion bore traits descended from Proto-Indo-European religion, but the later Hittite religions became more and more assimilated to Semitic Assyria. Ancient Greek religion was strongly influenced by ancient Near Eastern mythology, but is usually not included in the term. The Mystery religions of Hellenism were again consciously connected with Egyptian religion. There are broad practices that these religions often hold in common: •
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The ancient Near East includes the following subregions:
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Anatolia (the Hittite Empire, Assuwa, Arzawa): Hittite mythology, Hurrian mythology
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The history of the ancient Near East spans more than two millennia, from the Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age, in the region now known as the Middle East, centered on the Fertile Crescent. There was much cultural contact, so that it is justified to summarize the whole region under a single term, but that does not mean, of course, that each historical period and each region should not be looked at individually for a detailed description. This article will attempt to outline the common traits of ancient Near Eastern religions, and refer to sub-articles for indepth descriptions.
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The Levant (Canaan, Ugarit, Ebla, Mitanni): Canaanite religion, Judaism
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Purification and cleansing rituals Sacrifices (plant and animal sacrifice, libations, rarely, but prominently in mythology, human sacrifice) Polytheism (Though Egypt and Greece were Henotheistic societies) State (city-state)–sponsored religions (theocracy) Sacred prostitution Divination
Magic (invocations, conjurings and Talismans) Mesopotamia (Sumer, Assyria, Babylonia and Akkad): Assyro-Babylonian religion, Sumerian reTypically, ancient Near Eastern religions were centered ligion, Mesopotamian mythology on theocracies, with a dominating regional cult of the god Ancient Egypt: Ancient Egyptian religion of a city-state. There were also super-regional mythemes •
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CHAPTER 2. RELIGIONS OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST
and deities, such as the God Tammuz and the descent to on occurrences on earth—a belief naturally suggested by the underworld. the dependence of life, vegetation and guidance upon the two great luminaries. Starting with this belief the Priests Divinations: and Priestesses built up the theory of the close correspondence between occurrences on earth and phenom Apantomancy: seeing animals ena in the Heavens. The Heavens presenting a constant change even to the superficial observer, the conclusion Cleromancy: drawing lots was drawn of a connection between the changes and the Hepatoscopy: observing the liver of an animal ever-changing movement in the fate of individuals and of nature as well as in the appearance of nature. Nephomancy: cloud-watching •
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Ornithomancy: watching birds in flight
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Capnomancy: divination through smoke
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Oneiromancy: divination through dreams
2.2 Mesopotamia Main article: Ancient Mesopotamian religion Further information: Sumerian religion
To read the signs of the heavens was therefore to understand the meaning of occurrences on Earth, and with this accomplished, it was also possible to foretell what events were portended by the position and relationship to one another of the sun, the moon, the planets and certain stars. Myths that symbolized changes in season or occurrences in nature were projected on the heavens, which were mapped out to correspond to the divisions of the earth. All the gods, demons and spirits had their places assigned to them in the heavens, and facts, including such as fell within the domain of political history, were interpreted in terms of astral theology. So completely did this system in the course of time sway men’s minds that the cults and sects, from being an expression of animistic beliefs, took on the color derived from the “astral” interpretation of occurrences and doctrines. It left its trace in incantations, omens and hymns and gave birth to astronomy, which was assiduously cultivated because a knowledge of the heavens was the very foundation of the system of belief unfolded by the priests of Babylonia and Assyria.
As an illustration of the manner in which the doctrines of the religion were made to conform to the all-pervading Impression of the cylinder seal of Ḫašḫamer, patesi (High Priest) astral theory, it will be sufficient to refer to the modificaof Sin at Iškun-Sin , c. 2400 BC tion undergone in this process of the view developed in a very early period which apportioned the control of the universe among the three gods Anu, Enlil and Ea. Disassociating these Gods from all local connections, Anu 2.2.1 Astrology became the power presiding over the Heavens, to Enlil Identification of the gods and goddesses with heavenly was assigned the earth and the atmosphere immediately bodies—planets, stars, the sun and the moon—and to as- above it, while Ea ruled over the deep. With the transfer signing the seats of all the deities in the Heavens is found of all the Gods to the heavens, and under the influence of the doctrine of the correspondence between the heavens in Assyro-Babylonian religion. and the earth, Anu, Enlil and Ea became the three “ways” The personification of the two great luminaries—the sun (as they are called) on the heavens. and the moon—was the first step in the unfolding of this system, and this was followed by placing the other deities The “ways” appear in this instance to have been the desigwhere Shamash and Sin had their seats. This process, nation of the ecliptic circle, which was divided into three sections or zones—a northern, a middle and a southern which reached its culmination in the post-Hammurabic period, led to identifying the planet Venus with Ishtar, zone, Anu being assigned to the first, Enlil to the second, and Ea to the third zone. The astral theology of the Jupiter with Marduk, Mars with Nergal, Mercury with Babylonian-Assyrian religion, while thus bearing the earNabu, and Saturn with Ninurta. marks of a system devised by the priests, succeeded in The system represents a harmonious combination of two assimilating the beliefs which represented the earlier atfactors, one of popular origin, the other the outcome tempts to systematize the more popular aspects of the reof speculation in the schools attached to the temples of ligion, and in this way a unification of diverse elements Babylonia. The popular factor is the belief in the influ- was secured that led to interpreting the contents and the ence exerted by the movements of the heavenly bodies
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2.3. GREATER IRAN
form of the religion in terms of the astral-theological system.
In Assyrian and Babylonian mythology the seven evil Demons were known as Shedu or Lamassu, meaning “Storm-Demon”. They were represented in winged bull form, derived from the colossal bulls used as protective genii of royal palaces, the name “Shed” assumed also the 2.2.2 Ethic meaning of a propitious genius in Babylonian magical [2] On the ethical sides, the religion of Babylonia more par- literature. ticularly, and to a less extent that of Assyria, advances to noticeable conceptions of the qualities associated with the Gods and Goddesses and of the duties imposed on 2.3 Greater Iran man. Shamash, the Sun-God, was invested with justice as his chief trait, Marduk is portrayed as full of mercy and kindness, and Ea is in general the protector of mankind, See also: Greater Iran a father who takes them under his protection. The Gods, to be sure, are easily aroused to anger, and in some of Ancient Iranian lands had a diversity of spiritual beliefs, them the dire aspects predominated, but the view be- and the religions included Zoroastrianism, Mazdakism, comes more and more pronounced that there is some Manicheism, Yazdanism, Mandeanism, and others. Thus cause always for the divine wrath. Though, in accounting it has been proved by clear evidence and plain reasonfor the anger of the Gods, no sharp distinction is made ing that a powerful monarch was established in Iran long between moral offences and a ritualistic oversight or ne- before the Assyrian or Pishadi government. That it was glect, yet the stress laid in the hymns and prayers, as well in fact, a Hindu monarchy, though any may choose to as in the elaborate atonement ritual prescribed in order to call it Cusian, Casdean or Scythian...” [3] Ancient Mitanni appease the anger of the Gods, on the need of being clean is modern-day Kurdistan, and from excavations it was and pure in the sight of the higher powers, the inculcation discovered to have a history of Vedic practices and the of a proper aspect of humility, and above all the need of Hindu religion. confessing one’s guilt and sins without any reserve—all this bears testimony to the strength which the ethical factor acquired in the domain of the Religion. This factor appears to less advantage in the unfolding of the views concerning life after death. Throughout all periods of Babylonian-Assyrian history, the conception prevailed of a large dark cavern below the earth, not far from the Apsu—the fresh water abyss encircling and flowing underneath the earth—in which all the dead were gathered and where they led a miserable existence of inactivity, amid gloom and dust. Occasionally a favoured individual was permitted to escape from this general fate and placed in a pleasant island. It would appear also that the rulers were always singled out for divine grace, and in the earlier periods of the history, owing to the prevailing view that the rulers stood nearer to the Gods than other mortals, the kings were deified after death, and in some instances divine honours were paid to them even during their lifetime.
