Sumerian mythology briefly. Sumerians - people or Gods ...

One of these religions can be considered the religion of the Sumerians. About 100 years ago, society did not understand either the Sumerians or their civilization. Monuments of their existence were not even in the literature. The first Sumerian-Akkadian texts were found in Nineveh during excavations of the palace of King Ashurbanipal. Examining these records, historians for the first time encountered traces ancient civilization Mesopotamia. The very concepts of Sumer and Sumerians / Sumerians first came into scientific use in the late 80s of the XIX century, and Sumerology became the newest branch of humanitarian knowledge.

It seems that in Sumer the origins of religion had purely materialistic, and not "ethical" roots. The cult of the Gods was not aimed at "purification and holiness", but was intended to ensure a good collection and military success. The most ancient of the Sumerian Gods, mentioned in the ancient tablets "with lists of gods" (mid-3rd millennium BC), personified the forces of nature - the sky, the sea, the sun, the moon, the wind, etc.. Then the gods appeared - patrons of cities, farmers, shepherds. The Sumerians claimed that everything in the world belongs to the gods - the temples were not the place of residence of the gods, who were obliged to take care of people, but the granaries of the gods - barns.

The word "god" for us is a lot of absurd associations, but the Sumerians did not suffer from such a complex. They called their own gods AN. UNNA. KI, which literally means: "Those who descended from Heaven to Earth." In pictographic letters, they were designated DIN. GIR. The pictographic symbol GIR usually means simply an object with a pointed end, but its true meaning can be understood by considering the pictographic symbol KA. GIR, which clearly shows a GIR with a streamlined body, installed in an underground room - a mine. The pictogram of the first DIN syllable has no meaning until it is combined with the GIR pictogram to form a complex DIN pictogram. GIR. These two syllables, written together, fully agree, representing, as Zecharia Sitchin (researcher of the Sumerian civilization, scientist, writer) puts it, "an image of a rocket-powered galactic ship with a landing apparatus integrated into it." The full meaning of the DIN.GIR sign, which is usually translated as "gods", is rendered in Sitchin's translation as "Righteous from fiery rockets".

world creation

The main deities of the Sumerian Pantheon were AN (heaven - masculine) and KI (earth - feminine). Both of these beginnings appeared from the primordial ocean, which gave birth to a mountain from the tightly connected sky and earth. On the mountain of heaven and earth, An conceived the gods - the Anunnaki. From this union, the god of air, Enlil, was born, dividing heaven and earth.

There is a conjecture that at first the maintenance of order in the world was the function of Enki, the god of wisdom and the sea. But then, with the rise of the city-state of Nippur, whose god was Enlil, he specifically took a leading place among the gods.

Birth of man

It was hard at first for the gods, they had to do everything themselves, some had to serve them. Then they made people to serve themselves. After the Gods complained about their hard lot and demanded to create a “servant for the Gods” for them, Enki, the god of wisdom and the depths of the sea, stood at the head of the “stunning and royal masters”, and turned to the Goddess - Mom (original ocean):

Oh, my mother, the creature whose name you called already exists -

Imprint in it the image of the gods ...

Knead the heart of clay that is above the abyss -

Stunning and regal craftsmen will make the clay thick

You give birth to limbs ....

Ninti pinched off fourteen pieces of clay;

Seven of the dashes she laid on the right, Seven she laid aside on the left,

Between them she put a form .... Her hair .... A knife for cutting the umbilical cord ...

The wisest and most learned Goddess took seven births twice,

Seven were born masculine, Seven were born feminine.

The Goddess of Birth summoned the Burst of the breath of life.

They were created in pairs, They were created in pairs in her presence.

These creations were humans Made by the Mother Goddess.

These new beings are referred to in the Sumerian texts as LU. LU, which literally means "mixed". Zecharia Sitchin believes that the above words about clay taken from the earth, which are brought to a suitable condition by "young understanding gods", may mean that man was created as a hybrid of a god and a simple humanoid.

What is this “clay” from which man was created? The Bible also says that man was created from "the dust (dust) of the earth." From a scientific point of view, this is a blatant statement, but was the material from which we were made really "dust" or "clay"? One recognizable scholar pointed out that the Hebrew word "tit" used in the Book of Genesis ran over from the oldest Sumerian language. In Sumerian TI.IT means "that which has life." So, maybe Adam was created from already living matter?

curious to know

Since ancient times, people have been intrigued by the event that, according to Old Testament, God created Eve in such a typical way, and specifically from Adam's rib. After all, God had plenty of clay, from which he could fashion a lady, as he fashioned a man. Cuneiform tablets dug up in the ruins of Babylon gave a sensational explanation of this riddle. It turns out that this whole story is based on a very funny misunderstanding. Specifically: in the Sumerian myth, the god Enki had a rib. In the Sumerian language, the word "rib" corresponds to the word "ti". The goddess who was called to heal the rib of the god Enki is called Ninti, in other words, "the lady of the rib." But "ninti" also means "to give life." Thus, Ninti can equally mean "lady of the rib" and "lady who gives life." And this is where the source of the misunderstanding lies. The ancient Hebrew tribes changed Ninti to Eva, since Eve was for their famous foremother of the earth's population, in other words, "the lady who gives life." But the 2nd meaning of Ninti ("lady from the rib") was somehow preserved in the memory of the Jews. In this regard, embarrassment came out in folk tales. Ever since Mesopotamian times, it has been remembered that there is something in common between Eve and a rib, and thanks to this, a strange version was born, as if Eve was created from Adam's rib.

pantheon of gods

The Sumerian pantheon of gods worked as an assembly led by a god-king. The assembly consisted of groups, the main group popular as the "Great Gods" consisted of 50 deities and, according to the beliefs of the Sumerians, decided the fate of the population of the earth. Also, the deities were divided into creative and non-creative. The creative gods were responsible for the sky (An), the earth (mother goddess Ninursag), the sea (Enki), the air (Enli). It would seem that An, like other creator gods, should have had a leading role in Sumerian mythology. And, indeed, he was revered, though most likely symbolically. His temple at Ur was called E.ANNA - "House of AN". The 1st kingdom was called the "Kingdom of Anu". But according to the ideas of the Sumerians, An actually does not interfere in the affairs of people, and therefore the main role in "daily life" she ran to other gods, led by Enlil. But Enlil was not omnipotent either, because the supreme power belonged to a council of fifty main gods, among which seven main gods “who decide fate” stood out in particular.

It is believed that the structure of the council of the gods repeated the "earthly hierarchy" - where the rulers, ensi, ruled together with the "council of elders", in which a group of more worthy stood out.

Sumerian commandments

One of the foundations of Sumerian mythology, the exact meaning of which has not been established, is "ME", which played a gigantic role in the religious and ethical system of the Sumerians. In one of the legends, more than 100 "ME" are named, of which less than half were able to read and decipher. There are such concepts as justice, kindness, peace, victory, heresy, horror, crafts, etc. - everything, one way or another connected with public life. Some researchers believe that “me” are models of all living things, radiated by gods and temples, “Divine Rules”.

Me is a set of rules given to each galactic function and cultural paradox for the purpose of perpetually maintaining their function according to the clans of the deity who created them. Me rules:

royalty

art

In general, in Sumer, the Gods were like Humans. In their relationship there are matchmaking and wars, rape and love, deceit and anger. There is even a myth about a man who possessed the goddess Inanna in a dream. Catchy, but the whole myth is imbued with sympathy for man.