2.4 Egypt
Main article: Ancient Egyptian religion The dominant religious rituals and beliefs of ancient Egypt merged and developed over time. As an example, during the New Kingdom, the Gods Ra and Amun were syncretized into a single God, Amun-Ra.[4] Such syncretism should be distinguished from mere groupings, also referred to as “families” such as Amun, Mut, and Khonsu. Over time, Gods took part in multiple syncretic relationships, for instance, the combination of Ra and Horus into Ra-Herakty. Similarly, Ptah, Seker, and Osiris becamePtah-Seker-Osiris.
2.5 Levant 2.2.3 Demonology Main articles: Canaanite religion and Judaism Main article: Mesopotamian Demon Ancient Near Eastern religion knew an elaborate system of benevolent, neutral and malevolent Demons (which more resembled Greek Daemons than the Christian concept of Evil Demons), and much of medicine consisted of Exorcisms, e.g. of Lamashtu, the hermaphroditic Demoness responsible for complications at childbirth and infant deaths.
The deities worshipped in Canaanite religion during the Late Bronze Age notably included El Elyon and his sons, the Elohim, the goddess Anat and Hadad, the storm god and heroic slayer of Yam. The composition of the Hebrew Bible began centuries after the Bronze Age collapse, but many of these names are still reflected in Biblical Hebrew, including Elohim and the title Ba'al, originally a title of Hadad, as the rival or nemesis of Yahweh.
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CHAPTER 2. RELIGIONS OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST
2.6 Anatolia
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Pritchard, James B., editor. The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures . Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 1958. Pritchard, James B., editor. The Ancient Near East, Volume II: A New Anthology of Texts and Pictures . Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 1975. Jack Sasson et al., eds., Civilizations of the Ancient Near East . Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1995. Smith, Morton, The Common Theology of the Ancient near East , Journal of Biblical Literature (1952). van der Toorn, Karel (1995). Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible . New York: E.J. Brill. ISBN 0-8028-2491-9. Mark S. Smith, God in translation: deities in cross-cultural discourse in the biblical world , vol. 57 of “Forschungen zum Alten Testament”, Mohr Siebeck, 2008, ISBN 978-3-16-149543-4.
2.7.2 Canaan and Ugarit •
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Seated deity, late Hittite Empire (13th century BC)
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Main article: Hittite mythology Further information: Song of Kumarbi Heavily influenced by Mesopotamian mythology, the religion of the Hittites and Luwians retains noticeable IndoEuropean elements, for example Tarhunt the God of thunder, and his conflict with the Serpent-God Illuyanka. Tarhunt hasa son, Telepinu anda daughter, Inara. Inara is involved withthe Puruli spring festival. Sheis a protective Goddess ( d LAMMA). Ishara is a Goddess of the oath.
2.7 Books 2.7.1 General •
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Gordon, Cyrus. The Ancient Near East , 3rd Edition, Revised. W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., New York, 1965. James, E.O. TheAncient Gods: The History and Dif fusion of Religion in the Ancient Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean, 1960.
Pardee, Dennis. Ritual and Cult at Ugarit. Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, Georgia. 2002. Parker, Simon B., ed. Ugaritic Narrative Poetry. Society of Biblical Literature, U.S.A., 1997. Smith, Mark S. The Ugaritic Baal Cycle, Volume I: Introduction with Text, Translation and Commentary of KTU 1.1-1.2. E.J. Brill, Leiden, the Netherlands, 1994.
2.8 See also •
Ancient Near East
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Kemetism (Revival of Egyptian religion)
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Semitic neopaganism (Revival of Canaanite religion)
2.9 References [1] Samuel H. Hooke (1970). The Siege Perilous: Essays in Biblical Anthropology and Kindred Subjects . Ayer Publishing. p. 174. ISBN 0-8369-5525-0. [2] See Delitzsch, Assyrisches Handwörterbuch . pp. 60, 253, 261, 646; Jensen, Assyr.-Babyl. Mythen und Epen, 1900, p. 453; Archibald Sayce, l.c. pp. 441, 450, 463; Lenormant, l.c. pp. 48–51. [3] P. 107 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal edited by The Secretaries
2.10. EXTERNAL LINKS [4] Sarah Iles Johnston, Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide, Harvard University Press 2004, p.9
2.10 External links •
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Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses , on Oracc Mespototamian Religion and Mesopotamian Pantheon on Ancient History Encyclopedia ASOR (American Schools of Oriental Research), Boston University University of Michigan. Traditions of Magic in Late Antiquity Canaanite/Ugaritic Mythology FAQ, ver. 1.2 by Chris Siren Canaan and Ancient Israel by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
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Chapter 3
Sumerian religion The Sumerian religion influenced Mesopotamian mythology as a whole, surviving in the mythologies and religions of the Hurrians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and other culture groups.
3.1 Worship
cuneiform was used primarily as a record-keeping tool; it was not until the late early dynastic period that religious writings first became prevalent as temple praise hymns [1] and as a form of “incantation” called the nam-šub (prefix + “to cast”).[2]
3.1.2 Architecture Main article: Sumerian architecture In the Sumerian city-states, temple complexes originally were small, elevated one-room structures. In the early dynastic period, temples developed raised terraces and multiple rooms. Toward the end of the Sumerian civilization, Ziggurats became the preferred temple structure for Mesopotamian religious centers. [3] Temples served as cultural, religious, and political headquarters until approximately 2500 BCE, with the rise of military kings known as Lu-gals (“man” + “big”)[2] after which time the political and military leadership was often housed in separate “palace” complexes. Sumer was located in Mesopotamia. This is in the fertile crescent and between the Tigris and Euphrates river.
3.1.3 The Priesthood Until the advent of the lugals, Sumerian city states were under a virtually theocratic government controlled by various En or Ensí, who served as the high priests of the cults of the city gods. (Their female equivalents were known as Nin.) Priests were responsible for continuing the cultural and religious traditions of their city-state, and were viewed as mediators between humans and the cosmic and terrestrial forces. The priesthood resided fullCuneiform temple hymn from the 19th century BCE; the hymn is time in temple complexes, and administered matters of state including the large irrigation processes necessary for addressed to the Lugal Iddin-Dagan of Larsa the civilization’s survival.
3.1.1 Written Cuneiform
3.1.4 Ceremony
Sumerian myths were passed down through the oral tra- During the Third Dynasty of Ur, the Sumerian city-state dition until the invention of writing. Early Sumerian of Lagash was said to have had 62 “lamentation priests” 16
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3.3. DEITIES
became leader of the Sumerian pantheon. After the other deities banished Enlil from Dilmun (the “home of the deities”) for raping the air goddess Ninlil; she had a child, Nanna, god of the moon. Nanna and Ningal gave birth to Inanna, the goddess of war and fertility, and to Utu, god of the sun.[5]
3.3 Deities
Sumerian Worshiper
who were accompanied by 180 vocalists and instrumentalists.
3.2 Cosmology The Sumerians envisioned the universe as a closed dome surrounded by a primordial saltwater sea. [4] Underneath the terrestrial earth, which formed the base of the dome, existed an underworld and a freshwater ocean called the Apsû. The deity of the dome-shaped firmament was named An; the earth was named Ki. First the underground world was believed to be an extension of the goddess Ki, but later developed into the concept of Kigal. The primordial saltwater sea was named Nammu, who became known as Tiamat during and after the Sumerian Renaissance.
3.2.1 Creation story
Statue of a Sumerian deity, ca. 2550 and 2520 BC
The Sumerians originally practiced a polytheistic religion, with anthropomorphic deities representing cosmic and terrestrial forces in their world. During the middle of According to Sumerian mythology, the gods originally the 3rd millennium BCE, Sumerian deities became more createdhumans as servants for themselves,but freedthem anthropocentric and were "...nature gods transformed when they became too much to handle. into city gods.” Deities such as Enki and Inanna were The primordial union of An and Ki produced Enlil, who viewed as having been assigned their rank, power, and Main article: Sumerian creation myth
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CHAPTER 3. SUMERIAN RELIGION
knowledge from An, the heavenly deity, or Enlil, head of the Sumerian pantheon. This cosmological shift may have been caused by the growing influence of the neighboring Akkadian religion, or as a result of increased warfare between the Sumerian city-states; the assignment of certain powers to deities may have mirrored the appointment of the Lugals, who were given power and authority by the city-state and its priesthood. [6]
3.4 Earliest deities The earliest historical records of Sumer do not go back much further than c. 2900 BC, although it is generally agreed that Sumerian civilization started between c. 4500 and 4000 BC. [7] The earliest Sumerian literature of the 3rd millennium BC identifies four primary deities; Anu, Enlil, Ninhursag and Enki. The highest order of these earliest gods were described occasionally behaving mischievously towards each other, but were generally involved in co-operative creative ordering. [8]
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Ninhursag: goddess of the earth [11] Nanna: god of the moon; one of the patron deities of Ur[12] Ningal: wife of Nanna [13] Ninlil: an air goddess and wife of Enlil; one of the matron deities of Nippur; she was believed to reside in the same temple as Enlil [14] Ninurta: god of war, agriculture, one of the Sumerian wind gods; patron deity of Girsu, and one of the patron deities of Lagash Utu: god of the sun at the E-babbar temple [15] of Sippar
3.5 Legacy
Lists of large numbers of Sumerian deities have been 3.5.1 Akkadians found. Their order of importance and the relationships between the deities has been examined during the study The Sumerians had an ongoing linguistic and cultural exchange with the Semitic Akkadian peoples in northof cuneiform tablets.[9] ern Mesopotamia for generations prior to the usurpation of their territories by Sargon of Akkad in 2340 BCE. Sumerian mythology and religious practices were rapidly 3.4.1 Pantheon integrated into Arabian culture, [16] presumably blending The majority of Sumerian deities belonged to a classifi- with the original Akkadian belief systems that have been cation called the Anunna (“[offspring] of An”), whereas mostly lost to history. Sumerian deities developed Akkaseven deities, including Enlil and Inanna, belonged to a dian counterparts. Some remained virtually the same ungroup of “underworld judges” known as the Anunnaki til later Babylonian and Assyrian rule. The Sumerian god (“[offspring] of An” + Ki; alternatively, “those from An, for example, developed the Akkadian counterpart heaven (An) who came to earth (Ki)"]). During the Third Anu; the Sumerian god Enki became Ea; and the SumeDynasty of Ur, theSumerian pantheon was said to include rian gods Ninurta and Enlil remained very much the same in the Akkadian pantheon. sixty times sixty (3600) deities. [10] The main Sumerian deities are: •
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Anu: god of heaven, the firmament Enlil: god of the air (from Lil = Air); patron deity of Nippur Enki: god of freshwater, male fertility, and knowledge; patron deity of Eridu Ereshkigal: goddess of the underworld, Kigal or Irkalla Inanna: goddess of warfare, female fertility, and sexual love; patron deity of Uruk Nammu was the primeval sea (Engur), who gave birth to An (heaven) and Ki (earth) and the first deities; eventually became known as the goddess Tiamat
3.5.2 Babylonians The Amorite, Babylonians gained dominance over southern Mesopotamia by the mid-17th century BCE. During the Old Babylonian Period, the Sumerian and Akkadian languages were retained for religious purposes; the majority of Sumerian mythological literature known to historians today comes from the Old Babylonian Period, [1] either in theform of transcribed Sumeriantexts (most notably the Babylonian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh) or in the form of Sumerian and Akkadian influences within Babylonian mythological literature (most notably the Enûma Eliš). The Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon was altered, most notably with the introduction of a new supreme deity, Marduk. The Sumerian goddess Inanna also developed the counterpart Ishtar during the Old Babylonian Period.
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3.8. EXTERNAL LINKS
3.5.3 Hurrians Main article: Hurrians The Hurrians adopted the Akkadian god Anu into their pantheon sometime no later than 1200 BCE. Other Sumerian and Akkadian deities adapted into the Hurrian pantheon include Ayas, the Hurrian counterpart to Ea; Shaushka, the Hurrian counterpart to Ishtar; and the goddess Ninlil,[17] whose mythos had been drastically expanded by the Babylonians.