Sumerian paradise lacks fresh water

It is curious that the Sumerian paradise is not intended for people - it is the abode of the gods, where sorrows, old age, disease and death are unknown, and the only problem that worries the gods is the problem of fresh water.

By the way, in Old Egypt the concept of paradise did not exist at all. Sumerian hell - Kur - a gloomy black underworld, where three servants stood in the way - "the man of the door", "the man of the underground river", "the carrier". Recalls the ancient Greek Hades and Sheol of the old Jews. This empty place, separating the earth from the primordial ocean, filled with the shadows of the dead, wandering without hope of return, and demons.

Abzu(Apsu) - the underground world ocean of fresh waters. The master of the Abzu is the god of wisdom. The Abzu was understood as a place inaccessible even to the gods, where the causes and beginnings of everything, including the origins of human culture, are located. The latter, in the form of special "tables of fate" - me - are the bearers of Enki's wisdom. The goddess or (which by the way is not quite the same thing), the daughter of Enki, goes to her, kidnaps me and hands them over to people. Enki fails to return the tables, and people receive the gifts of civilization.
In later Babylonian mythology, the Abzu plays an important role in the creation of the world. According to the legend, from the originally existing oceans of fresh water Absu and salt water, the gods were born: Lahma and Lahama, who, in turn, gave birth to Apshara and Kishar. From them arose (heaven) and (the god of earth, water and wisdom). Unhappy with the noise the lesser gods are making, Apsu wants to destroy them. But Eya is ahead of him, he lulls and strikes Apsu, and then builds a sacred abode in his honor, where he gives birth. The latter later fights Tiamat and kills her.
Abzu, thus, acts as a symbol of the instinctive life principle, which rises to light and wisdom due to the fact that its restraint is softened by the more reasonable gods that arose later.

Adad, Addu, Ishkur - the god of thunder, storm, wind (his name is written with the sign "Im", "wind"). Ishkur is already mentioned in the Sumerian lists of gods from Fara in the 26th century. BC e. (though perhaps not Sumerian), its Semitic equivalent is known from the Old Akkadian period. Adad's father is the sky god (An), his wife is the goddess Shala (Hurrian?). Adad's satellites are Shullat and Hanish. The Akkadian Adad personifies both the destructive and fruitful forces of nature: the flood that destroys the fields, the fruitful rain; in his jurisdiction and salinization of the soil; if the wind-god takes away the rain, drought and famine begin (the myth of Atrahasis); the result of a rain storm (and not a flood from the sea) is a flood. One of Adad's epithets is "lord of the dam of heaven". The Sumerian Ishkur (his role is much less independent than the Akkadian Adad) is usually described as a "wild bull of rage" and, in contrast to the Akkadian, does not act as a deity of fertile rain (apparently, this was due to the fact that the agricultural culture of southern Mesopotamia was not based on natural, but on artificial irrigation). The main places of worship of Adad are Enegi, near the city of Ur, the city of Murum (not localized) and Babylon, in the north - Ashur, where Adad had a common temple with Anu. In iconography, the bull is associated with the image of the god of the storm as a symbol of fertility and indomitability at the same time. Adad's emblem was usually a bident or trident of lightning.
Adad are identical to the West Semitic Baal-Haddad, the Hittite Teshub.

Anunnaki- deities generated by . It was believed that they determine human destinies, are intermediaries between gods and people. At a later time, this name began to designate earthly and underground gods, as opposed to heavenly ones.

Arzanis- god of river waters, son of Kumarbi.

Aruru- the mother goddess, who creates from clay (the epic about Gilgamesh “About who has seen everything”), as well as the creator of people who determined their fate (according to some versions of the myth about the creation of people). Probably Aruru has ancient roots of pre-Sumerian origin.

Asalluhi, a deity - the patron of the city of Kuara, the son of a god (the latter, perhaps not originally), the intercessor of a person during spells, witchcraft and healing, expelling evil demons. With the rise of the city of Babylon and the growing role of Asalluhi, he is identified with him, and the traditional incantation formulas, where Asalluhi asks his father Enki for advice on how to act (to which he replies: “my son ..., everything that I know, you know all this and you") refer to Asalluhi-Marduk.

bau, Baba (Sumerian), the goddess of the city of Lagash, the deity of fertility. Less known as the goddess-healer, "healer of the blackheads" (in one Sumerian song she is named so along with the goddess-healer Nininsina; from the Old Babylonian period she is identified with Nininsina). Her frequent epithet is "Bau's mother". Bau's parents are the god of heaven and the goddess Gatumdug, her husband is a military deity, the patron of the city of Lagash Ningirsu, she herself is the mother of seven daughters.

Bel(from the general Semitic. Balu, "lord", "lord"), the designation of some gods, primarily; then, from the Old Babylonian period, it could be an epithet of any god, from the Kassite period - exclusively (in the Greek transmission in relation to Marduk - White); to the 2nd-1st millennium BC e. Enlil and Marduk merge into a single image of the "lord" - Bela (in Assyria - Enlil and Ashur). This designation of individual gods common nouns was also characteristic of other Semitic peoples.

Beleth kings(“mistress of the steppe”) - the wife of the god of nomadic tribes Martu (Amurru), a female scribe of the underworld. Identified with the Sumerian goddess Geshtinanna.

Dumuzi- a deity associated with the fertility of the earth and the world of plant life (Dumuzi is also considered an analogue). Dumuzi's father is the god of wisdom. The goddess becomes his wife (which by the way is not quite the same thing). The goddess finds herself in the underworld and cannot get out of there without leaving someone in return. She allows the demons to carry her husband to the underworld. After descending into the underworld of Dumuzi, chaos and desolation sets in on earth. This forces Ishtar to descend into the underworld and rescue her husband from there.

Igigi, not a very definite group (apparently related to each other) of the gods of a cosmic (heavenly) nature. In bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian texts of the Middle Babylonian period, the Sumerian equivalent of Akkad. "Igigi" is "nungalene" (i.e. "great princes"), apparently a neoplasm created to oppose the Igigi as heavenly gods, who in such cases are always noted as underground and earthly gods. Sometimes seven "great gods of the Igigi" are called: , , , , , , (but these same gods can also be referred to as Anunnaki).

Inanna- goddess of fertility, love and wars. At the same time, she was revered as the goddess of heaven and the star of sunrise - the planet> Venus. (Inanna is compared or contrasted - also the goddess of fertility and wars.) She was called the daughter of the sky god, the moon god Nanna, and also the god of wisdom. The most famous myth of Inanna and. The goddess decides to go down to the underworld, apparently wanting to subjugate the underworld, in which her sister, the goddess, rules. Wanting to insure against any unexpected event, she orders her adviser, in her absence for more than three days, to turn to the higher gods and call them to intercession. Passing through the seven gates leading to the underworld, Inanna each time takes off some part of her clothes or jewelry, so that she appears before Ereshkigal and the judges of the underworld already without any clothes. The latter look at Inanna with deadly glances, and the lifeless body of the heavenly goddess is hung on a hook.
After three days, Inanna's adviser informs the god Enki of her misfortune. Enki then sends a special being to the underworld, which, with the help of living water, brings Inanna back to life. But the goddess cannot return to earth without leaving someone in her place. The choice falls on the spouse of Inanna Dumuzi. He fails to escape from the demons of the underworld, and he finds himself in the realm of the dead, where he spends half the days of each year.