3.5.4 Parallels Some stories in Sumerian religion appear similar to stories in other Middle-Eastern religions. For example, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the biblical account of Noah and the flood myth resembles some aspects of the Sumerian deluge myth. The Judaic underworld Sheol is very similar in description with the Sumerian and Babylonian Kigal, ruled by the goddess Ereshkigal and in the Babylonian religion, with their introduced consort, the death god Nergal. Sumerian scholar Samuel Noah Kramer noted similarities between many Sumerian and Akkadian “proverbs” and the later Hebrew proverbs, many of which are featured in the Book of Proverbs.[18]
[6] Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat, (1998). “Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia ", 178-179. [7] Bertman, Stephen (2003). Handbook to life in ancient Mesopotamia. Facts on File. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-81604346-0. [8] The Sources of the Old Testament: A Guide to the Religious Thought of the Old Testament in Context . Continuum International Publishing Group. 18 May 2004. pp. 29–. ISBN 978-0-567-08463-7. Retrieved 7 May 2013. [9] God in Translation: Deities in Cross-cultural Discourse in the Biblical World . Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. 2010. pp. 42–. ISBN 978-0-8028-6433-8. Retrieved 7 May 2013. [10] Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat, (1998). “Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia”, 182. [11] “Gilgamec, Enkidu and the nether world”. Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. Retrieved 2010-02-20. [12] “A balbale to Suen (Nanna A)". Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. Retrieved 2010-02-20. [13] “A balbale to Nanna (Nanna B)". Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. Retrieved 2010-02-20. [14] “An adab to Ninlil (Ninlil A)". Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. Retrieved 2010-02-20. [15] “A hymn to Utu (Utu B)". Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
3.6 See also •
Ancient Near Eastern religion
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Ancient Semitic religion
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Babylonian religion
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Mes
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Mesopotamian mythology
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Sumerian literature
[16] “Mesopotamia: the Sumerians”. Washington State University. Retrieved 2009-06-22. [17] “Hurrian Mythology REF 1.2”. Christopher B. Siren. Retrieved 2009-06-23. [18] Samuel Noah Kramer, (1952). “From the Tablets of Sumer”, 133-135.
3.8 External links •
3.7 References [1] “Sumerian Literature”. Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. Retrieved 2009-06-22. [2] “The Sumerian Lexicon” (PDF). John A. Halloran. Retrieved 2009-06-23. [3] “Inside a Sumerian Temple”. The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University. Retrieved 2009-06-22. [4] “The Firmament and the Water Above” (PDF). Westminster Theological Journal 53 (1991), 232-233. Retrieved 2010-02-20. [5] “Enlil and Ninlil”. Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
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Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses , on Oracc Sumerian Hymns from Cuneiform Texts in the British Museum at Project Gutenberg (Transcription of book from 1908)
Chapter 4
Babylonian religion Babylonian religion is the religious practice of 4.2 Religious festivals Babylonia. Babylonian mythology was greatly influenced by their Sumerian counterparts, and was written on clay Further information: Akitu tablets inscribed with the cuneiform script derived from Tablet fragments from the Neo-Babylonian period deSumerian cuneiform. The myths were usually either written in Sumerian or Akkadian. Some Babylonian texts were translations into Akkadian from the Sumerian language of earlier texts, although the names of some deities were changed in Babylonian texts. Many of the stories of the Tanakh are believed to have been based on, influenced by, or inspiredby the legendary mythological past of the Near East. [1]
4.1 Mythology and cosmology
A relief image, part of the Babylonian Ishtar gate
scribe a series of festival days celebrating the New Year. The Festival began on the first day of the first Babylonian Main article: Mesopotamian mythology month, Nisannu, roughly corresponding to April/May in the Gregorian calendar. This festival celebrated the reFurther information: Enûma Eliš creation of the Earth, drawing from the Marduk-centered [2] Babylonian mythology is a set of stories depicting the ac- creation story described in the Enûma Eliš. tivities of Babylonian deities, heroes, and mythological creatures. These stories served many social, political, ceremonial purposes, and at times tried to explain natural 4.3 Importance of idols phenomena. Babylonian myths were greatly influenced by their Sumerian counterparts, and was written on clay tablets inscribed with the cuneiform script derived from Sumerian cuneiform. The myths were usually either written in Sumerian or Akkadian. Some Babylonian texts were even translations into Akkadian from the Sumerian language of earlier texts, though the names of some deities were changed in Babylonian texts. Many Babyloniandeities, myths and religious writings are singular to that culture; for example, the uniquely Babylonian deity, Marduk, replaced Enlil as the head of the mythological pantheon. The Enûma Eliš , a creation myth epic was an original Babylonian work.
In Babylonian religion, the ritual care and worship of the statues of deities was considered sacred; the gods resided simultaneously in their statues in temples and in the natural forces they embodied. An elaborate ceremony of washing the mouths of the statues appeared sometime in the Old Babylonian period. The pillaging or destruction of idols was considered to be a withdrawal of divine patronage; during the NeoBabylonian period, the Chaldean prince Marduk-aplaiddina II fled into the southern marshes of Mesopotamia with the statues of Babylon’s gods to save them from the armies of Sennacherib of Assyria.[3] 20
4.7. FURTHER READING
4.4 Influence on Abrahamic religions Main article: Panbabylonism Many of the stories of the Tanakh are believed to have been based on, influenced by, or inspiredby the legendary mythological past of the Near East. [4]
4.5 See also •
Ancient Mesopotamian religion
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Assyrian religion
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Religions of the ancient Near East
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Sumerian religion
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Tower of Babel
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Zoroastrianism
4.6 References [1] MorrisJastrowJr.; et al. “Babylon”. Jewish Encyclopedia. [2] McIntosh, Jane R. “Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspectives”. ABC-CLIO, Inc: Santa Barbara, CA, 2005. p. 221 [3] McIntosh, Jane R. “Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspectives”. ABC-CLIO, Inc: Santa Barbara, CA, 2005. pp. 35-43 [4] MorrisJastrowJr.; et al. “Babylon”. Jewish Encyclopedia.
4.7 Further reading •
Renger, Johannes (1999), “Babylonian and Assyrian Religion”, in Fahlbusch, Erwin, Encyclopedia of Christianity, 1, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, pp. 177–178, ISBN 0802824137
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Chapter 5
List of Mesopotamian deities 5.2 Minor deities
The following is a list of Mesopotamian deities.
This is only some of them. There are thousands.
5.1 Major Deities
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Ashur or Enlil - god of air, head of the Assyrian pantheon Anu or An - god of heaven and the sky, lord of constellations, and father of the gods Enki or Ea - god of the Abzu, crafts, water, intelligence, mischief and creation and divine ruler of the Earth and its humans
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Ereshkigal - goddess of Irkalla, the Underworld
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Ishtar or Inanna - goddess of fertility, love, and war
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Marduk - patron deity of Babylon who eventually became regarded as the head of the Babylonian pantheon
Amasagnul - Akkadian fertility goddess
•
Amathaunta - goddess of Ocean
•
Amurru - god of the Amorite people
•
An - a goddess, possibly the female principle of Anu
•
Arah - the goddess of fate.
•
Asaruludu or Namshub - a protective deity
•
Ashnan - goddess of grain
•
•
Nanshe - goddess of social justice, prophecy,fertility and fishing
•
•
Nergal - god of plague, war, and the sun in its destructive capacity; later husband of Ereshkigal Ninhursag or Mami, Belet-Ili, Ki, Ninmah, Nintu, or Aruru - earth and mother goddess
Ninurta - champion of the gods, the epitome of youthful vigour, and god of agriculture
Belet-Seri - recorder of the dead entering the underworld Birdu - an underworld god; consort of Manungal and later syncretized with Nergal
Damgalnuna - mother of Marduk
Shamash or Utu - god of the sun, arbiter of justice and patron of travellers •
•
22
Bau - dog-headed patron goddess of Lagash
•
•
Tammuz or Dumuzi - god of food and vegetation
Azimua - a minor Sumerian goddess
Bunene - divine charioteer of Shamash
•
Sin or Nanna - god of the moon
Aya - a mother goddess and consort of Shamash
•
•
Ninlil - goddess of the air; consort of Enlil
Ama-arhus - Akkadian fertility goddess; later merged into Ninhursag
•
•
Nabu - god of wisdom and writing
Abu - a minor god of vegetation
Damu - god of vegetation and rebirth; possibly a local offshoot of Dumuzi Druaga - an underworld god Emesh - god of vegetation, created to take responsibility on earth for woods, fields, sheep folds, and stables Enbilulu - god of rivers, canals, irrigation and farming Endursaga - a herald god
23
5.2. MINOR DEITIES
•
•
•
•
Enkimdu - god of farming, canals and ditches
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Enmesarra - an underworld god of the law, equated with Nergal
•
Manungal - an underworld goddess; consort of Birdu
Ennugi - attendant and throne-bearer of Enlil
•
Mammetun - Sumerian goddess of fate
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Mandanu -god of divine judgment
Enshag - a minor deity born to relieve the illness of Enki
• •
Enten - god of vegetation, created to take responsibility on earth for the fertility of ewes, goats, cows, donkeys, birds
Mushdamma - god of buildings and foundations Nammu - a creation goddess
Erra - Akkadian god of mayhem and pestilence
•
•
Gaga - a minor deity featured in the Enûma Eliš
•
Gatumdag - a fertility goddess and tutelary mother goddess of Lagash
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Geshtu-E - minor god of intelligence
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Gibil or Gerra - god of fire
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Gugalanna - the Great Bull of Heaven, the constellation Taurus and the first husband of Ereshkigal
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•
•
•
Nidaba - goddess of writing, learningandthe harvest
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Namtar - minister of Ereshkigal
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Nin-Ildu - god of carpenters
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Nin-imma - goddess of the female sex organs
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Ninazu - god of the underworld and healing
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Nindub - god associated with the city Lagash
•
Ningal - goddess of reeds andconsortof Nanna (Sin) Ningikuga - goddess of reeds and marshes
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Hani - an attendant of the storm god Adad
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Hayasum - a minor god of uncertain status
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Hegir-Nuna - a daughter of the goddess Bau
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Hendursaga - god of law
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Ilabrat - attendant and minister of state to Anu
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Ishum - brother of Shamash and attendant of Erra
•
Isimud - two-faced messenger of Enki
•
•
Ištaran - god of the city of Der (Sumer)
•
•
Kabta - obscure god “Lofty one of heaven”
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Kubaba - tutelary goddess of the city of Carchemish
•
Kulla - god of bricks and building
Ningirama - god of magic and protector against snakes
•
Ningishzida - god of the underworld
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Ninkarnunna - god of barbers
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Ninkasi - goddess of beer
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Ninkilim - “Lord Rodent” god of vermin
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Ninkurra - minor mother goddess
• •
Kus (god) - god of herdsmen
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Lahar - god of cattle
•
•
Lugal-Irra - possibly a minor variation of Erra
•
Lulal - the younger son of Inanna; patron god of Bad-tibira
•
•
Neti - a minor underworld god; the chief gatekeeper of the netherworld and the servant of Ereshkigal
Nibhaz - god of the Avim
Hahanu - a minor god of uncertain status
Kingu - consort of Tiamat; killed by Marduk, who used his blood to create mankind
Negun - a minor goddess of uncertain status
•
•
•
Nazi - a minor deity born to relieve the illness of Enki
Ngeshtin-ana - goddess of wine and cold seasons
Gunara - a minor god of uncertain status
Kakka - attendant and minister of state to both Anu and Anshar
Nanaya - goddess personifying voluptuousness and sensuality
•
•
•
Muati - obscure Sumerian god who became syncretized with Nabu
•
•
•
Mamitu - goat-headed goddess of destiny, who decreed the fate of the new-borns
Ninmena - Sumerian mother goddess who became syncretized with Ninhursag Ninsar - goddess of plants Ninshubur - Queen of the East, messenger goddess and second-in-command to Inanna Ninsun - “Lady Wild Cow"; mother of Gilgamesh
24
•
•
•
CHAPTER 5. LIST OF MESOPOTAMIAN DEITIES
Ninsutu - a minor deity born to relieve the illness of Enki Nintinugga - Babylonian goddess of healing
Nu Mus Da - patron god of the lost city of Kazallu
•
Nunbarsegunu - goddess of barley
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Nusku - god of light and fire