Ishtar- a female deity corresponding to the Sumerian. Ishtar goddess of war and love. She offers her love and patronage to the famous hero Gilgamesh. But he refuses, knowing the evil to teach her former lovers. Ishtar takes revenge on Gilgamesh by sending a terrible celestial Bull to his city. However, Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill him. Ishtar also descends to the underworld for her lover, threatening the goddess of the underworld to release all the dead to earth. But Ereshkigal slays the goddess of fertility and only agreeing to the persuasion of his advisers, sprinkles her with living water. After that, Ishtar returns to earth along with the rescued Tammuz.

Key- the goddess of the earth. In union with gives birth to a god.

Lama- good goddess - patroness and protector. It was believed that each person has his Lama. Similar in function to the Roman penates, larai and genii.

Lahar and Ashnan- the goddess of cattle (Lahar, perhaps an ancient borrowing from the general Semitic "sheep", the personification of "mother sheep") and grain (Ashnan). In the etiological myth about Lahar and Ashnan, it is said that the god on the "mountain of heaven and earth" (Duku) created the gods, then the goddesses Lahar and Ashnan were created, who were supposed to satisfy the hunger and thirst for new gods. The Anunnaki eat grain, drink milk, but cannot satisfy their hunger and thirst. Then, by the sacred command of the gods, both Lahar and Ashnan descend to earth and settle among people; abundance reigns on earth. After drinking wine, the goddesses start a dispute about the superiority of agriculture or cattle breeding. Enki and Enlil declare Ashnan the winner. The myth refers to the genre of dialogue-arguments common in Sumerian literature.

Marduk- in Babylonian mythology, the main deity. He was revered as the lord of the gods, the god of wisdom, world order, and was also considered the god of the sun and light. Son of the god of wisdom and magical power. Marduk agrees at the request of the gods to destroy the ancient goddess of salt water, seeking to crack down on the younger gods for killing her husband, but he demands that the gods endow him with full power. Becoming a flame and creating seven raging hurricanes, Marduk captures Tiamat in his net and strikes her heart with an arrow. He cuts the body of Tiamat into two parts, fixing one of them above the earth in the form of the sky.
Marduk also gets the tables of fate, and he becomes its arbiter. He builds the abode of the gods Eshargu and proceeds to arrange the Universe: he establishes the order of the change of months, determines the paths of the gods-luminaries and creates a person from the blood of the monster Kingu he killed.

Nunn- the god of moonlight.

Ninsar- daughter of the goddess of the earth and god. Goddess of plants and sprouts.

Ninhursag, goddess - mother, wife of god. According to the myth, Enki, the god of water, and Ninhursag, mother earth, are in a blissful land.
The Dilmun give birth to Ninsar, goddess of plants. Her granddaughter Utta, also the goddess of plants, accepting Enki's courtship, demands cucumbers, apples and grapes as a gift from him. As a result of the union of Enki and Utta, eight plants arise, but Ninhursag does not have time to give them names, as Enki eats them. Ninhursag curses Enki, and Enki is stricken with eight ailments. Then the gods, with the help of the fox, persuade the angry mother goddess to cure her husband. For this, Ninhursag creates eight deities, one for each affected part of Enki's body, and with their help heals him.

Sina- God of the moon and night.

Sumukan, Shakkan, deity, patron and protector of wild animals and livestock, "king of the mountains." Receives power over animals from a god wandering around Sumer (the Sumerian myth "Enki and Sumer"). The appearance of the hero Enkidu is compared with Sumukan (who appeared to be naked or dressed in a skin), in his dying dream Enkidu meets Sumukan in the underworld (the Akkadian epic of Gilgamesh). In the underworld, he meets Gilgamesh (the Sumerian text "Death of Gilgamesh"). The origin of the chthonic aspect of Sumukan is not entirely clear and cannot be explained.

Tammuz- in the mythology of the peoples of Western Asia, the deity of fertility and vegetation, the spouse of the goddess (which, by the way, is not quite the same thing), the shepherd god, whose spouse goes to the underworld instead of himself. After that, Tammuz is obliged to spend underground every six months. His return from the underworld is marked by the rapid growth of all living things, the awakening of the world of vegetation. Tammuz is compared with and in some places considered to be the same god.

Tiamat- (“sea”), in Akkadian mythology (cosmogonic poem “Enuma Elish”) the personification of the primordial element, the embodiment of world chaos? dragon-like goddess of the primordial element. God was considered her husband. With him, Tiamat gives birth to other gods. In a cosmic battle between a generation of elder gods (led by Tiamat) and younger gods, led by Marduk; he cuts the body of Tiamat into two parts, making the first sky, the second - the earth .. Depicted (presumably) in the form of a monstrous dragon or a seven-headed hydra.

Utta- daughter of Ninsar, granddaughter of the goddess of the earth and god. According to the myth, Utta, also the goddess of plants, like her mother, accepting Enki's courtship, demands cucumbers, apples and grapes as a gift from him. As a result of the union of Enki and Utta, eight plants arise, but Ninhursag does not have time to name them, as Enki eats them. Ninhursag curses Enki, and Enki is stricken with eight ailments. Then the gods, with the help of the fox, persuade the angry mother goddess to cure her husband. For this, Ninhursag creates eight deities, one for each affected part of Enki's body, and with their help heals him.

Utu he is the god of the sun, the son of the moon god Nanna, the brother of the goddess. It was believed that in the morning Utu appears in the east and crosses the vault of heaven, and at night moves in the underworld from west to east and brings light to the dead. The all-seeing Utu is the god of justice. One of his descendants is Gilgamesh.

Carpanitu, Sarpanita ("sparkling silver"), in Akkadian mythology spouse, the main goddess of the city of Babylon. Assistant during pregnancy and childbirth (under her middle name Erua). Folk etymology interpreted her name as Zerpanitum, "the creator of the seed", which brings this image closer to the image of the mother goddess.

Shamash he is Utu - was the god of the sun and heat. Shamash (Akkadian, “sun”; common Semitic in the same sense - shams, shaps), in Sumerian-Akkadian mythology, the sun god, son of the moon god Nanna (Akkadian Sin), brother of Inanna (). His wife is the Sumerian Shenirda (or Sudanga), Akkadian (has a constant epithet "Aya - the bride"), the ambassador is Bunene. In the daily journey through the sky, Utu-Shamash hides in the evening, and in the morning comes out again from behind the mountains (according to the Akkadian tradition, from behind the mountains of Mashu). Usually this exit is opened to him by two guardian gods. At night, Utu-Shamash travels through the underworld, bringing light, drink, food to the dead (his Akkadian epithet is “the sun of dead souls”). As the deity of the all-seeing light, Utu-Shamash is the judge, the keeper of justice and truth. Already from the period of Farah (26th century BC), names like “At that is my judge” are noted. Utu is also a protector god and giver of oracles. The destructiveness, the scorching heat of the sun's rays are not associated with Utu = Shamash, but with Nergal or Gibil. The role of Shamash in the Akkadian cult is more significant than the role of the Sumerian Utu, whose subordinate position is affected by his dependence on the moon god (accordingly, the lunar cult played a more significant role than the solar one). The cult of W. as a local deity was developed in the city of Uruk. According to tradition, Utu is the founder of the First Dynasty of Uruk. Hence the significance of the role of Utu in the mytho-epic tradition of Uruk (the myths of the Inanna-Dumuzi cycle, where he helps Dumuzi, the epics about Enmerkar, Lugalband and Gilgamesh). Utu is the assistant, personal guardian god of the epic heroes of this dynasty. In the Akkadian myth about Etana, Shamash is a judge who helps the snake take revenge on the eagle for breaking the oath, but at the same time Etana's assistant, who saves the eagle. The places of worship of the sun deity are Sippar in the north and Larsa in the south. In Assur, Shamash had a common temple with the moon deity. In iconography on reliefs and in glyptics, the exit of the sun god from behind the mountains is especially often depicted, as well as the court of Utu = Shamash over various mythical creatures. The hallmarks of the god are rays behind his back and a sickle-shaped serrated knife in his hand.

Enki- the supreme deity. The personification of life-giving fresh waters, the god of wisdom, the manager of the fate of people and their assistant. Enki arranges the land, establishes the order of the change of natural phenomena, teaches a person to cultivate the land, as well as crafts and art.

Enlil“He is an adviser to the gods and a ruler. Governs the earth. His father was and. Enlil invented the hoe and "everything useful", created trees and cereals, establishing prosperity on the earth.

Ereshkigal- goddess of the underworld. He makes sure that the dead do not get out to freedom and do not run away to Earth. Apparently in its functions it is similar to the Greek Hades.

eyah- Lord of the waters and the ocean.

At the beginning of the IV millennium BC. in Lower Mesopotamia, a new people, who came to this area, settled - the Sumerians, who, according to the assumption of modern scientists, moved from the east. Nevertheless, the question of the ancestral home of the Sumerians remains unresolved, because. their language has no analogues with any of the currently known language groups.

With the advent of the Sumerians, the Ubeid culture was replaced in Lower Mesopotamia by the Uruk culture (4th millennium BC). The Sumerians mixed with the local Subareans and assimilated them, adopting elements of craft and art from them. For example, the temple buildings of the Uruk period continue the buildings of the Ubeid era. The same thing happened in religious culture, giving the basis for the development of one of the dominant religions of the East at the turn of the 4th - 3rd millennium BC: “During the 3rd millennium BC. e. The Sumerians developed religious ideas and spiritual concepts that had a huge impact on modern world especially through Judaism, Christianity and Mohammedanism. On an intellectual level, Sumerian thinkers and holy fathers, as a result of reflections on the origin and nature of the universe and its driving forces, developed a cosmology and theology that was so convincing that it became the basic creed and dogma of most of the Middle East, ”said Orientalist researcher S .N.Kramer.

Already the earliest Sumerian documents testify to the fact that the temple occupied a central place in the life of the city. At the head of the city was a respected man who bore the title of ensi ("priest in charge of laying the foundation of the temple"). Characteristic is the fact that the Sumerians are not talking about the ensi of the city, but about the ensi of the god (god - the patron of the urban community and its territory). The temple in Ancient Sumer was not just a religious organization, but also represented a certain socio-political system - an organization that forms the ideological consciousness of the masses. The temple was allowed to have its own land holdings, temple servants, budget, temple archives, schools, armed groups, which was determined by the understanding of the church as a kind of bridge between the Gods and man. This is evidenced by the monuments of Sumerian art - clay figurines of the gods and their admirers. The gods are endowed with various attributes that testify to their greatness (headdresses, astral signs, etc.). Their earthly admirers are completely impersonal and devoid of any individuality. The only thing that their prayerfully folded hands at their chests express is God-fearing devotion. Relations with God do not have the character of a personal connection: a person is only a participant in a communal cult.

In the source heritage that has come down to us, there is not a single documentary source that holistically reflects the philosophical concept of the divine pantheon and the system of the world order of the society of Ancient Mesopotamia. Thus, modern researchers have to obtain almost all information about the religious philosophy, theology and cosmology of the ancient Sumerians through critical analysis a significant mass of myths, epic tales and hymns. The work of researchers is also complicated by the fact that few documents of Ancient Sumer with a religious context dating back to the 3rd millennium BC have survived in their original form by the modern period. Most of the surviving works were rewritten by priests in the 2nd - 1st millennium BC, after the crisis of the Sumerian civilization and the fall of the statehood of the Ancient Sumerians, when the main provisions of the Sumerian religion were accepted and assimilated by other tribes and peoples, mainly the Semitic group.

The functions of the pantheon of gods, according to Sumerian theology, included the management of all processes that took place in the universe and its constituent elements - the great spheres (sky, earth, sea), the main celestial bodies (sun, moon, planet), atmospheric phenomena (wind, storm , hurricane, etc.), cultural units human civilization(city, state). Each of these processes was in the power of one or another anthropomorphic, but superhuman being - God.

In Sumerian religious philosophy, the main elements of the universe were earth and sky, which determined for a long period of time dominance in the divine pantheon of the Sumerians, as well as an understanding of the dominant role of the universe as "an-ka" ("heaven - earth"), the World Ocean ("abzu ”), the Earth, the Firmament, the Sun, the Moon. These forces of nature were unevenly distributed in the system of religious beliefs of the ancient Sumerians and dominated depending on the change in the geopolitical situation in the region of Mesopotamia. A separate place in the worldview of the ancient Sumerians formed the Other World, where the souls of the dead found peace. The Universe was conceived in the form of a ball or bubble surrounded by a saline primary ocean.

A clear structural hierarchy of the provisions of the religious philosophy and theological views of the ancient Sumerians was given by the researcher I.M. Dyakonov.

According to the researcher, sacred space Sumerian culture had a vertical and horizontal orientation and varies depending on the dominant role of one or another god. The divine vertical according to I.M. Dyakonov is as follows:

The upper world (an) consists of seven tiers of the firmament and is controlled by the wise elder of the gods, the deity of Heaven An, who sits on a throne in the seventh heaven and controls the entire universe. The upper world in the Sumerian pantheon was considered a model of stability and order, the center of the laws of the universe.

The middle world consisted of the so-called. "our country" (kalam), "steppes" (eden) and "foreign lands" (kur). He was ruled by the god of air and wind Enlil.

“Our country” (kalam) is the territory of a specific Sumerian city-state with a temple of the patron deity in the center and with an adobe fence of the city. Outside the city walls, there was a "steppe" - an area that is not bad and not good, where both good gods and evil forces of demons can act.

All foreign lands that lay outside the "steppe" are called the same as the country of the dead in the lower world, because. “foreign lands” are unknown to the person of “our country”, and the laws of their life are simply incomprehensible to him.

The lower world is formed by two areas: the area of ​​fresh underground waters (abzu) and the area of ​​the dead (kur).

The area of ​​underground waters is subject to Enki, the god-sage, the creator of mankind, the keeper of crafts, art and knowledge

The region of the world of the dead is the place of residence of souls, the kingdom of a terrible couple - the god and goddess of death Nergalal and Ereshkital, where the seven gods of the Anunnaki judge for the sins of mankind, while reading the provisions of the "Book of Fates" - an analogue of the Egyptian "Book of the Dead".

In addition, each clan, community, city-state in Sumer had its own patron gods, who were considered mythical ancestors. Each person had his own, lower in the positive pantheon of gods, personal spirits - guardians - shedu and lamassu - and patron gods and goddesses, who protected the personality and soul of a person from negative spirits - nikub, lilu, lilith.

The fate of a person was written in cuneiform by the gods in the “Table of Fates”, and at the hour of death, the god of fate, Namtar (“stealer”), came for his soul, taking the soul to the underworld - the domain of the god Nergal and the goddess Anunnaki.