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Pabilsaĝ - tutelary god of the city of Isin
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•
•
•
Pap-nigin-gara - Akkadian and Babylonian god of war, syncretized with Ninurta Pazuzu - son of Hanbi, and king of the demons of the wind Sarpanit - mother goddess and consort of Marduk The Sebitti - a group of minor war gods Shakka - patron god of herdsmen
•
Shala - goddess of war and grain
•
Shara - minor god of war and a son of Inanna
•
Sharra Itu - Sumerian fertility goddess
•
Shu-pa-e - astralandfertility god associated with the planet Jupiter Shul-utula - personal deity to Entemena, king of the city of Eninnu
•
Shullat - minor god and attendant of Shamash
•
Shulmanu - god of the underworld, fertility and war
•
Shulsaga - astral goddess
•
Sirara - goddess of the Persian Gulf
•
Siris - goddess of beer
•
Sirsir - god of mariners and boatmen
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Sirtir - goddess of sheep
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Sumugan - god of the river plains
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Tashmetum - consort of Nabu
•
Tishpak - tutelary god of the city of Eshnunna
•
Tutu - tutelary god of the city of Borsippa
•
Ua-Ildak - goddess responsible for pastures and poplar trees
•
Ukur - a god of the underworld
•
Uttu - goddess of weaving and clothing
•
•
Anshar - god of the sky and male principle
•
Kishar - goddess of the earth and female principle
•
•
•
•
Kur - the first dragon, born of Abzu and Ma. Also Kur-gal, or Ki-gal the underworld Lahamu - first-born daughter of Abzu and Tiamat Lahmu - first-born son of Abzu and Tiamat; a protective and beneficent deity (Ma) -primordial goddess of the earth
•
Mummu - god of crafts and technical skill
•
Tiamat - primordial goddess of the ocean
5.4 Demigods and Heroes •
•
•
Adapa - a hero who unknowingly refused the gift of immortality The Apkallu - seven demigods created by the god Enki to give civilization to mankind Gilgamesh - hero and king of Uruk; central character in the Epic of Gilgamesh
•
Enkidu - hero and companion of Gilgamesh
•
Enmerkar - the legendary builder of the city of Uruk
•
•
Lugalbanda - second king of Uruk, who ruled for 1,200 years Utnapishtim - hero who survived a great flood and was granted immortality; character in the Epic of Gilgamesh
5.5 Spirits and demons •
•
•
•
Wer - a storm god linked to Adad Zaqar - messenger of Sin who relays communication through dreams and nightmares
Abzu - the Ocean Below, the name for fresh water from underground aquifers; depicted as a deity only in the Babylonian creation epic Enûma Eliš
•
Papsukkal - Akkadian messenger god
•
•
•
Nintulla - a minor deity born to relieve the illness of Enki
•
•
5.3 Primordial beings
Alû, demon of night Asag - monstrous demon whose presence makes fish boil alive in the rivers Asakku, evil demon(s) The edimmu - ghosts of those who were not buried properly
•
Gallû, underworld demon
•
Hanbi or Hanpa - father of Pazuzu
5.7. SEE ALSO
•
•
Humbaba - guardian of the Cedar Forest Lamashtu - a malevolent being who menaced women during childbirth
•
Lilû, wandering demon
•
Mukīl rēš lemutti demon of headaches
•
•
•
•
Pazuzu - king of the demons of the wind; healso represented thesouthwestern wind, thebearer of storms and drought Rabisu - an evil vampiric spirit Šulak the bathroom demon, “lurker” in the bathroom Zu - divine storm-bird and the personification of the southern wind and the thunder clouds
5.6 Legendary beasts •
BattleBison beast - one of the creatures slain by Ninurta
The eleven mythical monsters created by Tiāmat in the Epic of Creation, Enûma Eliš: •
Bašmu, “Venomous Snake”
•
Ušumgallu, “Great Dragon”
•
Mušmaḫḫū, “Exalted Serpent”
•
Mušḫuššu, “Furious Snake”
•
Laḫmu, the “Hairy One”
•
Ugallu, the “Big Weather-Beast”
•
Uridimmu, “Mad Lion”
•
Girtablullû, “Scorpion-Man”
•
Umū dabrūtu, “Violent Storms”
•
Kulullû, “Fish-Man”
•
Kusarikku, “Bull-Man”
5.7 See also Family tree of the Babylonian gods
25
Chapter 6
Mesopotamian prayer Mesopotamian prayer are the prayers of the place and relief from illness and for the deliverance of personal era known as ancient Mesopotamia. There are nine clas- longevity. [2] sifications of poem used within Mesopotamia.
6.2.3 Ikribus
6.1 Prayers
These prayers were performed for the purposes of [8] A definition of prayers of Mesopotamia is " praise to god divining. followed by request " (this definition is according to T. Os- Another source shows ikribū were benedictions. [2] hima).[1] According to one source (Bromiley) the form of the word, known and used to signify prayers during the Mesopotamian era, is described today as šu-il-lá. With regards to šu-il-lá, the scholars Lambert , van der Toorn and Oshima posit an alternative use for the term, which they submit is instead with reference to the way in which a prayer is to be recited, not a general signifier (rubric) for prayer itself (a notion expressed by Bromiley).[1][2]
6.2.4 Royal
Šu-il-lá is held to refer to an act of praying, by prayer exhibited by either lifting of hands, to lift hands , or to lift the hand .[3]
The rulers’ (Kings of Babylonia) prayers were made to a variety of deities, for example Marduk (the god of Babylonia), Nabû, Ŝamaš. The kings had inscribed prayers made onto cylinders made of clay and kept within buildings, in order to fulfill this function. Prayers of this type tended to not be for reason of the seeking of mercy and salvation as is found in Šuila prayers.[9]
6.2.5 Hymns
6.2 Types
By study of the prayers, it seems apparent to scholars, that these types of prayers seem to be reformations of earlier Prayers are divided into the following classifications: topos made, for example, in a similar vein to prayers such Incantation prayers, Ershaḫungas, Gottesbriefe, Ikribus, as the Prayer to the Gods of the Night .[2] Royal, Tamitas and other queries, Hymns, Šigû, and Namburbi. [2][4][5]