A central place in the religion of the ancient Sumerians from the 4th millennium BC. had a firmament with a council of the gods. Sumerian gods are often mentioned in ancient documents, but three of them were of general Sumerian significance: Enlil, An, Enki.

For a long period of time, the main god was Enlil - the god whose cult was practiced by the Sumerians of the Uruk era, who formed a tribal union with the center in Nippur - the proto-city.

Enlil (“Lord of the Wind”, “Lord of the Breath”) is a deity with a large number of functions: the lord of the wind and air; ruler of the world located between heaven and earth; the second after An, the dominant person in the Assembly of the gods, approving the king on the throne; master of foreign countries; leader of all external forces; organizer of the disastrous flood; patron of the state power of kings, punishing kings for neglecting ancient holidays and constant sacrifices; god of War.

Gradually, with a change in the geopolitical situation on the territory of Ancient Mesopotamia, the status of the veneration of Enlil also changes, which becomes higher than the veneration of the supreme god An. Thus, Enlil henceforth becomes the head of the entire divine pantheon of the Sumerians.

The theologians of Nippur, however, made Enlil the ruler of all mankind, the "king of kings." If An formally retained the regalia of royal power, then it was Enlil who chose and put on the throne the rulers of Sumer, "placing the sacred crown on their heads."

However, the god Enlil was not a sovereign despot. On important issues, the entire council of the gods gathered, and sometimes, as reflected in the Sumerian myths, he was forced to give in to some other gods. Thus, the orders in the pantheon of the Sumerian gods resemble social system period of "military democracy", characteristic of a barbarian society, standing on the threshold of the formation of a state.

It should be emphasized that not every activity of Enlil was beneficial for humanity. Enlil's potential hostility is related to the dual nature of the wind.

No less important in the pantheon of the three main gods were An (Anu) - the God of Heaven, personifying the firmament, Enki (Ea) - the deity of underground waters and the world Ocean, the personification of the entire water element.

An (Anu) was considered the most powerful deity in heaven and occupied a central dominant place in the divine pantheon of the ancient Sumerians. He is considered the father and ancestor of all other gods, as well as demons and negative spirits. An is considered the primary source and bearer of all power: parental, domestic (master), state.

“An is the force that takes existence out of chaos and anarchy and transforms it into an ordered whole. Just as a building rests on a foundation and reveals the foundation laid in it, so the ancient Mesopotamian universe is supported by the creative will of An and reflects it.

However, in classical Sumerian mythology, he did not play a significant role in earthly affairs and always remained aloof from them, being located in the heavenly halls, while representing a majestic and somewhat abstract figure.

The name of an important deity of the Sumerian pantheon - the god Enki, is translated as "Lord of the Earth" "House of Waters", which is directly related to the geographical location and climate of Mesopotamia - a largely desert territory and sudden temperature changes, where the presence of water was a necessary condition for mankind to live in the Mesopotamian plain. Enki (Ea) was also in charge of the waters of the World Ocean, at the bottom of which, according to legend, he built his palace.

Enki in the worldview of the ancient Sumerians stood above other gods in his learning and wisdom, while also being the patron of crafts, arts, science, literature, magic and witchcraft, Sumerian schools and scribes, and medical practice.

It was Enki who compiled and kept "me" - the divine laws that govern the universe. There is also a myth about Enki's involvement in the act of human creation.

The Sumerians prescribed the creation of the universe, earth, water, etc. to these three gods. and revered, a long time period of its history.

IN religious beliefs the Sumerians reflected features of social reality or traces of a bygone era. A huge role in everyday rituals was played by female deities, the Sumerian names of which included the word "nin" ("lady"): Ninhursag - goddess - progenitor, goddess mother, Inana - goddess of fertility.

Inanna, according to one version, was the daughter of the sky god An, and according to another, the daughter of the moon god Nanna (Sina) and the goddess Ninlil, the sister of the sun god Utu (Shamash).

Ancient Sumerian mythology called Inanna the queen of heaven, the goddess of love, the goddess of the planet Venus, the patroness of carnal lust, earthly fertility, strife and discord, the wife of the shepherd god Dumuzi. Inanna is a complex deity of the Sumerians. Initially, Inanna was considered the goddess of food and a symbol of abundant harvests, the goddess of thunder and rain. Nevertheless, later the cult of this goddess supplanted the cult of the god An in Uruk. Having taken the place of Ana, the patron god of Uruk, Inanna simultaneously performed the functions of the goddess of victory, the goddess of the harvest, the goddess of justice, and the patroness of family life. It was with her that the cult of dying and the rebirth of life was associated. However, at the same time, the goddess Inanna was also the goddess of strife and strife.

One can agree with the opinion of some scientists who argue that the origins of this cult was the connection of the legendary ruler of Uruk, the shepherd Dumuzi, with the goddess of fertility and harvests, the patroness of his city, Inanna. The cult of this couple originated in Uruk. Having occupied a dominant position in the country at some period of Sumerian history, the priests of Uruk created a religious and political theory, according to which one of the ancient kings of Uruk married a goddess, which ensured the prosperity of the city. Since this concept did not conflict with the beliefs and magical rites of other regions of the country, it was accepted everywhere. The marriage of the king of Sumer with the goddess Inanna turned into a rite, clearly formed by the 3rd millennium BC, which in the religious practice of the Sumerians was presented in the form of mysteries performed during the celebration of the New Year. A complex ritual arose: the king solemnly entered into marriage with the goddess; her role was played by a priestess chosen for this. The king became Dumuzi, the priestess - Inanna, which ensured the confirmation of royal power with divine protection. Thus, the inviolability of the tsarist power was ensured, the illegality of actions opposed to it.

The strong and revered gods of the ancient Sumerians and Sumerian city-polises included: Utu (Shamash) - the god of the Sun, justice, a soothsayer of human destinies in divination and predictions of oracles; god of the moon - Nanna (Sin); Inanna (Ishtar); Addu - thunder god; Enlil; Ninurtu is the patron saint of warriors and Era is the god of plague and disease. So, in each community, in each "nome" they honored their local god (goddess), considering him primarily as a deity of fertility. In Uruk such main deities were the god of Heaven An and his daughter - the goddess Inanna (Ishtar), in Ur - the god of the moon Nanna and his wife Ninlil, in Sippar - the god of the Sun Utu (Shamash).

In general, it can be argued that political history During the period of Ancient Sumer, throughout its entire length, it is marked by a trend of gradually increasing struggle between individual nome policies-states for hegemony. A characteristic feature of this struggle was the tendency of the rulers - hegemons to seek official recognition of their hegemony and the title of "lugal" from the Nippur temple of Enlil. The kings of Sumer for a long time tried to follow the traditions of the Sumerian unity of the Uruk era and realized that the only institution capable of asserting and reinforcing the state power of the king was the temple of Nippur.

During the III millennium BC. many Sumerian cities declared their claims to supremacy in the region. The resulting unequal city-state alliances were highly fragile. However, no center could assert its own hegemony for a long period of time.

The Sumerian gods, the initial knowledge of cosmology, mythology and ideas about anthropomorphic deities were formed at the time of the formation of the Sumerian state. The Sumerians are a people of unknown origin, who at the end of the fourth millennium BC mastered the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and formed the first city-states in the history of mankind. The gods of the ancient Sumerians were primarily the patrons of the community, the embodiment of the elements of nature and the forces that the inhabitants of the ancient empire encountered in everyday life. From the written sources with which the Sumerian religion was rich, one can learn the names of such gods as Innana and Enlil, who embodied the forces of earth and sky. The earliest religious and literary texts, which are hymns to the gods, prayers to the gods of Sumer, legends and legends, lists of proverbs, originating from the excavations of Abu Salyabih and Fara, give an idea of ​​the mythology and cult of the deities of the Sumerian state.

The Sumerian gods are prototypes of the creators of the universe.

Sumerian civilization is a state with a long history. oldest list deities discovered in Farah, which contained information about all the gods of the ancient Sumerians of that era, singled out six supreme beings, namely Ennil, Anu, Inanna, Nanna, Utu and Enki.

The gods of the Sumerians throughout history retained the function of patrons of land fertility, harvest. One of the most common images of the Sumerian gods is the image of mother earth, the protector of humanity with a child in her arms.

In the mythology of the Sumerian, and later the Babylonian people, the Sumerian goddesses feeding their children were known as Ninhursag, Ninmah, Nintu, Mami and Damgalnuna. This image of the foremother of people and the Sumerian gods is also found in Akkadian legends - the goddess Beletili, in Assyrian myths - Aruru, and even in later Babylonian legends - the mother goddess Enkidu. It is possible that the face of the goddess-earth, to whom the Sumerian gods owe their lives, was also associated with the goddesses who served as patronesses of the Sumerian city-states, for example, Bau and Gatumdug. By the way, the Sumerians, the female gods who defended the settlements of people, are mentioned in legends and hymns under the epithets “mother” and “mother of all cities”.

In the legends of the Sumerian people, revealing which gods the ancient Sumerians worshiped, there is a close dependence of mythology on cult and vice versa, cult on mythology. The cult songs from the city of Ur, dating back to the third millennium BC, speak of the love of the priestess for the king, and, most importantly, emphasize the official status and nature of their relationship. Hymns that mention the Sumerian gods, tales dedicated to the deified rulers of Ur, show that between the king and the high priestess an annual marriage ceremony was performed, during which the king, the representative of the Sumerian gods, appeared in the form of Dumuzi, and the priestess in the guise of Inanna. The plot of the works of the cycle “Inanna and Dumuzi” contains descriptions of the courtship and wedding of the heroes, who were the patrons of the Sumerians, the gods of this people, as well as the details of the goddess’s condescension to the underworld and her salvation at the cost of the life of the god-husband. Tales of a similar nature, describing the obstacles faced by the Sumerian gods, are in fact a drama-action that forms the basis of the metaphorical ritual “life-death-life”. The multitude of tragedy myths affecting the life of the Sumerian gods and the deities themselves encountered in these narratives is primarily due to the disunity of the Sumerian religious communities.

Sumerian gods, the underworld and the trials of the soul.

Legends that are directly related to the cult of the Sumerian gods of fertility are given ideas about the mythological underworld. Almost nothing is known about the location of the underworld, called Eden, Irigal, Arali or Kur-Nu-Gi, which means “country without return”. It is only clear that the Sumerian goddesses and deities created the underworld in such a way that you can not only go down there, but also fail. The mythology created by the Sumerians, the religion of this people, says that the boundary of the underworld was an underground river through which the souls of people were transported with the help of a carrier. The Sumerian gods could be benevolent, or they could be cruel. fate dead people was heavy, their bread was bitter, but the water was not water. The underworld that the Sumerian gods created is a dark world, a world full of dust.

The legends about the Sumerian gods do not contain a specific description of the court of the dead, where the dead would be judged according to the rules and norms established by the deities, there are only guesses and theories of researchers. It can be argued that a tolerable life in afterlife the Sumerian gods honored only those people who were buried underground or sacrificed, as well as those who died in battle. The judges of the underworld were the ancient Sumerian gods, the Anunnaki, who sat on a pedestal in front of the mistress of the underworld. The supreme god of the Sumerian underworld, the goddess Ereshkigal passed only death sentences. The names of the dead were entered into the book by the Sumerian gods - the Anunnaki, as well as a female scribe called Geshtinanna. According to the legends, the “honorary” inhabitants of the underworld included the Sumerian gods, numerous legendary heroes and figures of the Sumerian civilization, for example Sumukan and Gilgamesh, the first was the founder of the third dynasty of Ur, the second was a god by origin.

The Sumerian gods, who rule in the underworld, returned people who brought misfortune not buried at death to earth, and those who were buried according to the rules were sent across the border of the underworld, a dark river, into realm of the dead shower. The souls of the dead and all the gods of the Sumerians, who were not lucky enough to be in the underworld, crossed the river Ur-Shanabom by boat.

Sumerian religion - cosmology and mythology of the origin of man.

The Sumerian civilization was in its own way a practical people. However, the cosmology possessed by the Sumerians, the religion of this people, oddly enough, does not contain any specific theories and unambiguous hypotheses of the origin of man. Almost all the gods of the ancient Sumerians participated in the creation of man, at least this conclusion can be reached with a cursory study of the mythology of the Sumerian and Babylonian empires. Specifically, in the Sumerian religion, one can only judge the time of the creation of mankind and the creation of the underworld. The text that the Sumerian religion created, “Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Underworld,” says that the sacred events, namely the creation of mankind, took place at a time when the earth was separated from heaven and when the gods of the Sumerian civilization, An and Enlil, divided the world's dominions among themselves. The legend of the hoe and ax says that the earth was separated by the god Enlil, after which the pantheon of the Sumerian gods moved to live in heaven, and those who did not have time went to the earth and under it. Another fact that the Sumerian religion operates on is also known: the primordial paradise before the division of the universe was the island of Tilmun.

About the creation of people, several myths have survived to this day that the Sumerian religion created. But only one of them is completely independent - about Enki and Ninmah. Sumerian legends say that the gods Enki and Ninmah molded a man from clay. They were helped by Nammu, the goddess to whom all the gods of the Sumerians and, as it turns out, humanity owe their lives. The purpose for which people were created is to work for the glory of the gods. From this legend it becomes clear why and what gods the Sumerians worshipped. Sumerian mythology has a unique perspective on human life and their role in this world. The Sumerian religion says that people were obliged to cultivate the land, collect fruits, graze cattle, and most importantly, feed the gods with their lives by sacrificing them. Religious singing, which arranged the Sumerians, prayers to the gods were also an integral duty of the common man. When the first people were born, created by the gods with which the Sumerian religion is rich, the inhabitants of the pantheon determined their future fate and arranged a great feast on this occasion. The Sumerians worshiped gods who completely controlled their lives. Ancient tales, legends, Sumerian myths and photos of the Sumerian gods show that the drunken creators of Ninmah and Enki created bad people at the feast. This is how the Sumerians explained human illnesses and ailments: infertility, deformities, etc.

In myths, and specifically in the legend of the hoe and ax, which describes the ancient Sumerian religion, the need to create a person is explained primarily by the fact that the first gods were unable to manage the household. The same legend mentions the Sumerians and the names of the gods, who allegedly sprouted from the ground, and therefore did not know anything about labor. The people who also appeared from the ground were already endowed with knowledge about agriculture, which means that they could serve their creators well.

The gods of the ancient Sumerians are the origin of the inhabitants of the pantheon.