6.2.6 Šigû 6.2.1 Incantation
Šigû are lamentations. Lamentations are either Both Tribal specialists in ritual were required to perform incan- complaints, or expressions of grief or sorrow. [10] tations to accompany theuse of textsknown, for example, meanings are related (combined) within šigû. from Ugarit which are attested to contain ways to aid in theremovalof snake-venom. Ugarit is also known to have 6.2.7 Namburbi contained additional health-related incantation texts. [6] Prayers of this classification were performed during namburbi rituals. These rituals were undertaken firstly 6.2.2 Gottesbriefe if an omen announced a fate that was evil, and a person The term Gottesbriefe is literally, petition-prayers, or let- wished to counter-act the fate, and secondly to counter ter prayers.[7] They were mostly in the form of pleas for witchcraft.[1][5][11][12] 26
27
6.5. SOURCES
6.3 See also •
Magical texts
•
Mesopotamian divination
•
Religion within Ancient Mesopotania
6.4 Citations [1] Review (2012) by Journal of Hebrew Scriptures (designation DOI:10.5508/jhs.2012.v12.r17) of. Oshima, T (author) - Babylonian Prayers to Marduk. ISBN 978-3-16150831-8. Retrieved 2015-05-20. [2] G.W. Bromiley. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: A-D (p.400). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1979. Retrieved 2015-05-18.(ISBN 0802837816) [3] Frechett, C.G. Mesopotamian Ritual-prayers of “Handlifting” (Akkadian šuillas): An Investigation of Function in Light of the Idiomatic Meaning of the Rubric . Ugarit Verlag, 2012 ISBN 978-3-86835-046-3. Retrieved 2015-0520. [4] edited by A. Lenzi. - READING AKKADIAN PRAYERS AND HYMNS An Introduction (PDF). The Society of Biblical Literature 2011 (copyrightedto)ISBN 978-1-58983596-2. Retrieved 2015-05-18. [5] C.O. Schroeder. - History, justice, and the agency of God: a hermeneutical and exegetical investigation on Isaiah and Psalms (p.178-9). BRILL, 2001 ISBN 9004119914 (236 pages) Volume 52 of Biblical interpretation series Studies in Ancient Magic and Divination. Retrieved 2015-05-20. [6] S I Johnston - Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide (p.459-460) Harvard University Press, 2004 ISBN 0674015177 (697 pages) Volume 18 of Harvard University Press reference library [Retrieved 2015-05-16] [7] K Takai - Old Babylonian Letter of Petition and Later Individual Lament Prayers BiblioBazaar, 2011 ISBN 1243614951 [Retrieved 2015-05-18] [8] F.H. Cryer - Divination in Ancient Israel and its Near Eastern Environment: A Socio-Historical Investigation (footnote 5 - page 197) A&C Black, 1 May 1994 ISBN 0567059634 (367 pages) The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies [Retrieved 2015-05-18] [9] T Oshima - Babylonian Prayers to Marduk (p.21-22) Mohr Siebeck, 2011 ISBN 3161508319 (483 pages) Volume 7 of Orientalische Religionen in der Antike , ISSN 1869-0513 [Retrieved 2015-05-18] [10] Google - search return published by Google 22:40 hrs 1212-2015 [Retrieved 2015-12-12] [11] edited by T Abusch, D Schwemer. Corpus of Mesopotamian Anti-witchcraft Rituals: Volume One . BRILL, December 17, 2010. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
[12] Ehud Ben Zvi review of work of S.M. Maul in Perspectives on Biblical Hebrew: Comprising the Contents of Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, Volumes 1-4 Gorgias Press LLC, 1 Jan 2006 (934 pages) Volume 1 of Gorgias Perspectives on Hebrew Scriptures Series ISBN 1593333102[Retrieved 2015-05-20](namburbi ritual sourced at p.575)
6.5 Sources •
J. Hehn, Hymnen und Gebete an Marduk (published 1905) as shown here
28
CHAPTER 6. MESOPOTAMIAN PRAYER
6.6 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses 6.6.1 Text •
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Ancient Mesopotamian religionSource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Mesopotamian_religion?oldid=754254415 Contributors: Andre Engels, Ellmist, Hephaestos, Patrick, Dcoetzee, Jallan, Revth, Beland, Thincat, Wrp103, Xezbeth, Dbachmann, Bender235, ESkog, RoyBoy, Sole Soul, Giraffedata, Naturenet, Ogress, Anthony Appleyard, DreamGuy, Pauli133, Notcarlos, Revived, Mel Etitis, Woohookitty, Shanedidona, Cuchullain, BD2412, JIP, NebY, Search4Lancer, Sargonious, RobertG, AdnanSa, Bgwhite, Vagodin, Kinneyboy90, Kafziel, Pigman, Anders.Warga, Gaius Cornelius, Rsrikanth05, Anomalocaris, NawlinWiki, Thiseye, PM Poon, Tachs, Rob117, A Moth in Lace, Caballero1967, NeilN, SmackBot, Mwazzap, KnowledgeOfSelf, Jagged 85, Portillo, Hmains, Hibernian, Bazonka, Egsan Bacon, Castanea dentata, Khoikhoi, Radagast83, Elireburg, Ser Amantio di Nicolao, Attys, Midnightblueowl, Meitavlord2007, Theoldanarchist, Severino, ShelfSkewed, Funnyfarmofdoom, Adam a, Doug Weller, Omicronpersei8, Epbr123, M ojo Hand, Gruffty, Jimhoward72, Matthew Proctor, Zunkir, AntiVandalBot, WinBot, Seaphoto, Alphachimpbot, Roger2909, Kyanwan, Anaxial, R'n'B, Garlicbreadboi, Elkost, Joshua Issac, Woilorio, StAnselm, Mikemoral, Dawn Bard, Ganna24, Flyer22 Reborn, Alatari, Gr8opinionater, ClueBot, XPTO, Niceguyedc, Manishearth, Excirial, Elizium23, Frozen4322, SchreiberBike, Audaciter, Editor2020, Stickee, Addbot, Some jerk on the Internet, Imeriki al-Shimoni, Blaylockjam10, Tassedethe, Yobot, Matanya, SwisterTwister, AnakngAraw, HidariMigi, AnomieBOT, Mauro Lanari, Jim1138, Carolina wren, Materialscientist, Citation bot, Novoneiro, Sellyme, Control.valve, Secher nbiw, Omnipaedista, RibotBOT, Emperorsmokey, A.amitkumar, FrescoBot, Flygongengar, Pinethicket, Zoeperkoe, Clarkcj12, Reaper Eternal, Onel5969, Kamran the Great, GoingBatty, XinaNicole, Lamashtu2006, Blin00, Wikipelli, K6ka, Chansonbird, Fæ, Bollyjeff, Schwabc1, Midas02, Bamyers99, EddieDrood, Wikignome0530, Tolly4bolly, IGeMiNix, Benvewikilerim, Donner60, StewDaDa, Habeeb Adam, ClueBot NG, Frietjes, Marechal Ney, Costesseyboy, Widr, Telpardec, Theopolisme, Helpful Pixie Bot, Titodutta, BigEars42, BG19bot, Rusty