A significant part of the myths of the ancient Sumerians and Babylon is devoted to the origin of divine beings. The gods of the ancient Sumerians are generally widely represented in mythology. The gods of the ancient Sumerians Enlil and Enki, who later created mankind, act as creators-demiurges in the legends. Also visited as the first gods who created the ancient Sumer, the goddesses Ninkasi and Uttu, responsible for brewing and weaving. Mentioned in the Sumerian legends about the creation of the world and the gods is another significant character, the archaic king Enmeduranki, who was considered a predictor of the future. In general, the Sumerian civilization and its gods clearly divided the roles, for example, one of the first gods Ningal-Paprigal was the inventor of the harp, and the great Gilgamesh was the creator of urban planning and the forefather of architecture. The line of fathers and mothers, creators and progenitors, referring to the gods of the ancient Sumerians, is clearly traced in the myths about the flood and the “wrath of Inanna”.

Unfortunately, in Sumerian mythology, very little information has been preserved about the gods of the ancient Sumerians, who performed heroic deeds, about destroying natural forces and great monsters. Only two legends are known that tell about great divine deeds, namely, the struggle of Ninurta with the demon Asag and the confrontation of Inanna with the monstrous Ebih. In fact, heroic deeds were the prerogative of people.

The Sumerians-gods, photos, engravings and images describing them represent the ancient creators of the world as beings of two moods and hypostases. Some of the gods of the ancient Sumerians were evil towards humanity and passive, others were kind and condescending. So the most living images of the gods were Inanna, Enki, Dumuzi and Ninhursag, as well as some minor and local deities. The Sumerian gods, photos, tablets and ancient texts, say that An, Enlil and Enki were evil, and therefore passive towards people. These gods of the ancient Sumerians, their faces and images, possessed elements of comedy: people did not like them, and therefore represented them in an appropriate light and made up ambiguous legends and tales about them. It is partly obvious why the union in which the gods of the Sumerians and 2012 are concluded is endowed with such unfavorable predictions.

The development of the epic tradition, characteristic of many mythological and cosmological systems, of representing the gods as heroic figures, is not characteristic of the Sumerian empire. The Sumerian civilization and their gods developed according to their own unique scenario. Their relationship was not distinguished by love, and the Sumerians were not imbued with deep respect for their creators, on the contrary, the gods of the ancient Sumerians, at least today, appear as tyrants who in every possible way prevented a calm lifestyle. Is it good or bad? Who knows? But one thing is certain: the Sumerian people with such an ambiguous pantheon of deities existed for many centuries, while civilizations with more forgiving and good-natured gods were wiped off the face of the earth almost immediately after their formation.

In the view of the ancient inhabitant of Mesopotamia, the world was inhabited by good and evil spirits, as well as powerful deities that controlled all the forces of nature. Each clan, community, city-state in Sumer had its own patron gods, sometimes considered mythical ancestors. Each person had their own personal guardian spirits - shedu And lamassu - and patron gods and goddesses. But, on the other hand, human life was threatened by numerous evil demons - the personification of disease and death ( nikub, lilu, lilith). The fate of a person was written in cuneiform by the gods in the "Table of Fates", and at the hour of death, "Fate" - the god Namtar ("The Kidnapper") - came after him and took the doomed person to the kingdom of death - the underworld, where the god Nergal and the goddess Ereshkigal ruled together with a council of the seven gods of the earth - the demons of the Anunnaki. In the underworld, the soul of the deceased was doomed to a miserable existence in eternal darkness, hunger and thirst. When thinking about such a bleak afterlife, a person could console himself only with the fact that, depending on the type of death, he will receive a more or less merciful sentence from the Anunnaki court and will be able to enjoy food and drink from those sacrificial gifts that relatives who remained on earth brought him.

The sky also had its own "heavenly" kingdom with a council of the gods. Chief among them is Enlil, the god of air, the lord of the earth (“Middle World”), the king of all gods and patron earthly kings. His cult was held in a special temple in the holy city of Nippur, and this energetic and all-powerful god was honored throughout Sumer.

No less important in the pantheon was An (Anu) - the god of Heaven, as well as the wise and very favorable to the people of Enki (Ea), the deity of underground waters and the world Ocean. The fourth of the "great gods" is closed by the mother goddess Ninhursag.

ill. 73. Sun God Shamash, sailing on his magic boat.

Drawing an impression of a cylinder seal.

Tell Asmar (Eshnunna). Akkadian period

The strongest gods also included Utu (Shamash) - the god of the Sun, the guardian of justice, who reveals the future to people in divination and predictions of oracles; the blue-bearded god of the moon - Nanna (Sin); the wayward beauty Inanna (Ishtar) is the goddess of the planet Venus, the patroness of carnal lust and love, earthly fertility, but at the same time the goddess of strife and discord.

Other significant deities include the thunder-god Addu, who brings thunderclouds and torrential rains; the militant son of Enlil - the god of war, the patron saint of warriors Ninurta; the god of plague and disease Er.

In each community, in each "nome" they honored their local god (or goddess), considering him (her) primarily as a deity of fertility. In Uruk, such main deities were the god of Heaven An and his daughter, the goddess Inanna (Ishtar), in Ur, the moon god Nanna and his wife Ninlil; in Sippar, the sun god Utu (Shamash).

So, in addition to the local "nome" patron deity with his wife and retinue, all the inhabitants of Sumer also revered the four "great", "cosmic" gods. These were An (Anu) - the god of Heaven, Enlil - the god of air, Enki - the god of underground waters and, finally, the mother goddess Ninhursag, who wore in various Sumerian "nomes" different names(Ninhursang, Ninmah, Dingirmah). It was they who created the universe, earth, water, canals, vegetation, animals and people. It was they who occupied the top of the Mesopotamian "Olympus".

ill. 74. Genius with the head of an eagle, holding a vessel with clean water and pine cone. He accompanied a person in his daily life and protected from diseases and evil forces. Nimrud.

Assyrian relief. 885 BC e.

An (Anu) - the king of heaven

He was considered the most powerful deity in heaven and ranked first in the Sumerian pantheon. He was the father and ancestor of all other gods, as well as many demons and evil spirits. An is the primary source and bearer of all power: parental, master, and royal.

“An,” writes the well-known historian Thorkild Jacobson from the USA, “is the force that brings existence out of chaos and anarchy and turns it into an ordered whole. Just as a building rests on a foundation and reveals the foundation laid in it, so the ancient Mesopotamian universe is supported by the creative will of An and reflects it.

However, An, at least in classical Sumerian mythology, did not play any important and effective role in earthly affairs and always remained aloof from them, sitting in his heavenly halls and representing a majestic and somewhat abstract figure.

Enlil - Lord of the inhabited world

His name translates as "Lord of the Wind" or "Lord of the Breath". This is a deity with many functions. Enlil is the lord of air and wind, the ruler of the world located between heaven and earth; he is the second head of the Assembly of the gods, confirming the king on the throne; he is the master of foreign countries; he is the leader of all external forces; but he is also the organizer of the disastrous flood. He is the patron god of royal power, punishing the king for neglecting ancient holidays and constant sacrifices.

In time, Enlil managed to intercept the helm supreme power in the community of the gods, even with the “lord of heaven”, the head of the pantheon - Ana.

ill. 75. A monster with a lion's head, one of the seven evil demons, born in the Mountain of the East and dwelling in pits and ruins. It causes discord and disease among people. Geniuses, both evil and good, played a large role in the life of the Babylonians. I millennium BC e.

The theologians of Nippur, however, made Enlil the ruler of all mankind, the "king of kings." If An still formally retained the insignia of royal power, then it was Enlil who chose and put on the throne the rulers of Sumer and Akkad, "placing the sacred crown on their heads."

ill. 76. Enlil

The kneeling deities near the sacred tree, their hands raised in a protective gesture, probably represent Enlil or Bel, the god of the earth. Relief from Nimrud. 900 BC e.