Tonic, Butchbark, MusikAnimal, Marcocapelle, Mark Arsten, Peruginofan, Dentalplanlisa, Haladaman, Haladaman2, DPL bot, Greenknight dv, Aurian555, MESOPOTAMIAISALIE, Joey111111, Nahye330, Jellette, Jjtimbrell, BigD429, BattyBot, Kalmiopsiskid, Darylgolden, Mrt3366, ChrisGualtieri, Dexbot, FoCuSandLeArN, Hmainsbot1, Mogism, Lugia2453, Seonookim, Jamesx12345, KahnJohn27, Cathry, Faizan, Bgardner365, Acetotyce, FrigidNinja, Siricruz, Upper lima 65, JamesMoose, History-Professor-59, Skydoesminecraftbutter, RabidBadger1632, DavidLeighEllis, Monochrome Monitor, Garduno96, Ginsuloft, Adirlanz, Le Survivant, Ashschweizer, Jgodner83, SamuelDay1, BethNaught, ԱշոտՏՆՂ, Sheis001, Tahmir 2001, Biblioworm, Supernimit, Akiyama(tentative), Asdklf;, Syra styles, 0xF8E8, Stamps712, Gonzales John, Zinskauf, H1hkdi6kso, Isambard Kingdom, Jellybean267, , GeneralizationsAreBad, Whalestate, Prinsgezinde, 3 of Diamonds, Tired dragon, Nyetoson, Beshogur, DrWAM, Warlord69, Mineshaft56733, This is me 0001 and Anonymous: 282 Religions of the ancient Near East Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religions_of_the_ancient_Near_East?oldid=746873523 Contributors: Ed Poor, Rickyrab, Marumari, Djnjwd, Charles Matthews, Bradeos Graphon, Bkonrad, Schwael, Lacrimosus, Jayjg, Dbachmann, SamEV, Mashford, Bobo192, Ogress, Espoo, Anthony Appleyard, OwenX, Woohookitty, Commander Keane, Wikiklrsc, Tslocum, BD2412, Theodork, 2ct7, RussBot, Pigman, Anders.Warga, Gaius Cornelius, Knyght27, AKeen, AdelaMae, Tachs, IceCreamAntisocial, Deville, Open2universe, Thamis, Luk, SmackBot, InverseHypercube, Chris the speller, TimBentley, Egsan Bacon, Rrburke, Radagast83, Fullstop, Theme97, Ser Amantio di Nicolao, Novangelis, Shoeofdeath, Ewulp, The Haunted Angel, JForget, Rambam rashi, ShelfSkewed, Neelix, Smoove Z, Doug Weller, Kozuch, Egyegy~enwiki, Barticus88, Mentifisto, Alphachimpbot, Wahwahpedal, MERC, Hut 8.5, SiobhanHansa, VoABot II, R'n'B, DomBot, Jrcla2, Achillobator, STBotD, Pietru, ABF, Šarukinu, Eden Tate, Anyep, Dawn Bard, Ganna24, Fratrep, Prof saxx, WikipedianMarlith, ClueBot, Niceguyedc, Esimal, SchreiberBike, Editor2020, Koumz, Sumerophile, Addbot, USchick, Lihaas, Categorystuff, Fryed-peach, AnomieBOT, Alexlange, Crzer07, J04n, Dngnta, Carlog3, FrescoBot, Cnwilliams, , Sinharib99, Sxoa, Donner60, Suzieq181, ANE.Scholar, I'm in 5 th grade, Helpful Pixie Bot, PhnomPencil, GoShow, Evildoer187, Monochrome Monitor, Tripleahg, BD2412bot, I wear my sunglasses at night and Anonymous: 85 Sumerian religion Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumerian_religion?oldid=751814830 Contributors: MichaelTinkler, The Epopt, WojPob, Mav, Bryan Derksen, Koyaanis Qatsi, Ed Poor, Larry Sanger, Josh Grosse, Christopher Mahan, SJK, JohnOwens, Nixdorf, MartinHarper, TUF-KAT, Raven in Orbit, Mulad, Agtx, Sanxiyn, Pedant17, Topbanana, Forseti, Danno~enwiki, Eequor, Anthony Rischard, Ruzulo, Discospinster, Rich Farmbrough, Pjacobi, Dbachmann, Kwamikagami, Alansohn, Anthony Appleyard, Keenan Pepper, JoaoRicardo, J Heath, Ashmoo, Graham87, Nightscream, Chobot, DVdm, Sceptre, NawlinWiki, Nikkimaria, Ketsuekigata, InverseHypercube, Hmains, John Hyams, Castanea dentata, Ser Amantio di Nicolao, NJMauthor, Macosx, Doug Weller, NorwegianBlue, North Shoreman, Autkm, Thibbs, Anaxial, R'n'B, Lilac Soul, 83d40m, KylieTastic, Uhai, Donmike10, Una Smith, FinnWiki, Falcon8765, Enviroboy, Ganna24, Flyer22 Reborn, Denisarona, Atif.t2, ClueBot, Excirial, Avoided, Addbot, Atethnekos, Ccacsmss, Glane23, Guy1890, AnomieBOT, LlywelynII, Overdrivecow, Sadrettin, Superyetkin, Lighttrek, FrescoBot, VS6507, Sae1962, Enki H., Pinethicket, MastiBot, Serols, Littledogboy, Zoeperkoe, ThinkEnemies, Minimac, DASHBot, Kavu.W, Acather96, Abdishtar, RA0808, Lamashtu2006, Wikipelli, Dcirovic, Midas02, Donner60, Mcc1789, Terraflorin, DASHBotAV, Manytexts, ClueBot NG, Widr, Torekai, MerlIwBot, Oddbodz, TCN7JM, MusikAnimal, Dontreader, Shaun, Bschandrasgr, Pratyya Ghosh, Neuroforever, Dtp tot me that, Hmainsbot1, Sriharsh1234, Frothymonkey, GranChi, Kevin12xd, Cathry, Telfordbuck, Epicgenius, History-Professor-59, DavidLeighEllis, Duelcard, Elainedeakin, JustThatOneGuy, Lucyloo10, Lor, Kenyon12345, Libby0249, GeneralizationsAreBad, Johnmcintyre1959, Coryashton, Bender the Bot, Katiebug1231111, Deicey, Lexi31 and Anonymous: 181 Babylonian religion Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_religion?oldid=753499074 Contributors: Jayjg, Dbachmann, Woohookitty, Vanished user sfoi943923kjd94, RussBot, Thane, Grafen, Arthur Rubin, CWenger, SmackBot, Jagged 85, Portillo, Cattus, Castanea dentata, NickPenguin, Ser Amantio di Nicolao, Solasis, NJMauthor, Myasuda, Amphipolis, Marek69, Rettetast, Belovedfreak, Oshwah, Kiwigirl3850, Kehrbykid, Drmies, Editor2020, Nepenthes, Addbot, Matanya, DemocraticLuntz, Materialscientist, RadiX, Shadowjams, I dream of horses, Rami radwan, Lamashtu2006, Fæ, DASHBotAV, Spicemix, ClueBot NG, MelbourneStar, Widr, Jeraphine Gryphon, Irānshahr, Sn1per, MadGuy7023, TwoTwoHello, Cathry, RandomLittleHelper, DavidLeighEllis, , JhaiufjglahuHGIUH, Asiannndog, Monkbot, Slsolaris, SA 13 Bro, Kiera reeves, , History of Persia and Anonymous: 51 List of Mesopotamian deities Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mesopotamian_deities?oldid=751122173 Contributors: Discospinster, SamEV, Andrew Dalby, Microchip08, Jvol, Robert.Field, Doug Weller, Mtpaley, Storkk, JaGa, Wiae, Ronald S. Davis, Goustien, Shoemoney2night, Askahrc, Yngvadottir, Azurfrog, Dcirovic, Donner60, ClueBot NG, Widr, BigEars42, BG19bot, Dexbot, Giggette, Melonkelon, DavidLeighEllis, AddWittyNameHere, MRD2014, Tophet, Kurzai, Leet21, Volvlogia, G0rknaak, Simon.goldweber and Anonymous: 53 Mesopotamian prayer Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamian_prayer?oldid=724964508 Contributors: Ser Amantio di Nicolao, Nick Number, Omnipaedista, Josve05a, Marcocapelle, Konveyor Belt and Whalestate