It should also be emphasized that not every activity of Enlil was beneficial for the human race. Enlil's potential hostility is related to the dual nature of the wind, which is both a soft refreshing marshmallow and a destructive hurricane. It is in the storm that the ferocity and destructive disposition inherent in this god find expression:

Mighty Enlil,

his word is indestructible,

he is a hurricane that destroys the barn,

sweeping pen for sheep.

The great tension between the light and dark sides of Enlil's nature is clearly revealed in the myth "Enlil and Ninlil", which tells how the young and beautiful maiden Ninlil, disobeying her mother, bathes alone in the canal, and Enlil who sees her forcibly takes possession of her. For this crime, the Assembly of the gods sentences him to exile from Nippur (where this event took place) to the Underworld. Enlil, obeying a harsh verdict, goes to the Underworld, and Ninlil, who conceived a son (the god of the Moon - Nanna or Sin), follows him at some distance. Not wanting to give his future son to the demons of Nergal, Enlil again and again convinces Ninlil to lie with him and each time conceives a new child who could take Nanna's place in the underworld and save him from imprisonment in it. Thus, three more deities of a chthonic character were born: Meslamtaza, Ninazu and Ennush.

Finally, in the Flood Myth (Sumerian version) and partly in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Enlil is invariably in a bad mood and prone to outbursts of violent anger. It is he who sends a catastrophic flood to the earth, designed to exterminate all mankind.

Enki (Ea) - "Lord of the Earth" (and water)

The name of this important deity of the Sumerian pantheon is literally translated as “Lord of the Earth”, apparently because the land without water in Mesopotamia is dead, and Enki was just the god of fresh water that flowed in rivers, streams and springs, bringing life and prosperity to the inhabitants Mesopotamian plain. The Semites called it Ea, which can be translated as "House (or Temple) of the Waters." Enki-Ea was also in charge of the waters of the World Ocean, at the bottom of which, near the ancient city of Eredu (Enki is the patron of this city), he built his impregnable and luxurious palace.

Enki stood above other gods in his learning and wisdom, was the patron (and inventor) of crafts, arts, science and literature, the patron of magicians and sorcerers:

Big Brother of the gods who provides prosperity,

Who draws up accounts of the universe,

Ear and brain of all lands and countries.

It was Enki who compiled and kept me - divine laws governing the universe. He takes care of the plow, yoke and harrow, appoints a god

Enkimdu to look after and care for these tools. He invents and introduces into culture all the grains and fruits on earth.

There is a myth that Enki was (along with the goddess Ninhursag) the main participant in the act of creating man. The narrative begins with a story about the difficulties experienced by the gods of the Sumerian "Olympus" in obtaining food for themselves. The gods bitterly complain about their unenviable fate. But Enki, the god of water and, at the same time, the god of wisdom, which, logically, should have helped his fellows, calmly rests in his palace in the depths of the sea and does not hear these complaints and lamentations. Then his mother Ninhursag goes to apsu("Abyss"), wakes him up and makes him look for a way out of the current dramatic situation. Together they made of clay and divine blood the first people, but they were not entirely successful. Only the second attempt was crowned with success, and people began their main calling on earth - to faithfully serve the gods, providing them with everything they need.

Enki, as noted in most myths, has always been very supportive of people. He is not only the creator and patron of mankind. Trying to pass on some of the secrets of his wisdom to people, Enki first teaches his arts to a group of younger gods, so that they then bring his wisdom to the human race. Enki is the patron of Sumerian schools and the patron of Sumerian scribes. He loved (in defiance of Enlil) to overcome and even violate the natural law: it is his timely advice that saves the family of the righteous (Utnapishtim, Ziusudra) from the destructive flood. Enki heals the sick, helps people in all good deeds and undertakings.

Two more important Sumerian myths are connected with the name of Enki: "Enki and Inanna" and "The Story of the Seven Divine Plants".

ill. 77. The god of underground waters, Ea or Enki, depicted in the center with the Anzu bird.

On the right is the winged goddess Inanna with a date branch in her hand and the solar god Utu-Shamash, born from the Mountain of the East. I millennium BC e.

The content of the first myth is as follows: in ancient times, the goddess Inanna, the “queen of heaven” and “queen of Uruk”, wishing to exalt her name and increase the power of her city, decided to turn Uruk into the center of all Sumer. To do this, it was necessary to get good or deceit me - wonderful clay tablets with the divine laws of life written on them, which Enki guarded with all care in his underwater palace. And the goddess goes to Eredu, to the house of the Lord of Wisdom, dressed before that in her best clothes and wearing the most expensive jewelry. Seeing her from afar, Enki called his servant Isimud and said to him:

Let the young girl into the Abzu of the city of Eredu,

Let Inanna into the Abzu of Eredu.

Treat her to a buttered barley cake,

Pour her cold water refreshing heart,

Drink her beer from a pitcher

At the sacred table, at the Table of Heaven

Meet Inanna with words of greeting.

The servant did everything his master ordered. Enki sat down with the beautiful Inanna at the "sacred table", treated her and himself devoured a lot of food and intoxicating drinks. Having drunk and grown mad, the god easily succumbs to the charms of the “Queen of Uruk” and during the feast, one by one, gives her the sacred tablets me, after which he falls asleep soundly. The goddess hurriedly loaded her valuable booty onto the "Heavenly Barca" and sailed to "Uruk dear to her heart." Recovering, Enki notices the loss of divine laws and sends a chase for Inanna - Isimud and several sea monsters with an order to take away "what belongs to the Abzu", drown the barge, and let the young beauty go in peace: let her go to her city on foot. However, with the help of the hero Ninshubur, Inanna managed to fight off her pursuers and safely sailed to Uruk with her precious booty - tablets me.

The myth of Enki and Ninhursag tells how the Lord Groundwater received, together with the goddess Ninhursag, the possession of the island of Dilmun (Telmun). But there was no fresh water on the island at all, and Enki provided it in abundance, turning this deserted and previously barren piece of land into a wonderful piece of paradise, immersed in the greenery of gardens and palm groves. Here he built a beautiful spacious house for the goddess and one night he tried to take possession of her. But, having met with a decisive rebuff, he was forced to make an official proposal to Ninhursag and enter into a legal marriage with her. The fruit of their union was the goddess Ninsar ("Lady of Plants"). Once, as an adult girl, she was walking along the seashore, where she was met by Enki. The lustful god seduced the young beauty, and as a result, Uttu, the goddess of weaving, was born. The girl grew quickly, became prettier, and worried Ninhursag decided to protect her from the encroachments of her dissolute husband. She locked her tightly in her house, forbidding her to go outside. However, here Enki managed to overcome all obstacles, lured his daughter out and took possession of her.

Then he committed another serious crime: he ate eight magical plants that Ninhursag had long and carefully cultivated. Upon learning of this, the goddess fell into a wild rage and cursed her husband: eight plants turned into eight deadly diseases in Enki's womb, and he began to slowly die in terrible agony. Ninhursag herself, knowing that other gods who wanted to help her suffering brother, would be looking for her, hid in the most remote place. Long searches yielded no results. But a cunning fox intervened in this matter. She found Ninhursag, conveyed to her the request of the Council of the Gods for help to the dying "Lord fresh water”, and the goddess calmed down quickly cured Enki.